NOTES for Joh 13:21-30

Christ announced that one of His disciples would betray Him, and everyone began to worry about who it could be. And while the other evangelists note the humble self-questioning of the disciples, who asked, ‘Is it I?’ (Mark 14:19), John draws attention to the fact that at these words the disciples looked at one another. There is no contradiction here: the response to such an announcement cannot help having these two sides. Yet while a self-critical look at oneself and one's possible weaknesses may prove fruitful, suspicion and self-exaltation on the principle ‘anyone but me’ are unlikely to do so, as Peter was about to discover.

Many believe that the morsel handed to Judas was the Bread of Christ's Body, but all the disciples received this Bread, so it is unclear why it should have singled out the betrayer. John notes, however, that Jesus gave Judas bread after dipping the morsel, and from the way the table was laid in antiquity we know that bread was dipped in a salt solution. (Incidentally, the Slavonic translation explicitly mentions the ‘salt dish’ here.) Salt was a symbol of faithfulness; sharing it meant entering into an indissoluble covenant of friendship. Thus, by holding out the morsel, Christ offered Judas the renewal of their friendship and an opportunity to abandon his plan of betrayal.

Judas could have refused the bread and salt, but he accepted them without abandoning his plan: in other words, he immediately broke his oath. That is why after the morsel Satan entered into him: Satan had previously suggested the plan, but had not yet taken complete possession of Judas's heart. Rejecting the last chance of reconciliation, Judas goes out into the night. And this is not only the physical night, but also the triumph of the darkness he now carries within him.