John 13:21-38: “
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 1-20 of chapter 13.
1.1.1. Having come into Jerusalem on a donkey and being
hailed as Messiah by the crowds who were putting palm branches and clothing in
the road for Him to ride upon, Jesus in our last study was now at the Passover
Feast with His disciples and washed the feet of His disciples in order to teach
them that ministry is about being humble and serving others.
1.1.2. Jesus finished washing His disciples’ feet and then
told them that they were to follow in His example of humility and serve one
another. We saw that Jesus’ ministry to
His disciples had always been a ministry of serving and humility.
1.1.3. We saw that Jesus will eventually be glorified and
reign in majesty and power over the earth, as He reigns in heaven now, but
during this first advent He came to pay the price of our sins and that as the
suffering servant.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses
21-38 of chapter 13.
1.2.1. In our last
study, we mentioned that from chapter 13 through chapter 19 that this is
section of the gospel of John is referred to as “Jesus’ Upper Room Discourse.”
1.2.2. In this
study, we will see at the supper that Jesus reveals that one of them will
betray Him and that the disciples are puzzled and look around at one another
each wondering if he himself would be the one to betray Jesus. Then, Jesus will point out to John that it is
Judas Iscariot who will betray Him.
1.2.3. Jesus will
give Judas one last chance to repent but when Judas hardens his heart Jesus
tells him to do what he is planning to do quickly, and Judas leaves to betray
Jesus to the high priests. We will glean
many things from this betrayal of Jesus by Judas.
1.2.4. In this
study, we will also see how that Jesus prepares Simon Peter for failure that He
knows is going to happen by telling Peter that before a cock crows that Peter
will deny Him three times. We will
discuss the folly of placing our confidence in the flesh.
2.
VS
13:21-22 - “When Jesus has
said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, ‘Truly,
truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me’. The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.” - Jesus becomes troubled in spirit and tells
His disciples that He knows that one of them is going to betray Him
2.1.
Once again Jesus becomes troubled. This time He is troubled because one of His
disciples is presently going to betray Him to the death.
2.2.
I happen to think that in this instance that Jesus was
troubled more because He knew that Judas would soon lose his soul for all
eternity than because of the treachery of being betrayed to a horrifying death
by one of His closest friends. However,
both of those thoughts were surely very troubling to Jesus. I say that Jesus was more concerned for the
soul of Judas than the treachery of the act of betrayal because Jesus was
always more concerned for others well being than He was for His own. This is a trait of those who are filled with
God’s agape love and have servant’s hearts.
Jesus is going give Judas one more chance to come to eternal life
through repentance.
2.3.
Note here that the disciples were totally puzzled that
one of their own would betray the Lord. This tells us that Judas did not stick out to
them as being one who really was a spurious believer all along. In fact, it appears the case from the gospels
that Judas appeared to be a model disciple prior to this time and that it was
only the Lord who knew what was truly in his heart. However, Judas was a hypocrite to the core
for he feigned faith and obedience to the Lord continually. Judas had already made his contract with the
high priests to betray Jesus.
2.4.
It is
interesting also to consider the fact that Judas did not truly possess a proper
faith in Jesus and this in spite of living for the previous 3 ½ years in the closest
quarters with Jesus, having seen all or most of Jesus’ miracles during this
time, and having seen the beauty and excellence of Jesus’ character in the
closest of quarters. We Christians would
do well to remember the fact that if someone with the opportunities to see the
light of truth in Jesus as Judas had seen did not truly believe in Him with
saving faith, then we should not be surprised if some will be a part of our
fellowship of believers and yet never truly be converted in heart.
2.5.
Matthew 26:22 records that each of the disciples ask
Jesus if it was he who was going to betray Jesus, including even Judas who was
playing the hypocrite. Having lived so
closely with Jesus for over three years, I am sure that each one of them knew
how frequently he had already betrayed his Lord in many ways by his thoughts
and actions. By such close association
with Jesus, these disciples knew their unworthiness to receive anything that
God would give to them.
2.5.1.
We Christians ought to realize that God knows everything
about us all of the time, including all of our failings. Yet, in spite of our unworthiness, the Lord
still loves us steadfastly with His agape love.
2.6.
