² And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,

² And supper being ended [better: And dinner was taking place],

This is an evening meal. This meal occurred on Thursday evening. The meal had already begun but no one made preparation for washing of feet before partaking of the food. It was culturally acceptable to have someone to wash feet before sitting down to eat. Because Jesus and the disciples were the only people at the meal, there was no one charged to wash their feet.

the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot,

Jesus had already announced that one of His own would betray Him (Jn 6:70). Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was inspired by the devil. Nevertheless, all this worked to God’s ultimate purpose.

Although it was the devil who put the thought of betraying Jesus into the heart of Judas, this does not excuse him. Judas willed what the devil willed. He was as much responsible for this sin as Satan was. It was the devil who prompted him to do this dastardly deed—Judas did not concoct the idea himself. The problem here was more than simple treachery; the issue was satanic inspiration. Judas was under the control of the evil one.

Judas was never a believer. He was always a member of Satan’s family, and he represented his family by launching a conspiracy against Jesus. He sat under Jesus’ ministry for three years, was part of the inner circle and saw the miracles, but Judas rejected Him as Savior with an intransigent volition. He was so completely under the control of Satan that he could not see the reality set clearly before him. His plot against Jesus was nothing less than satanic delusion.

Simon’s son, to betray Him,

Judas agreed with the chief priests to betray Jesus (Lu 22:3-6); nevertheless, Jesus washed Judas’ feet, the feet of His betrayer.

PRINCIPLE:

Judas’ action to betray Jesus was satanic inspired.

APPLICATION:

There is a stark contrast between the betrayal of Judas and the service of Jesus. Judas was under satanic control. This shut down his capacity for proper decision making about Christ. It is a dangerous thing to put oneself in the hands of Satan.

The words “Lord’s Supper” do occur in 1 Corinthians 11:20. However, although the words are not used in our passage, the events of our verse are what we would call the Lord’s Supper.