John 13:18-30

There Is One Among Them Who Will Betray Him (John 13:18).

Jesus now brings out the astonishing fact that one of His own disciples would ‘betray' Him. To us the meaning of this is clear for we know precisely what happened afterwards. But we must remember that it would not have been clear to the disciples. Indeed the actual reality would have been beyond their imagination. Thus we learn in the other Gospels that each disciple thought that he might be the one who would betray Jesus. They clearly did not see His words as indicating a deliberate act of betrayal. Rather they all assumed that such a betrayal, whatever the word portrayed, would be involuntary, and probably that it would take place some time in the future. They would thus have had no reason for preventing Judas from leaving.

However, prior to that Jesus does indicate that all is not well and that not all of them will prove faithful, for He indicates that the cleansing of which He has spoken will not apply to all.