John 13:18-30
18 “I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’19 I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I AM the Messiah. 20 I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the Father who sent me.”
21 Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”
22 The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean. 23 The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. 24 Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?” 25 So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. 27 When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” 28 None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. 29 Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. 30 So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

Dear God, for the purposes of what I’m doing here, I am going to work with the premise that “the disciple Jesus loved” was John referring to himself. In this instance, it is interesting to note that:

1. John was sitting next to Jesus. Had he positioned himself there? Had Jesus put him there?
2. Peter must have been sitting at a different part of the table because he “motioned to him” instead of just leaning over and asking talking to him.
3. Peter had just been caught talking too much when he went through the whole foot washing thing so he decided to get someone else to do his dirty work for him.
4. Even with Jesus explaining things to a certain extent, everyone was still in the dark and could only figure it out in retrospect.

I think that last part is the key. I heard a pastor say yesterday morning something that I’ve often said about you and how you keep me in the dark sometimes. My line is, “God keeps me on a need-to-know basis, and I very rarely need to know.” In this case, Judas had something brewing and if Jesus had let everyone know what was going on they might have stopped him. They might have protected Jesus and made him leave. Jesus didn’t want that interference or temptation, so he kept them in the dark. Their intentions would have been good, but their actions would have been disastrous for all of us.

Father, help me to be at peace in my ignorance, help me to welcome all that you bring into my path, and help me to not mess up your plans. I don’t want to get in your way. I don’t want to have my good intentions cause you problems. Guide my heart. Guide my actions. And please be faithful to the prayers I bring to you in private. I trust you, Lord.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen