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JOHN 13:29 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 13:28John 13:30
“For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.”
Some thought that, since Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, 'Buy what we need for the festival,' or, perhaps, to give something to the poor — even at the moment of betrayal's exposure, the disciples misinterpret Jesus' words through the lens of ordinary economic reality. This is a poignant detail: Judas, entrusted with the community's funds, is free to leave undetected, his mission cloaked in a routine errand. The reference to giving to the poor is almost satirical—the disciples think Jesus is commanding charity even as the deed of ultimate treachery is being set in motion. The gap between surface reality and hidden intention is complete.

Church Fathers on John 13:29

Our Lord after His twofold promise of assistance to the Apostles in their future labors, remembers that the traitor is cut off from both, and is troubled at the thought: When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say to you, that one of you shall betray Me.

Chrysostom · 4th century

This did not come into His mind then for the first time; but He was now about to make the traitor known, and single him out from the rest, and therefore was troubled in spirit. The traitor too was now just about to go forth to execute his purpose. He was troubled at the thought of His Passion being so near at hand, at the dangers to which His faithful followers would be brought at the hand of the traitor, which were even now impending over Him. Our Lord deigned to be troubled…

Augustine · 4th century

His being troubled in spirit, was the human part, suffering under the excess of the spiritual. For if every Saint lives, acts, and suffers in the spirit, how much more is this true of Jesus, the Rewarder of Saints.

Origen · 3rd century
Read all 32 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 13:29 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy