Thanks so much, Alistair. My name's Archie. I'm the pastor in training here.
And it's my job this morning to open God's word for us and to let him speak.
And before we do that together, why don't I pray just to prepare our hearts to hear from him.
Heavenly Father, as we hear from you in your word this morning, as we look to your son,
I pray that by your Holy Spirit, the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts would be acceptable to you this morning.
Amen.
I want to begin this morning with a story.
And this story is a completely made up story, but hopefully it gets us feeling some of the weight of this passage.
It's a story about Ahmed. Ahmed grew up in inner city Birmingham.
He was a happy kid, happy at school. He had lots of friends.
But when he was six years old, his best friend, Jonathan, was moving away.
He was moving to Carlisle.
Ahmed and Jonathan stayed in touch. Their parents got on quite well.
They even went on holiday together over the next couple of years, that kind of thing.
But school definitely wasn't as good now for Ahmed now that Jonathan had left.
They were still best friends, but life was just that little bit sadder.
A couple of years later, and the good news, one day Ahmed got home from school.
His parents sat him down.
His mum had got a new job.
It wasn't far from Carlisle, and they were going to be moving.
And so at the end of the summer, they were going to be moving up there.
Ahmed was going to get to go to school with his best friend, Jonathan, again.
They were on holiday together that summer, just a couple of weeks before the move.
And the boys were so excited.
You can imagine them planning their first day back at school together again.
And then the day came.
Ahmed arrived at this new school in Carlisle, and it was strange.
See, his school in Birmingham was just really multicultural.
Lots of kids that looked like him, who had families like his.
But here, it was just so obvious, as soon as he arrived in the playground,
all of the other kids at this school were white.
And when he got to registration, he realized that he wasn't going to be in Jonathan's class.
And everyone there was looking at him and whispering, some of them openly pointing and laughing.
No one said hello.
No one welcomed him.
No one sat next to him.
He could not wait for the first break time to get out into the playground to find Jonathan.
The bell goes.
It's break time straight out into the playground.
And there's Jonathan.
He's with a group of friends.
And Ahmed notices that some of them in this circle were those in his class.
Some were even those who had been pointing and laughing at him.
So he nervously approaches his best friend.
And Jonathan just totally ignores him.
The other kids ask if Jonathan knows this new kid.
He says he's never seen him before.
And he turns his back.
It's a horrible betrayal, that, isn't it?
I wonder if you've ever been betrayed.
Maybe betrayed like that.
Just think for a moment how that feels.
Betrayal is horrible, isn't it?
Very often when we're teaching children the gospel, we use this sort of metaphor, that Jesus wants to be your friend.
You've done things that would upset him, but he's willing to forgive you.
He wants to be your friend.
And that can be quite helpful, I think.
But if I can put it like this.
If you are a Christian here this morning, and Jesus is your friend, well, have you ever been a Jonathan-like friend?
I know I have.
Privately, Jesus and I are best friends.
But when it comes down to it, faced with temptation, in my weakness, even the merest temptation,
so often I can pretend it was as though I never knew him.
This passage that we're in today, we're told that both Judas and Peter are going to betray Jesus in their way.
Judas is going to hand Jesus over to the authorities.
Peter is going to deny that he ever knew him.
And if you're at all familiar with that story, it's very easy to sort of take the emotion out of it, but it's horrible.
This is a brutal story.
And my prayer for us this morning is that we would feel that.
And that we would respond rightly to it.
Key question for us then is this.
What might it mean to betray or deny Jesus today?
And when we do, what next?
Maybe you've explicitly done that.
A co-worker or a friend at uni or at school is asked,
are you a Christian?
And your response, what, me?
A Christian?
Maybe it's more subtle than that.
Well, yeah, I am a Christian, but I'm not one of those Christians.
We might not have done it with our words like that, but there are ways.
I think there are lots of ways for me that we betray Jesus,
that we deny that we belong to him,
that we do that in the way that we live.
Right?
If we're honest, Judas, in this passage, his betrayal is going to send Jesus to the cross.
But my sin, it hammers in the nails.
