A Prayer of Thanksgiving

At the Last Supper, even though Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot would betray Him, He took the bread while His disciples were eating, gave a "prayer of thanksgiving," broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." He also took the cup, gave a "prayer of thanksgiving," and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you the truth, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom." After this, "they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matthew 26:20-30, Modern Bible).

As I meditate on this passage, several thoughts come to mind:

(1)    Despite knowing that His beloved disciple, Judas Iscariot, would betray Him, Jesus still gave a prayer of thanksgiving to God the Father.  This leads me to reflect on the scripture that says, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  Jesus obeyed this word.

(2)    When Jesus said, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins," the "all" must have included Judas Iscariot as well.  I wonder what thoughts went through his mind as he drank the blood of Jesus, which was poured out for the forgiveness of sins.  Did he recognize his sin with a guilty conscience?  Did he miss the opportunity for repentance?

(3)    The Bible says, "They sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives," but was Judas Iscariot among "them"?  If so, how could he have sung a hymn? I was reminded of Matthew 15:8: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Korean Modern Bible).