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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
He says, I know those whom I have chosen.
Again, we're kind of left with the disciples wondering what Jesus means.
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.
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.
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?
Whatever the case, Jesus tells them that scripture is about to be fulfilled.
This is to fulfill this passage of scripture.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What is David lamenting here?
Betrayal.
Betrayal of the worst kind.
This is not just some rival who has long opposed David.
This was a close and trusted friend of his.
How close?
Close enough that David could say,
He was one who shared my bread.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We're gonna keep moving through the story here.
Verse 21.
After he had said this,
Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified.
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.
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?
He was troubled in spirit
as he said this.
Truly, truly, I tell you,
one of you is going to betray me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Verse 22,
his disciples stared at one another
at a loss to know which of them he meant.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Thank you.