John 13:2

John 13:2. And a supper being begun, the devil having already put it into his heart that Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, should betray him. It is important to notice the exact parallelism of this verse to the preceding, both in the note of time, and in the circumstances of the scene.

(1) The chronological notice, ‘a supper being begun.' It was during the course of the supper, not after it was ended, that the events to be spoken of took place. That this ‘supper' was not the ‘feast' properly so called appears from the name ‘a supper,' not ‘the feast,' from John 13:29, where the ‘feast' is not yet or only just begun, and from the absence of the article, which could hardly have been wanting had the word ‘supper' taken up again the ‘feast' of John 13:1. It was the preliminary meal at the close of which the ‘feast' was celebrated.

(2) The circumstances of the other side of the scene, three in number. First, the devil, who had ‘already' plotted the destruction of Jesus, and had fixed on Judas as the instrument. Second, Judas Iscariot, the victim of the devil's wiles. Third, the feelings of the devil's heart, treachery, hatred, at the point of intensity when what had been long determined on shall be fulfilled. The three particulars are in the sharpest contrast with those in John 13:1, the devil with Jesus, Judas with ‘His own,' treachery with love. Darkness is over against light, earth over against heaven, the lie over against the truth; and between these Jesus takes His way. What has been said ought to remove the objection felt by many to the translation which we have given of this verse. None will deny that it is the correct translation of the best established Greek text, but it is thought to be impossible to speak of the heart of Satan. The expression, it will be seen, springs from the Evangelist's mode of thought, as he seeks a contrast to the heart of Jesus (comp. the marginal rendering of Job 1:8; Job 2:3: ‘Hast thou set thy heart on?').