He Who Shared My Bread

[0:00] This morning we're continuing the story of Jesus from the vantage point of John. So if you have your Bible with you, please open it to John chapter 13, verse 18.

[0:15] If you don't have a Bible, you can grab one in the front of the seats there, the black book. The words will also be on the screen for you this morning too. We're kind of jumping right back into the middle of what took place on the evening prior to Jesus' death.

[0:32] We're in the upper room. Jesus has just finished washing the feet of his disciples. A beautiful and humble act of love. And after doing this, Jesus made it clear that this does not change their relationship to him.

[0:50] He is still the teacher, they the students. He the master, they his servants. And yet Jesus' command is for them to lovingly serve one another.

[1:02] To humbly meet the needs of one another, just like he has now done for them. The evening meal is now in progress. And here at the table, Jesus has more to say.

[1:14] We'll pick it up in verse 18. He says, I am not referring to all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of scripture.

[1:29] He who shared my bread has turned against me. I'm not referring to all of you, says Jesus. Now it's not entirely clear what Jesus is referring back to here.

[1:41] Is it that the instructions to serve one another and the blessing that goes along with that does not apply to all of them? Or is Jesus reaching even further back to verse 10 where he said, And you, plural, are clean, though not every one of you.

[1:57] Whatever the case, it seems clear who Jesus is referring to. He's bringing the conversation back to Judas. As John explained above in verse 11.

[2:13] For he knew who was going to betray him. And that was why he said, not everyone was clean. And Jesus makes another sort of mysterious statement.

[2:26] He says, I know those whom I have chosen. Again, we're kind of left with the disciples wondering what Jesus means.

[2:36] Imagine that you're one of the disciples sitting there around the table as he says this. What do you mean, Jesus? You chose all of us. It was Jesus who from the beginning had called or invited each one of them to follow him.

[2:51] And then again, it was Jesus who had selected 12 out of all of his followers and designated them to be his apostles. Luke chapter 6, verse 13.

[3:03] So what do you mean, Jesus? I know those whom I have chosen. Is it that some are chosen in a deeper sense and some are not? Or is it that Jesus has chosen all of them and knows all of them, including which one it is who is about to betray him?

[3:23] Whatever the case, Jesus tells them that scripture is about to be fulfilled. This is to fulfill this passage of scripture.

[3:34] He who shared my bread has turned against me. Jesus quotes here from Psalm chapter 41, verse 9. Psalm 41 is a psalm of David in which David reflects on his own afflictions and prays about his own troubles.

[3:50] And if you know the story of David, he had some pretty deep and painful afflictions and many troubles. Let's look at a couple verses from Psalm 41, starting in verse 7.

[4:04] David says, All my enemies whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me, saying, A vile disease has afflicted him. He will never get up from the place where he lies.

[4:15] Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me. Now exactly who David meant here in Psalm 41, verse 9, we can only guess.

[4:31] Perhaps this came from David's latter years when he was old and frail, a time of political intrigue when various men were envious of David's power and wanted to steal his throne.

[4:43] Whatever the case, let's not miss the anguish in David's voice. Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.

[5:03] What is David lamenting here? Betrayal. Betrayal of the worst kind. This is not just some rival who has long opposed David.

[5:16] This was a close and trusted friend of his. How close? Close enough that David could say, He was one who shared my bread.

[5:29] In other words, we used to eat together at the dinner table. And now, says David, he's turned on me. Now David, I believe, is speaking to God about the anguish of his own betrayal by a close friend.

[5:45] But now Jesus is saying that what happened to David is about to happen again to the son of David, the Messiah. It's as though Jesus is saying, I too am about to suffer the anguish of deep betrayal by a dear and close friend.

[6:06] A friend so close, he has shared my bread. A man I've reclined at the table with countless times. He's about to turn against me. In verse 19, Jesus says, I'm telling you now before it happens so that when it does happen, you will believe that I am who I am.

[6:28] When it comes to signs that prove Jesus is the Messiah, we tend first to think about the miracles that Jesus did. Those great works of God's power. But Jesus, in a sense, says, this too will be a sign for you.

