Jesus is getting ready to leave John 13:31-38
I’m sure you’ve realized that I just skipped the section on Judas which is from verses 18-30 and I did this for the simple reason that I covered this passage a while ago. So, if you weren’t here or if you just want to hear it again you can see the man in the sound booth and I’m sure that he can get you the CD.
In case you haven’t noticed it yet, John’s book is very logical in the sense that it has a five fold division. In chapters 1-4 we have the introduction of Jesus as the light of the world. In chapters 5-8 we have the growing hostility toward the Lord on the part of the religious leaders. Then in chapters 9-12 Jesus is calling out a people for Himself. And in chapters 13-17 we have the final messages that are given to His disciples. And then in chapters 18-21 we have the last events which include His arrest, trial, crucifixion and then His resurrection and final charge to His disciples.
And the flow of this book runs all the way from the general to the specific. Now, let me show you what I mean. In chapter 1:4 it says, “In Him was life and this life was the light of man.” What does He mean that His life was the light of man? What He’s talking about is every man. And this verse is telling us that life and He’s referring to eternal life is for all men everywhere. That’s who it was meant for and that’s who He’s offering it to. Remember that Jesus was the one who said, “For God so loved the world” and that means every person in it.
And then in verse 11 of the same chapter it says, “He came unto His own.” And do you remember who His own were? They were the Jews. And in essence this says that He came to one race (He came to the Jews) He came to them out of the many races that are found in the world. Why? Because He wanted to.
And then verse 12 says, “But as many as received Him to them gave He power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name.” So, He came to the world at large, He came through and to the Jewish people and then it says He came to them that believe on His name and that’s the offer of salvation. It’s to the whole world, through the Jews and available to every individual who receives it by faith.
And I believe that so far we’ve also seen two examples or two variations of God’s grace. First, there is what’s known as His general grace and this grace or goodness of God is evident in that He provides rain and sunshine for the righteous as well as the wicked. In other words, all people everywhere are the recipients of God’s goodness. Thieves, murderers and abusers of others, they all enjoy the same sunshine, food and fresh water that you and I do. And that’s what’s known as the general grace of God.
And then we have God’s specific grace and here we are talking about salvation. And I’m sure we are aware that not everyone is going to be saved regardless of what God did or what God does, because we all begin life with a free will and God isn’t going to override our will and drag us into heaven. He designed us to make a choice and now it’s up to us.
So, we can say that there are some things for all men in terms of God’s general grace and then we have all things for some men in terms of God’s specific grace. And in either case God’s grace is His unmerited favor towards mankind. In other words, it’s freely given to all who will receive it. And in terms of His general grace, He’s provided food to eat and clothes to wear but if you refuse, then it’s your fault not His. And in terms of His specific grace, He’s provided salvation and if you don’t want it or aren’t interested then there’s nothing He can do. He won’t violate your free will.
Now, let me just begin this passage of scripture with a story and I do this not only because we all like to hear a story but also because Jesus usually began His messages with a story. Do you remember when Jesus wanted to teach His disciples to pray, He didn’t give them a five point lecture on the need of prayer and then a demonstration of the how and where of prayer. He told them the parable of the persistent widow and He showed them how she kept coming back until she almost drove the king crazy. And a picture like that will last an awful lot longer than any lecture.
And when Jesus wanted to give His disciples some insight into eternal issues He told them the story about the rich man and Lazarus and in the end we saw one man enjoying all the luxuries of heaven while the other was enduring all the horrors of hell. And then when Jesus wanted them to understand the need of salvation He told three stories in a row, there was the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son or the prodigal who had squandered his inheritance and then came back in repentance. The first two, the lost sheep and the lost coin were totally dependant on someone else to go and find them but the lost son seems to have come to his senses and came home. It’s like the first two are from a Calvinist perspective and then He threw in an Armenian style story just to make the Calvinists mad.
