John 13:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

After this He reclined again, and then gave the morsel of bread to His betrayer. Thus the supper had not yet ended while bread remained on the table.

Therefore "supper being prepared" is said in the sense that it had already been made ready and had reached the point when the fellow guests were eating at table.

As for the evangelist's words, "when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Simon's son, Iscariot," if you ask what was put into Judas's heart, it was, of course, to betray Him.

This "putting" is a spiritual suggestion. It enters not through the ears, but through thoughts, and therefore not bodily, but spiritually.

For what is spiritual should not always be understood in a praiseworthy sense. The Apostle knew certain spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, against which, as he testifies, we must struggle; cf. Eph 6:12.

There would be no wicked spiritual forces if there were no evil spirits. They received the name "spiritual" (spiritalia) from the word "spirit" (a spiritu).

But how does it happen that diabolical suggestions are put into the heart and mingled with human thoughts, so that a man considers them as though they were his own?

How does man know this? There is no doubt that good suggestions also come secretly and spiritually from a good spirit.

Everything depends on which of them the human mind consents to, whether it is justly left without divine help or is sustained by it through grace.

Through the devil's prompting, it had already entered Judas's heart that the disciple should betray the Teacher, in whom he had not recognized God.

Such a man had already come to the table: a spy against the Shepherd, a plotter against the Savior, a seller of the Redeemer.

Such a man had come. Jesus saw what he was and endured him. Judas thought himself undiscovered, for he was deceived concerning the One whom he wished to deceive.

But He, having exposed him within his heart, knowingly made use of him while Judas himself was unaware.

Thus the evangelist says that Jesus Christ knew He was the Almighty, the Son of God, and that He had the same power as dignity.

Yet He descended to the lowest degree of abasement. By this He showed, on the one hand, His love for the disciples, and on the other, He taught them humility of mind.

Undoubtedly, he joined the company of the disciples without any initial intention of betraying Jesus. He did so with as sincere a disposition as the other Apostles.

Certainly the Lord also saw in him one capable of becoming worthy of an Apostle. Otherwise He would not have admitted him to close communion with Himself, nor dealt with him as with the other Apostles.

This still does not exclude the possibility that there were bad traits in Judas's character, just as there were good ones. Undoubtedly the Lord saw these seeds of evil as much as the beginnings of good.

Only the struggle of evil with good had not yet been decided. It was possible to hope that the good would prevail over the evil.

The question is this: what was the dominant evil disposition in Judas from which the betrayal flowed? Seeking historical indications for resolving this question, one naturally turns first of all to love of money.

The Evangelist John notes that Judas kept the money box, in which the small fund of the Lord's disciples was stored. He also notes that Judas was not faithful in fulfilling his duty, but secretly used the money for his own enrichment.

This observation agrees well with the circumstance that, according to the unanimous testimony of the first three Evangelists, Judas agreed to betray his Teacher to the Sanhedrin for a certain sum.

On the basis of such reasoning, we might conclude that this greed for gain had grown in him to such an extent that, to satisfy it, he was not frightened by such a crime.

But it is difficult to agree with this supposition. If love of gain had so prevailed over everything in Judas, it seems incredible that the Lord would have accepted such a man among His disciples.

He penetrated so deeply into the hidden feelings of each person and knew how to use each for that in which he could be most useful. How, then, did He admit such a man to manage the purse?

If Judas betrayed his Teacher to the Jews solely from love of money, it is difficult to explain why he was satisfied with such a small sum as thirty shekels, or pieces of silver.

One may think that the Sanhedrin, intending to seize the One they desired before the beginning of Pascha, would not have begrudged a larger sum if Judas had demanded it.

Unless we suppose that the Sanhedrin was stingy because it had other means in mind to seize the Lord, and would not agree to give Judas more.

Or perhaps it counted on the character of the Lord's own actions, expecting that He would not use any gathering of the people for His defense.

However it may be, so insignificant a sum could not have been the sole motive of Judas's action. Whether the sum was small or great, one must admit something in any case.

A man who enjoyed closeness to his Teacher and for at least some time considered Him the Messiah must already have been in a different inward relation to Him than before, or than the other disciples were.

