Verse by Verse Bible Studies

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06/06/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:26 Then they sang a psalm and afterwards left for the Mount of Olives.

Hawker: There is somewhat truly interesting in the hymn the LORD and his disciples sung at the table. JESUS knew what the events of that night would be. He had in contemplation Gethsemane, and all his sorrows. But these things stopped not the Hallel the Jews always used at the Passover. Some have thought that this Hallel was the 114th Psalm, which celebrates the night of the Passover, and the going forth from Egypt. Reader! Ought not our celebration of the LORD’s Supper, in the contemplation of the LORD’s love, be always accompanied with our Hallel; our song of Moses and the LAMB?

Expositor’s: What concerns us more is the revelation of a calm and beautiful nature, at every point in the narrative. Jesus knows and has declared that His life is now closing, and His blood already "being shed for many." But that does not prevent Him from joining with them in singing a hymn. It is the only time when we are told that our Savior sang, evidently because no other occasion needed mention; a warning to those who draw confident inferences from such facts as that "none ever said he smiled," or that there is no record of His having been sick. It would surprise such theorists to observe the number of biographies much longer than any of the Gospels, which also mention nothing of the kind.
The Psalms usually sung at the close of the feast are Psa_115:1-18 and the three following. The first tells how the dead praise not the Lord, but we will praise Him from this time forth forever. The second proclaims that the Lord hath delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. The third bids all the nations praise the Lord, for His merciful kindness is great and His truth endureth forever. And the fourth rejoices because, although all nations compassed me about, yet I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord; and because the stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner. Memories of infinite sadness were awakened by the words which had so lately rung around His path: "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.;" but His voice was strong to sing, "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar;" and it rose to the exultant close, "Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever."
This hymn, from the lips of the Perfect One, could be no "dying swan-song." It uplifted that more than heroic heart to the wonderful tranquillity which presently said, "When I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee." It is full of victory. And now they go unto the Mount of Olives.

CTR: They went out -- Let us do the same. Let each go home with heart full, prolonging our communion and fellowship with the Master.

The mount of Olives -- A distance of perhaps a mile.

There is a small enclosure now on the side of Mt. Olivet, about 150 feet square, which is reputed to be the place of our Lord's agonizing prayer. It contains eight very old and very gnarled olive trees, and whether the exact spot or not, it represents it sufficiently well.

Guzik: When they had sung a hymn: We don’t often think of Jesus singing, but He did. He lifted His voice in adoration and worship to God the Father. We can endlessly wonder what His voice sounded like, but we know for certain that He sang with more than His voice, and He lifted His whole heart up in praise. This reminds us that God wants to be praised with singing. Well more than 40 different passages in the Psalms show us how God loves to be honored with singing.

• I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. (Psa_9:2)
• Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. (Psa_30:4)
• Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! (Psa_47:6)
• For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. (Psa_47:7)
• I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. (Psa_57:9)
• Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious. (Psa_66:2)
• It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. (Psa_92:1)
• Then they believed His words; they sang His praise. (Psa_106:12)
• While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. (Psa_146:2)
• Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful. (Psa_147:1)
• Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints. (Psa_149:1)

i. It is remarkable that Jesus could sing on this night before His crucifixion. Could you sing in such circumstances? Will you let Jesus be your worship leader? “What! A Christian silent when others are praising his Master? No; he must join in the song. Satan tries to make God’s people dumb, but he cannot, for the Lord has not a tongue-tied child in all his family. They can all speak, and they can all cry, even if they cannot all sing, and I think there are times when they can all sing; yea, they must, for you know the promise, ‘Then shall the tongue of the dumb sing.’ Surely, when Jesus leads the tune, if there should be any silent ones in the Lord’s family, they must begin to praise the name of the Lord.” (Spurgeon)

iii. “What is singing but emotional expression? Oh! The value and the power of emotion. Evil emotion slays the Lord of life and glory! Pure emotion makes possible the saving of the slayers.” (Morgan)
b. Sung a hymn: It is wonderful that Jesus sang, but what did He sing? A Passover meal always ended with singing three Psalms known as the Hallel, Psalms 116-118. Think of how the words of these Psalms would have ministered to Jesus as He sang them on the night before His crucifixion:

