I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.
I know.
John 13:11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
but.
Psalm 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Matthew 10:36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Matthew 26:23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
I know whom I have chosen.
Here, Jesus asserts His divine knowledge and authority in choosing His disciples. This choice is not merely about selection for ministry but also encompasses the foreknowledge of their actions and destinies. Theologically, this reflects the doctrine of divine election, where God’s choices are purposeful and sovereign. It also reassures the faithful disciples of their secure place in His plan.
But this is to fulfill the Scripture:
Jesus often referenced Old Testament prophecies to demonstrate that His life and mission were in accordance with God’s predetermined plan. This phrase underscores the fulfillment of prophecy, a common theme in the Gospels, which serves to authenticate Jesus' messianic identity and the divine orchestration of events.
‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’
This is a direct reference to Psalm 41:9, where David laments betrayal by a close friend. In the cultural context, sharing bread was a sign of fellowship and trust, making the act of betrayal even more poignant. The phrase "lifted up his heel" suggests an act of treachery and hostility. By applying this scripture to Judas, Jesus identifies Himself with the suffering servant motif and foreshadows His impending betrayal, linking His experience to the broader narrative of redemptive history.
Jesus lets the disciples know that His promise of blessing (John 13:17) does not blanket every person in the room.
• John 6:70—He had already said, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.”
• Luke 6:13-16—The list of apostles includes Judas from the start; Jesus’ foreknowledge is built in.
• 1 John 2:19 reminds believers that false members can sit among the true but will eventually depart.
• 2 Timothy 2:19, “The Lord knows those who are His,” underscores that divine knowledge separates genuine faith from pretense.
Christ’s choices are deliberate, rooted in the Father’s plan.
• John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you,” stresses divine initiative.
• Acts 1:2 notes that after the resurrection He gave commands “through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.”
• Ephesians 1:4 shows that God’s choosing reaches back “before the foundation of the world.”
• Even Judas’ inclusion served a purpose—demonstrating that the Savior’s mission unfolds exactly as Scripture foretells.
Every step toward the cross marches to the cadence of prophecy.
• Luke 24:44—Jesus says everything written about Him “must be fulfilled.”
• Matthew 26:54—He will not bypass betrayal because “how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled?”
• Acts 1:16—Peter points out that “the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand concerning Judas.”
• 2 Peter 1:19 affirms that the prophetic word is “altogether reliable,” shining until daybreak.
Quoting Psalm 41:9, Jesus applies David’s lament to Himself.
• Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”
• Sharing bread signified intimate fellowship; betrayal from that circle cut the deepest (cf. Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:18).
• “Lifted up his heel” pictures a horse-like kick—treachery delivered when the victim least expects it.
• John 13:26-27 shows the moment Judas takes the morsel, Satan enters him, and the prophecy pivots into reality.
John 13:18 reassures believers that Jesus’ betrayal was no accident; He knew His circle, chose them purposefully, and pointed to Scripture as the script guiding every event. Judas’ treachery, heartbreaking as it was, proves the reliability of God’s Word and the sovereignty of Christ in His redemptive mission.
(18) I speak not of you all.--The thought of their blessedness brings back again the dark thought that there is one present who will not do these things, and who cannot therefore be blessed.I know whom I have chosen.--Comp. Note on John 6:70. The pronoun is strongly emphatic. "I (for My part) know whom I have chosen." (See next verse.)
But that the scripture may be fulfilled.--Comp. Note on John 12:38. There is an ellipsis after "but," which is most simply filled up by some such phrase as "all this was done;" "but all this was done that the Scripture . . ." (Comp. John 19:36 and Matthew 26:56.) Others would make the connection to be, "But I have chosen them that the Scripture . . ."
He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.--Comp. especially Note on the quotation in John 2:18, from Psalms 61. The present words are a free rendering of the Greek (LXX.) of Psalm 41:9; but the LXX. follow the Hebrew more literally, and read, "hath made great his heel." This is here interpreted to mean, "lifted up his heel," which the Bible version of the Psalm gives, with the literal rendering magnified in the margin. The Prayer Book version follows the Vulgate in reading "hath laid great wait for Me." . . .
Verses 18-30. - 2. The exclusion of the faithless disciple. This paragraph draws the circle of his cleansed ones, of those who accept him as Master and Lord in the fullest sense, more closely (at) out him. But the proceeding is tragic in the extreme; one of the twelve chosen as apostles is a traitor in disguise. The foot-washing has been an awful insufficiency in his case. He must depart before the greatest depth of the Master's love and truth can be revealed. Verse 18. - I speak net concerning you all. There is one who, though he knows these things, will not do them, is now indisposed to see any Divineness in the act and spirit of love which I am laying down as a fundamental law of my kingdom. I know whom (or, the individuals whom) I chose for apostles - (in John 6. the same statement is made with less definiteness, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you," etc.?) Judas among them - but. It is difficult to follow this construction, and to decide on the antithesis to this disjunctive.(1) We may add, this has happened (τοῦτο γέγονεν) - i.e. this choice has been overruled, and so in its issues corresponded with the Divine purpose (ἵνα) - so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, He that eateth my bread or, bread with me, hath lifted his heel against me;
(2) we may take the ἵνα πληρωθῇ as a parenthesis, and link the ἀλλ with the quotation, "He that eateth," etc.; or
(3) we may, with Meyer, suppose that ἐξελεξάμην αὐτοῦς, "I chose them," is mentally involved here: "I chose them, and Judas among them (ἵνα), in order that the Scripture," etc. This connection would suggest a destiny and purpose which Christ knowingly corresponded with, harmonizing his plan with the Divine and prophetic program. Emphasis must be laid upon the ἐκλέγεσθαι. It refers to Christ's choice of apostles, not to the eternal election to salvation. This interpretation corresponds more closely with the text, though it savors of a fatalism foreign to the Scripture. There is, however, a true sense in which the evil-disposed man is so placed that, if he will sin, he must sin along certain well-defined lines. The forty-first psalm, from which the quotation is made, is not strictly Messianic; it is descriptive of the ideal Sufferer, the holy but outraged man, whose melancholy condition is sure to be characterized by treachery among his familiar friends. Christ implies that, if he were to fulfill this portraiture, then this bitter dreg would be put into his cup; and so he humanly made this choice, i.e. he took steps which in their tenderness of love might have saved Judas from the worst, but which were really part of a Divine plan which would vindicate his own foresight and the method of Divine government. A full understanding of the formula in Matthew and John, ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθ῀ι, will save us from putting into these words a hopeless fatalism. Notice that the LXX. reads this passage differently, and is not so closely allied to the Hebrew: "He that eateth my leaves hath magnified against me his surreptitious despite, his tricky antagonism." Great beauty is given to the passage by the R.T. you instead of μετ ἐμοῦ, for it suggests the idea that Christ was the real Host of the twelve, the Father and Provider of his family. Christ must be regarded as the Father and Host of the entire group of guests, and the treacherous treatment of a host throughout the East is regarded as a sign of peculiar obduracy.
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