Thus it may be that love of money was not the chief motive of the betrayal.

And did Judas truly foresee the outcome of the matter? His unnatural death, his laying hands upon himself when he saw that Jesus had been condemned to death, seems to justify the conclusion that Judas had not expected this.

There is a supposition that Judas intended to hasten the course of events. By placing Jesus in a dangerous position, he thought to force Him to declare Himself immediately as King-Messiah.

Or he hoped to force Him to use divine power for triumph over every obstacle. Therefore, when the matter took an entirely different turn, Judas saw that the One to Whom his heart had once been devoted was condemned.

Then he fell into such despair. Such a mode of action cannot but be called criminal. The end does not sanctify immoral means. And is it possible to treat the works of God in such a way?

What should we think of this supposition? If Judas had followed such views, even though unlawful, the Lord Himself certainly would not have allowed him to be carried away by such a dream into blindness.

Again, if we admit this supposition, we cannot agree that the Lord, noticing Judas's intention to leave the supper, would have spoken to him the words given by the Evangelist.

They would have been taken directly as approval: "What you do, do quickly."

It seems necessary to admit that Judas, like the other Apostles, came to the Lord with earthly views and sensual hopes. But then, having soon become disillusioned with them, he grew generally cold toward the cause that had first carried him away.

A year before His death, after the well-known discourse in the synagogue of Capernaum, when many left Him, the Lord remarked to the disciples that even among them there was a devil, meaning Judas.

To Peter also it was said: "Get behind Me, Satan. You are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men" (Mt 16:2-3). Yet Peter's heart easily inclined to repentance.

Judas's heart, however, was hard. Having separated himself from Jesus's company, and being tied to it only by earthly interests, Judas had long since ceased to be His disciple.

He was merely waiting for an occasion to depart from Him in some plausible manner. The Lord tolerated him with Himself partly in order to act upon his soul.

He also tolerated him because He foresaw His own fate as bound up with his person: "For Jesus knew from the beginning who it was that would betray Him" (Jn 6:64).

It remains to consider the events of the final period of the Lord's ministry. From the time when the raising of Lazarus began to attract the people's attention, the Sanhedrin's intention to destroy Jesus became settled.

They had not yet agreed only on how to carry this out. They wanted to determine this according to circumstances. At that time it was still unknown whether He would come to Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, contrary to the Sanhedrin's expectation, Jesus not only appeared publicly in Jerusalem, in the sight of enemies threatening Him with death, but entered it with a solemnity He had never shown before.

The ruling party of the Pharisees already regretted allowing the matter to go so far. "Look," the Pharisees said among themselves, "all your consultations lead to nothing. The whole people has attached itself to Him. What remains to be done now?" (Jn 12:19).

They began to consider how to take Jesus by craft and kill Him (Mt 26:4). It is unknown whether by the hand of a secret betrayer, of whom there were many at that time.

Or perhaps the plan had already been formed to seize Him by craft into their hands, and to deliver Him to a shameful death under a legal pretext.

But this much had already been decided: it was to be carried out not on the feast itself, but either after the feast or before it.

The latter was more pleasing and was chosen by all when one of the Lord's own disciples, Judas Iscariot, offered them his services (Mt 26:14-16; Lk 22:3-6).

They agreed with him on the price, and he promised to betray his Teacher and Lord to them.

Therefore he only briefly indicates the disciples’ dispute about precedence as the occasion for this teaching. He does not explain in detail how this dispute began, nor does he recount the washing of the feet.

John turns his chief attention to this: in the washing of the disciples’ feet, beyond a lesson in humility, the supreme manifestation of Jesus Christ’s love for “His own” took place. They were to remain in the world after Him.

Among His disciples there was an enemy-disciple, who had already resolved in his heart to betray his Lord. At the same time, He was fully conscious of His divine authority and dignity.

Yet, wishing to teach the disciples by His own example self-denying love and humility, He takes upon Himself the office of a servant. He washes His disciples’ feet, not excluding even His betrayer, and thereby shows His love for them to the end (1-3).

The reading γενομενου favors this supposition even more.