• The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!” (Psa_116:3-4)
• For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. (Psa_116:8-9)
• I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. (Psa_116:13-15)
• Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! (Psa_117:1)
• You pushed me violently, that I might fall, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. (Psa_118:13-14)
• I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the LORD. (Psa_118:17-19)
• The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. (Psa_118:22-23)
• God is the LORD, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. (Psa_118:27-28)

i. “When Jesus arose to go the Gethsemane, Psalms 118 was upon his lips. It provided an appropriate description of how God would guide his Messiah through distress and suffering to glory.” (Lane)

c. They went to the Mount of Olives: “Jesus tarried with them in the Upper Room for the wonderful discourse and prayer in John 14-17. They may have gone out to the street after Joh_14:31.” (Robertson)

i. “Our Lord knew that his time was now come when he must be actually delivered into the hands of his enemies. That he might not therefore cause any disturbance either to the master of the family wherein he was, or to the city, though it was now midnight, he goeth out of the city.” (Ironside)

06/05/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:25 RV Verily I say unto you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Guzik: Until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God: Jesus has not yet celebrated a Passover in heaven. He is waiting for all His people to be gathered to Him and then there will be a great supper - the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev_19:9). This is the fulfillment in the kingdom of God Jesus longed for.
i. “There is no Lord’s Supper in heaven, for there it is ‘fulfilled’ in the marriage-feast of the Lamb.” (Cole)
ii. “Among devout Jews it was common to remain together at the table for several hours after the conclusion of the meal, deep in conversation about God’s past and future acts of redemption.” (Lane)

CTR: Drink no more -- His work, his drinking of the cup, was finished the next day on Calvary. There he completed the drinking of the cup which the Father had poured for him.

I drink it new -- The new wine--the joys, rights and privileges of the divine nature--in that kingdom. Having a new and blessed significance, being commemorative of the heroism of their faith under the most crucial tests, and a rejoicing together in the victory of that faith.

Foretells the final triumph of Christ and the Church.

The kingdom of God -- At our Lord's second advent.

06/03/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:23 Then taking the cup of wine and giving praises to the Father, he declared the new covenant with them. And as each one drank from the cup,

Mark 14:24 he said to them, “This is my blood, which seals the new covenant poured out for many.

CTR: He took the cup -- Symbolical and pointed forward to his own death. Representing crushing of the grapes, the blood of the grapes, the Master's blood, the life sacrificed, poured out, and their lives with him.

We not only need nourishment to come back to God and his favor, but we need the precious blood to release us from the condemnation of justice.

They all drank of it -- Having the same significance of the broken bread. Partaking in it also meant the appropriation of the benefits of his sacrifice, thus securing our justification.

It was Jesus' cup, of which he drank, that he gave to his disciples to finish. Thus, symbolically, we are invited to be partakers of the sufferings of Christ. (2Co_1:5-7)

This is my blood of -- The blood prepared in advance of the covenant, wherewith to seal it and make it obligatory. The new testament -- A covenant of mercy. Before our Lord could become the Mediator he must seal the New Covenant with his own precious blood.

Jesus' death constituted the blood which seals, makes efficacious, the New Covenant. But the Church is blessed in advance of that New Covenant, and their blood is counted as part of the sacrifice which seals that covenant. The New Covenant will not become operative until the cup of the Lord's sufferings which is left behind has been drained in death by the last member of his Body. The New Law Covenant will be inaugurated by Messiah, its Mediator, at his second advent.

Which is shed -- "To give his life a ransom (the redemptive price) for many." (Mat_20:28) Plainly presenting Christ's death as the means through which he gained ability to benefit many.

For many -- The world in general.

05/31/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:22 As they ate, Jesus took the bread and blessed it, tore it, and gave it to his disciples. He said to them, “Receive this; it is my body.”

