TRANSLATION MATTHEW 26: 17

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, the pupils came to Jesus and asked,”Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?

He said, ” Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, “The teacher says,”My time is near. In your place I am keeping the Passover with my pupils..”

And the pupils did as Jesus directed them, and made ready the Passover.

When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. While they were eating, he said, “Amen I tell you, one of you will hand me over.”

They were extremely distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Is it me, master?”

He answered them, “One who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, he will hand me over. The Son of Man goes as is written of him, but oh misery for that man by whom the Son of Man is handed over. Better for that man if he had not been born!

Then Judas, who would hand him over, said to him, “Is it me, Rabbi?”

He said to him, “You have said it.”

.

Matthew follows Mark, his source, but edits out some of the vivid detail, focusing firstly on Judas. The intimacy of his betrayal is emphasised, as in every famous story of betrayal. Although Jesus can identify himself with the Son of Man, he feels nevertheless the ordinary pain of what a cherished pupil is going to do to him. Jesus recognises his own part in his own.destiny; his faithfulness to the scriptures that point to his death; but he warns Judas to accept his treachery and its consequences.

Of course, as the story unfolds we see that the answer to each pupil’s question, “Is it me.?” is “Yes” – a fact that is also true when present day pupils gather to remember the last supper of Jesus.