Tuesday 18th November
Read John 13:18-20
“‘I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfil this passage of Scripture: “He who shared my bread has turned against me.”
19 ‘I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.’” (NIVUK)
The intimacy of the betrayal of Jesus as described by John is brutal. John draws readers to Psalm 41 to emphasise this. The whole Psalm is by no means ‘messianic’ but the theme picked up by John, of the trauma associated with being betrayed by those closest to you, is typical of the apostolic witness to the ways in which Jesus walked in the steps of David before Him.
“Even my close friend,
someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
has turned against me.” (Psalm 41:9) (NIVUK)
In a world where the laws of hospitality and obligation hold especially fast because of the precarious nature of living on the edge of wilderness to betray someone with whom bread is shared is especially heinous.
Many translations note that the last clause frequently reads ‘has lifted up his heel’ against me. If you can imagine kicking someone whilst they are down you have likely caught the intention of the psalmist… After all, one can’t easily lift one’s heel against someone if they are not already prone and abject.
Are you amongst those willing to be kicked whilst you are down?
