John 13:18 “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.”
To lift “up his heel against me” is an old expression that means he has such dislike and disdain for me and animus toward me that he has raised “his heel”; intending to smash me like he would a most undesirable insect. The Lord quotes from Psalm 41:9, emphasizing that every point of prophecy concerning Him must be fulfilled, including this one; thus, proving even more that He is the true Messiah! A sad truth is that, no matter how hard we try to faithfully and completely serve our Lord, there is always an adversary lurking and seeking an opportunity to hinder and do harm. It was no different with our Lord, Judas Iscariot had a deceptive plan and would soon put it into action. His plan was to betray our Lord to the Jewish authorities who were trying to find the Lord so that they could dispose of Him. Similarly, the Lord warns us, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) and “there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). If the devil would do it to the Lord, he will surely do it to us; even now there are “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” (II Corinthians 11:13), “false brethren” (II Corinthians 11:26), those “Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good” (II Timothy 3:3), “false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies” (II Peter 2:1), and “even now are there many antichrists” (I John 2:18)! Our Lord set the example for us; while He knew what Judas was doing, He kept his focus on His duty and His purpose and would not let the adversary distract or move Him from what He came to do; we should do likewise. Paul puts it this way, no matter what is happening around us or to us, “be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15:58).