Piping hot, buttery, golden brown, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, a hint of garlic. Breadsticks. Doughy shafts of carbohydrated joy. How do you make a breadstick better? Dip it in something, like cheese. Everyone likes breadsticks. Even Jesus!
The text is John 13:18-30. Jesus is kickin' back with his buddies. Back in this time, folks would recline back on the floor (sometimes on a cushion) near the table, which did not rise up very high like tables today. It seems informal. Jesus usually is informal.
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One time my sisters and I visited a church that did Communion (Read this for a good understanding of Communion) different than we were used to. We were used to the tiny individual cups and little unsalted oyster crackers. This church practiced dipping a chunk of bread in a goblet of juice. My sister, clearly in culture shock, grabbed the goblet from the pastor's hands and took a healthy swig from the beautifully embellished cup. I giggled hard. No one judged her, they were a kind church. But we did all have a good laugh after service!
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Toward the end of this Last Supper with Jesus before he was to die, there wasn't much giggling. They may have had great conversation up until this point... Jesus turned serious,
"Remember the scripture in Psalm 41, where it says the 'one who shares my bread has turned against me?' "
Uh oh. Here are the closest friends of Jesus... all sharing bread with him! Hearts dropped and pulses picked up as they began to speculate. Jesus spoke on.
"I'm not talking about all y'all; I know who I chose. I'm telling you this before it happens so when it does, you will believe that I am who I am."
The Bible then makes a clear point in verse 21 that Jesus was troubled in his spirit before he spoke next. Can you imagine knowing the future? Actually seeing ahead in time to find one you dearly loved would bitterly betray you to be murdered? That is what Jesus saw. He continued plainly,
"One of you is going to betray me."
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss of words. Who would betray their best friend and Lord?
There was some chatter, eye glances, and whispers. Finally John, who was leaning up against Jesus as they let their last supper settle, asked discretely, "Jesus, who will betray you?"
"The one who I share this bread and dip with."
Jesus then grabbed a piece of bread, dipped it, and handed it to Judas. OK, wait. I gotta pause here. This is strangely intimate.
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Look, I do not share my cheese dip. I don't know if you will double-dip, have dirty hands, or what. Yet Jesus shares with Judas. Jesus, the thrower of the feast, the main man at the party, serves Judas, the guy who is gonna have Jesus killed. Some say the master of a feast would share his dip with the honored guest. Judas... honored guest??
This is Judas' chance! His shot at redemption. Jesus knows Judas is about to hand him over to the murderers, but still offers him redemption... honor.
It is as if this one gesture said, "Judas, you have messed up big time and you're planning to mess up again, but I still love you. Won't you skip your selfish ways and just love me back?"
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Jesus says to Judas, "What you're gonna do, do it quickly."
Maybe I'm reading into this verse too much. I believe Judas didn't want to see Jesus viciously murdered. I think Judas wanted to have him arrested so he would be forced to do some mega-miracle and save himself and establish an earthly kingdom. After all, if Jesus would be arrested, Jesus could save himself, set up a kingdom and Judas would have a prominent spot since he was a disciple.
Judas missed the whole point. Jesus needed to save humans not from external emperors but from their own sin. The only way to do this was to be a perfect, sinless sacrifice. Not by setting up an earthly kingdom. That will come in the future. For now, Jesus had to save people from Hell.
So when Jesus said, "Do what you are gonna do quick" I think there was an option there for Judas. Jesus may have been saying,
"If you are going to betray me, do it now so we can get it over with...
but if you are going to turn from your evil ways and follow me again, do it now."
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