Guzik: 3. (Mar_14:22-25) The Last Supper.
Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it: When the bread was lifted up at Passover, the head of the meal would say: “This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Let everyone who hungers come and eat; let everyone who is needy come and eat the Passover meal.” Everything eaten at the Passover meal had a symbolic meaning. The bitter herbs recalled the bitterness of slavery; the salt water remembered the tears shed under Egypt’s oppression. The main course of the meal - a lamb freshly sacrificed for that particular household - did not symbolize anything connected to the agonies of Egypt. It was the sin-bearing sacrifice that allowed the judgment of God to pass over the household that believed.
b. Take, eat; this is My body . . . This is the blood of the new covenant: Jesus didn’t give the normal explanation of the meaning of each of the foods. He reinterpreted them in Himself, and the focus was no longer on the suffering of Israel in Egypt, but on the sin-bearing suffering of Jesus on their behalf.
c. Christians have debated for centuries about the true nature of the bread and the cup at this supper.
i. The Roman Catholic Church holds the idea of transubstantiation, which teaches that the bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.
ii. Martin Luther held the idea of consubstantiation, which teaches the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine, but by faith they are the same as Jesus’ actual body. Luther did not believe in the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but he did not go far from it.
iii. John Calvin taught that Jesus’ presence in the bread and wine was real, but only spiritual, not physical. Zwingli taught that the bread and wine are mere symbols that represent the body and blood of Jesus. When the Swiss Reformers debated the issue with Martin Luther at Marburg, there was a huge contention. Luther insisted on some kind of physical presence because Jesus said “this is My body.” He insisted over and over again, writing it on the velvet of the table, Hoc est corpus meum - “this is My body” in Latin. Zwingli replied that Jesus also said “I am the vine,” and “I am the door,” but we understand what He said. Luther answered, “I don’t know, but if Christ told me to eat dung I would do it knowing that it was good for me.” Luther was so strong on this because he saw it as an issue of believing Jesus’ words, and because he thought Zwingli compromised on this point, he said Zwingli was of another spirit (andere geist). Ironically, later Luther later read Calvin’s writings on the Lord’s Supper (which were essentially the same as Zwingli’s) and seemed to agree with Calvin’s views.
iv. According to Scripture, we can understand that the bread and the cup are not mere symbols, but they are powerful pictures to partake of - to enter in to - as we see the Lord’s Table as the new Passover.
d. Take, eat: We can’t get so caught up in discovering what the bread and the cup mean that we forget to do what Jesus said to do with them. We must take and eat.
i. Take means that it won’t be forced upon you. You have to receive it.
ii. Eat means that this is absolutely vital for you. Without food and drink, we perish. Without Jesus, we perish. It also means that you must take Jesus into your innermost being.
e. Beyond all the controversy about what the elements of this supper really are and what they really mean, the announcement that Jesus brings a new covenant stands out.
i. … He has the authority to establish a new covenant, sealed with blood, even as the old covenant was sealed with blood (Exo_24:8).
ii. What is the new covenant all about? It is all about an inner transformation that cleanses us from all sin: For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jer_31:34). This transformation puts God’s Word and will in us: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts (Jer_31:33). This covenant is all about a new, close, relationship with God: I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jer_31:33). [These scriptures talk about the establishment of the New Covenant with Natural Israel after Jacob’s Trouble.]
iii. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have can have a new …relationship with God - but many of us live as if there is no inner transformation; there is no cleansing from sin; as if there is no word and will of God in our hearts; and as if there is no new and close relationship with God.

CTR: As they did eat -- Christ's death should not be celebrated monthly, quarterly or weekly, but, as the archtype of the Jewish Passover, should properly be celebrated annually.

Jesus took bread -- In the Passover a literal lamb was used to typify Jesus, but now the breaking of bread represented the death of Jesus.

The unleavened bread memorializes the purity, the sinlessness, of him who gave himself to be the ransom-price for all.

"I am the bread of life." (Joh_6:35)

And brake it -- Represented the death of Jesus. Represented the sacrifice of Christ's humanity for our redemption. It must be "broken" in order to be appropriated; it was also necessary that he be broken in death, sacrificed for our sins, ere we could appropriate his merit and enjoy everlasting life.

Take, eat -- Symbolically represents our partaking of the fleshly perfection of the man Jesus.
The appropriation to ourselves, by faith, of justification to human life-right. The rights and privileges which Christ surrendered may be appropriated by all who accept him.

