It has always been a sign of friendship for people to eat food together, just as boys and girls sometimes ask their mother if they may invite a friend to eat with them. It is thought mean and deceitful, even among savage tribes, to harm one who has treated another as a friend and given him food.
The men who stayed with the Lord Jesus and went about with Him must have eaten many meals with Him and were called His friends. Their last meal before He was taken by the soldiers was the Passover supper. It would seem He was as the host, and the disciples were His guests (Luke 22:1111And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? (Luke 22:11)). After they had eaten He told them these words from the psalms, “He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me.”
The Sop
To “lift up the heel against” means to hurt a person when turned from them, and it is deceitful and ungrateful for one who has been treated as a friend to do so.
Jesus told them plainly, but with great sorrow, that one of them would betray Him, meaning he would give Jesus into the power of His enemies.
All the disciples knew that the leaders of the temple were trying to have Jesus taken, but those who loved Him could not think one of them would betray Him to them, yet they knew His words must be true, and the one nearest Him asked, “Who is it, Lord?”
It was a custom then to dip a portion of bread in broth or other liquid to soften or give it flavor to, and it was polite for the host to do that and hand it to his guests to eat. This was called a sop.
The Lord said to them, “He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it,” He then dipped a portion of bread and gave it to Judas.
Judas had been to the chief priests before this and bargained for them to pay him for betraying Jesus to them. (Matt. 26:14-1614Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26:14‑16)). Judas had not told this to the other disciples, or they would no doubt have tried to prevent him. He was so deceitful when the others asked, “Lord, is it I?” he also said, “Master, is it I?” (Matt. 26:14-16,2514Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26:14‑16)
25Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. (Matthew 26:25)).
He knew the Lord Jesus deserved no wrong. When he heard His words that one would betray Him and was given the sop as the one to do so, he should have been amazed that the Lord knew his wicked plan and confessed his sin to Him.
Obstinate Judas
Instead Judas kept on with his plan for the sake of the promised money. It didn’t matter to him if the Lord were his friend or not, so the evil spirit, Satan, was able enter his mind to urge him on to betray Him. And he went away to bring the soldiers, as told later.
The Lord told the disciples that He was to be betrayed so that afterward they would know how perfectly He had known all, and that He was the One foretold in the scriptures long before (John 13:1919Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. (John 13:19)). He also told Peter what he would do that night, though Peter loved the Lord; and He said all would leave Him (John 16:3232Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. (John 16:32)). This all came true.
Further Meditation:
1. What does it mean to “lift up the heel against” somebody?
2. How was King David betrayed by those he was friendly to?
3. You might find the page or so on Judas receiving the sop in the book The Evangelists by J. G. Bellett to be quite refreshing to your soul. It presents the Lord’s patience and grace to Judas right up to the end.