[6:42] Just as David was betrayed by one of his closest friends, so the Messiah, the son of David, will also be betrayed by one of his closest friends.

[6:56] Jesus speaks about what will happen. And that clear ability to declare the future is meant for us to believe that he is the one as we see it all unfold, just like he said it would.

[7:12] Now what Jesus says next in verse 20 is this, very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.

[7:27] These words hearken back to what he said before and they point ahead to what he is about to do to send his disciples into the world on his behalf. But we're not gonna sit here too long this morning.

[7:39] We're gonna keep moving through the story here. Verse 21. After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified.

[7:51] Very truly, I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. Notice how Jesus is the one who brings it back again to this betrayal that's at hand.

[8:08] This is what is weighing heavily on the mind and heart of Jesus right now. Do you hear the anguish in the soul of Jesus?

[8:21] He was troubled in spirit as he said this. Truly, truly, I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.

[8:32] Because we know the story, maybe we tend to just think of Judas as that guy who was the black sheep right from the beginning.

[8:44] Maybe we assume that things between him and Jesus were always kind of cold. Or that Jesus, long time before this, had already shut his heart to Judas, knowing that Judas would betray him.

[8:57] But now here, as Jesus utters the words, we see that this betrayal deeply affected Jesus. The thought of his close friend doing what he was about to do, it troubled him in spirit.

[9:15] These are the same words that John used to describe the grief that Jesus felt as he saw Mary crying over Lazarus' death. These are the same words that Jesus used just not too long ago in the gospel to describe how he felt about his own death being very near at hand.

[9:31] When he said, now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? And so it's here that I want to invite you to consider.

[9:44] Not all of us, but some of us, have felt the anguish of betrayal by a loved one, a close friend, a dear family member, maybe even a spouse.

[10:03] I cannot say to you that I know what that's like, but Jesus can. He's experienced it. He was troubled in spirit and testified, truly, truly, I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.

[10:27] Jesus knows the anguish of betrayal. And so if you have felt that or are feeling that right now, know that you are not alone.

[10:38] Verse 22, his disciples stared at one another at a loss to know which of them he meant.

[10:53] One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, ask him which one he means. Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, Lord, who is it?

[11:12] Let these words sink in. None of the other disciples saw this coming. None of them. They were all at a loss to know who Jesus was talking about.

[11:27] Peter didn't know who it was. John, the beloved disciple, didn't know who it was. They were part of the inner circle of three. Neither of them knew who it was.

[11:40] None of them saw this coming. And it's here at this point that we probably need to reflect back over the whole story of Jesus. It wasn't as though all of these disciples, well, they somehow knew, yeah, I'm a true follower of Jesus, but Judas over there, I'm kind of suspicious about him.

[12:01] No. They didn't have suspicions about Judas. To them, Judas was one of them. He'd been there from the beginning with the rest of them over the past three years.

[12:13] He was there at the feeding of the 5,000. He was there being sent out with the rest of them back in Luke chapter 6. He was there in the boat when Jesus calmed the storm and when Jesus walked out to them on the water.

[12:27] He walked along the roads with them. He ate with them. He worked with them. He rode with them. He witnessed all of it together with them. And so, the bond between Judas and the rest was probably pretty strong.

[12:44] They had been through all of this together with him. But though Judas had already been meeting secretly with the religious leaders, he was able to keep up appearances well enough.

[12:58] None of the 11 disciples knew it was him or saw this coming. Now, some of them, of course, knew that he had helped himself to the money from the money purse on occasion.

[13:10] But did that make him make them think that he was disloyal? Apparently not. Could it be that they were all so aware of their own sins that Judas' just seemed somewhat normal?

[13:25] Just like the rest of them. James and John had their arrogance and their pride. Peter had his brashness and loved the praise of others. Thomas was a cynical guy who...

[13:36] And they all argued and fought with each other from time to time. And then Judas, yeah, he helped himself occasionally to the money from the money purse.