This is my body -- Not that the bread was turned into his actual body and the wine into his actual blood, for he still had his actual body and blood; but that they symbolically represented his body and blood.

This represents me, the antitypical Lamb; it represents my flesh. A figure of speech. He would not have meant as some believe that the bread turned into his actual flesh, for he still had his flesh. The broken bread represented the sacrifice of Christ's humanity for our redemption.

To call their minds from the typical lamb to himself, the antitype, and to show them that it would be no longer proper to observe a feature of the Law which he was about to fulfill.

Expositor’s: HOW much does the Gospel of St. Mark tell us about the Supper of the Lord? He is writing to Gentiles. He is writing probably before the sixth chapter of St. John was penned, certainly before it reached his readers. Now we must not undervalue the reflected light thrown by one Scripture upon another. Still less may we suppose that each account conveys all the doctrine of the Eucharist. But it is obvious that St. Mark intended his narrative to be complete in itself, even if not exhaustive. No serious expositor will ignore the fullness of any word or action in which later experience can discern meanings, truly involved, although not apparent at the first. That would be to deny the inspiring guidance of Him who sees the end from the beginning. …
But this narrative conveys enough to make the Lord’s Supper, for every believing heart, the supreme help to faith, both intellectual and spiritual, and the mightiest of promises, and the richest gift of grace.
It is hard to imagine that any reader would conceive that the bread in Christ’s hands had become His body, which still lived and breathed; or that His blood, still flowing in His veins, was also in the cup He gave to His disciples. No resort could be made to the glorification of the risen Body as an escape from the perplexities of such a notion, for in whatever sense the words are true, they were spoken of the body of His humiliation, before which still lay the agony and the tomb.
So then, Christ did not look forward to His death as to ruin or overthrow. The Supper is an institution which could never have been devised at any later period. It comes to us by an unbroken line from the Founder’s hand, and attested by the earliest witnesses. None could have interpolated a new ordinance into the simple worship of the early Church, and the last to suggest such a possibility should be those skeptics who are deeply interested in exaggerating the estrangements which existed from the first, and which made the Jewish Church a keen critic of Gentile innovation, and the Gentiles of a Jewish novelty.

05/30/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:21 All that was prophesied of me, the Son of Man, is destined to soon take place, but it will be disastrous for the one who betrays the Son of Man. It would be far better for him if he had never been born!”

Guzik: Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Judas is rightly regarded as one of the most notorious sinners of all time. Even though his actions fulfilled prophecy (The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him), his own wicked motive condemned him. Judas will never be able to justify himself before God on the day of judgment by claiming, “I was just fulfilling prophecy.”
i. In the warning of Jesus we see a profound love for Judas. This is his last, fleeting opportunity to turn back from his evil plot. A remarkable thing to remember is that Jesus loved both Mary and Judas. We almost want to think that He loved Mary and hated Judas, but that isn’t the case. If we miss His love towards Judas - rejected love, to be sure - if we miss that love, we miss the whole story.
ii. This should warn us against having the attitude that our sin against another person doesn’t really matter if God somehow redeems it in their life. God redeemed it all when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery but they still meant it for evil and were responsible for their sin (Gen_50:20).

Expositor’s: The traitor’s iron nerve is somewhat strained as he feels himself discovered, and when Jesus is about to hand a sop to him, he stretches over, and their hands meet in the dish. That is the appointed sign: "It is one of the Twelve, he that dippeth with Me in the dish," and as he rushes out into the darkness, to seek his accomplices and his revenge, Jesus feels the awful contrast between the betrayer and the Betrayed. For Himself, He goeth as it is written of Him. This phrase admirably expresses the co-operation of Divine purpose and free human will, and by the woe that follows He refutes all who would make of God’s fore-knowledge an excuse for human sin. He then is not walking in the dark and stumbling, though men shall think Him falling. But the life of the false one is worse than utterly cast away: of him is spoken the dark and ominous word, never indisputably certain of any other soul, "Good were it for him if that man had not been born."

CTR: Woe to that man -- Judas' intimate acquaintance with the Lord made him specially responsible. Judas had a sufficiency of light to condemn him so he would have no further opportunity and hope.

