Let's start today by simply rereading from last week's passage, John 13:1-20. Our story today directly builds on these verses, and the easiest way back into John 13 is through a reminder of where we've been.
John 13:1:
(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,
(2) and while supper was happening, while the devil already had put into his (own) heart
that Judas would betray him (=Jesus),
[Jesus], knowing
that all things the Father had given into the/his hands,
and that from God he had come from,
and toward God he is going,
he rises up from the supper,
and he laid down his outer clothing,
and taking a towel, he tied it around himself.
(5) Next, he pours water into the washbasin,
and he began to wash his disciples' feet
and to wipe them dry with the towel with which he was tied around.
(6) Then, he comes toward Simon Peter.
He says to him,
"Lord/Master, you, my feet, you are going to wash?"
(7) He answered-- Jesus--
and he said to him,
"What I am doing, you don't understand now.
Now, you will know after these things."
(8) He says to him-- Peter--
"You will absolutely not wash my feet, ever."
He answered-- Jesus-- to him,
"Unless I wash you, you don't have a share/part with me."
(9) He says to him-- Simon Peter--
"Lord/Master, not my feet only,
but also the hands and the head."
(10) He says to him-- Jesus--
"The one having bathed doesn't have need,
except only the feet to wash,
but he is completely clean,
and you (plural), clean you are,
but not all.
(11) For he knew the one betraying him.
For this reason he said that
"Not all, clean, you (plural) are.
(12) Then, when he washed their feet,
and he took his cloak,
and he reclined again,
he said to them,
"Do you (plural) know what I have done for you?
You call me 'the teacher' and 'the Lord/Master',
and rightly you speak.
For I am.
(14) [And so] then, if I wash your feet-- the Lord and the Teacher-- also you must, of one another, wash the feet.
(15) For an example/model I have given you,
in order that just as I did to you, also you shall do.
(16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave isn't greater than his lord/master,
nor an envoy greater than the one sending him.
(17) If these things you know, blessed, you are, if you do them.
(18) Not about all of you I am speaking--I know whom I have chosen/selected--
but in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled,
'The one eating my bread, lifted up against me his heel.'
(19) From now on, I am speaking to you before it happens,
in order that you may believe, when it happens, that I am.
(20) Truly, truly, I say to you, the one receiving anyone I send, me, he receives.
Now, the one, me, receiving, receives The One Sending me.
That's what we got through last week. But let's take another look at verse 20, because it's confusing. If you "receive anyone Jesus sends," you are receiving Jesus.
What does Jesus mean? Who is he talking about?
I think this verse points ahead to the very end of the book. John 21:20-25 (NKJV, for no reason):
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If I [h]will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Who wrote the gospel of John? It's complicated. On one hand, we are told that the beloved disciple testifies about these things, and wrote these things. He left a reliable record of what Jesus said and did. On the other hand, this beloved disciple himself made disciples. And it's these disciples who end the book by talking about what "we" know. "We" know that the testimony of the beloved disciple is true.
Now let's go back to John 13:20:
(20) Truly, truly, I say to you, the one receiving anyone I send, me, he receives.
Now, the one, me, receiving, receives The One Sending me.
What chapter 21 is describing, is how "we" received the beloved disciple. He came, and he told the "we" group about Jesus, and they received him, and his word. And when they did that, they also "received" Jesus. And when they received Jesus, they also "received" the Father.
Most of us will probably never see Jesus face to face, while on this earth, in this life. The way we come to Jesus, and receive Jesus, is through the testimony of other disciples. They speak the truth about Jesus, and we either receive them, and their testimony, or we reject it. I can point to people in my life, and one book in particular, and say that those people, and that book, brought me toward Jesus. I received them, and in so doing, I also received Jesus.
Now, does this mean that my discipleship is inferior to that of the original twelve? Do I have like a second-hand faith? Am I lacking, in some way, because I could only receive Jesus through the testimony of other people?
I think that's what verse 20 addresses-- and the answer is, "no." When we received people that Jesus has sent, and we receive their testimony about Jesus, we also receive Jesus. And, we also receive the Father.
So we don't need to feel sorry for ourselves about not seeing Jesus, in the same way that they saw Jesus. We don't need to feel like second-class disciples.
And, maybe more important, we should understand what this means for evangelism. When we tell others about Jesus, what we are doing is joining our voices to the beloved disciple, and to the community that he served. We say, with them, "we know that his testimony is true."
So that's last week's passage. Now, John 13:21-24:
(21) These things, (after) saying, Jesus was disturbed in his spirit,
and he testified,
and he said,
"Truly, truly, I say to you,
that one from you will betray/hand over me."
(22) They were looking at one another-- the disciples--
being uncertain about whom he is speaking.
(23) There was reclining-- one of his disciples-- in the bosom/chest of Jesus, whom Jesus loved.
