25. If St. Peter supposed that St. John already knew who the traitor was, he was mistaken, as we see by this verse.
He therefore leaning on. The best-supported Greek reading would be rendered thus: He leaning back, as he was, on &c. (ἀναπεσὼν ἐκεῖνος οὕτως ἐπί).
From his reclining position, St. John had merely to lean a little farther back in order to rest his head on His Divine Master's breast. Thus “as he was,” i.e., without changing his position at table, by merely leaning back, he was not only close to the bosom of Jesus, but was on His breast, and could whisper his question. All the fathers speak of the privilege conferred upon St. John on this occasion in his being admitted to such familiarity with his Divine Master.
| 26. Respondit Iesus: Ille est cui ego intinctum panem porrexero. Et cum intinxisset panem, dedit Iudae Simonis Iscariotae. | 26. Jesus answered: He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. |
26. If we suppose the bread which was handed to Judas to have been dipped in the Charoseth (חרוסת) a kind of sauce used at the Paschal Supper, then the meats of the Paschal Supper must have been still upon the table. This there is no difficulty in admitting, even if the ordinary supper, following upon the Paschal Supper, had already been partaken of.
| 27. Et post buccellam, introivit in eim Satanas. Et dixit ei Iesus; Quod facis, fac citius. | 27. And after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly. |
27. After the morsel had been given to Judas, “Satan [pg 243] entered into him;” that is to say, Judas now revealed as a traitor, at least to St. John, became still more confirmed in his evil purpose. The words are generally understood not as implying corporal possession of Judas by the devil, but as signifying that the devil now gained full control over him in reference to the crime contemplated. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly, again intimating that He knew the traitor's thoughts, and at the same time manifesting His own readiness to suffer. These words of our Lord do not contain a command or permission to Judas to commit the crime: but, taking for granted the traitor's fixed determination “That which thou dost,” i.e., hast determined to do, they show Christ's readiness and eagerness to begin to drink of the chalice that awaited Him.
| 28. Hoc autem nemo scivit discumbentium ad quid dixerit ei. | 28. Now no man at the table knew to what purpose he said this unto him. |
28. The disciples, even St. John, knew not to what purpose Christ had told Judas to do quickly what he was determined to do. Though St. John, at least, had learned immediately before that Judas was to betray our Lord, still he probably did not expect that the betrayal would follow so rapidly upon the disclosure of the traitor.
| 29. Quidam enim putabant, quia loculos habebat Judas, quod dixisset ei Iesus: Eme ea quae opus sunt nobis ad diem festum: aut egenis ut aliquid daret. | 29. For some thought, because Judas had the purse, that Jesus had said to him: Buy those things which we have need of for the festival day: or that he should give something to the poor. |