Did Judas Receive the Eucharist?

On Holy Thursday, 2020, a couple of my friends and I were able to see Jesus for the first time since Covid began. One of the priests in our area exposed the Eucharist for Holy Thursday in the local parish center. Unfortunately, we were not allowed inside for adoration due to social distancing, so we had to adore in the open air. Luckily, it only rained a little! Jesus was reposed in a window in the parish center while we knelt outside in a parking lot, thankful for the opportunity to adore the Lord for the first time in months.

Since then, I have gained a renewed appreciation for the Holy Eucharist and Holy Thursday. I couldn’t even make it to mass on Easter Sunday that year, so adoration on Holy Thursday was the highlight of the Triduum for me!

Since Holy Thursday is one of my favorite days of the year, and it is right around the corner, I thought I would answer some common questions that I get as a teacher about the Last Supper. I hope this article adds some detail to the Last Supper accounts found in the Gospels and leads to fruitful meditation.

So, without further ado…

Since Jesus knew that Judas was in a state of sin at the Last Supper and would betray Him, did He give Judas His Body and Blood? 

Thomas believes Judas received the Eucharist. He says this:

​​…since Christ was to serve us as a pattern of justice, it was not in keeping with His teaching authority to sever Judas, a hidden sinner, from Communion with the others without an accuser and evident proof; lest the Church’s prelates might have an example for doing the like, and lest Judas himself being exasperated might take occasion of sinning. Therefore, it remains to be said that Judas received our Lord’s body and blood with the other disciples, as Dionysius says, and Augustine.

In justice, every man should be counted innocent until proven guilty. Jesus wanted to set an example that no man should be denied communion without an accuser and evident proof of their guilt. Since Judas was a private sinner who had not been publicly accused or proven guilty, Jesus gave Judas the Eucharist with the other Apostles.

What about the additional morsel of bread that Jesus gives only to Judas in John 13:26? Was this the Body of Christ or something else?

Thomas answers by saying:

Some say that this bread was the consecrated body of Christ. But, according to Augustine, this is not so. For it is clear from the other Evangelists that our Lord gave his body to the disciples while he was having supper. Thus it is evident that Judas received the body of Christ at the same time as the other disciples, that is, during the supper. During the course of this meal Jesus rose and washed the feet of the disciples and returned to his place. And it was only after this that he gave the bread to Judas. Clearly, this was not the body of Christ.

The morsel that Judas received after the Last Supper was not consecrated. It was ordinary bread given to Judas after the Eucharist had been instituted and the Twelve had already received Jesus' Body and Blood. Christ gave this morsel to Judas to show which one of the Apostles was going to betray Him.

If taken out of context, the Apostles appear incredibly naive at the Last Supper. Right before Jesus gives this bread to Judas, He says that the one to whom he gives the morsel will betray Him. He then gives the morsel to Judas. It seems like the Apostles should have been able to put two and two together, but they acted bewildered and did not know where Judas was going.

Didn’t Jesus clearly tell the Apostles who the traitor was by giving Judas the morsel? Why did they act so confused?

Thomas explains this by saying:

A question arises here. Since our Lord had indicated to John who the traitor was, saying, it is he to whom I will give this bread when I have dipped it (John 13:26), and then he gave it to Judas, the disciples seem to have been exceedingly dull not to have understood what he had just said.

I answer that our Lord said this privately to John in order not to reveal the betrayer. The reason for this being that Peter loved Christ so fiercely that had he been certain that Judas was about to betray him, he would have quickly killed him.

Jesus did not want to expose Judas to all of the Apostles but only to the Beloved Disciple. Christ whispered this information only to John, who was lying close to His breast, so the other Apostles would not hear and try to stop Judas. Thomas goes so far as to say that if Peter had known what Judas was about to do, he would have tried to kill him to stop him from betraying Jesus! He is probably right. Only a couple of chapters later in the Gospel, we see that Peter is more than happy to use his sword to defend Christ when he cuts off Malchus’ ear.

What do you think? Would Peter have attacked Judas if he had known he was the traitor? Leave a comment telling us what you think!

Thanks for reading, 

Cameron Riecker

P.S.

In case you’re wondering if Jesus consumed His own Body and Blood on the first Holy Thursday, the answer is yes! Click the last reference for more info.

P.P.S.

We’re always looking for interesting, new topics to write articles about. If you have any suggestions, leave a comment telling us what you would like to learn, and we will do our best to write an article on it!

Reference: 

https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.III.Q81.A2.C

https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~Ioan.C13.L4.n1809

https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~Ioan.C13.L5.n1817

https://aquinas.cc/la/en/~ST.III.Q81.A1