John Chapter 13:18-38

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The Gospel Of John Chapter 13:18-38

John 13:18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’” “I do not speak of all of you”-Which implies that Judas ‘knew’ these things, but chose not to do them (13:17). ‘Judas should have pondered this statement. He should have taken to heart the clear implication. The saying serves to fix the responsibility for his act entirely on himself.’ (Hendriksen p. 238)

“I know the ones I have chosen”-No predestination here. Judas had been chosen to be an apostle (Luke 6:13-16). God had given Judas the best opportunity in the world to change his heart, three years of constant company with the Son of God! See also Acts 1:16-18. But Jesus did know the character of the men at the table that night, and Jesus knew that Judas had made the choice to follow Satan instead of God. See John 1:42,47; 2:24-25. We should note that it would appear that Judas was a true believer when Jesus chose Him, but at some later time changed.

“He who eats My bread”-This quotation is from Psalm 41:9. Here is one more attempt on the part of Jesus to penetrate the hardened heart of Judas and bring him to repentance. The background of the Psalm is when David found himself betrayed by Ahitophel. ‘This man, who stood so high in the king’s confidence, turned traitor to him, threw in his lot with the rebel Absalom, and evolved a scheme that would indeed have crushed David utterly (2 Samuel 16:15-17:4)….What at one time happened to David is now again happening to David’s greater Son…Ahitophel is the Old Testament prototype of Judas, even to the extent that after his traitorous act he hanged himself, (2 Samuel 17:23).’ (Lenski p. 933) The ‘eating of bread’ was a sign of close friendship. ‘For one who had eaten bread at someone’s table to turn against the person to whom, by that very act, he had pledged his friendship, was a bitter thing.’ (Barclay p. 166)

“has lifted up his heel against Me”-‘kicks me’ (Beck), ‘a metaphor derived from the lifting up of a horse’s hoof preparatory to kicking…The point of the quotation is that Judas’s action was unnatural. It represented a betrayal not of an acquaintance but of an intimate friend.’ (Morris p. 622) Points To Note:


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John Chapter 13:18-38 by Mark Dunagan - Issuu