Eating with the Betrayer
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Matthew 26:23-28 Jesus said, “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
[24] The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
[25] Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
[26] And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
[27] And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
[28] For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”The last few verses of this passage (26-28) is one place where Jesus teaches about the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s supper is there for us to remember Jesus’ death. He died on the cross that our sins might be forgive.
An interesting side note about this passage is in verses 23-25. Jesus knew that Judas was the betrayer. Jesus knew that Judas would sell Him out for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus knew He would be crucified on the cross for mankind. Yet Jesus still gave Judas to eat. The body of Jesus is broken for all and His blood is shed for all. Jesus, knowing the betrayal was still willing to offer His body and blood for the one who betrayed Him. The tragic part of this story is that Judas didn’t accept the redeeming blood of Christ, but instead he went and hanged himself.
It doesn’t matter what we have done, Jesus shed His body and blood for us. When we turn to Him in obedience, we have forgiveness...even when we have betrayed Him in the past. The only reason we will be lost is if we refuse to obey Christ and accept His redeeming sacrifice.