Let us beware of the little things which, like a switch upon a railway, turn a train into an entirely different track, and may lead us off far from the goal we at first desired to reach.

Had never been born -- Evidently his was the sin unto death--the joys of his useless, wasted life did not overbalance its sorrows and anguish and his subsequent despair and su***de. Being unmoved by our Lord's words is strong evidence of the willful intention which Marked Judas' crime.

Leaves no ray of hope for his restoration. One of the most detestable characters known to the pages of history.

05/29/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:20 He answered, “It is one of you twelve who has shared meals with me as an intimate friend.

CTR: One of the twelve -- Judas was probably present at the Passover Supper partly for the purpose of learning the direction which Jesus and the others would take after the supper.

Despite the custom of the time, to be loyal and faithful to the one whose bread he ate.

Dippeth with me -- Unleavened bread, resembling thick pancakes, was sometimes used instead of a spoon to sop up the essence of the meat.

Clarke: That dippeth with me in the dish - In the east, persons never eat together from one dish, except when a strong attachment subsists between two or more persons of the same caste; in such a case one invites another to come and sit by him and eat from the same dish. This custom seems to have existed among the Jews; and the sacred historian mentions this notice of our Lord’s, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish, to mark more strongly the perfidy of the character of Judas.

Guzik: It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me: In saying who dips with Me, Jesus is not singling out Judas (though Judas, sitting in the place of honor, would have been given the special portion). All the disciples dipped with Him, so this phrase identifies the betrayer as a friend.
i. In Middle Eastern culture, betraying a friend after eating a meal with him was and is regarded as the worst kind of treachery.

05/28/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:19 Feeling deeply troubled by these words, one after another asked him, “You don’t mean me, do you?”

Expositor’s: The vagueness in the words "one of you shall betray Me," was doubtless intended to suggest in all a great searching of heart. Coming just before the institution of the Eucharistic feast, this incident anticipates the command which it perhaps suggested: "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat." It is good to be distrustful of one’s self. And if, as was natural, the Eleven looked one upon another doubting of whom He spake, they also began to say to Him, one by one (first the most timid, and then others as the circle narrowed), Is it I? For the prince of this world had something in each of them, -- some frailty there was, some reluctance to bear the yoke, some longing for the forbidden ways of worldliness, which alarmed each at this solemn warning, and made him ask, Is it, can it be possible, that it is I? Religious self-sufficiency was not then the apostolic mood. Their questioning is also remarkable as a proof how little they suspected Judas, how firmly he bore himself even as those all-revealing words were spoken, how strong and wary was the temperament which Christ would fain have sanctified. For between the Master and him there could have been no more concealment
The apostles were right to distrust themselves, and not to distrust another. They were right, because they were so feeble, so unlike their Lord. But for Him there is no misgiving: His composure is serene in the hour of the power of darkness. And His perfect spiritual sensibility discerned the treachery, unknown to others, as instinctively as the eye resents the presence of a mote imperceptible to the hand.

MacLaren: The uncertainty as to the indication given by the token is reflected by the reiterated questions of the Apostles, which, in the Greek, are cast in a form that anticipates a negative answer: ‘Surely not I?’ Mark omits the audacious hypocrisy of Judas’s question in the same form, and Christ’s curt, sad answer which Matthew gives. His brief and vivid sketch is meant to fix attention on the unanimous shuddering horror of these faithful hearts at the thought that they could be thus guilty-a horror which was not the child of presumptuous self-confidence, but of hearty, honest love. They thought it impossible, as they felt the throbbing of their own hearts-and yet-and yet-might it not be? As they probed their hearts deeper, they became dimly aware of dark gulfs of possible unfaithfulness half visible there, and so betook themselves to their Master, and strengthened their loyalty by the question, which breathed at once detestation of the treason and humble distrust of themselves. It is well to feel and speak the strong recoil from sin of a heart loyal to Jesus. It is better to recognise the sleeping snakes, the possibilities of evil in ourselves, and to take to Christ our ignorance and self-distrust. It is wiser to cry ‘Is it I?’ than to boast, ‘Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.’ ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.’

