John 13:24 Commentary and Bible Study

Simon Peter saw that John had the ear of the Lord, and he motions to him, ‘Ask him who it is.’ And John asks him, ‘Who is it?’, and the Lord very curiously answers, ‘He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, [a morsel, a portion] when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot.’ But this is done in such a way to suggest that only John knew. So the Lord did not answer verbally John. He said to him, I shall show you, and he did it with a sign. And the only purpose in that is so that John would be the only one who knew.I can see a practical reason for that. If all the disciples had known it was Judas, what would their reaction have been? Would they have stormed at Judas? Would they have reacted in some way? No, Judas had to be allowed to do what he was doing. So the Lord told only John. Why did he tell John? So that John could tell the others subsequently. And they would all know that the Lord Jesus knew all along what was going to happen, and that actually he was directing operations.And he says to Judas what you have to do, do now and do it quickly. Is that not amazing? The Lord reveals something to them they would not otherwise have known: that he was sovereign over everything and even determined the day and the moment of his betrayal. Judas did it from his own evil heart, but it was the Lord who determined when. And that would mean a lot to the disciples, and it should mean a lot to us. When we are storm-tossed and things are happening around us which we do not understand, as a church even. We know that in every detail Christ was in charge and directing things, and he knows all things and superintends all things even today.