(24) Then, Simon Peter gestured to this one to inquire who it was about whom he is speaking.
When Jesus tells them that one of them will betray him, it raises an obvious question. Right? You can't hear something like that, without wanting to know who it is. And so the disciples find themselves looking at each other, wondering who it is.
Peter is one of those who wonders. But he knows that he's not the logical person to ask Jesus. Why is that?
I'm the oldest in my family, and I have a younger brother, and then a baby sister. My brother and I knew, growing up, that if we wanted something big from my parents, that the best approach was to send our little sister upstairs and ask. She could crawl into my dad's lap, smile up at him, and ask very sweetly if we could go watch a particular movie, or do something. Lastborns intuitively understand that fathers want to say "yes" to their children. And that's especially true for lastborn girls, born after two (wonderful, obedient) boys.
Peter, looking around the table, knows that he doesn't abide with Jesus in the same way, to the same degree, as one of the other disciples there-- the beloved disciple.
Who is the "beloved disciple"? We don't know. This is the first time we've heard him mentioned in the gospel. But this particular disciple, is a model for what discipleship should look like. He is abiding as closely with Jesus as you possible can-- in Jesus' chest. And this, we are supposed to remember, is how Jesus abides with his Father (John 1:18). And even if Jesus loves all of his disciples to the uttermost (John 13:1), this disciple, in particular, is "beloved." There is an intimacy between Jesus and the beloved disciple, that doesn't exist for everyone at the table.
Peter knows that this beloved disciple is the one most likely to get an answer for Jesus. He'd ask himself, but he, in particular, is a poor choice. He had just refused to let Jesus wash his feet. He badly misunderstood what Jesus is doing. And he still doesn't understand what Jesus tried to teach him, about the importance of laying down your life for others, and being a humble servant (H/T Rodney Whitacre).
So Peter motions to the beloved disciple, for him to ask the obvious question.
But notice, in all of this, that no one has any idea who will betray Jesus. Peter doesn't find himself looking at Judas out of the corner of his eye. And the beloved disciple doesn't simply nod toward Judas, to help Peter out.
No one knows (H/T Rodney Whitacre).
Verse 25:
(25) Leaning back-- that one--, thus, against the chest of Jesus, he says to him,
"Lord/master, who is it?"
(26) He answered-- Jesus--
"That one it is,
to whom I will dip the piece of bread,
and I will give [it] to him.
Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gives it to Judas of Simon Iscariot,
Jesus answers the beloved disciple's question. But he doesn't simply say "Judas." Why does Jesus reveal the truth like this? Charles Talbert writes, "In the social custom of the day, it was a mark of special favor for the host to dip bread in the sauce and personally serve the guest" (Talbert, Reading John, 195-96).
Jesus answers the question, but he does so in a way that reaches out to Judas one last time, in an act of love, in an invitation to friendship. It's not that Jesus wants Judas to betray him. It's not that Jesus is rejecting Judas. Jesus loves Judas, and is offering him favor, and friendship. And when Jesus offers him a piece of bread, that should (probably) do something else to us. We remember that Jesus is the Bread of Life. If you eat the bread Jesus offers, you will live forever (John 6:50). And so, maybe, what Jesus is really offering him, is eternal life (John 17:3 style). [It's also a question here, of whether we are supposed to find ourselves thinking about the Eucharist. People can eat the bread Jesus offers, without really being clean. They can eat the bread, and later turn against Jesus].
Verse 27:
(27) and after the piece of bread, then, Satan entered into him.
What we've seen, throughout the gospel of John, is that coming to a mature faith in Jesus is a process. No one comes to Jesus, understanding him perfectly, right away. No one comes to Jesus, with perfect faith/allegiance, right away. It's a process. And as you come closer and closer to Jesus, you have to decide if Jesus is really who you want. If what he offers, is really what you want. Or if, instead, you prefer darkness (John 3:19), or Moses (John 6:60), or the honor and glory that people offer (John 12:42-43). Becoming God's child, is a process. And you have to decide, if you really want God to be your Father. [And this book, I think, is basically an invitation to continue in that process, and a challenge to persevere in that process].
What we've also seen, throughout the gospel of John, is that there is someone else who would like to be your father. John 8:42-47 (NIV):
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
You can only have one dad. You can only really belong to one person. Who will it be? Whose family do you want to be part of?
When you reject Jesus, you reject God as Father. And someone else-- the devil-- adopts you. You leave the door open to him. You become part of his family, instead. And all of this is often a process. You come to Satan as a father, in steps. Just like you'd come to God as Father, in steps.
How did it come to this for Judas? What's Judas's fundamental flaw? John 12:4-6 (NIV):
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[b]” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Judas is a chronic thief. He loves sin; he loves the darkness.
