PM Home Bible Study Group; August 21, 2013
John 13:18-38
Theme: In revealing how much He knew of what was about to happen to Him, Jesus also reveals the greatness of His love.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
The love of the heavenly Father is demonstrated by the sacrifice of His beloved Son on the cross for us. As the Bible tells us, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). And in this evening’s passage from John’s Gospel, we see how that sacrifice of Jesus—in obedience to the Father—demonstrates His own love.
This evening’s passage comes in the section of John’s Gospel that describes Jesus’ conversation with His disciples just before He went to the cross. That section constitutes the longest single dialogue in the New Testament (extending from chapters 13 through 17). And it involves the highest possible themes—culminating in Jesus’ glorious ‘High-priestly prayer’ for those for whom He would die. This evening’s passage involves something of a transition in that greater dialogue in terms of those who were present to hear it. In the midst of it, Jesus’ betrayer Judas is revealed, is entered into by Satan himself, and leaves to do his work of betrayal. The conversation from then on involves only those who were our Lord’s own.
Two great things are revealed to us in this passage. In it, we’re shown how much our Lord knew in advance of what was about to happen to Him. And in that knowledge, we’re shown the greatness of His love toward those who were involved. In John 15:13, He would say, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." And in 1 John 3:16, the apostle John said, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us . . ."
Consider that . . .
I. HE KNEW WHO WOULD BETRAY HIM (vv. 18-30).
A. Think back to what Jesus said earlier in this chapter, as He washed the disciples’ feet. Peter wanted Jesus to wash him completely; and the Lord said, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean . . ." (John 13:10a); and then said, "and you are clean, but not all of you.” This one who was not clean was Judas himself. After having taught the disciples—by His own example—to wash one another’s feet, Jesus then said, “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He" (vv. 18-19). Jesus here quotes from Psalm 41—a psalm of King David that appears to have involved the story of someone who had betrayed him. Jesus applies those words to Himself. Just as the betrayal that King David spoke of must have pained his heart, our Lord’s heart was pained by the betrayal of Judas. Judas had been with the Lord Jesus for three-and-a-half years. The Lord had ministered with Judas as a close aid. But you’ll notice that our Lord says, "I know whom I have chosen"—suggesting that He also knew who it was among those He choose who would be His betrayer All the way back in John 6:70—after everyone else had left Him but only the twelve remained—Jesus affirmed, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Have you ever noticed that Jesus didn’t say, "And one of you will become a devil"? Jesus knew that Judas was the betrayer from the beginning—and that he was, even then, under the influence of the devil. And even in His great ‘High-priestly prayer’ in John 17, our Lord prayed, "Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John 17:12). What Scripture was it that was fulfilled? It was Psalm 41:9—which speaks of one who ate of our Lord’s bread and yet lifted up his heel against Him. And now—with Judas sitting there in their midst—Jesus announces it in advance; so that, when it comes to pass, they may have further confirmation given to their hearts that Jesus is the great "I AM". Later on, Peter affirmed this to the rest. In the upper room, after our Lord’s resurrection, he told the others, "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus . . ." (Acts 1:16).
B. Did our Lord make a mistake in including Judas in His inner circle? Was His own ministry somehow harmed or hindered by the fact that some aspects of the work were performed by the betrayer? Not at all. This is suggested to us by verse 20. Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” Judas—whatever his own motives may have been—had been sent by the Lord Himself, along with the others. When the betrayer went out to preach about the very Jesus that he would one day betray, he went under the authority of Jesus Himself. It may have been that some had been drawn to Jesus by the preaching of Judas; but their coming was in no way invalidated by the fact that Judas was a betrayer. Even today, some people are drawn to Jesus by someone who later proves to be a false disciple; but their faith in Jesus is nevertheless valid, and they were nevertheless truly drawn to Jesus by God’s grace. We who have genuinely trusted Jesus under the ministry of someone who later proves to be a phony can nevertheless count their ministry to have been sent to us under the sovereign rule of God.
C. Still, Judas broke our Lord’s heart. We’re told in verse 21, "When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’" What a sober moment that must have been. We can say that our Lord genuinely loved His own betrayer. He even washed Judas’ feet—knowing full well that those feet would shortly thereafter take Judas to those who would turn Him over for crucifixion. But all this was a great mystery to the other disciples. They never would have suspected Judas. We’re told, "Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke" (v. 22). In the paintings and Bible movies, Judas’ sinister nature is usually obvious. But it may be that, in reality, he would have been the very last of the twelve that anyone would have suspected. It may be that he appeared to be an extremely refined, dignified man that gave people the impression that he was honest and trustworthy. He may have had the appearance of being the most "disciple-like" of the twelve. After all, he had been entrusted early on with the role of ‘treasurer’ (see John 13:29)—even though it had been revealed later that he was a thief and had been dipping into the money box (see 12:4-6). In fact, those who were closest to Jesus had to ask who the betrayer could be. "Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved" (v. 23). (We can take this to be John himself.) "Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon" (vv. 23-26).