And these stories and many more are meant to illustrate the point that Jesus is making and then captivate our thoughts to motivate our will so we’ll act on the message of the story. And that’s why He uses these stories or illustrations. And that’s why I’m going to tell you this one.
A little mouse was looking through a crack in the wall and he saw the farmer’s wife in the kitchen and she had just received a package in the mail. And the little mouse was wondering, what on earth is in that package? So, he squirreled himself around to get a better view. And when the farmer’s wife opened the package, lo and behold, it was a mousetrap.
Well, the little mouse was horrified. So, he ran outside and found the chicken scratching and pecking in the dirt and he said, “There’s a mousetrap in the house, there’s a mousetrap in the house.” And the chicken picked up her head and looked at the mouse and said, “So, what has that got to do with me?” And she went back to scratching and pecking in the dirt. The little mouse ran over to the pig and said, “There’s a mousetrap in the house, there’s a mousetrap in the house.” And the pig who had been rooting in the dirt, picked up his snout and said to the mouse, “Little mouse, I’m feel very sorry for you. I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll pray for you” and then he went back to rooting in the dirt. And the little mouse ran to the cow and said, “There’s a mousetrap in the house, there’s a mousetrap in the house.” And the cow who had been munching on her oats, raised up her head and said, “That’s no skin off my nose.” And she went back to munching on her oats. And the little mouse realized; I’m going to have to go back into the house and face that mousetrap all by myself.
Well, that night in the stillness of the darkness, there was a sudden noise, (Snap!) and the mousetrap sprang shut. The farmer’s wife jumped out of bed in the darkness and ran to see what she had caught in the trap but what she had caught wasn’t a mouse. It was a poisonous snake and it was caught by the tail. In the darkness when she got close enough to see what it was, the snake bit her and she screamed for husband to come and help. Then the farmer had to take his wife to the hospital to get her an anti-venom shot. The next day they sent her home but when she got there she was still running a very high temperature.
Well, you know how you treat a high temperature – chicken soup! So, the farmer went down to the barn, got the chicken and cut her head off. He made chicken soup and fed his wife but she didn’t get better. Actually, she got worse. The neighbors from all around the area came to visit at the farmer’s house to see how she was and the farmer who was very hospitable began to wonder to himself, “How am I going to feed all these people?” So, he went out to the barn and slaughtered the pig and then everyone has plenty to eat. But the farmer’s wife didn’t get any better, as a matter of fact, she died. And then they set up a wake at the farmer’s home and friends and neighbors came from miles around and they stayed and stayed to comfort him. And the farmer thought to himself, how am I going to feed all these people? And so, he went out and butchered the cow. And the moral of the story is: just when you think it doesn’t apply to you, you had better think again.
And I think there are certain parts of scripture that we might think that don’t really apply to us and we can quickly read over or even skip that section, but the fact is; we never know how any of it can apply to us. And as we looked at Judas a while back I’m sure a lot of us thought, “Well, I’m no Judas, I’m saved and I’m on my way to heaven.” But, just because you’re saved, doesn’t mean that you won’t deny or even that you won’t betray the Lord.
There are times when all of us were faced with subtle temptations that no one else ever knew about and we failed. And even though it might have seemed to be small or insignificant at the time, we were still turning our backs on Jesus just like Judas did.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we sold our faith for a handful of change but we might have ignored the fact we were Christians because of peer or social pressure. Maybe someone told a joke about the church or even about the Lord and we laughed just like the rest of the crowd not because we thought it was funny but because we wanted to fit in or someone might have made a crack about how all Christians are phonies and we never said a word because there was more of them then there was of us. Or someone might have told a funny joke or made a comment about how they were all going to have such a good time in hell and it didn’t bother us that they were all going there. You see, we didn’t want to say anything because it just wasn’t the right time. Besides, that would ruin the joke. Listen, at that moment, Judas was right there and he was wearing our name tag.
