b) The application of the curse (v. 24c)
“It had been good for that man if he had not been born. ”
It would have been better to have never been born than to endure what Judas would endure–existence in eternal hell. The degrees of punishment in hell are related to one’s level of rejection: the more truth you understand and reject, the greater one’s punishment in hell. Therefore, the severest damnation in hell is reserved for Judas who, in the words of Hebrews 10:29, had “trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing. ” Judas rejected the very One he had lived with for three years.
Judas made his own choices, and they were the source of his own damnation. Yet the choices fit perfectly into the sovereign plan of God. God controls not only the good, but also the evil of man to accomplish His own ends. Jesus doesn’t identify the betrayer in Matthew 26:24; He just pronounces damnation on him. However, I believe He also gave Judas ample opportunity for salvation and repentance.
D. Signifying the Traitor (v. 25)
1. Masquerading the truth (v. 25a)
“Then Judas, who betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I?”
Judas had to say that. If he had said nothing, he would have been unmasked. He had to play the game. Everyone else asked Jesus that question, so he had to say it. He continued to masquerade his hypocrisy as if he could hide anything from Christ. He called Jesus ha didaskalos, which means “master” or “teacher”–an aspect of Christ’s life he was no more committed to than any other. All he wanted was money and glory.
2. Confirming the truth (v. 25b)
“[Jesus] said unto him, Thou hast said. ”
a) A special proof
John 13:24 tells us that at that particular moment Peter leaned over to John, who was on the right side of Jesus, and told John to ask the Lord who the betrayer was. Apparently Peter didn’t hear the discussion of Matthew 26:25 between Judas and Jesus. So John said, “Lord, Who is it? Jesus answered, He it is to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot” (John 13:25-26). At that point John knew who the betrayer was while the rest did not.
b) A satanic possession
John 13:27 reveals the most frightful thing that ever happened in the life of Judas: “After the sop Satan entered into [Judas]. ” The devil himself entered Judas, who had just become a supreme agent of the fallen angel Lucifer in working against Jesus Christ. Although anyone who rejects Christ becomes a victim of Satan in that they unknowingly serve him (cf. Acts 26:18), Judas became a victim in the unique sense that he was indwelt by the devil himself.
In John 13:27 Jesus tells him, “What thou doest, do quickly. ” Verses 28-29 say, “Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spoke this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of for the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. ” Jesus got rid of Judas before they actually ate the meal because he was to have no part in the Lord’s Table.
Why was this celebration of the Passover the final one? Passover was the oldest Jewish institution, with the exception of the Sabbath. For nearly 1500 years the Jewish people had celebrated Passover. God instituted Passover before the Aaronic priesthood, before the Levitical rituals, and before the giving of the Mosaic Law. But this Passover was the last divinely sanctioned Passover. Any Passover celebrated after this one is not authorized by God. It is a remnant of a covenant that has been replaced. Jesus celebrated this Passover to bring it to its end and began a new memorial feast. This new feast is not of the Old Covenant, but of the New. It was not initiated by the sacrifice of a lamb in Egypt, but by the Lamb of God on Calvary. So Jesus ended the old before He began the new.
II. ESTABLISHING THE FUTURE PROVISION (vv. 26-30)
After having drawn the curtain on the Passover, Christ instituted the new feast. I want you to see three things: the directives, the doctrine, and the duration.
A. The Directives (vv. 26a-b, 27)
1. Sharing the bread (v. 26)
“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it [gave thanks], and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat”
We don’t know exactly at what point the breaking of the bread took place, but the phrase “as they were eating” tells us it could have happen just prior to eating the roasted Passover lamb or concurrently with it. Implied in Jesus’ blessing (the direct object it does not appear in the Greek text) is His thanking God for the provision of bread (cf. 1 Tim. 4:4) and for the provision of His delivering power.
Jesus broke the bread because it came in large flat pieces, which had to be broken to be distributed. There’s no symbolism intended in the breaking although some refer to the Authorized Version’s mention of Christ’s broken body (1 Cor. 11:24; [sc]KJV). However, His body was not broken. John 19:36 says that Christ’s crucifixion fulfilled Scripture concerning the Messiah: “A bone of him shall not be broken. ”
2. Sharing the cup (v. 27)
“He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it”
The Greek word translated “gave thanks” is euchariste[ma]o, from which we get the word eucharist, meaning “to give thanks” or “to bless. ” This was the third cup of the Passover, which was called “the cup of blessing. ” In 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” In 1 Corinthians 10:21 Paul calls it “the cup of the Lord. ” So the cup of blessing in the Passover became the cup of the Lord in this new celebration.
Mark 14:23 tells us that all eleven disciples shared the cup. Similarly, all of us who come to the Lord’s Table are participants. For many years in the Roman Catholic Church only the priest drank from the cup. That’s foreign to the intent of Scripture. All of us participate in the death and resurrection of Christ, and all of us are partakers of His table.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