Note that although Jesus knew from the beginning that
Judas would betray Him that He never-the-less treated Judas well and loved him
just as He loved the rest of the disciples.
Jesus did everything He could to give Judas every chance to believe.
3.
VS
13:23 - “There was reclining on Jesus’ breast one of His disciples, whom
Jesus loved.” - John tells
us that the disciple whom Jesus loved was reclining at this table upon Jesus’
breast
3.1.
As we have seen, in this gospel John refers to himself
not by name but rather as being “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
3.2.
As the disciples were kneeling down and leaning on an
elbow, John was leaning over against Jesus’ breast. This is such a beautiful picture portraying
the effect of Jesus’ steadfast agape love for a disciple that the disciple
would feel comfortable enough to lean against Jesus’ breast at dinner.
3.3.
We ought to spend our time leaning against Jesus’
breast since He loves us as He loved John.
We ought to rest there at peace in His love.
4.
VS
13:24-27 - “Simon Peter therefore gestured to him,
and said to him, ‘Tell us who it is
of whom He is speaking’. He leaning back
thus on Jesus’ breast, said to Him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus therefore answered, ‘That is the one
for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him’. So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and
gave it to Judas, the son of Simon
Iscariot. And after the morsel, Satan
then entered into him. Jesus therefore
said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly’.” - John tells us that Simon Peter asks John to
ask Jesus whom it is who is going to betray Jesus, and Jesus tells John that it
is the one for whom He will dip the morsel and give it to him, then Jesus
dipped a morsel and gave it to Judas Iscariot and told him to do what he had
planned to do, only do it quickly
4.1.
Simon Peter asked John who it was who would betray
Jesus, as John was leaning on the breast of Jesus. John then asked Jesus who it was who would
betray Him.
4.2.
It is interesting that Peter asks John to ask Jesus
who it was would betray Him instead of asking Jesus himself. Arthur Pink has written that he believed that
Peter had some sort of a moral issue in his life at this time that kept him
from asking Jesus directly. Then, Pink
brings out the fact that believers often make the mistake of going to people rather
than to the Lord and seeking what someone else thinks instead of going to the
Lord during their crises. I’ve been in
leadership in churches long enough to know that there is a real tendency for
Christians to look to man for help first rather than the Lord. Christian leaders should point you back to
the Lord anyway, so why shouldn’t you go to the Lord first?
4.3.
Jesus tells John that the betrayer is the one for whom
He would dip the morsel and give it to him.
4.4.
The dipping of the morsel was in the Jewish culture of
that day a sign of friendship and honor, and in dipping the morsel and giving
it to Judas, Jesus was giving Judas one last chance to come to repentance and
cancel his plans to betray Jesus.
4.5.
There appears to be a moment of hesitation after Jesus
gives Judas the morsel, and after this Judas again decides to harden his heart
against Jesus. Then, John tells us that
Satan entered into Judas indicating that Judas became possessed by Satan at
that moment. Satan had already put it in
Judas’ heart to betray Jesus, and at this juncture Jesus gave Judas over to
Satan since he had too many times refused to give heed to Jesus and His
teaching.
4.6.
Although Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, He
didn’t cause Judas to betray Him.
However, Jesus does in the end confirm Judas’ decision to betray Him as
He tells him to quickly carry out what he had planned to do in betraying
Him. As I had said earlier in this
gospel, God only hardens the heart of the man who hardens his heart.
4.7.
Is it not true that the Lord often dips the morsel and
in friendship hands it to us as He appeals to us to repent of those sins which
we sometimes commit, or when we have hardened our heart to the Lord in an area
of our life? We ought to receive His
kindness when it is extended to us, for as the scripture says in Romans 2:4, “Or
do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience,
not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?”
4.8.
If we don’t receive the Lord’s gestures of kindness
which are designed to lead us to repentance, then we will have to receive His
discipline of us in order to learn the same lesson. He will not let us off the hook, He will
teach us one way or another.
5.
VS
13:28-30 - “Now no one of those reclining at the
table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had
the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, ‘Buy the things we have need of
for the feast’; or else, that he should
give something to the poor. And so after
receiving the morsel he went out immediately;
and it was night.” - John tells
us that none but he and possibly Peter understood what Jesus was telling Judas
to do when He told him to go and do quickly what he had determined to do in
betraying Jesus
5.1.
