12Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"
13And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' 15Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."
16So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.
17In the evening He came with the twelve. 18Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."
19And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?" And another said, "Is it I?"
20He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."
Jesus is able to tell exactly what lies ahead. He said the two disciples would be met by a man carrying water. That man's master would have a guest room large enough and available for Jesus and his large group of disciples (more than just the 12 apostles). It is a plan laid out for Jesus, a plan already set in motion.
The disciples saw this happened exactly as Jesus said it would. Now Jesus says one of them will betray Him. They believe this will happen exactly as He says too, as instead of denying that any of them would do such a thing, they ask "Is it I?" He was able to calm the fears of some of the disciples as he narrows down who it could be to the twelve apostles.
I wonder what is going through Judas' mind at this point. He knows he is the one who will betray Jesus. If the chief priests had tricked him, does he still believe whatever it was that the chief priests had told him? I really think that by making this statement in the presence of Judas, that Jesus was giving him the chance to really think about what he was going to do, before he did it, while there was still a chance to change his plans.
Judas is probably hitting rock bottom in personal conflict. He must have a reason he feels he needs to go through with this betrayal since we know he goes ahead with it. But this warning from Jesus must have rattled him some. Is he still believing in the trickery of the chief priests (for example, did they convince him that Jesus is a false profit, a menace to the public, or did they convince him that they want Jesus captured for some reason other than death)? Or does he feel like it is too late to alter the course of events? Or does he really need the money? Or was he blackmailed into doing it? Whatever Judas' reason, I would think he would really be struggling at this point.
Yes, Jesus indeed would go just as it was written of Him. Part of the plan was for Him to be betrayed. But nothing said Judas had to be the one to do it. I think even if Judas had backed out of this plan, it would have still happened, Jesus would still be betrayed, though by someone else.
I think when we reach these low points of struggles, when it seems like everything is hopeless, when we just don't know what we should do anymore, that Jesus shows us the door of a way out. I think Jesus is letting Judas know there is still a way out of this mess if he but takes it.
But Judas doesn't take it. He goes ahead with his plan to betray Jesus. He may have struggled with what he should do, but in the end he made the choice himself. Woe to him. Once done, Judas will wish he had never been born. God gave us all freedom of choice. The choices we make are our own doing.