To betray Jesus, it means that you've chosen to follow him,
that you are a Christian, and yet you continue to deny it
in what you say and in what you do.
But the message here this morning is not, and so take a good look at yourself.
Clean up your act.
Commit a bit more earnestly, and don't you dare deny or betray again.
That is not the message here at all.
Instead, as we answer this question,
when we betray or deny Jesus,
when you experience the crushing weight of guilt,
where do you go with it?
Where are you going to run?
That's what we're going to do this morning.
That's where we're heading.
But where have we been in this series in John's Gospel?
We've returned, I guess, almost every week to chapter 20 near the end of the book.
John gives us his purpose.
He says this,
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
which are not recorded in this book.
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God,
and that by believing, you may have life in his name.
In other words,
John wants his readers to see all the incredible stuff that Jesus did,
and to understand that all of it was supposed to point to something much bigger.
And so when John records Jesus turning water into wine,
when Jesus heals the lame and drives out a demon,
when he feeds a crowd of people,
when he walks on water,
it's all supposed to point to something about who Jesus is,
and the big thing that he came to do.
And throughout this book,
as if to make that really clear,
John repeats this phrase,
his hour had not yet come.
Nine times that phrase is repeated through the book,
his hour has not yet come,
until at last,
in John chapter 12,
verse 23,
we saw this a few weeks ago,
the hour has come.
For the Son of Man,
that is just a title for Jesus,
for the Son of Man to be glorified.
The hour has come.
It's just around the corner.
And we saw last week with JT,
as chapter 13 starts back in verse 1,
Jesus knew that the hour had come
for him to leave this world
and go to the Father.
So you see,
we're in this new section in John's Gospel.
You might even divide John's Gospel into two halves,
chapter 12, verse 23,
kind of from the hour has not yet come
to where we are now.
The hour has come.
And we're in this room
in the passage that Alistair has read for us.
We're in this room that we first saw that last week with JT.
It's the same room in verse 2.
Jesus and the 12,
they're enjoying the evening meal together
and it's Passover.
JT helped us see last week
how the foot-washing episode
in the first half of the chapter
is both a wonderful example
of loving service
and also a symbol
of the cleansing for sin
that will be available at the cross.
That Jesus wants his disciples,
that he wants those who follow him
to likewise serve one another
and to point one another
to his work on the cross.
That's where we've been so far.
And here's where we're going this morning.
That passage that Alistair has just read for us.
I think it's got quite a clear structure.
Verses 18 to 30,
Judas is going to betray Jesus.
Verses 31 to 35,
Jesus is going to the cross.
And verses 36 to 38,
Peter is going to deny Jesus.
So first, Judas is going to betray Jesus.
See in verse 18,
Jesus has just been explaining
the foot-washing thing.
And he says in verse 18,
he says,
this isn't all of you.
I know those I have chosen,
but this is to fulfill
the passage of scripture.
He who shared my bread
has turned against me.
And if you're not in the Pew Bible,
you might have something like
he lifted his heel against me.
And that's just kind of a cultural way
of saying he stuck
the middle finger up at me.
He betrayed me.
And Jesus is quoting from Psalm 41,
where King David's own son betrays him.
In other words,
and we'll talk about this
a bit more in a second,
it's a family betrayal.
One who sat at the table with me,
shared food with me,
he will be the one to betray me.
And notice in verse 21
that that troubles Jesus.
He knows it's coming.
Of course he does.
He's the sovereign God of the universe.
But he has taken on human flesh
and he knows what it is
to feel the pain of that betrayal.
Just as you and I might feel it.
Just as you can imagine
Ahmed in that story
would have felt it.
But the disciples don't know
who he's talking about.
I see in verse 22,
they stared at each other.
You can picture it wide-eyed,
looking around.
Which one of us is it going to be?
And then in verse 23,
have a look at verse 23.
One of them,
the disciple whom Jesus loved
was reclining next to him.
Simon Peter in verse 24
tells this disciple
to ask Jesus who it is.
And then verse 25,
that's exactly what he does.
Just a brief aside here.
The disciple whom Jesus loved
is John,
the author of this gospel.
He's referring to himself.
