John 12:4
“Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said,”
What does John 12:4 mean?
Judas is about to complain that Mary wasted expensive perfume on Jesus' feet when that money could have gone to the poor. What makes this moment poignant is that John's Gospel pauses to remind us who Judas is: a man chosen by Jesus, walking alongside him daily, yet already set on betrayal. The narrator's gentle insertion of "who would betray him" isn't meant to be dramatic; it's simply stating what the readers already know. It underscores the tragedy that someone so close to Jesus, someone trusted with the group's money, was moving toward delivering him to his enemies.