JOHN 13:18 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”
I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is that one may be fulfilled, 'It is he who ate bread with me who has lifted his heel against me' — Jesus interrupts the general command to address betrayal directly, quoting Psalm 41:9, which speaks of intimate friendship violated by treachery. The citation shows that Judas's betrayal is woven into Scripture's pattern; yet choosing does not eliminate responsibility. The phrase "eaten bread with me" speaks of covenant hospitality, the deepest bond of trust; lifting the heel suggests violence, a kick in the face of friendship. Jesus knows the identity of the betrayer and names the fact of betrayal so that when it comes, the disciples will know it as fulfillment of Scripture and not as cosmic accident.
Church Fathers on John 13:18
Our Lord, mindful of His promise to Peter that he should know the meaning of His act, you shall know here after, now begins to teach him: So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was sat down again, He said to them, Know you what I have done to you?
Know you, is either interrogative, to show the greatness of the act, or imperative, to rouse their minds.
Mystically, when at our redemption we were changed by the shedding of His blood, He took again His garments, rising from the grave the third day, and clothed in the same body now immortal, ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the world.
Read all 26 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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