It might not be obvious here,
but we get it explicitly
right at the end of the book
in chapter 21,
verses 22 to 24.
If you want to do that,
check that out in your own time.
But it is a very strange way
for someone to refer
to themselves, isn't it?
What is John getting at?
Is he somehow
especially loved by Jesus?
Jesus?
I think that's how I had always read this.
Almost like a kind of
humble brag from John.
You think you're loved?
Check me out.
But I don't think
that's what it is at all.
Instead, what I think
he is actually saying is this.
This is the most important thing
about me.
It might be true of you as well,
but I am loved by Jesus.
That's who I am.
It's why I'm writing.
It's my motivation.
It's my identity.
In fact, it's all you need
to know about me.
Jesus loves me.
And so knowing that Jesus loves him,
verse 25, he asks,
Lord, who is it?
Who is it that will betray you?
And Jesus responds, verse 26,
it is the one to whom
I will give this piece of bread
when I have dipped it in the dish.
Apparently, that was a sort of sign
of honoring someone,
a bit like we might raise a toast
to someone at a dinner today.
And Jesus, still in verse 26,
he dips the bread,
he gives it to Judas.
It's a special kind of honoring.
Yes, he's saying,
you will betray me,
but he honors him as he does that.
And remember I said that Judas' betrayal
was a family betrayal
and the Passover feast
that they're sharing together,
that was a family meal.
And here, Jesus is sharing it
with his closest followers
as if to say,
this is my family.
And Judas is included in that.
Jesus washes Judas' feet
earlier in this chapter.
And Jesus, as he quotes from Psalm 41,
he says, just like David,
in fact, in fulfillment of David,
I'm going to be betrayed
by my own family.
And more than that,
as he hands him the bread,
as he honors him in that way,
he says, Judas,
you are part of my beloved family.
He extends grace and honor
and the offer of life to him,
even in that final moment.
And it is final for immediately,
verse 27,
as Judas takes the bread,
he decides finally to betray Jesus
and Satan entered into him.
I don't think that's to say
that he's now possessed by Satan
or something like that
and no longer responsible
for his actions.
It's not as though Judas was innocent
up until this point.
In chapter 12,
John tells us that Judas used to
help himself to the money
and the money bag.
And in verse 2 of our chapter,
we saw that the devil
was already at work on Judas
to betray Jesus.
But this is a final rejection,
a rejection of Jesus's offer of love.
It sort of seals the deal,
signs the fated betrayal
as Judas finally allows evil
and darkness to overcome him.
In other words,
I think this is the point
of no return.
His heart is now so hard
that there is no going back.
The disciples,
as is typical of them
in John's gospel,
continue to fail to understand.
See in verse 29,
they think Jesus is sending Judas
out for supplies
or maybe to give to the poor.
He was the money bag guy after all.
But Judas,
he takes the bread
and he heads out into the night.
As Satan enters Judas,
so Judas enters into the darkness.
Earlier in the week,
Cater told me about this painting
that's on the screen.
It's an amazing painting.
It's currently hanging
in the National Gallery
down there on Princes Street.
You can go and check it out.
It's by a French artist, Poussin.
And just see the way
that he uses light
to tell the story,
just like John does
in his gospel.
That's Judas there on the left
as you look at it.
He's in the dark.
His back is turned to Jesus
and the disciples
and he's heading out
into the night.
Judas is going to betray Jesus.
Next, Jesus is going to the cross.
And we'll see here
that the cross is glorious,
that the cross is necessary
and that the cross is love.
Have a look at verse 31.
When he was gone.
In other words,
now that Judas has left the room,
Jesus can really get going
on his teaching and prayer
that will come
in the following chapters.
And Jesus says,
now the Son of Man
is glorified
and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him,
God will glorify the Son
in himself
and will glorify him at once.
Now, those verses
are obviously quite difficult
to understand
and see the logic of,
especially I think
because on the Pew Bibles
they're over the page
from one another,
aren't they?
So it's hard to follow.
But let's just try
and see the logic of this.
First, the Son of Man
is glorified.
That is Jesus the man,
the human,
shown to be glorious.
And then God is glorified in him.
That I think is the divine nature
of Jesus.
