Humility And Service Are The Path To Blessing (John 13:1-20) Series

To start this morning, let's turn to John 13:1-4. In the Greek, this is a single, complex sentence. Let's read it as a whole, and then work through it more slowly:

(1) Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world toward the Father, loving his own in the world, to the end/uttermost he loved them,

(2) and while supper was happening, while the devil already had put into the/his heart

that Judas would betray/hand over him (=Jesus),

(3) [Jesus], knowing

that all things the Father had given into the hands,

and that from God he had come from,

and toward God he is going,

(4) he rises up from the supper,

and he laid down his outer clothing,

and taking a towel, he tied it around himself.

Verse 1:

(1) Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world toward the Father, loving his own in the world, to the end/uttermost he loved them,

Throughout the Gospel of John, people have "known" things. Nicodemus "knew" that Jesus was a teacher sent by God (John 3:1). The Samaritan woman "knew" that when the Messiah appears, he will reveal all things to them (John 4:25). The Samaritan people, at the end of the story, "know" that Jesus is the Savior of the world (John 4:42). The Judeans "knew" where Jesus is from-- they knew who his father and mother are (John 6:42). In John 9, the Pharisees knew that the man born blind was a sinner, his parents were sinners, and Jesus was a sinner. The man born blind, on the other hand, "knew" that God doesn't listen to sinners, and he ended up "believing in" Jesus.

Lots of people, think they know lots of different things. When they get it right, their knowledge is a good thing. But when they get it wrong, their "knowledge" ends up becoming a stumbling block to a true understanding of Jesus (John 7:27-28). And the ideal human, in the gospel of John, is the person who is open-minded to new truths. Someone like Nathaniel, or the Samaritan woman, who overcomes false knowledge, and inadequate knowledge, and comes to Jesus.

Throughout the Gospel of John, what we've seen is that Jesus' knowledge is on an entirely different level than people's knowledge. Jesus knows when people's faith is untrustworthy (John 2:21-23). He knows when his disciples are grumbling (John 6:61). He knows who doesn't actually give their allegiance to him, and who will betray him (John 6:64). Mostly importantly, he knows his Father (John 7:29). He knows that he is from above. He knows that his Father sent him (John 7:29).

So Jesus has gone through his life, eyes wide open. He sees life, and truth, for what they are. He knows where he is going. He knows his fate. All of this truth is light, and he shares that light with the world.

Here, in John 13:1, Jesus knows that his hour has come. And he knows that he is departing from this world, toward the Father, where he has existed for all of time (John 1:1= "pros"= "toward" the Father, not "with" the Father; same preposition).

Because Jesus knows all of this, he is determined to... what? When you know your time on earth is short, and you know you have this flock you are responsible for, what do you do? How can you leave them in a good place? What is the last thing you do for them?

AJ tells us what Jesus did. "To the end-- to the uttermost-- Jesus loved them.

Everything else we are going to read, until we hit the end of this gospel, is going to demonstrate Jesus' love for his disciples. So long as Jesus lived among them, he loved them. And he loved them, as much as it's possible to love them.

So as we keep reading, keep this verse in the back of your head. Everything Jesus will say and do, from here on out, comes out of his love for his disciples. And this is not a new thing. Everything Jesus has said and done, throughout the gospel, he has done out of love for people-- and, more specifically, love for his people.

Verse 2, still the same sentence:

(2) and while supper was happening, while the devil already had put into the/his heart

that Judas would betray/hand over him (=Jesus),

When we read verse 2 (in the Greek), we find ourselves asking, "Whose heart?" English Bibles here assume that the devil here puts the thought into Judas's head/heart, that he will betray Jesus. But at best, it's ambiguous. Either the devil puts it into his own heart, that Judas will betray Jesus. OR, the devil puts it into Judas' heart, that Judas will do this.