So, the scripture says in verse 31, “When he was gone out.” And this is referring to when Judas left the upper room that Jesus starts to tell the disciples what He is about to do what He came to do and of course He’s referring to His crucifixion and He explains that all this is about the glory of God. And by being crucified He will pay the penalty for their sins and ours and then He’ll go back to heaven where He has prepared a place for each and every one of us for all eternity.
And then He addresses His disciples as ‘little children’ and this is a tender word. It’s one that indicates that He saw them as His family. And remember I said a few weeks ago that they were gathered for the Passover celebration and that families all over Jerusalem were doing the same thing. And during this meal it was common for the father to act as the spiritual head of the family and to have his children ask him questions so he can reveal the meaning of Passover.
And during this time Jesus is trying to get His disciples to understand what’s about to happen. And so, in verse 33 when He calls them, “Little children” He wants them to understand that He loves them now matter what happens next. And so He is telling them, I’m going and you are staying and where I am going, you cannot come.
And then Jesus gives us one of the most important messages that He had ever given when He says, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
And most of us think, we are to love one another, now, that’s a good idea, in principle. And we think; if everybody loved everyone else the world would certainly be a better place to live. And by saying this we ignore what He’s really saying because Jesus is not looking for us to stand around holding hands and singing like they did on the mountain top in the Coke commercial. In other words, this is not just a feel good kind of message.
He’s not talking to the world because He knows He would be wasting His breath. The world doesn’t love each other. They may show a mutual respect or even a sense of admiration for those who are the achievers but they certainly don’t love one another.
One writer said, “Loving people is about the most difficult thing that some of us will do. We can be patient with people and even just and charitable, but how are we supposed to conjure up in our hearts that warm, effervescent sentiment of good-will which the New Testament calls love. Some people are so miserably unlovable.”
Have you ever met people like that? “I read a short story one time about this old couple who had their breakfast and then went out and got on the bus to go downtown. The husband got on first and he said good morning to a gentleman who was seated in the front and then proceeded to tell the driver that this had to be the cleanest bus he had ever seen. And then as he made his way down the aisle he greeted everyone he saw with a smile and a positive comment.
His wife got on the bus behind him and she told the driver that he was two minutes late. She said, “Of course, it probably doesn’t mean anything to you since you have nowhere to go and nothing to do, anyways. And then she let him and everyone else who could hear know how difficult it was for seniors to climb those steps. She said, “It’s too bad they didn’t consult some of those who have to use these buses before they made them.” And then she walked down the aisle, grumbling as she went and sat behind her husband. As they went through their day he complimented everyone he met and all she did was complain to the same people. And as they got home, he said to her, “Well, tomorrow, you be the nice one and I’ll be the jerk.” And they both had a good laugh.
The strange thing is, there are people who call themselves Christians who act like love is something they’re supposed to be shown rather than something they’re supposed to show others. How many of you have met believers who are angry, selfish, miserable, mean and cantankerous. And their whole life can be summed up by, it’s my way or the highway. I’ve even met people who claimed they were believers who were either drunks, immoral or out and out crooks. And they would tell anybody who would listen that they were saved.
Listen to what Paul said about these people in I Corinthians 13:2, “And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
So, how can we tell if someone is a true believer in Jesus Christ? Listen, it’s not by their theology. I’ve got books on my shelves by men who’ve known the scriptures inside out, not only in English but also in Hebrew and Greek but in the end they turned away from the Lord and the teaching of the word. We can’t even be sure if some of these pastors of large churches know the Lord. About a month or so ago there was a man in the states who pastored a church of 14,000 members and yet it came out in the news that he had been involved in drugs and homosexual activities for the last five years. Listen, this wasn’t a slip or a momentary lapse, this guy had a real problem and it wasn’t just his morals it was his heart! I like how Jesus said it so clear, “You’ll know them by their love.” He had a wife and four kids and I don’t think he really loved them.
