Table Talk – Glimpses into the Conversations and Teachings of Jesus during the Last Supper
Let’s continue to look into conversations around the dinner table at the Last Supper. In the previous blog we explored the servitude and humility demonstrated by Jesus. As we move deeper into the heart of that night, our focus shifts to a theme that’s as challenging as it is inevitable: betrayal.
2. From being a servant to being betrayed.
“But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me. For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.”
The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing (Luke 22:21-23 NLT).
In the different Gospels, the response to the betrayal reveals a different perspective. Here, they were talking to each other. In Matthew and Mark, one by one they each asked Jesus: “Surely not I?” But in John, Peter got John to ask the question:
The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?” So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot (John 13:23-26 NLT).
Back to Judas in a moment.
There are three words in the four Gospels which reveal what the disciples were thinking and how they were feeling: grief, discuss, and loss. Note how two words deal with their emotions, and one with their actions. Looking at their meanings in Greek reveals a more intense condition:
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- Grief – sorrowful, sadness, distress.
- Discuss – to examine together, argue, dispute, and debate
- Loss – without resource, without a way, perplexed, not knowing how to proceed.
And Jesus saw all this raging within their hearts and minds. And to complete this conversation:
And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. So Judas left at once, going out into the night (John 13:26-30 NLT).
Peter asked John to ask the question: “Lord, who is it?” and Jesus gave an answer that did not require any interpretation. For those of us who read it now, it is plain who and what Judas was. But for the authors of the Gospels, at this point in the narrative, they just assumed Judas was going grocery shopping.
At this point they could not know who Judas was, for they would have tried to stop him. But as he was ordained to betray the Christ, he was allowed to “Do what you’re going to do.”
Add to their sorrow, their arguing, their lostness—wrong assumptions.
One Thing: PRAY FOR WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING (James 1:5; Proverbs 3:5-6).
Let’s move on to Lesson 3: Covenant of Grace; if you missed Lesson 1: Hands of Humility you can go back and read it now.