God the Son
will be glorified
in Jesus the human.
It's true in that direction.
The second half of the verse
just says this is true
in the other direction too.
That is to say,
Jesus' humanity
and his divinity
will both be glorified
and what is to come.
But what does it mean
to be glorified?
I think it might be helpful,
first of all,
to say that you and I
cannot add to God's glory.
Maybe you've heard that
like a sports person
after they've won a match
or something might say,
all glory to God.
Or songs that we sing
where we say
we glorify his name.
When we do that,
it's vital for us
to understand
that we're not adding to God
something that wasn't
already there.
Instead,
when we say
that we glorify God,
we're revealing
or showing
something that already is,
showing God to be
who he already is,
who God really is.
In Isaiah chapter 6,
Isaiah sees the Lord
in his throne room
and the seraphim
calling to one another.
And here's what they say,
holy,
holy.
Three times they say,
holy.
That is who God is
in himself.
As he sits on his throne
in his splendor
and his majesty.
In other words,
God's holiness
is kind of like
his infinite worth.
God is holy.
And the seraphim say,
holy,
holy is the Lord almighty.
The whole earth
is full of his.
And you'd expect them
to say holiness,
I guess,
wouldn't you?
And maybe that phrase
is familiar to you
and so you know
that that's not what they say.
What they say is
the whole earth
is full of his glory.
In other words,
God's glory,
for God to be glorified,
it is for his holiness,
his infinite worth,
to be made public,
to be visible
in all the earth.
And so in Exodus chapter 33,
where Moses asks God
to show him his glory,
he is asking God
to make his holiness,
to make that known.
And here is how God responds.
I will cause all my goodness
to pass in front of you
and I will proclaim my name,
the Lord,
in your presence.
I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy
and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion.
What does God's glory look like
as he reveals it to Moses?
It is his goodness.
It is the name,
Lord Yahweh,
the name that says,
I am faithful to my promises.
It is his mercy
and it is his compassion.
And so here in our passage
this morning,
Jesus is saying
that the glory of God
will be seen
in what he is about to do.
For God to be glorified
is for God to be seen
for who he is.
And nowhere in all of scripture
and nowhere in all of history
is that more true than here.
At the cross.
Notice in verses 31 and 32
of our passage
that this glorifying,
it happens now
at the start of the verse
and it is at once
at the end of the verse.
This is the hour
at which he will be glorified.
It's the cross.
Nowhere does Jesus look
more humiliated and defeated.
Nowhere does he look
less like God himself.
And yet nowhere is his glory
more evident than this.
At his lowest point,
he is raised up.
At his most defeated,
he is defeating death.
On the cross as he dies,
pouring out mercy
and compassion
and making a way
for you and for me
to know the Father.
When he looks most human,
he is most gloriously God.
Good and faithful
to his promises
and merciful and compassionate.
Do you see how glorious
the cross is?
And the cross is also necessary.
See how tenderly
Jesus speaks to his disciples
in verse 33.
He says,
my children
or little children.
And he tells them
that he won't be with them
for much longer
and that they can't come with him.
We saw back in chapter 8
of John's Gospel,
Jesus,
as John refers to here,
said the same thing
to the Jews,
that they can't follow him
where he's going.
Why does he say it?
Well,
in chapter 8,
he says specifically
it's because they will die
in their sin.
In other words,
Jesus is going to be
with the Father,
eternal resurrection life
and it is impossible
to follow him there
if you remain
wrapped up in sin.
That was true
of the Jews.
It's true
of the disciples
as he speaks to them here
and it is true
of us today.
This is the great problem
to which the cross
is the answer.
Here's why
the cross is necessary.
We are human beings
wrapped up in sin.
We all are.
It's the default position.
And because of that,
we cannot go
where Jesus says
that he is going.
We need the cross.
It's necessary
because notice
down in verse 36,
he says,
you cannot follow now
to Simon Peter.
You cannot follow now,
but you will follow later.
In other words,
if you want to follow me,
you need me to go first.
You can't come to the Father
and enjoy eternal resurrection life
unless I first go to the cross
and deal with your sin.
