“One Of You Shall Betray Me”? . . . Ridiculous!

Consider Matthew 26:21(KJV) - And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

The issue at hand in verse 21 is not the betrayal of Jesus, but the delivering up of Jesus – the verb Jesus spoke carried no pejorative connotation.

Support for this view is provided by consideration of, first, the response of the apostles to the statement of Jesus in verse 21, and second, our knowledge of the character of Simon Peter, which we learn elsewhere.

Matthew 26:22 reads, And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? “Every one of them” includes Simon Peter, and it is completely uncharacteristic of Peter that he would ask, “Is it I?” in response to an announcement that someone would betray Jesus. Whatever verb that Jesus used to announce what one of them would do, it was not one with a pejorative connotation if Peter asked, “Is it I?” Once again, Peter provides us with a key to understand scripture.

And, by the way, when they asked, “Is it I?” they were not questioning their loyalty to Jesus; they were only trying to ascertain to whom the assignment was being given – Judas, too.

The only time Jesus referred to the betrayal in the Gospel of Matthew was when he answered Judas, “Thou hast said.” According to the Gospel of Matthew, this is how Jesus put it into the heart of Judas to deliver him up.

I offer these ideas only in my own name.