C.S. Lewis’ wrote a book called The Four Loves and he says there are four different words to describe the four ways that love is used in the New Testament. He uses the Greek words and then explains their meaning. The first one is ‘storge’ which is the love of affection and it’s a love that springs from natural attraction and that can be the love we show and get from our dog or the love we have for a certain place in the country. And it’s not unusual to hear someone say, “I love to go down to the ocean.”
And then there is ‘philia’ which is the love of friendship or camaraderie. It’s the kind of love you might have for a close neighbor who’s always friendly and available to help at anytime or it’s a love we can have for someone who plays with us on a sports team or even works with you on a daily basis. You feel a certain amount of affection and kinship with them because you spend a lot of time together and because you’re both committed to the same goals.
And then there’s ‘eros’ which is the idea of romantic or sexual attraction and we all know that this kind of love can come and go unless there’s something deeper that our commitment is based on.
And then last, we have ‘agape’ which is the Godlike, self-giving type of love and this is the kind of love that loves when there is no expectation of love in return. Listen to a portion of scripture where God gives us an example of His love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He gave without the expectation of any love in return. This is the kind of love that Jesus has for each and every one of us and expects us to have the same kind of love for one another.
And don’t forget what we just saw! While Jesus was about 24 hours away from the cross He washed the feet of those who were humanly unattractive, undeserving, selfish, and insensitive. He chose to love them not just in word but also in deed. He showed them what love is, and that it’s not an emotional attraction but it’s humbly meeting another’s needs no matter how lowly the service or how undeserving the person who is being served.
And listen, Jesus says He wants you and I to love each other. (And you’ve got to understand that He’s referring to believers here and not to the rest of the world.) He wants us to love one another in spite of the other person’s past reputation for sinful living, their personal failures, their obnoxious personalities, their irritating habits, their awkward social skills and the place they occupy in terms of wealth or most likely the lack of it. In other words, He really wants us to love other believers the way He does. And get this, He wants us to love other believers before we even think of looking at the world, because if you can’t love the saved then you’re wasting your time talking to the unsaved.
When we get to Romans 14 we’ll look at the situation where two believers go to dinner at an unsaved person’s house and just before they begin to eat the weaker of the two realizes that the food has been offered to idols. And then Paul says, what is the right thing to do? Do you offend the believer whose conscience is sensitive or do we offend the unbeliever who doesn’t even know there’s a problem with the food? And he says you should offend the unbeliever so at least he’ll know that the believers love one another. And I believe he will also see what he can expect if he gets saved.
The Greek literally says, “As I have loved you in order that you might love one another.” This tells us that God’s love is to be a stimulus to our love. And so, one is the cause and the other is the effect. And if we are loving, it’s because we understand something about His love and if we’re not then we really don’t have a clue as to what the Christian life is all about.
There are many but let me just give you three simple characteristics of the way that Jesus loved people. One, He loved without respect of persons. He didn’t just love those who were easy to love but He chose to love the unlovely, those who were looked down on by the rest of society and even those who we might call social rejects. He loved them not for what they could give back but because they needed His love.
And second, we see that His love was expressed in deeds and not just in words. He healed, He fed and He taught. In Matthew 25:34-35 He said, “Enter into the kingdom that has been prepared, because when I was sick you visited Me, when I was hungry you fed Me and when I was naked you clothed Me.” And the reason He used these as examples is because these are all works, they’re not just words.
And then third, it’s a love without end. Or as John says when He describes Jesus, “Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end.” And as I said last week this phrase ‘unto the end’ can best be translated to the end of His ability to love which of course we know is endless.
Henry Drummond wrote a message on I Corinthians 13 which is known as the love chapter and he said that if an ordinary piece of steel is attached to a magnet and left there, then after a while the magnetism of the magnet passes into the steel so that it too becomes a magnet. And he says that the same thing happens to us. The more we understand and experience the love of Jesus then the more we will love others the way that He loves us.