This is the gospel's answer
to that great problem
for the Jews,
for Peter,
for the disciples,
for us.
None of us can enter
into eternal life.
None of us can follow Jesus
to the Father
unless he has dealt
with our sin on the cross,
unless he has been shown
to be glorious in that way
as he takes all of our sin
and our shame
and our betrayal
and denial of him
and he bears the weight
of the guilt of that
on his shoulders.
And unless we look to him
in that moment,
unless we recognize his glory
and humble ourselves
and trust him,
only then will we follow him
through death
to resurrection glory.
The cross is glorious.
The cross is necessary.
And finally,
the cross is love.
See, Jesus gives them
this command
in verses 34 and 35.
A new command I give you,
love one another
as I have loved you.
So you must love one another.
By this,
everyone will know
that you are my disciples
if you love one another.
This command isn't really new at all.
Loving your neighbor
was central
to the Old Testament law.
God had always commanded
that they love one another.
But of course,
there is a sense
in which it is new.
Jesus isn't lying.
And as Jesus literally
puts meat onto the bones
of that command,
he takes it
and he lives it
and he makes it flesh.
It's a new command
insofar as Jesus
has given it a context
as I have loved you.
And that is ultimately
expressed at the cross.
The incredible,
self-sacrificial,
life-giving love.
As Jesus lays down
his life in love
to give life
to those who follow him.
The cross is love.
And as he explains this,
Jesus is really preparing
his disciples
for his departure.
He says,
this is how you are to live,
to echo the self-giving love
of the cross amongst you.
And this is how those
in your community
will know
that you follow Jesus
as you love one another
like this.
And we talked about this
a bit last week with JT.
Maybe you talked about it
in your growth groups
this week too.
We did.
Because this remains true
for us.
As we love one another
in various ways,
so we point one another
to the love of Jesus
on the cross.
The glorious cross.
The necessary cross.
The cross where God's love
is ultimately expressed
for us.
But Peter,
he still can't get over
what Jesus has said
in verse 33.
He can't get over the fact
that Jesus is going to leave.
And so this is where we move
from Jesus is going
to the cross
to Peter is going
to deny Jesus.
This is our final point
and it won't take very long,
I promise.
See in verse 36
Peter's question.
Where are you going?
Where is Jesus going?
Why can't we go with him?
Again, Jesus' response.
We've seen it already.
You can't follow now
but you will follow later.
Peter doesn't understand
and he says in verse 37
I will follow you.
I would even lay down
my life for you.
See how zealous
and forthright Peter is
but he's misunderstanding.
He thinks Jesus is going
on some earthly journey
that might result
in his death.
He doesn't realise
that he needs Jesus
to die for him
and instead
he wants to die
for Jesus.
Peter wants to do
the saving
and Jesus says
verse 38
you can make
all your promises now
but you will deny me.
You will disown me
three times
before the rooster crows.
Peter will deny Jesus
as we read on
over the next few weeks
we'll see he does
just that.
I began this morning
with that story
of betrayal
of Ahmed
and Jonathan
the betrayal
and denial
of a best friend.
It's brutal
and it's brutal
here in John's Gospel too
as we've seen
the big movements
of the plot
in this passage
as Judas
is going to betray
Jesus
as Jesus
will be glorified
at the cross
and as Peter
will deny
Jesus too.
Two of his
closest friends
it's brutal
but as we
put all of that
together
notice the importance
for us this morning
because it is also
brutal when we
betray
and deny Jesus
and in some ways
we could describe
all of our sin
like this
as we deny
the one who
created us
and I think
especially brutal
if you're a Christian
here this morning
adopted sons
and daughters
of our creator
in him
followers of Jesus
and yet there are
ways aren't there
that we continue
to betray
and deny him
still
and so what
do we do?