It appears that Jesus said only to John (and perhaps
Peter also) that the one who He would dip the morsel and give it to, would be
the one who would betray Him. Therefore,
the other disciples would have had no idea that Jesus was actually revealing
His betrayer in the act. However, it may
be that the disciples were aware of what Jesus had said to John, but they
didn’t actually believe that Judas could possibly have it in his heart to do
this thing.
5.2.
Since it
is recorded here that the other disciples believed that Jesus had sent Judas to
buy some things ‘for the feast’ it appears that after Judas had left the
group that Jesus was now able to celebrate the final feast of the Passover
(remember there were two feasts performed for the Passover) with His disciples,
the one in which He inaugurates the rite of the Lord’s Supper and shares the
bread and wine with His disciples (John alone doesn’t record this story in his
gospel account).
5.3.
In how Jesus’ treated Judas His betrayer, Jesus’
disciples were learning the importance of showing agape love to one another,
just as Jesus showed agape towards them.
Paul wrote in his definition of love in 1 Cor. Chapter 13 that we
Christians ought to always believe and hope the best of all people.
5.4.
The New Testament writers have let us know that
sometimes in the Old Testament writings that the Holy Spirit spoke through the
writer encoding prophesies that would be fulfilled when the Messiah was
sacrificed for our sins, for instance consider these verses which pertain to
Judas betraying Jesus:
5.4.1.
Psalm 55:12-15, “12 For it is not an
enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates
me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. 13
But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; 14
We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the
throng. 15 Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down
alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.”
5.4.2.
Psalm 41:9, “9 Even my close friend in
whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”
5.4.3.
Being betrayed for 30 shekels of silver was prophesied
in Zechariah 11:10-14, “10 I took my staff Favor and cut it in
pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So
it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were
watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. 12 I said to them, “If it is good in your
sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out
thirty shekels of silver as my wages.”
5.4.3.1.Matthew 26:14-15 tells us that in fact
Jesus was betrayed to the high priests by Judas for 30 shekels of silver, “14
Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief
priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him
to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.”
5.4.3.2.Interestingly Exodus 21:32 tells us that
30 shekels of silver was the amount that a person was to pay if his ox gored
someone’s male or female slave, “32 “If the ox gores a male or
female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of
silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”
13 Then the Lord
said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I
was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw
them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the
brotherhood between
5.4.4.
In Acts 1:15-20 we learn that the Holy Spirit embedded
in the Psalmists writings in Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 that another man was to take
Judas Iscariot’s place in leadership after Judas had died, “15 At
this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one
hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said, 16 “Brethren,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth
of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17
“For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” 18
(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and
falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed
out. 19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so
that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of
Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, And let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’” Note that this again refers to that prophesy
in Zechariah 11:10-14.
5.5.
What reasons should we consider for why Judas Iscariot
determined to betray Jesus?
5.5.1.
Perhaps he was disillusioned at Jesus for not setting
up His kingdom right away.
5.5.2.
He was merely greedy and wanted the money he could
gain by betraying Jesus.
5.5.3.
He was smarting after the rebuke given to him by Jesus
when he complained that the woman who poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet
and washed His feet with her hair should have spent her money on the poor.
5.5.4.
He came under Satanic control.
5.6.
In Matthew 27:1-10, we find out more that happened
after Judas betrayed Jesus, “1 Now when morning came, all the
chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to
put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and
delivered Him to Pilate the governor. 3 Then when Judas, who had
betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying,
“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to
us? See to that yourself!” 5 And he threw the pieces of
silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged
himself. 6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It
is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of
blood.” 7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the
Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. 8 For this reason
that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then
that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver,
the price of the one whose price had been
set by the sons of Israel; 10 and
they gave them for the Potter’s Field, as
the Lord directed me.”” The
words of Jeremiah the prophet mentioned here are those found in the Zech.
11:10-14 passage above.
6.
VS
13:31-32 - “When therefore he had gone out, Jesus
said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also
glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately’.”
- John tells us that Jesus stating that
now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him
6.1.