And here’s the good news, we don’t have to psyche ourselves up or convince ourselves that others are worthy of our love because we know they aren’t. All we have to do is just to let the Lord love others through us. And I’ll be the first to admit that this is something we have to let the Lord do in our lives because if it was up to us we’d be too busy loving ourselves.
When I was growing up, I lived in a place called Bridgeport Rows and it was down in Cape Breton and people in our neighborhood had a tendency to say whatever was on their mind. If someone’s child got in trouble the neighbors would just shake their heads and say, “Well, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” And what they meant was, the way children act proves that they are a product of the home they were raised in. And that was their way of taking a shot at the parents.
And whether we like to admit it or not, this is true for Christians, because Jesus’ reputation is riding on the way you and I walk and talk. And that doesn’t mean that we have to pretend to be something we’re not but it does mean we have to allow Him to live His life through us in the sense that He can use us to express His love to others. As someone said, “He has no hands but mine.” And if I don’t give Him my hands then He has no hands at all.
And the command to love one another isn’t new because Moses’ law demanded that we love both God and our neighbor but here we learn something about the quality of the love we need because Jesus expects us to love one another in the way that He loves us. And so, this is like an ancient commandment that’s been dusted off, polished and then packed with new power.
And so, let me say this again, because we’ve heard this so many times that it soon becomes meaningless, He says, “I want you to love one another, as I have loved you.” This tells us that the standard of the love He expects us to show one another is measured by the quality of His love. How much did He love you? He loved us enough to come to earth and live a life of absolute humility and then go to Calvary and die for our sins. And the question is; how are you and I going to show this love to others? And I believe we do this by being obedient to His Spirit by what He says in His word. And first and foremost I believe we have to show love towards other believers before we begin to show love to the rest of the world.
I’m sure there are a few who would say, hold on now! Does this mean we have to love people who are members of other churches? And the answer is simple, yes it does. If they know Jesus as their savior then they are going to be with us for all of eternity. And you might think; that’s a hard message. I mean, there are a lot of Baptists that I don’t like and now Jesus says I’m supposed to love not only love them but also any Pentecostal or Presbyterian that tells me they love the Lord too? And the thing we have to keep in mind is that Jesus wasn’t just neighborly to His enemies but He loved them enough to die for them.
You see, love is a commitment to do whatever is in the best interest of the other person. It’s not a question of putting up with them but it actually means loving them.
So, Jesus is in the midst of giving this phenomenal message about love and the kind of love He shows and expects us to show when Peter picks up on the fact that He’s mentioned leaving and he interrupts Him to ask Him where He’s going. You almost get the felling that he couldn’t care less about the new commandment about love but he’s more concerned with the fact that Jesus said He is leaving. Now, in case we see ourselves as a cut above Peter who is socially awkward and run off at the mouth at the best of times, I believe there are many Christians who are more concerned about the Lord’s return than they are with loving one another. And so we can be just like Peter in the sense that we are continually missing the message He’s giving.
I know there are some who prefer the writing of the other gospels because Matthew, Mark and Luke tend to focus our attention on loving our enemies and there are writers who feel like they’re actually showing a higher quality of love than what John speaks about. After all, this is talking about loving other Christians and we’ve got all of eternity to do that. Why don’t we focus on the unsaved in the here and now. But as I said, if we don’t love the believers then I doubt we’ll care about the unbelievers either.
And as I said, Jesus speech about love was interrupted by Peter and we notice that the prediction of Peter’s denial is only a few verses after the prophecy of Judas’ denial. And there is a lot of discussion and confusion about these two events because there are many people who read the New Testament and they conclude that both of them stabbed the Lord in the back. Judas betrayed Jesus and then killed himself because of guilt but Peter denied Him and then he ran away. And yet the scripture tells us that Judas went to hell and Peter got straightened out and went to heaven.