We've reached
the end of the story
here
the climax
the last hour
we have these
two men
Judas
who followed
Jesus
but never
trusted him
who never
confessed him
as the son
of God
the Messiah
the Christ
who never
repented
we have Peter
often
misunderstanding
always zealous
always the activist
he wants to lay
down his life
for Jesus
and not have
Jesus lay down
his life
for him
but despite
that Peter
who trusted
Jesus
who confessed
him to be
the son of God
the Christ
the Messiah
and who we'll see
in a few weeks
time
does repent
the question
for us
this morning
then is not
simply
will I betray
or deny
Jesus
the question
is when
I betray
and deny
Jesus
will I be
Judas
or will I
be Peter
where will
I run
because if
like Judas
you continue
out into
the dark
this is what
happens
as your
heart
becomes
increasingly
hard
it will
become
easier
and easier
to continue
in your
sin
you will
continue
to convince
yourself
that there's
no harm
done
and it
will be
harder
and harder
to return
to him
and it's
very easy
for us
to be like
Peter
too
to want
to save
ourselves
when we
betray
or deny
Jesus
we want
something
to do
don't we
to a
prayer
to say
or an
action
to perform
something
concrete
to pin
our renewed
faith
to
and it's
subtle
but wrapped
up in that
instinct
is that we
want to
earn our
way back
instead
when we
betray
or deny
Jesus
would you
remember
what you
have already
received
look at
the glorious
cross
notice how
this passage
is structured
with the
betrayal
and the
denial
either side
but with
the glory
of the
necessary
and loving
cross
in the
middle
it's as
if John
is saying
the answer
to the
betrayal
the answer
to the
denial
the answer
to all
of our
sin
it's here
it's
Jesus
glorified
on the
cross
shown
to be
the loving
faithful
merciful
and compassionate
God
that he
is
making a
way for
all of
our sin
to be
forgiven
and making
a way
for us
to know
him
it is
the centre
of this
little bit
of John's
gospel
but it
is the
centre
of history
and it
is the
centre
of your
story
if you're
a Christian
here this
morning
let me
close
with this
this poem
Glenn Scrivener
wrote this
poem
I gave
my life
to Jesus
it's
brilliant
it's
well worth
looking it
up
that's
just
the
first
verse
but notice
how it
begins
I gave
my life
to Jesus
about a
thousand
times
and he
tells the
story of
how he
committed
his life
to Jesus
at a
camp
as a
teenager
and then
he walked
away
and a few
months later
another
camp
another
conversion
and the
cycle
kind of
repeats itself
throughout the
poem
a cycle
that ultimately
was all about
Glenn
about Glenn's
coming to
Jesus
about Glenn's
sin
about Glenn's
prayer
and Glenn's
response
until one day
he started
reading the
Bible for
himself
and he
saw there
that he
wasn't the
centre
of the
story
at all
he'd
always
been
taught
that the
important
thing
was his
response
about what
he might
do
but as
he read
God's
word
he saw
that the
gospel
wasn't
about Glenn
but about
Jesus
and this
is how he
finishes his
poem as he
says to
those who
taught him
you say
give your
heart
this says
Christ
is the
donor
you say
yield your
life
this says
he was
always
the owner
you say
get on
fire
he says
this says
you are
the light
you say
keep running
to God
this says
walk
in Christ
you say
dare to
be a
missional
intentional
incarnational
contextualized
no compromise
countercultural
radical
red letter
fully devoted
disciple
this says
follow
you say
get hungry
for God
this says
take
eat
swallow
you say
press into
God
this says
you're
hidden
in Christ
you say
be a
world
changer
this says
live a
quiet
life
you say
surrender
all
this says
you're not
your own
you say
step up
to the
plate
this says
you're
raised
to a
throne
you say
burn out
this says
shine
you say
you've got to
work on your
relationship
with Jesus
this says
I am
my beloved
and he
is
mine
let me
pray
heavenly
father
I pray
that as we
have opened
your word
to us
this morning
we might
have seen
the glory
of your
son
there
and I
pray for
each of
us
that you
would help
us to
receive him
with open
hands
that we
might humbly
accept what
he has done
for us
and I
pray that as we
go from
here your
holy spirit
would continue
to work in
our hearts
revealing to
us the
ways in which
we betray
and deny
your love
for us
and pointing
us to
what you
have already
won for us
on the
cross
Lord I
pray that we
would each
of us
know
your new
mercies to
us
day by day
in Jesus
name
Amen
name
In
name
In