John 13:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

NIV: The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

NASB: And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

CSB: Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot's son, to betray him.

NLT: It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

KJV: And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;

NKJV: And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,

"Supper," in this case, is a private meal between Jesus and His closest followers. Most likely, this was only the Twelve (Matthew 10:2), but Scripture never gives a list of those who are present. It's possible—but not certain—that other followers such as Jesus' mother or Mary Magdalene might have been watching these events. Details of this last supper are expanded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John chooses to provide details missing in those accounts, filling in his own eyewitness memories.

At this point, none of the disciples know that Judas is a traitor. Judas has already arranged with local religious leaders to arrest Jesus in private, in exchange for money. None of this is a surprise to Jesus, of course, who has always been submissive to the will and timetable of God the Father (Mark 14:36; John 7:6; 12:27). These first three verses, in fact, emphasize His knowledge of all that's happening.

The prior verse referred to Jesus' love, especially for believers. A potent expression of that love, shown here, is the grace Jesus shows toward someone who is not only a non-believer, but a betrayer and liar, as well. Judas is present when Jesus washes the feet of the disciples (John 13:5). He shares at least some of the food from this meal with Jesus (John 13:21, 26). When dismissing Judas to complete his betrayal (John 13:27), Jesus is subtle and kind (John 13:28–29). Even to a vile enemy, Jesus shows compassion.

John 13:1–11 begins the ''private'' phase of John's gospel, as Jesus meets with the disciples for a Passover meal. As usual, John skips details covered in other Gospels in order to add his own memories. Jesus performs the task of a lowly servant: washing others' feet. Jesus reassures everyone that this task will make more sense later. Peter is offended by his master acting like a slave, but Jesus responds that washing is necessary for those who follow Him—and not all of those present are clean. That subtly points to Judas, who has already made plans to betray Jesus. A ''full-body'' washing only needs to happen once, while ''foot washing'' needs to be done more frequently. This helps explain the difference between once-for-all salvation, and routine confession of sin.

Jesus meets with a smaller group, possibly only the twelve disciples, in a private setting. Before eating a meal, Jesus performs the work of a lowly servant, washing the feet of the disciples. He explains that this is an object lesson. Their Lord is willing to serve in humility, so they are obligated to do the same. Jesus also predicts His impending betrayal, subtly telling Judas to leave and complete His conspiracy. The disciples don't realize what's happened, however. Peter foolishly brags about his loyalty. Jesus responds with a cutting prediction: Peter will deny his relationship to Christ three times in the next few hours.

The first twelve chapters of the gospel of John describe the public ministry of Jesus. Starting in chapter 13, most of what John describes are the last private moments Jesus enjoys prior to His crucifixion. This begins with Jesus washing the disciples' feet, establishing both an example and a command for humble service. Jesus also predicts His impending betrayal and Peter's cowardly denials. Following chapters contain Jesus' last instructions to the disciples, including a rich collection of truths which are central to the Christian faith.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.