13:18
Jesus now quotes from Psalm 41:9, talking about Judas. In verse 17 He has just pronounced a blessing on them, if they follow His example, but He knows it does not apply to all of them. One will betray Him. Jesus knew the disciples He had chosen, He also knew that Judas would betray Him.
“He who shared my bread ...” Hospitality was extremely important in middle eastern culture and to betray someone who had shown you hospitality was a particularly heinous thing to do.
Now we need to appreciate that there are two things that are true here. Jesus always knew what Judas would do, He chose Judas as a disciple knowing what He would do. The betrayal did not come as a surprise. At the same time the betrayal of Judas was real, it was real in the heart of Judas, in the sin he committed, and it was real in the pain it caused Jesus. The sovereignty of God, His foreknowledge, His decree, does not mean that the decisions we make, the attitudes of our heart, the actions we take are not real.
13:19
Jesus was not telling His disciples this so that they could comfort Him in His anguish, but for their benefit, so that later on they would understand and believe. “When it does happen ...” Clearly immediately after it happened they did not believe, rather they were in despair. After the cross the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were downcast. But after Jesus revealed Himself the disciples did begin to understand and believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment