John 13:21

When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in the spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. The disciples looked one on another doubting of whom he spake.

The prophecy had been quoted, along with the fact that a familiar friend would betray the Lord, and Jesus had taken the trouble to reveal his reason for the sad disclosure about to be made. Therefore, he would now become specific; the traitor would be singled out, and the sacred company would soon be rid of his presence.

One of you shall betray me ... was a shocking announcement. Each disciple seems to have found some sense of evil in his own heart; and they began to question, "Is it I?" (Mark 14:19). What a dark hour it was when the innermost circle of the Lord's followers read the stain of sin within themselves and pondered the awful prophecy that one of themselves would betray him. A baleful doubting fell upon them all.

He was troubled in spirit ... No wonder the Lord was troubled. The agony approaching was more than enough to fill the soul with dread, even the soul of the Blessed; but there was also the problem of the Twelve. Could they stand the acid test they were about to endure? It was the hour of darkness and the powers of evil. All the powers of hell would surge to their zenith and the full tides of evil reach their flood upon the cross. How could that little band, eating a last meal together in an upper room, overcome the gargantuan wickedness that would lay the Son of God in a tomb? How could they, without any of the sophisticated tools of wealth, education, and power, cope with the horrors about to be unfolded? The secret of their eventual triumph was disclosed in the first verse of this chapter, "He loved them to the uttermost!" That love proved to be motivation enough to overcome all human weakness. The troubling of Jesus' spirit here gave way, later on, to his brimming confidence that evil would be defeated. "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).