John 13:26

John 13:26. Jesus therefore answereth, He it is for whom I shall dip the sop, and shall give it to him. The use of the definite article with the word ‘sop' can leave no doubt upon our minds that it is the well-known sop of the Paschal Supper. The sauce in which it was dipped does not belong to the original institution, but had been introduced before the days of Christ, and was partaken of before the lamb was placed upon the table. At this point then we are at the beginning of the ‘feast.' Two important questions meet us, In what spirit is the sop offered? Does Judas partake of it?

As to the first of these, it was certainly more than a sign to point out Judas as the traitor. This particular sign is chosen in order even at the last moment to touch his heart. For this purpose Jesus departs from the ordinary custom at the feast at which each guest dipped his own bread in the bitter sauce, and offers Judas a piece which He Himself had dipped. It was as if He would say, ‘Thou art at my table, thou art my guest, I would fain have thee to be my friend; cans thou violate every rule of love and friendship?' The giving of the sop then is more than an index to the traitor. It is a final appeal to Judas which may yet soften his heart, but which, if it do not soften him, will only make him more hardened than before.

The second question, Does Judas partake of the feast? is not distinctly answered by the Evangelist. We must probably answer in the negative, because (1) The ‘feast' was only now beginning. (2) The drift of the passage, and indeed of the whole of this section of the gospel, leads to the conclusion that he did not. This view seems also to find confirmation from the words of 1 John 2:19, which appear to take their form from the memory of the scene before us. Thus looked at, the going out of Judas is the token that he did not belong to the number of the disciples, and that he could not share in that expression of communion with Jesus now to be enjoyed.

When therefore he had dipped the sop, he taketh and giveth it to Judas the son of Simon Iscariot. For the name Simon Iscariot, comp. John 6:71. That the name Iscariot belongs to the father as well as the son, confirms the idea that the meaning is the ‘Man of Kerioth' (Joshua 15:25).