D. We shouldn’t mistake our Lord’s love for Judas to mean, however, that Judas was nevertheless ultimately saved—as some have taught. In Matthew’s Gospel, we’re given a few more of the details. Matthew writes,
And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The 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 not been born.” Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it" (Matthew 26:22-25).
Knowing that he had already plotted against the Lord and had already agreed to betray Him, what a dreadful audacity it was that Judas willingly took the bread from the hand of our Lord! It was as if he had deliberately crossed the point of no return in his wickedness. And we’re told what unspeakably dreadful thing happened next: "Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him" (v. 27a). Satan left none of this to the demonic spirits under his rule. He saw to this himself. And though he had already exercised influence upon Judas; after the piece of bread was taken from the hand of the Lord and eaten by him, the devil exercised it from within Judas! "Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly’" (v. 27b). To whom did our Lord direct this permission? To Judas? To Satan? Perhaps it was to both. "But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, ‘Buy those things we need for the feast,’ or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night" (vv. 28-30). Thus our Lord showed love even to the one who betrayed Him under the power of Satan—even having engaged in ministry with him for three-and-a-half years—even having washed his feet. But more; He showed love to us in that He allowed Himself to be betrayed, and to be arrested, and to be crucified, and to die as a curse for us in order to wash us of our sins! What love!
II. HE KNEW HOW THE FATHER WOULD BE GLOFIED IN HIM (vv. 31-35).
A. But it was not only a love for Judas—and for us—that was shown in all this. Jesus also, through it all, showed His love for the Father. It was the Father who had sent Him; and in acting in obedience to the Father, He glorified the Father and showed the Father’s own love for us. We’re told, "So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately’" (vv. 31-32). Jesus was all about the Father’s glory. In His ‘High-priestly prayer’, Jesus spoke of His crucifixion and said,
"Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:1b-5).
How could it be that Jesus’ crucifixion would glorify the Father? As Dr. Harry Ironside wrote, "The Lord had said that He was going out to die, that He was to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Could that glorify God? He had said that He was to be buried and then raised again, and it was in this, His death and His resurrection, that God was to be glorified. For in His sacrificial death upon the cross, He was to settle the sin question in a way that would meet every claim of the holiness of God’s nature and the righteousness of His throne. And we may say that in that death of His upon the tree, God has received more glory than He ever lost by Adam’s sin and by all the guilt and enmity and iniquity that came into the world since" (H. A. Ironside, Addresses on The Gospel of John, p. 574).
B. Jesus then teaches His disciples how it would be that they would participate in that work of glorifying the Father and the Son. He tells them, "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (vv. 33-35). Some of us give a great deal of attention to the ten commandments; but we often forget the eleventh. Here is the eleventh: Love one another. Do you notice that Jesus says that He loved us with a particular and practical reason in mind? He loved us (dying on the cross for us) "that" we might also love one another. Earlier, we considered the first half of 1 John 3:16, which said, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us." The rest of that verse says, "And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." The world knows we love Jesus and are His disciples when we obey this commandment. Thus, we too glorify the Father.
III. HE KNEW THAT PETER WOULD DENY HIM (vv. 36-38).
A. The love of Jesus for yet another person is revealed in this passage. When He spoke of leaving His disciples, we’re told, "Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’" (v. 36a). Peter could hardly stand any distance between himself and the Lord at any time. He apparently couldn’t even be in a boat, and stand having water between himself and Jesus! But now that the Lord spoke of leaving him, it caused Peter great distress. "Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward’" (v. 36b). Peter would one day follow the Lord the way that He went—even to a death on a cross. Jesus would later tell Him, "’Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.’ This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me’" (John 21:18-19). Peter did indeed then, one day, follow Jesus. He didn’t understand any of this at the time, however. "Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake’" (v. 37).
B. We wince when we read those words. We know what would happen shortly after Peter spoke them. But so did our Lord. "Jesus answered him, ‘Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times’" (v. 38). And yet, knowing that Peter would soon thereafter deny Him, He still loved him. Back in Luke 22:31-32, we read, "And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’" "When you have returned . . ."? Yes! Jesus knew from the beginning that Peter would fail Him; but He also promised that there would be a ‘return’. What love this shows us that our Lord has—even toward those who, like us, fail Him terribly. Our failures are not fatal to our usefulness to Him. And His own love for us never fails!
* * * * * * * * * *
How much, then, did Jesus know of what was going to happen to Him? All of it. He knew what was in the heart of men (John 2:25). And He knew "that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God" (John 13:3). And knowing that He knew all this underscores the greatness of His love all the more!