Pearls of the Word

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Is it I, Rabbi?

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"Judas, who betrayed Him, said, Is it I, Rabbi? Jesus replied, You have said so" (Matthew 26:25 Interlinear).

When Jesus said to His twelve disciples which one of them will deliver Him to the chief priests, they became greatly distressed. And they began to say to Him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?", except Judas who used the word "Rabbi" (Master). Rabbi is a name given by Jews to their teacher.

Even if, at the beginning of His ministry, His disciples also called Him "Rabbi", during this last supper, that is to say the day before His death, eleven disciples called Him "Lord" because He had truly become their Lord after three years with Him.

But for Judas, Jesus remained a "Rabbi" among others for He never became his "Lord". He never understood the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus, that's why he went and hanged himself as someone who had experienced neither grace nor love of God that Jesus yet revealed to him.