After the traitor left the presence of Jesus and His
disciples, now the Lord is glorified.
While there was one who was unregenerate and unbelieving, Jesus could
not be glorified.
6.2.
The glorification that Jesus speaks about here will
come about by Him going to the cross of Calvary and dying for the sins of world,
and of all of God’s acts Calvary’s cross most reveals the glory of God, for
instance:
6.2.1.
The holiness and justice of God are most clearly seen
in the fact that God had to send His only begotten Son to pay such a debt.
6.2.2.
The love of God is most clearly seen in Jesus’ dying
for sinful men.
6.2.3.
The grace and mercy of God is most clearly seen in
Jesus paying a debt of sin that every man owed and was unable to pay
6.2.4.
The goodness and generosity of God is most clearly
seen in God giving His most precious Son to pay for the debt of sin we owed
upon Calvary’s cross.
6.2.5.
The power of God is most clearly seen in Jesus’
triumphing over all of man’s enemies upon the cross of
6.2.6.
The faithfulness of God is most clearly seen in Jesus
fulfilling every prophesy of scripture in coming and dying upon
6.3.
The Son of God and God the Father are always mutually
glorified, and mutually glorified in Jesus’ work on the cross.
6.4.
We Christians must strive to keep Christ’s church
pure, for only when the church is pure is God glorified in her.
7.
VS
13:33 - “‘Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you
also, ‘’Where I am going, you cannot come’’’.” - Jesus calls His disciples his ‘little
children’ and then tells them that He is going to be with them a little while
longer and that they will seek Him but where He is going they cannot come
7.1.
In
preparing His disciples for His departure, for the first time Jesus calls His
disciples using this very affectionate paternal term, ‘little children.’ Jesus is now the dying parent who is giving
His beloved children departing words and instructions.
7.2.
In predicting His impending death, Jesus had told the
Jews that He would soon go away and that they would seek for Him but not be
able to find Him. However, He had told
the Jews that they would die in their sins also. To His disciples, Jesus simply says that they
cannot come to where He is going, referring to the cross. The disciples cannot accompany Jesus to the
cross, nor experience crucifixion with Him at this time.
8.
VS
13:34-35 - “‘A new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this all men will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another’.” - Jesus gives His disciples a new commandment,
this is to love one another as He has love them, and that it is by this love
that all men would know that they were Jesus’ disciples
8.1.
In comforting His disciples, Jesus tells them that
they must draw together as a community and learn to love each other with that
same ‘agape’ love that He loved them with. He tells them that they are to love (agape)
one another because He loved (agaped) them, and in the same kind of way that He
loved (agaped) them they are to love (agape) each other.
8.2.
The second commandment had said to love your neighbor
as you love yourself, however Jesus now tells His disciples that He is giving
them a brand ‘new’ commandment, that they are to love (agape) “one
another.” His body must love each
other with God’s kind of love which is love that is unconditional and
selflessly reaches out and loves others as it expects nothing in return.
8.3.
We in the Body of Christ need each other and God has
chosen His body to meet needs in our lives which can be met no other way. We ought to draw close to the Body of Christ
as we learn to practice agape love towards one another.
9.
VS
13:36 - “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I go, you cannot
follow Me now; but you shall follow
later’.” - Simon Peter
asks Jesus where He is going and Jesus replies that that where He is going that
Peter cannot follow Him now but that he shall follow Jesus there later
9.1.
Jesus was going to the cross, and Peter could not
follow Him to the cross now. But, Jesus
tells Peter that he will follow Jesus later.
Peter shall go to the cross as had His master, at least that is what
tradition has handed down to us concerning Peter.
9.2.
Tradition
has been passed down through the centuries that Nero was going to crucify Peter
but because Jesus had been crucified Peter requested that he might be crucified
upside down, and his request was granted him and thus he died.
10.
VS
13:37-38 - “Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not
follow You right now? I will lay down my
life for You’. Jesus answered, ‘Will you
lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly,
I say to you, a cock shall not crow, until you deny Me three times’.”
- Peter asks Jesus why he cannot follow
Jesus now for he is willing to even lay down his life for Jesus, however Jesus
replies to Peter that before the first cock of morning crows that he (Peter)
shall deny Him three times
10.1.
