Commentary on the Gospel of
John (or rather the Johannine school) places himself as near to Jesus as he places Judas away. Such dualism is characteristic of John’s gospel: light/darkness, above/below, etc. John is “reclining near Jesus,” whispering to him but Judas goes out, and “it was night.” But notice that there are two betrayers in this reading; the other is Peter. But Peter had the courage (or perhaps the opposite) to wait for forgiveness; and he was forgiven. Tragically, Judas didn’t wait; he too would have been forgiven. If he was just greedy for money, he should have been happy; but he was plunged into despair; he must have had some plan that went wrong—some plan to speed things up. It was typical of him, then, not to wait. In a tragic twisted way he died for his Master. Without doubt, God the Father, slow to anger and rich in mercy, took pity on him.