JANUARY 7, 2026 – ONE OF YOU

READ: Jn. 13:21–30: … Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly’ … Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.

Jesus is deeply troubled by what He has just said to Judas. He is moved as He was when He saw His friends weeping over Lazarus (11:33). It grieves Him that one from His circle of disciples, who have followed Him and are reclined at the table with Him, will betray Him into the hands of His enemies.

First He hinted at it (v.18), but now He declares it with solemn certainty: “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

The disciples are shocked. How is this possible? Which of them could it be? They have no idea. Peter gestures to John to ask the Lord about whom He speaks. Jesus does not name him directly but says: It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it. Then He gives it to Judas Iscariot.

This does more than expose Judas—it is also a final call to him. It concerns his soul. Does Judas realize he is about to betray the Redeemer sent by God? He can still turn back, just as Peter at first resisted the Lord at the feet washing but then repented. Judas could still do so now.

But by refusing to turn, his heart hardens, and by receiving the bread, he is set to carry out the deed. With his hardening, Satan enters him. Judas takes leave of his Redeemer—worse, he intends to bring about His death.

Seeing that Judas will not repent, Jesus says: “What you do, do quickly.” The other disciples do not understand these words. They think Judas must buy something or give to the poor. But Judas rises and leaves.

It is night outside—and also in Judas’s soul. He has rejected the Light of the world, against which he was just recently warned (12:35).

What does it mean: “he who is filthy, let him be filthy still” (Rev.22:11)?
Sing: Ps. 55:12,13