"But what will you give me for such a service?" Judas asked. They rejoiced and offered him thirty pieces of silver (Mt 26:15).

How could they not rejoice at the voluntary appearance of such an ally? Judas knew all the secret places where Jesus withdrew at night.

Moreover, the very fact that one of His twelve disciples had risen against Jesus could shake the people's faith in Him, even as a Prophet.

Judas did not haggle, probably hoping to receive additional payment when he fulfilled what he had promised.

The Sanhedrin itself would have been ready to pay much more for such a service. Yet it appointed only thirty shekels because by this price it wished to humiliate Jesus.

According to the law of Moses, that sum was appointed as compensation for a slave accidentally killed.

Having finished the negotiations, Judas departed. From then on all his cares consisted in skillfully carrying out this profitable and important affair: from that time he sought a convenient opportunity to betray Him.

All this took place on the Tuesday before Passover.

The preparation of the Passover for Jesus and the apostles: the apostles Peter and John asked Jesus, "Where do You wish to eat the Passover? Tell us, and we shall go there and prepare" (Mk 14:12).

Immersed in thoughts of His approaching death, Jesus, as though not hearing them, said, "Yes, go and prepare the Passover for us to eat" (Lk 22:8).

Then they asked Him again, "Where do You command us to prepare it?" (Lk 22:9). Where was the Passover to be prepared for Christ, who had nowhere to lay His head?

Was it not all the same where? "Go," He said to them, "into the city," of course Jerusalem. "At its entrance you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water.

Follow him, and when he enters the house, ask him in My name: Where is the room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?

He will show you a large upper room, furnished with carpets and fully ready for this. Prepare it there."

Peter and John went to Jerusalem and met the man with the pitcher at the entrance. They told him what Jesus had commanded them.

In the room he showed them, they prepared everything required by the law of Moses. Then they went to tell Jesus, probably in Bethany.

When evening came, Jesus came with the twelve apostles to Jerusalem. He went to the room prepared for them, and when the time came, He reclined with them at table. But soon He arose.

Then he decided simply to betray his Teacher to His enemies, hoping that at least by this he would earn something and compensate himself for his deceived expectation.

Greed was his second nature. He had long been satisfying it from the common treasury of the apostles, entrusted by them to his care.

This passion had now taken possession of him so greatly that he did not restrain its expression before the disciples, who plainly saw that he was "a thief."

When, at the supper in Simon's house, he received a rebuke from the Savior for his deceitful remark about Mary's noble deed, this finally embittered him.

Satan entered into him, and he resolved to become a betrayer. Now, in the dead of night, he crept into Jerusalem and appeared before the Sanhedrin.

The high conspirators needed only this. When Judas asked from them, for his service, a sum large for himself but insignificant for them, thirty pieces of silver, the bargain was ready.

The agreement was concluded. The Sanhedrin dispersed with the sense of success in its planned affair.

Judas, calling on all the powers of Hades for aid, began to consider how he might attain his goal.

The Lord celebrated the Passover one day earlier because on the lawful day of the paschal supper He, as the true paschal lamb, had to be sacrificed on the Cross, and was so sacrificed.

Custom allowed the Passover to be eaten earlier than the time appointed by law, especially by those who had come to Jerusalem from Galilee. The Lord made use of this custom.

Here too, as elsewhere, the evangelist supplements the accounts of the first three evangelists and omits what they had already described.

He says nothing either about the eating of the paschal lamb at this supper or about the institution of the mystery of the Eucharist. These were already known to his readers from the first Gospels.

He describes only the event omitted by them: the Lord's washing of the disciples' feet and the discourse explaining this action of His.

"When the devil had already put it," and so forth: the first two evangelists relate that on the eve of this day, Wednesday evening, after the supper in Bethany, where the Lord had been anointed by the sinful woman, Judas arranged with the members of the Sanhedrin to betray the Lord to them.

See Mt 26:6-14 and following, with notes; Mk 14:3-10 and following; cf. Lk 22:1-6 and note.

Therefore the agreement of betrayal had already been made. This is what the evangelist means by the words, "the devil had already put into the heart of Judas to betray Him"; cf. Lk 22:3 and Jn 13:27.