Jesus Gives the Bread to Judas

There is an episode in the upper room that is easy to hurry past because it is painful. Jesus, troubled in spirit, announces that one of the twelve will betray him. When the beloved disciple asks who, Jesus says it is the one to whom he will give a piece of bread dipped in the dish. He dips it and hands it to Judas.

In the customs of that meal, to hand someone a choice morsel was a mark of honor from the host. Jesus did not point at Judas or denounce him. He served him. He put into his hand a gesture of friendship, and he did it knowing exactly what Judas would do with it. Then he told him to do quickly what he was about to do, and Judas went out into the night.

The lesson from this moment in Jesus' life is about how he treated an enemy who was still in the room. He did not pretend the betrayal was not coming, and he did not stop being kind. He gave Judas the bread, and Judas gave him up. Most of us will have someone in our lives who has hurt us or intends to. Jesus shows that truthfulness about what they are doing and kindness toward them are not opposites. He held both, and he held them to the end.