Matthew 26:25

And Judas who betrayed him answered and said, Is it I, Rabbi? He saith unto him, Thou hast said.

The expression "thou hast said" was a well-understood affirmative in the idiom of the Jews. The die was then cast. Judas' treason was known to all, and he would move at once to effect Jesus' delivery to the chief priests. To make certain that the identification was complete, Christ announced that to whomsoever he should give the sop, the same it was who should betray him. He then gave the sop to Judas (see John 13:23-30). Judas was admonished, "That thou doest, do quickly" (John 13:27,28). "Straightway" after receiving the sop, Judas departed from the company.

Why did Christ admonish Judas to do his foul deed "quickly"? One plausible reason is that Christ, about to institute the Lord's Supper, did not desire Judas' attendance upon that solemn night. "After the sop, Satan had entered into Judas; and it was inappropriate that he should participate in the Last Supper, especially that portion of it in which the Lord's Supper was initiated. However, at least some of the apostles did not so understand Jesus' words. John relates that "some thought Jesus meant, Buy what things we have need of for the feast" (John 13:29). This is more proof that this Last Supper was not the Passover. Some things yet needed to be procured for the "feast" or Passover, legally scheduled for the following evening, and it is virtually certain that one of the things lacking was the lamb itself.

Two expressions in the context are charged with rich symbolical meaning. These are "the sop" and "it was night" (see John 13:27-30). The presentation of "the sop" to Judas is ironic in that he was betraying Christ for a mere pittance, a financial sop, a single mouthful, a trifle, giving up something of infinite value for something of the most trivial worth. "It was night" also carries the deepest implications. How dark was that night when the Saviour's friend betrayed him, the disciples forsook him and fled, and the powers of darkness seized possession of the body of the Christ of God. It was a time of darkness appropriate to the deeds of darkness then afoot.