When he had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. 23 One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. 24 So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. 25 He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and [took it and] handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. 27 After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 [Now] none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. 30 So he took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
31 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 [If God is glorified in him,] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. 33 My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. 34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. 35 This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered [him], “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to him, “Master, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”
On Holy Tuesday, the Church sets before us betrayal, weakness, and failure. John shows, however, that none of these overturns the purpose of Jesus.
Jesus says that one of the Twelve will betray him, and John tells us that he is “deeply troubled” (v. 21). This is not confusion or fear, but the real sorrow of the moment. The betrayal comes not from an enemy outside the circle, but from one who has lived with him, listened to him, and eaten at his table. The disciples do not know whom he means (v. 22). Judas has hidden his intentions well and still appears to belong among them.
John then introduces a disciple who is especially close to Jesus, “the one whom Jesus loved” (v. 23). He is in a position to ask the question Peter wants answered: “Master, who is it?” (vv. 24-25). The Gospel sets before us two different responses within the same room. One disciple leans toward Jesus in trust. Another moves away from him into darkness.
Jesus identifies the betrayer by giving him the morsel (v. 26). In this setting, the gesture is not cold exposure but a sign of closeness and friendship. It is a final act of generosity from Jesus toward Judas. Even now, Judas is not treated with hatred. He is given something good from the hand of Christ. Judas takes the morsel, and then John says, “Satan entered him” (v. 27). This does not mean Judas had no responsibility. It means that he now yields himself fully to the evil he has already been entertaining.
Jesus then says, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (v. 27). Judas is acting wickedly, but Jesus is not helpless before him. He knows what is coming and goes knowingly toward the hour of his Passion. The other disciples still do not understand what is happening (vv. 28-29). Some think Judas is being sent to buy what is needed for the feast or to give something to the poor.
John then adds, “And it was night” (v. 30). It was night in the ordinary sense, but John means more than that. Judas goes out from the presence of Jesus, the light of the world (Jn. 8:12), into the darkness he has chosen. The night is the darkness of sin, betrayal, and the beginning of the Passion. Holy Tuesday sets before us the reality of evil, betrayal, and human failure. But the darkness does not master Jesus.
As soon as Judas leaves, Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (v. 31). In John’s Gospel, the glory of Jesus is revealed precisely as he goes to the Cross. His suffering is not outside his mission. It is the place where his obedience, love, and union with the Father are made visible. Earlier Jesus had said that when he is “lifted up,” he will draw everyone to himself (Jn. 12:32). Here John shows that the road to the Cross is already the road to glory (vv. 31-32).
Jesus then says to the disciples, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer” (v. 33). He is preparing them for his departure. They cannot yet follow where he is going, because his passage through death, resurrection, and return to the Father is his alone. He then gives them what will mark them out in the world: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (v. 34).
The command to love is not new in the sense that Israel had never heard it before. The Law already taught love of neighbor (Lev. 19:18). What is new is the measure and form of that love. Jesus does not say merely, “Love one another.” He says, “As I have loved you” (v. 34). Their love is now to be shaped by his own self-giving love. It is to continue in their lives what he is about to show fully in his Passion. This is why love becomes the sign by which others will know they belong to him (v. 35).
Peter speaks with sincerity and eagerness. He wants to follow Jesus immediately and says, “I will lay down my life for you” (v. 37). There is sincerity in his words, but also overconfidence. He does not yet know his own weakness. Jesus answers with the painful truth: before the cock crows, Peter will deny him three times (v. 38). The passage therefore places Judas and Peter side by side. One betrays. The other will deny. One goes out into the night. The other remains near, yet he too will fail. John does not hide the weakness of the disciples. Yet Jesus does not cast them off. He knows their weakness already, and still he loves them, teaches them, and prepares them for what lies ahead.
As the Passion draws near, this Gospel does not flatter human strength. One disciple betrays. Another denies. The others do not understand. Yet Jesus still loves his own “to the end” (Jn. 13:1). He speaks to failing disciples, gives them the commandment of love, and prepares them for what lies ahead. In the face of betrayal and denial, he leaves them not with despair, but with a commandment: love one another as I have loved you (v. 34).
Lord Jesus Christ, in this holy week teach us to remain near you. Keep us from the darkness of betrayal, pride, and false confidence. When we see our weakness, do not let us fall into despair. Form us by your own love, so that we may remain faithful to you and show by our lives that we are truly your disciples. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Jn. 13:21-38.
- Casciaro, José María, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008, 419-420.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 189-190.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 973-974, para. 176-179.
- Aguilar Chiu, José Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1161-1162.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition. With a Foreword by Pope Francis, 2020, 1425-1426.
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