Now, let's read John 3:18-21:
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
If you love sin, and love darkness, you will reject Jesus. You won't come very close to the Light-- to Jesus. At some point, as you get closer, the light becomes unbearable, and you have to leave. For Judas, that moment, is the moment Jesus offers him the bread dipped in sauce-- an invitation to life, and relationship.
The scariest thing, in all of this, is that there's no evidence Judas knows he is the betrayer. Judas has this fatal flaw, but he does he know it? Does he realize what his sin allows Satan to do? Does he realize who he has chosen to be his father?
I don't know. But Judas has made his choice. And this lets Satan make his choice.
Our story continues, still verse 27:
Then, he says to him-- Jesus--
"What you are doing, do quickly."
(28) Now, this, no one knew of the ones reclining, why he said to him.
(29) For some were thinking/considering,
since the money box Judas had, that Jesus is saying to him,
"Buy the things, need, we have, for the feast,
or to the poor, that something he should give.
So Jesus had answered the beloved disciple's question. It's Judas who will betray him. But no one understood, at the time. It was only later, on the other side of the cross, when the Spirit guided them into all truth, that they remembered this.
Verse 30:
(30) Then, taking the piece of bread, that one went out immediately.
Now, it was night.
Our story ends in darkness, which is appropriate. Does this mark the low spot in John? I'm not sure. But betrayal is an ugly thing. It's a dark thing.
There may be times in life when people turn on you. They gossip about you, lie about you. They do their best to destroy you. Often, you know who these people are. And you can protect yourself, to some degree. But when you are betrayed by someone you love, that's a very different thing. You're blindsided. You're stabbed in the back. And being betrayed by someone you love, is a far more painful thing.
Jesus is "troubled" by what Judas is about to do. He loves Judas. He invites Judas into a relationship with him. He offers him his favor. And Judas rejects him.
AJ lets us know that this is painful for Jesus, but Judas's betrayal doesn't blindside him. Jesus knows how this is all going to play out. Jesus understands that Judas betraying him, is one piece of his final hour.
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What I'd like to do this morning, in application, is talk about the nature of falling away from Jesus. I have no desire to get into all the debates about salvation, and perseverance, that come with this topic. I want to talk about this practically, as a caution and as a warning, to you.
Some of you this morning know that you are walking in the darkness, rather than the light. You do so carefully, in a way that hides your sin from others. You can still walk like a duck, and quack like a duck. But you're not a duck.
And if you do this for very long, you'll start to look at your life, and your sin, very differently. You'll start to tell yourself, it's okay. Nothing bad will happen to me. There's no real consequences to this. My sin isn't going to lead me away from Jesus.
When you choose a lifestyle of sin, and don't let Jesus wash your feet, really bad things happen. Sin blinds you (John 9:41). Sin keeps you in the darkness (John 3:18). Sin will push you away from Jesus. You can't love the darkness, and walk in the light.
And sin leaves you vulnerable to Satan. It makes you available to him, if he wants you. It lets him adopt you, if he wants to. It lets him enter you.
So if you find yourself caught in sin, telling yourself it's no big deal, look at Judas.
And then, more importantly, come back to Jesus. Jesus loves you; he wants to wash your feet, and cleanse you. He wants to abide with you. He wants to give you the abundant life that comes with being in a relationship with him, and his Father. Consider Jesus' offer of bread and foot washing, an offer to you. Come back.
Others of you this morning, are abiding with Jesus. You are clean. You are following Jesus, committed to him. But as you walk in the light, you see others-- people in this church, maybe-- testing the shadows. Maybe you tell yourself, it's no big deal. Maybe you tell yourself, it's not my problem. But if you love someone, you don't just watch, when people explore the shadows, and walk down Judas's path. You lovingly, gently, reach out to them. And you do so, as someone who knows that you also are someone who is prone to getting dirty.
Translation
(21) These things, (after) saying, Jesus was disturbed in his spirit,
and he testified,
and he said,
"Truly, truly, I say to you,
that one from you will betray/hand over me."
(22) They were looking at one another-- the disciples--
being uncertain about whom he is speaking.
(23) There was reclining-- one of his disciples-- in the bosom/chest of Jesus, whom Jesus loved.
(24) Then, Simon Peter gestured to this one to inquire who it was about whom he is speaking.
(25) Leaning back-- that one--, thus, against the chest of Jesus, he says to him,
"Lord/master, who is it?"
(26) He answered-- Jesus--
"That one it is,
to whom I will dip the piece of bread,
and I will give [it] to him.
Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gives it to Judas of Simon Iscariot,
(27) and after the piece of bread, then, he entered into him-- Satan.
Then, he says to him-- Jesus--
"What you are doing, do quickly."
(28) Now, this, no one knew of the ones reclining, why he said to him.
(29) For some were thinking/considering,
since the money box Judas had, that Jesus is saying to him,
"Buy the things, need, we have, for the feast,
or to the poor, that something he should give.
(30) Then, taking the piece of bread, that one went out immediately.
Now, it was night.
