Judas Was Still There

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus made His disciples uncomfortable. He clothed Himself as a servant and washed their feet. In spite of Peter’s protest, Jesus humbled Himself and served the men who had left everything to follow Him. Of course, He didn’t do it for the momentary shock-factor. He did it to set the example and imprint kingdom values in a way they would never forget.

Though all of us remember this moment, I want to highlight something we do often forget about that night: Judas was still in the room.

Before Judas Iscariot became known as the one who betrayed Jesus, he was one of the disciples, right there alongside Peter, James, John, and all the others. Though we can see treacherous tendencies in him as we read the Gospels today, his fellow disciples didn’t see them. They were shocked, dumbfounded when Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me” (John 13:21). They didn’t all look at Judas in suspicion. They all looked at themselves, knowing their own weaknesses.

The disciples didn’t know Judas’s treachery, but Jesus did. And He still washed his feet.

Before Jesus girds Himself as a servant, John writes that the devil had “already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him” (John 13:2). He continues to write, “[Jesus] knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, ‘You are not all clean” (13:11). After this, you would expect John to explain how Jesus skipped Judas in the foot-washing ceremony. You would expect Jesus to wait until Judas left the room before He continued to serve everyone. But that isn’t the next verse. Instead, John tells us that Jesus “washed their feet” (13:12). “Their feet” would included Judas’s feet.

When Jesus modeled servanthood to others, He didn’t just model servanthood to His friends. He model servanthood to the man who would betray Him. In fact, Judas, within his heart, had already betrayed Him. Still, Jesus served.

Of course, there are larger, Gospel implications here for all of us. Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Each of us is Judas. Each of us has the treachery and betrayal that led Jesus to the cross. Rather than dismissing us from the room in judgment, Jesus humble Himself on the cross and washed us clean.

As glorious as this is, Maundy Thursday has implication not only for what God has done for us, but also it has application for what God wants to do through us. Just as Jesus serve others, God has called us to serve. But not just our employees, friends, or friendly acquaintances. He has called us to serve those who think, speak, and act viciously toward us. “A servant is not greater than his master” (John 13:16). If He washed the feet of Judas, who betrayed Him to death for a few pieces of silver, surely we can serve those who oppose us.

This Maundy Thursday, let’s ask ourselves these two questions: Who do I want to avoid serving? How do serve them in love, in spite of my hesitation?