CTR: One by one -- The import would be, It is not I whom you have meant!
Even Judas joined in the general inquiry, "Is it I?"
Not overconfident, but each seeming to fear his own stability. They had the spirit of self- examination.

Hawker; Though I shall reserve the more striking circumstances concerning the traitor Judas, for one collected point of view, in what is said of him, Joh_13:18, etc. yet I cannot help remarking to the Reader in this place, the hardened state of this man’s mind, which could so coolly and deliberately return and take his place among the disciples, as though equally loving of his LORD, when he had then entered into an engagement with the Chief Priests to betray him. And when, one by one, the disciples put the question to what JESUS had said, that one of them would betray him, though conscious of his infamy, he should dare to brave the question also, and say, is it I? Oh! the obduracy which sin occasions! Matthew, in his relation of this solemn scene hath observed, that while the other disciples every one of them, in putting the question to JESUS, called him LORD; Judas called him Rabbi. And certain it is, that in the original the words are different: the one is LORD, and the other Rabbi or Master. See Mat_26:22; Mat_26:25. And as Rabbi or Master implies a nearness and affection which the more distant name of LORD doth not convey, to what an unequalled degree of infamy was the traitor by this time arrived?

05/27/2021

Continuing Study in the Book of Mark

Mark 14:18 Over dinner, while they were reclining around the table, Jesus said, “Listen to the truth: One of you eating here with me is about to betray me.”

CTR: Which eateth with me -- As my guest, a member of my family.

Shall betray me -- Said with a double object--to show his disciples he was aware of the betrayal and as a final reproof to Judas, to startle and to cause him to think.

Guzik: (Mar_14:17-21) Jesus gives Judas a chance to repent.
He sat down with the twelve: At the first Passover God commanded them to eat the meal standing and ready to leave Egypt (Exo_12:11). Since Israel came into the Promised Land, they believed that they could eat the Passover sitting or reclining, because now they were at rest in the land God gave them.
b. One of you who eats with Me will betray Me: The disciples heard many surprising things from Jesus, but certainly this must have been one of the most surprising things they ever heard Him say. Not one of them suspected Judas, and the idea that one of them would seek to betray and kill Jesus must have seemed absurd.

PNT: One of you shall betray me, even he that eateth with me. The first clause is word for word the same in the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and John; the last clause, so graphic, and so full of grief, is peculiar to Mark. This, as well as Mar_14:20, indicate, that Judas reclined near Him. On the probable order of the various incidents narrated by the four Evangelists, see Mat_26:21.

MacLaren: As the Revised Version indicates more clearly than the Authorised, the purport of the announcement was not merely that the betrayer was an Apostle, but that he was to be known by his dipping his hand into the common dish at the same moment as our Lord. The prophetic psalm would have been abundantly fulfilled though Judas’s fingers had never touched Christ’s; but the minute accomplishment should teach us that Jewish prophecy was the voice of divine foreknowledge, and embraced small details as well as large tendencies. Many hands dipped with Christ’s, and so the sign was not unmistakably indicative, and hence was privately supplemented, as John tells us, by the giving of ‘the sop.’

Expositor’s : As the dreadful evening closes in, having come to the guest chamber "with the Twelve" -- eleven whose hearts should fail them and one whose heart was dead, it was "as they sat and were eating" that the oppression of the traitor’s hypocrisy became intolerable, and the outraged One spoke out. "Verily I say unto you, one of you shall betray Me, even he that eateth with Me." The words are interpreted as well as predicted in the plaintive Psalm which says, "Mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did also eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me." And perhaps they are less a disclosure than a cry.
Every attempt to mitigate the treason of Judas, every suggestion that he may only have striven too willfully to serve our Lord by forcing Him to take decided measures, must fail to account for the sense of utter wrong which breathes in the simple and piercing complaint "one of you . . . even he that eateth with Me." There is a tone in all the narratives which is at variance with any palliation of the crime.
No theology is worth much if it fails to confess, at the centre of all the words and deeds of Jesus, a great and tender human heart. He might have spoken of teaching and warnings lavished on the traitor, and miracles which he had beheld in vain. What weighs heaviest on His burdened spirit is none of these; it is that one should betray Him who had eaten His bread.