The Disciples Didn’t Know Judas Was a Judas
So how do we know who is a true believer or not?
The account of the Last Supper goes down a little differently in each Gospel, especially when it comes to Judas, the betrayer.
In Matthew’s account, Jesus pretty clearly identifies him in front of the rest of the disciples. Mark’s account is very similar, but Judas is not specifically named. In Luke’s account, the episode occurs after the bread and wine, and the wording is quite different, but again, Judas is not specifically named and we get a tidbit about the disciples not knowing who the betrayer would be. John’s account, by far the most expansive (he appears to spend 5 chapters on the Last Supper!), makes the identification of Judas most obvious and takes the most time to show that the disciples had no idea what was going on.
There are a lot of incredible things going on at this Last Supper, from the fulfillment of Passover to the washing of the disciples’ feet, to the extensive teaching John records Jesus giving, to the institution of the Lord’s Supper, and all the little morsels of rich theology that come with and under them.
Tucked in the middle is this record of Jesus declaring that he was about to be betrayed. If you accept Matthew’s or John’s accounts to be reasonably accurate, Judas is fairly explicitly…
