that I am he. 285 SECT. clxx. John He tells them, One at the table with him would betray him. pass, ye may believe mission upon that account, that, on the contrary, you may more firmly believe that I am [he], that I told you I was even the true Messiah. 20 Verily, Verily, And, whatsoever therefore I shall suffer, let not xIII. 20. I say unto you, He that receiveth whom your zeal to carry on my cause be lessened, but soever I send, receiv- stedfastly persist in your adherence to it, with a eth me, and he that firm persuasion that I will support you in it; for receiveth me, receiv- in this view I look upon your interest as my eth him that sent me. devil having now put rit, and [MARK, as own, and as I formerly declared (Mat. x. 40. 21 When Jesus had [LUXF, and behold, me on 22 Then the disciples [were exceed ing sorrowful, and] Then the disciples were exceedingly grieved to 22 hear of his being betrayed at all, and much more looked one on ano- to be told that it should be by one of their own ther, number, while, no one being singled out from the rest, the suspicion lay in common among them; and they looked stedfastly on each other for d The devil having already put it into the heart of Judas, &c.] That Satan entered into Judas before he went to the chief priests, and agreed to betray his Master to them, had been observed before, Luke Nn 2 some xxii. 3. p. 270; and that this clause of 286 John He points out Judas as the man by giving him a sop. themselves, SECT. Some time in silence, doubting of whom he spake, ther, doubting of whom clxx. and studious to observe in whose countenance he spake: [LUKE, and they might read any peculiar confusion, which among they began to inquire XIII.22. might look like an indication of guilt: and, which of them it was as they none of them knew where to fix it, but that should do this the vile wretch himself, they began to inquire every one of them to thing;] and [began among themselves, which of them it could be that say unto him [MARK, was about to do this thing; and, earnestly de- one by one], Lord, is sirous to be freed from the suspicion of such hei- 22. MARK XIV, 19. it I] [MAT. XXVI. nous wickedness, they applied themselves to LUKE XXII. 25.] Christ, and began every one of them to say to him, one by one, Lord, is it I that am this guilty creature? Thou knowest that my very heart abhors the thought, and I hope I shall never be capable of entertaining it. 23 ra 23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' boples whom Jesus loved. sou, one of his disci 24 Simon Peter there fore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. Now one of his disciples, namely John, whom Jesus loved with a peculiar tenderness, and honoured with the most intimate friendship, sat next him at the table, on his right-hand; and, as they were all in a reclining posture, each of them resting on his left elbow, so in the place where John was seated he was leaning on the bosom of 21 Jesus. And as the question was almost gone round, and Jesus made no answer to it, but ther seemed to be swallowed up in mournful contemplation, Simon Peter therefore looked upon John, and beckoned to him with a motion of his head, by which he intimated his desire that he should privately ask him who it might be of whom 25 he spake. IIe then, lying down closer on the breast of Jesus, that he might put the question without him, Lord, who is it? being heard by the rest of the company, secretly whispered and said to him, Lord, who is it? 26 And Jesus answered him with a low voice, It is he to whom I shall give this sop, when I have dip. He it is to whom I ped it. And when he had dipped the sop in a thick I have dipped it. And kind of sauce made of dates, raisins, and other when he had dipped ingredients beaten together, and properly dilu. the sop, he gave it to ted, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, [the son of Si- Judas Iscariot, the son mon, putting it towards that part of the dish which e To say to him, one by one, Lord, is it I?] I look on this as a strong proof that the facts mentioned John xiii. 23-26. did not happen a night or two before; for if Christ had then privately marked out Judas to John and Peter as the traitor, the information must surely have reached the rest of the company by this time. f Beckoned to him with a motion of his head.] This is certainly the import of the word y, which might more exactly be rendered nodded. was 25 He then lying on Jesus' breast, saith unto 26 Jesus answered, shall give a sop, when of Simon. g In a thick kind of sauce made of dates, &c.] The Jews still retain such a sauce, which they call charoseth, made of such kind of ingredients, about the consistence of mortar, to represent the clay in which their forefathers wrought while they were under bondage to the Egyptians. See Buxt. Synag. Jud. cap. 18, and the Religious Ceremonies of all Nations, Vol. I. p. 215. He Ile afterwards reveals the traitor to them all. MAT. XXVI. 23. And he answered and said [unto them, It is one of the twelve,] dish, the same shall betray me. [MARK XIV. 20.] but wo unto that man 287 clxx. Mat. was nearest him, and directing it towards him. SECT. Upon which Judas put forth his hand to take it; and while he was just in this posture, others continuing the same question to Jesus, he answered XXVI. He that dippeth his end said to them, [It is] one of the twelve [even] 23 hand with me in the he that now dippeth his hand with me in the dish this very person shall betray me. And let 24 him not vainly hope that I shall exert my mira24 The Son of man culous power to rescue myself from the hands of [indeed] goeth as it is written [LUKE, and mine enemies, after he has delivered me to them determined of him and secured to himself the wages of unrighteousby whom the Son of ness; for the Son of man, great and powerful as man is betrayed: it he will finally appear, is indeed going to sufferhad been good for that ings and death, as it is written in the scriptures, man, if he had not [and] determined in the Divine counsels, conbeen born. [MARK XIV. 21. LUKE XXII. cerning him but as those prophecies and counsels have no influence to destroy the free agency of the persons concerned in his death, so there will be a most terrible wo to that man by whom the Son of man is so perfidiously betrayed, and who presumes to set a price on his royal and sacred blood: it had been well for that man if he had never been born; for a speedy and most dreadful vengeance awaits him, which will 22.] He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish.] Some very ingenious persons imagine that Christ by this phrase only declares it was one who sat on the same side of the table with him, and so eat out of the same dish; and, if it were so, there might seem a gradation in the discovery not observable on any other interpretation. But (not to insist upon it) that the lamb, which was to be roasted whole, Exod. xii. 9. was also to be served up in one dish, I cannot but conclude that, if this had been our Lord's meaning, on his saying here (as Mark relates it,) in the same breath, as in Tow didina one of the twelve, he would have added εις εκ των εμβαπλομένων one of those that dip rather than balon, which plainly signifies the very person that dippeth. The Son of man is indeed going.] As we often in common speech, say a person is going or gone, to intimate that he is dying or dead so Elsner shews (Observ. Vol. I. p. 119.) that the word aayu has the ambiguity. Compare Josh. xxiii. 14. and Psal. Xxxix. 13. The repetition of that title of the Son of man, which is twice used here in the same verse, has a peculiar energy and dignity, not commonly observed. As it is determined.] As this passage is not liable to the ambiguities which some have apprehended in Acts ii. 23. and iv. 28. (which yet seem, on the whole, to be parallel to it in their most natural construc- 288 Judas is told, that what he did he should do quickly. SECT. will make the immortality of his being his everlasting curse. clxx. Mat. Then Judas who was indeed the person that XXVI. betrayed him, answered in some confusion, lest 25 by his silence he should seem to confess his guilt, and said, Master, is it I that shall do this thing, and to whom thou referrest in these severe words? And he said to him, Thou hast said [right; thou art the very person, and I will conceal it no longer1. John 25 Then Judas which betrayed him, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. answered and said, JOHN XIII. 27. And after he was thus expressly marked out, And after the sop, SaXIII. 27. not only by the sop which Jesus gave him ", but tan entered into him. also by the answer which he had returned to his Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. question, Satan entered into him with greater violence, and stirred up in his bosom such indignation and rage at the disgrace he had met with, that he could bear the place no longer; but prepared abruptly to leave it before the table was dismissed, Then Jesus said to him, What you are going to do, do quickly; farther intimating to him his perfect knowledge of the appointment he had made with the chief priests and elders, and admonishing him, as it were, not to lose the opportunity by over-staying his 28 time. But the reference being thus particular to what none of the company but himself was privy to, no man at the table knew what was his meaning, or for what purpose he spake this to him. For some [of them,] thought because Judas had the keeping of the common purse, on which they were to subsist during their stay at Jerusalem, that it was as if Jesus had said to him, Take the first opportunity to buy those sacrifi- have need of against ces, and other things, which we shall need for should give something the feast to-morrow and on the following days"; to the poor. 29 1 Thou hast said right.] This is plainly the import of the original phrase; It is as thou hast spoken. (Sec Mat. xxvi. 63-65. Mark xiv. 61, 62. Luke xxii. 70. John xviii. 37.) Thus, Now you say something, signifies among us, You speak right. m After the sop.] It seems very unnatural to apprehend, with Dr. Reynolds (in his Works, p. 101, 102,) that Judas was encouraged by Christ giving him the sop to hope that Christ would, after all, provide for his own safety, and admit him into favour again. Christ's words above expressly cut off all such hope; and I believe every reader will judge the common account given of the connection much more probable. n Which we shall need for the feast.] This or 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we the feast; or that he is one of the passages which has led Grotius and other considerable critics to conclude that our Lord kept the passover at least one day sooner than the rest of the Jews. The controversy is too large to be critically discussed here: I content myself with referring to Dr. Whitby's excellent Dissertation on the subject (in his Appendix to Mark xiv.) only observing, that the supposition of Christ's anticipating the day appointed by the law, is so improbable, that I think it more reasonable to suppose that the word feast, or passover, may signify the offerings at tending the whole feast, and particularly those presented on the first day of unleaven ed bread which is certainly the sense of the word elsewhere. (See Deut, xvi. 2. and Reflections on the hardness of the traitor's heart. 30 He then hav ing received the sop, went immediately out; and it was night. 289 clxx. or that perhaps he intended he should give SECT. But he was capable of committing the crime, 30 IMPROVEMENT. WHO would not gladly continue with Christ in the strictest Luke fidelity, amidst all the trials which can arise, when he observes xxii. 23. how liberally he repays his servants, and how graciously he seems to relish his own honours the more, in proportion to the degree in which those honours are shared with them; appointing them a glorious kingdom, and erecting thrones for each of them? 29, 30 And surely, though the apostles of the Lamb are to have their peculiar dignity in the great day of his triumph, there is a sense in which he will perform to every one that overcometh, that yet more condescending promise, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne. (Rev. iii. 21.) Let our souls in that confidence be strengthened to all the labours and sufferings to which he may call us forth. It is a melancholy reflection, that there should be any one in this select company, to whom this endearing promise did not belong; especially one who, having eaten of Christ's bread, should in such a sense and degree as Judas, lift up his heel against him. Deliver and 2 Chron. xxxv. 7-9.) And if this be admitted, it will obviate the most plausible argument for Grotius' opinion, which is that taken from John xviii. 28. Others grounded on John xiii. 1, 2. xix. John xiii. 18. |