Well Said: Jesus of Nazareth II - Taking His Bread and Betraying Him

Today's excerpt from  Jesus of Nazareth II: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem to the Resurrection by Pope Benedict looks at Jesus' answer to the beloved disciple who asked at the last supper who would betray him. Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." (John 13:23-26).

I have always wondered why that didn't tip off the disciples instantly when Jesus does that very thing by giving bread to Judas. Pope Benedict breaks this wide open in an unexpected direction. Also, notice what is said about Jesus' classic way of speaking. That was clearly and beautifully put and enlightened me (or perhaps reminded me) of something to keep in mind when reading Jesus' words.

Jesus' answer, as given here, is quite unambiguous. Yet the evangelist says that the disciples still did not understand whom he meant. So we must assume that John retrospectively attributed a clarity to the Lord's answer that it lacked at the time for those present. John 13:18 brings us onto the right track. Here Jesus says, "The Scripture must be fulfilled: 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me'" (cf. Ps 41:9; Ps 55:13). This is Jesus' classic way of speaking: he alludes to his destiny using words from Scripture, thereby locating it directly within God's logic, within the logic of salvation history.

[...]

John gives a new depth to the psalm verse with which Jesus spoke prophetically of what lay ahead, since instead of the expression given in the Greek Bible for "eating," he chooses the verb trogein,* the word used by Jesus in the great "bread of life" discourse for "eating" his flesh and blood, that is, receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist (Jn 6:54-58). So the psalm verse casts a prophetic shadow over the Church of the evangelist's own day, in which the Eucharist was celebrated, and indeed over the Church of all times: Judas' betrayal was not the last breach of fidelity that Jesus would suffer. "Even my bosom friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me" (Ps 41:9). The breach of friendship extends into the sacramental community of the Church, where people contineue to take "his bread" and to betray him.

Jesus' agony, his struggle against death, continues until the end of the world, as Blaise Pascal said on the basis of similar considerations (cf. Pensees VII, 553). We could also put it the other way around: at this hour, Jesus took upon himself the betrayal of all ages, the pain caused by betrayal in every era, and he endured the anguish of history to the bitter end.

* I just read, a couple of days ago, commentary from the Ignatius Study Bible that says the word "trogein" is used only four times (memory fails ... either in the New Testament or in the Gospel of John ... I'll check this). It means to chew or gnaw and is usually used in Greek to indicate animals eating. It is used four times in the bread of life discourse and the fifth time is here, which lends further emphasis to Benedict's point.