Imagine the hands of thirteen men at the Last Supper—twenty-six hands passing the bread, passing the cup, running fingers through hair, wiping crumbs from beards, one moment on the lap, the next on the table.
Jesus then remarks, “Behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table” (Luke 22:21). The hands immediately slip back.
These words, spoken at what Jesus knows to be His last Passover meal, send a shock through His twelve disciples. Each man looks around at every other. Which one of them did He mean? There were so many hands there that evening!
A Mystery
If we have read the Gospel of Luke from the beginning, we already know the culprit: “Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” (Luke 6:16). It had already happened that “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them” (Luke 22:3–4). Through all of history since then, Judas’s name has been mud, and few people today read of his betrayal with any surprise.
Yet to eleven of the men at that table, it was a surprise: “They began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this” (Luke 22:23). It doesn’t say, “And all eyes turned to Judas.” They hadn’t a clue! Judas was adept at hiding what was going on inside. He had moved in their company and managed to disguise his treachery from those who were nearest and dearest to him.
It’s very easy for us to hide from one another. It’s very easy to disguise what’s going on in the heart. We may assume that we know each other very well, but who really knows the thoughts of a man or a woman except the spirit that is within them? (1 Cor. 2:11).
A Solemn Reminder
Judas’s deceit is a solemn reminder that we can fool each other, and we can fool ourselves. Jesus warned the disciples that there will be those at the last judgment who will be able to say to the Lord, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets,” yet he will say to them, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!” (Luke 13:26–27).
The issue at the heart of being Jesus’ disciple is not whether we like sermons, attend talks, or are members of a church. The real issue is whether there has been a genuine encounter with the living God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Tragically, there will be some in our churches to whom the Lord will say, “I’m sorry. I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know where you are from.”
Judas was adept at hiding what was going on inside.
Paul described this dynamic to the leaders of the Ephesian church: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29–30; emphasis added). In other words: “The danger isn’t just from those outside your group; it is from those inside who have the right language and show up in the right places at the right time, but they are still slaves of sin. They will prey on the brothers and sisters. It may be you.”
A Deliberate Attention
The solution to this predicament is not paranoia and mutual distrust. It is to “pay careful attention” (Acts 20:28), to “take heed” (KJV), to “keep watch” (NIV). Pay attention to what? “To yourselves and to all the flock,” says Paul. This is why the oversight of godly elders in a local body is crucial. It’s why the scrutiny and accountability of church membership is necessary. It’s why the teaching of biblical doctrine is indispensable. It’s why church discipline is merciful. And, of course, it’s why each man and woman must cry out in the secret place,
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! (Ps. 139:23–24)
On that historic night, two hands on the table night belonged to a traitor who had traveled with the Lord but whose heart loved the world. Two other hands belonged to the Savior, soon to be nailed to the tree. Twenty-two belonged to those who would be found covering their faces as they huddled in their hiding places.
Yet in the mercy of God, the twenty-two would again grasp the plow as they looked forward to the Lord’s promise of the kingdom: “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28–30). How would they do this? By clinging in faith to the Lord who bought them with His blood, by walking in the power of the Spirit who sanctified them, and by keeping careful watch of themselves.
This article was adapted from the sermon “Betrayal” by Alistair Begg.
