MISCONCEPTIONS

“It is the one, to whom I give this piece of bread dipped in the dish.”                    

These words were spoken by Jesus to John, the Beloved, during the Last Supper, after declaring that one of them was to betray Him.                                      “As soon as Judas had received it the devil entered him.” (John, 13: 26, 27)

Here we have two very important points. One mistaken idea is that Judas committed a mortal sin because he received the Body of Christ and then went to seal the betrayal of his Master. To begin with, it’s worth explaining what it meant to be ‘given a piece of bread dipped in the dish’. This is called a ‘sop’. In the Jewish culture when the master, the host presents the ‘sop’, that, would have meant a lot; it meant that the master, or host, preferred the recipient of the ‘sop’ from all the rest. He is looked upon as a guest of honour, someone worthy of  great respect.

So here we understand why Jesus offered the ‘sop’ to Judas. The Master was doing His utmost to show Judas that He still loved him and respected him, that he was still His friend. BUT, Judas had decided his own fate. This ‘sop’ was given before the meal started. So, Jesus had not as yet declared those now famous, memorable  words: “Take and eat, this is my Body.’ Because this was given before the meal. Therefore there was no case of any ‘mortal sin’, though, he had betrayal on his mind.

“The devil entered into him.” Here we have Judas presented with a choice. The greatest God-given gift to every person on earth, is the freedom of ‘choice’. I have the faculty, the right to choose. Jesus offered the ‘sop’ to Judas, and he certainly knew what that meant; it’s like offering your hand in a friendly gesture. Judas had to decide. He decided that he will carry on with his betrayal of Jesus.

Now let’s face facts; man can either be with God or with the devil. No one can befriend God and the devil at the same time. You can be either ‘white’ or ‘black’, there can never be shades of grey. Once Judas decided to ignore, to leave, to betray, to kick out Jesus, in his heart there was a void which must be filled, occupied … and the devil would have never missed such a golden opportunity. According to John: “The devil entered into him.”

We keep reading and John tells us: “It was night.” Well, nowhere in the Gospel do we read when it was day or night, as a forecast of the weather, with the exception of  Christ’s Resurrection. What John was referring to was the state of Judas’ soul, yes he was living his night without any hope that he will see the sun again. We find a beautiful interpretation in the case of Nicodemus when he visited Jesus in the night, but we leave that for now.

You see, writing that statement: “It was the night”, has no relevance, no important meaning, except from a spiritual point of view. The Gospel is not a Weather Report. Peter as well lived his night, but with great effort, he outlived the night, the sun went up again and then he lived his days.

We are all sinners … who has no sin will cast the first stone.  But, are we walking in the footsteps of Judas? Are we living in the night without any prospect of seeing the sunrise again? Or are we moving along the path of Peter, realizing that it is the night, but conscious and willing that we want the see the sun rise again? The choice is ours. We have to decide whom to kick out from the cosy bed of our hearts, either Jesus or Lucifer. They can’t live together. The bottle can be either empty or full. Jesus has given, and is still giving ample proof of His love and Lucifer is constantly giving proof of his hatred towards humanity.