“He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.” John 13:18 (Read John 13:18-30)

Jesus here cites Psalm 41:9, which says: “Even my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up the heel against me.”

While David certainly had close and trusted friends who betrayed him and rose up against him, and we may also have experienced the same, he here speaks of the fact that one of Jesus’ own disciples, eating bread with Jesus at the table, would betray Him. When questioned by His disciples as to which one of them would do this, He identified Judas Iscariot as His betrayer by handing him a piece of bread which He had dipped.

Why would Judas, a trusted disciple and the group’s treasurer, betray Jesus? Jesus said, “I know whom I have chosen” (v. 18), indicating Judas was not among those He had predestined and chosen to inherit eternal life. We can speculate further as to why Judas wasn’t among the chosen (perhaps a love for money as we see in John 12:6, expecting Jesus to establish a worldly kingdom, etc.), but we can only say with certainty that Christ died for all (cf. John 1:29; 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:15; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:1-2) and that God desires all (including Judas) to be saved (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9; Ezek. 33:11) but that Judas did not let the Word of God, which he heard continually from the lips of Jesus, sink into his heart and produce the fruit of true and enduring faith in Jesus as the Son of God and His Savior from sin.

Jesus was troubled over what Judas was about to do, not that He would be betrayed and go to the cross but that His disciple Judas would turn against Him and then remain unrepentant and unbelieving and hang himself in despair (cf. Matt. 27:3-10). We remember that Jesus’ disciples fled in fear and that Peter denied Jesus three times, but they later acknowledged their sins and trusted that Jesus forgave them and accepted them as His disciples and apostles. Judas, on the other hand, despaired of God’s mercy and took his own life rather than trusting in God’s mercy and partaking of Christ’s forgiveness. How sad!

While it is easy for us to point the finger at Judas, we must also ask ourselves how often we have betrayed Jesus by disobeying His Word, by hiding our faith in Him from those around us, and by failing to hear His Word and follow Him. Have we ever let our desires for worldly goods and recognition get in the way of faithfully following Jesus? How sad!

God also desires that we repent by acknowledging our sins and shortcomings and looking to Him for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the blood Jesus shed on the cross for the sins of all. Indeed, Christ died for our sins, and God reaches out to us in mercy, offering us pardon and forgiveness through faith in Jesus and His sacrifice for the sins of the world. Don’t let your love of money, earthly goods, or earthly fame keep you from hearing God’s calling and receiving in faith God’s love and mercy in Jesus! Don’t despair and die in your sins. Turn to Christ Jesus for mercy now, before it’s too late!

Have mercy upon me, O God, for I have oft betrayed Your Son and my only Savior by my words, thoughts, and deeds. Wash away my sins in the blood of the Lamb, whose blood was shed to take away the sins all. In His name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]