John 13:26 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, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
Judas, son of Simon the Pharisee, is a real study in zealous miscalculation.
Jesus was the real deal, he knew that for sure, or he would not have hitched his wagon to that star. He had been witness to his daddy's healing from leprosy and to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. When scores of people turned away from Jesus, Lazarus was among those who stuck with him, saying, "Where else can we go, you have the words of life?"
But Judas had his vices. He was all about sedition, but was short on devotion. He was more bent on finances than on fellowship. He was definitely attitudinally challenged. As it began to dawn on him that Jesus was concerned about a spiritual kingdom of the heart rather than a revived Jewish monarchy, he switched horses in the middle of the river. Barabbas began to be appealing to him while Jesus became appalling.
Once he got wind that money was being offered by the chief priests for the treacherous act of turning the Healer in, he saw an opportunity to do a little fundraising for the next anarchist he could get behind. And so, he went to the dark side.
The omniscient Savior knew what Judas was up to on his little sorties away from the group. The Lord let on to the band that He was about to be betrayed. Those sitting close by wanted to be clued in to who it might be. He gave this hint, when I break off a piece of bread and dip it in the gravy, the one I hand it to, he's the culprit.
As sin and death passed upon all men the moment Adam ate the forbidden fruit, so Satan fell upon Judas the moment he tasted the pan y salsa (pain au jus if you prefer the French). The sap ate the sop. There would be heck to pay for that last bite.
Crazy thing though. Every one of the disciples had their shortcomings. Looking around the table, each considered himself the likely candidate to fail the Lord. "Is it I?" they all questioned. Not a one of them had a clue it was the treasurer and the most zealous of all of them.
That same night as Judas betrayed Jesus, Peter would deny Him and James, Matthew and Jude would flee into the night to save their own necks. John was the only one who bothered to even try to stay faithful over the next 72 hours. Really, there were several saps that soaked the sop that night.
Hind sight! I can look back at that instance and swear my allegiance to the Lord, but, had I been there that night, I wonder how I would have fared and if I would been just another sap falling in to Satan's trap.
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