After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, ”Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, ”Ask him which one he means.”
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, ”Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered, ”It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, ”What you are about to do, do quickly.”
In today’s passage, we see Jesus “troubled in spirit.” Have you ever been there? The problem with being Jesus is that he knows what the trouble is about. He knows what is going to happen, and he knows who is going to betray him. Because of these things he is troubled.
In our world, we are often troubled about things we do not understand. We are not God so we cannot “know” what will happen in the future. (We might believe we know what will happen, but that is not the same kind of knowing that God is privy to.) Maybe it is a feeling of foreboding. Perhaps it is someone else that you know who is in trouble, and that troubles you. What are you going to do?
In Jesus’ case, he meets trouble head-on. “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
BOOM! There it is. Right out in front of everyone.
Of course, everyone but Judas is now troubled. (Judas might have been troubled for other reasons.) Who is the traitor?
Here the disciples display a directness like their master. Peter says to John, “Ask him which one he means.”
Jesus answers without speaking the name of his traitor. Instead, he gives him a piece of bread and says, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”
A cloud has fallen over the disciples and their Lord. A cloud of trouble. Jesus seems to be talking crazy talk and even though he tells the disciples what is going on, they still don’t have a clue.
Let’s Discuss: In your Christian life, how do you confront trouble?
Too often I fret or worry or become anxious or try to fix the problem through my own effort and ingenuity. When I am thinking correctly, I pray and trust, knowing the difference between what I can do and what is out of my control and in God’s hands.