[13:49] Some people are very skilled at hiding what's really going on inside of them. And I can't help but think here that for Judas to be convincing and to have had them all fooled, no doubt there were moments in which he acknowledged and even loved the good things that came with following Jesus.

[14:12] But there was a war going on inside of him. A secret love affair with the world and the things in it. And all of that was just too much to give up for this Jesus.

[14:30] I imagine that inwardly he vacillated back and forth through it all truly enough until now at least that he had them all fooled. All except Jesus, the one who knew what was in a man.

[14:46] So here they are reclined around this table. Apparently they had tables that were low to the ground back then and they sort of lay on their sides with their feet kind of back out from the table around the table.

[15:00] and John refers to himself discreetly here as the one whom Jesus loved. That's where he gets his nickname the beloved disciple. The picture we get here is of Peter and then John beside Peter and then Jesus beside John.

[15:16] And they're at the table and it seems as though Peter basically kind of discreetly asks John maybe even in a whisper ask the Lord who is it?

[15:28] And then John leans his head back on the chest of Jesus right beside him. Who is it? And then Jesus speaks to John and tells him straight up verse 26 Jesus answered it's the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.

[15:49] And then dipping the piece of the bread he gave it to Judas the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread Satan entered into him.

[16:02] So Jesus told him what you're about to do do quickly. But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charged with the money some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival or to give something to the poor.

[16:23] As soon as Judas had taken the bread he went out and it was night. So it seems pretty obvious that this little exchange where John asks Jesus who is it and Jesus tells John it's the one who I will give this piece of bread to it was quite discreet.

[16:42] Nobody except for John seemed to really understand what was going on here or even knew that Judas was the betrayer even after he had left. They thought well Jesus must have sent him on an errand or something.

[16:54] Imagine for a moment that you or John right in the middle of all this and you ask Jesus and Jesus tells you it's the one to whom I give this piece of bread and for the rest of that meal till the moment that Judas leaves you have that knowledge something's going on here.

[17:17] Nobody else really understands what's going on. what are you thinking? What are you feeling in this moment? This part of the story ends rather ominously.

[17:35] Jesus tells Judas to go and do what he's about to do. John tells us that Satan entered into Judas the devil himself and then Judas went out and it was night.

[17:49] night. When we partake of the Lord's table each month it's easy it's natural to want to focus on the bread and the cup and we should.

[18:00] Those are the symbols that the Lord has given us to remember his death but this bread that was broken and this cup that was passed around the table came in the midst of sorrow grief betrayal and treachery.

[18:19] a man sitting at this same table was about to hand Jesus over to men who were bent on putting him to death and it broke the heart of Jesus what Judas was about to do.

[18:39] Not only was it evil but it was personal. Matthew tells us that when they had all heard Jesus say that one of them would betray him that they all began to say to Jesus one after another surely not I Lord in other words I would never do such a thing and when it came around to Judas he too it says looked into the eyes of Jesus a friend like no other and he said surely you don't mean me Rabbi he lied to Jesus face and it doesn't say this in the Bible but I imagine that there were tears almost in Jesus eyes as he held that dipped piece of bread out to Judas a token of friendship and love we might hear all this and we might think well what tragedy what darkness why bring us here to hear about this today to look at this awful betrayal but this is another example of how God can use even the worst and most wicked of things and bring something good and beautiful out of it it's through this betrayal that Jesus will come to die and it's through Jesus death on that cross that forgiveness and cleansing of sin will come to all of us who repent and believe in Jesus through Judas betrayal came Jesus death but through

[20:30] Jesus death came salvation for all who will believe and so as we come to the table again this morning we're going to have a moment of quiet here and I want to invite you to confess your sins to the Lord quietly to ask for his forgiveness to reflect on Jesus death and how his blood brings forgiveness and atonement for you after a few minutes of quiet prayer Dave will come up and pass out the elements and if you are here this morning and you have confessed your sins you have confessed that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead then I want to invite you to partake with us this morning to eat and drink together with us if not simply let the bread and the cup pass you by we'll wait until everyone has been served and then we'll partake together prayer

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