Peter will not be able to go to the cross for Jesus
until Jesus has gone to the cross for him.
10.2.
Peter is very gallant as he speaks and these are the
finest words which ever came out of his mouth to this point. Peter meant every word that he said. You could never say that Peter was not a
brave man. When the soldiers came to
arrest Jesus, Peter pulled out his sword and was ready to fight to the death
(however all he ended up doing was cutting a slave’s ear off). Now, he vows to even lay down his life for
the Lord.
10.3.
We
Christians all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Many times we Christians worry about falling
through our weaknesses to various temptations that we are susceptible to. However, we are rarely if ever concerned
about the area of our strengths. There
are areas of temptation that each of us feel that there is no way that we could
fall in that particular area. However,
having that kind of confidence in our flesh and the strength of our will power
sets us up for a fall, just as it did with Peter. Peter ended up denying the Lord three times
because he had been over confident and thought that there was no way that he
could fall in that kind of way because he was willing to die for the Lord any
time.
10.4.
Peter hadn’t yet come to know himself. He didn’t realize presently how weak the faith
that he had really was, nor how strong was the pull of the flesh in his
life. Peter’s confidence was in the
resolve of his will. He was ready to die
for Jesus now when he was in the presence of Jesus and of His disciples, but
when the solders came and Jesus was betrayed, Peter was fearful of a mere maid
and intentionally lied and betrayed His master three times, doing so before the
cock crowed at morning’s first light (fulfilling Jesus’ prophetic word).
10.5.
This prediction by Jesus of his three denials shall
bring bitter tears of repentance to Peter when He hears the cock crow and
realizes that Jesus’ word concerning him has come true.
10.6.
We need the strengthening of the Holy Spirit in our
lives in order for us to even begin to follow Jesus and honor Him with our
lives. We Christians need to recognize
our weaknesses in the flesh and learn to depend completely on the Lord for His
strength in all that we do. We must
realize that we do not have the will power to resist the temptations to sin and
self glorification in and of ourselves.
10.7.
To have a distrust of self is essential and healthy in
the lives of Jesus’ disciples and is one of the beginning markers that must be
passed before we can be truly useful in serving God. Paul wrote in Eph. 4:22-23, “that, in
reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is
being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed
in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of
God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”” Our old self never gets any better as we
continue to grow in Christ. In fact, it
continues to get worse and worse, for it “is being corrupted in according
with the lusts of deceit.”
Therefore, dying to self and letting Christ live through our lives by
faith, must be a continual moment by moment commitment, if we are to glorify
God with our lives and be used of Him.
10.8.
Paul wrote the following to the Corinthians in 1 Cor.
10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall,”,
and I agree with what someone once said, “if we feel like we have an area of
our life under control, that very area may be where we are most likely to fall. We Christians need to look to God for the
strength to do every task we perform, no matter how small, and especially for
the temptations and trials which we face.
10.9.
When I said my marriage vows to my wife, I knew that
it would be by God’s grace that I would fulfill these vows. However, as I in faith in God’s strength committed
myself to my wife, He has subsequently honored my faith and I’ve kept those
vows. I knew that by His strength I
could “do all things” that the Lord wanted me to do, as Paul has
written.
10.10.James wrote, “You have now because
you ask not,” and if we do not have the power to do the things we ought to
do, it is because we have not asked for that strength. However, if we have asked for that strength
and not gotten it, James said, “If you ask and do not receive it is because
you ask with wrong motives, wanting to spend it upon your pleasures.” Therefore, if we ask for God’s power and
strength to do those seemingly impossible tasks in our lives, and our heart’s
desire is to do His will and not our own, then we are guaranteed that we will
receive that power and strength.
10.11.Jesus’ prophetic word being fulfilled
about Peter denying the Lord three times before the cock crowed was yet another
sign that showed that Jesus was indeed divine and thus possessed omniscience.
11.
CONCLUSIONS:
11.1.
Beware not
only of your weaknesses but also of your strengths.
11.2.
Never put
your confidence in your flesh and the resolve of your will. Beware not only of your weaknesses but also
your strengths.
11.3.
Learn to
see yourself as being weak and needing to constantly depend upon the Lord as
your strength.