Judas never saw the Lord again but we know that Peter had a private conversation with Jesus after His resurrection. Judas died when he hung himself but Peter had a long and fruitful ministry and then died by the hands of others. Peter’s name is given to children with the hope that they will live for Jesus but Judas’ name is used as an insult for traitors and is often used as a name for hateful guard dogs.
What’s the real difference between the two? I think it’s all in the fact that Peter repented of his sin but Judas just felt guilty. Peter came back to Jesus and received His forgiveness but Judas went to the religious authorities to confess his sins.
And when Jesus prophesies about Peter’s falling on his face He is being very tender and compassionate but at the same time He’s also very truthful. Look at it again, “Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord where goest thou? Jesus answered him, where I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards. Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice.”
Here is a simple discussion between the two of them concerning what’s about to happen and it’s between Jesus who knows everything and Peter who knows nothing. And Peter begins by asking a question that many of us have asked our parents when we were little. It’s where are you going? And every time we saw our parents getting dressed to go out the door we’d ask where they’re going because we wanted to go with them.
And Jesus makes two powerful statements. First, He says, “You can’t come now but you will follow Me later.” Then Peter presses the issue and asks why not and then makes a great bragging statement when he says, “I will lay down my life for your sake.” And Jesus makes His second statement when He says, “Will you? Before the cock crows you’ll deny Me three times.” And what He’s saying is you can stop blowing your own horn because before the sun comes up tomorrow everyone is going to see that it was all smoke.
It’s amazing how we can all be like Peter. I mean, here he is in the upper room with a group of people who believe the same things he believes and he says he willing to lay down his life for the Lord. And I don’t doubt that at that very moment he was willing.
And most of us know what that’s like. We can be so full of bravado in front of a crowd and then lose it all, as soon as we’re out of the public eye. We can preach, sing, usher or do anything else when everybody is watching and we actually feel as though we’re rock solid in our faith and as soon as we get away from the Christian crowd someone we might consider insignificant can make us all feel a little intimidated just like Peter did before the servant girl. Which is amazing when you think about it, he attached a servant in the garden but cowered before the slave girl around the fire.
Conclusion
One of Abraham Lincoln’s greatest political enemies was a man named Edwin Stanton. He was always making fun of Lincoln whenever he spoke and often called him a low cunning clown and the original gorilla. He said it was ridiculous for anyone to go all the way to Africa to see a gorilla when they could find one just as easily in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln to his credit never responded to the abrasive slander but when he needed a secretary of war, he chose Stanton. And when his friends were shocked and asked him why he did that, he said, “because he’s the best man for the job.” Years later, when he was assassinated and lay in state, Stanton looked in the coffin and said through his tears, “There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.” And when that became known everyone knew that love had won out. This is an amazing story that one of his enemies would actually stand there praising his name.
We wish that were always true but we know that if you asked the average unsaved person, “Why does someone go to church? They would have all kinds of answers. Some of them would suggest that people go to church to do penance because they have a bad conscience. And then there are others who will say, oh they go because they get a sense of fulfillment out of helping those who are less fortunate. And there are those who think the churches are full of hypocrites and we’re all trying to pretend to be something we’re not. And there are those who think we go because we were raised that way and it’s like we have a religious nature that’s like a virus we can’t seem to shake. And some actually think we go to church because we’re lonely and there are a few who think that many go for business connections.
The amazing thing is that no one ever says, they go to church because they’re saved and they want to learn more about God and His word.
I wonder what people think about when they think about you and I, personally. Do they wonder if there’s any truth to Christianity because of the love they see or do they doubt the truth of the gospel because of the lack of it. Do they say, now, there’s someone I should be like or there’s another hypocrite wasting their time. I don’t want to be hard on anybody but I think either people take us seriously because they’ve heard our testimonies and believe that we believe or they just write us off because they think we’re just playing a game. And so the question is, what do people think based on what they see when they see you?
