John 13:25-26

The Traitor at the Table. John 13, 21-30.

V. 25. He then, lying on Jesus' breast, saith unto Him, Lord, who is it? V. 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.

John, without attracting any attention, leaned over or moved more closely to Christ so that his head actually touched the chest of Jesus, and then softly asked Him, Lord, who is it?

The Lord even now did not give the name of the traitor, but answered John, in the same confidential way, that it was he to whom He would give a morsel (of bread) which He was just then dipping into the sauce (charoseth), which was one of the dishes of the Passover meal. And suiting His action to His word, Jesus took the sop which He was just then dipping and gave it to Judas Iscariot.

This incident revealed the traitor to John, and probably also to Peter. But as for the rest, it is probable that most of them did not notice the incident at the time, or did not attach any importance to it. For the entire matter was taken care of so quietly, almost secretly, that it attracted no attention from the rest of the table-round.

Then, also, Judas dipped into the sauce at the same time that Jesus did, Mark 14, 20. He, of course, knew to whom Jesus had reference, but he was brazen-faced enough even to ask Jesus whether it was he that would perform the dastardly deed of betraying the Master, Matt. 26, 25.