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On the first
Sunday of the
month, but
we're
going to do the best we can.
This is a rich passage before us.
We began to consider this chapter several weeks ago.
We entered a section of John's gospel in which we have addressed and displayed
before us the relationship and intimate interaction that Jesus
had with his disciples and more specifically with the Twelve, the Apostles.
And we've already considered the event of the Lord Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, which
occurred toward the end of the supper that they had enjoyed together.
We considered the principal lessons that are displayed for us in John 13.
First of all, of course, Jesus is an example for us that we ought to be humble
in serving one another as he did.
But secondly, also conveyed in this passage is the need for every disciple of Jesus Christ to have his
feet washed.
It is to be cleansed from sin that continues to defile us through our daily
lives.
And so this cleansing is, of course, performed by our Lord, but
also we're to wash one another's feet.
And I think that what's implied here is that we ought to be in the business of helping one another
address our sin condition too, to encourage and exhort and strengthen one
another as we live for Christ.
Now as we continue to study the passage before us, we read of our Lord Jesus declaring that one of his
disciples is a traitor who would betray him to the Jewish authorities.
And then after being asked quietly, as it were, privately by
John the apostle as to the specific identity of the betrayer,
Jesus indicated to John in this passage it was Judas Iscariot.
Although the other disciples did not fully understand the action of Jesus in identifying
Judas, he gave him, you know, that piece of bread and then sending Judas forth
to do his deed, the other disciples really didn't understand what was taking place.
Now the English translation that we will be citing is the New King James Version.
And we also often employ the English Standard Version, the ESV, in our consideration
of a passage.
But as I was looking over this passage today, I thought it would be good if we compared how these two
translations stylistically differ from one another,
the New King James Version and the English Standard Version, the ESV.
With respect to this passage before us, John 13, 18 -30,
I have the Reformation Study Bible in both the New King James Version and the ESV.
They're both the same study Bible.
R .C. Sproul is the general editor of the Reformation Study Bible and we highly recommend it.
And I have it both in the ESV and the New King James Version.
Interestingly, the paragraph divisions differ between these two English translations.
And that's not unusual.
They commonly differ between the New King James Version and the ESV.
We should recognize that paragraphs are established by the translators.
The early Greek text, when John first wrote this gospel, he wrote in Greek
letters.
And they were all what's called unsealed letters, all capital
Greek letters.
And there were no spaces between words.
It was just continuous letters.
There was very little punctuation, if any.
And so they were just strings of lines of alphabetic Greek
And so paragraphs are supplied by the translators.
The English translators of the ESV perceived this is what should constitute a
paragraph.
And the New King James Version translators did as well.
And of course, a paragraph is a single thought, as it were, that can be set apart.
And the sentences in a paragraph support that main idea.
And so paragraph divisions are very important.
And when studying the Bible, you should attempt to identify the paragraphs.
It'll help you in that study.
But it so happens that there is a difference in the way the paragraphs are designated
between the New King James Version and the ESV.
And so in our New King James Version, a new paragraph
begins with verse 18.
And in the Reformation Study Bible, it actually has a heading in the Study
Bible above verse 18.
And so it's separated, verse 18 is separated from verse 17 before.
And so the foot washing episode, John 13, 1 through 17, is separated
in the New King James Version.
Even has a heading separating the end of verse 17 and the beginning of verse 18.
It has a separate paragraph and a separate heading.
And at the bottom of your notes on page 1, I actually reproduced the paragraph
designations of the New King James Version out of the Reformation Study Bible.
And so here we have John 13, 18 through 30.
And notice the heading, which is an attempt to describe the contents of what follows, is
Jesus identifies his betrayer.
But you'll notice there at the bottom of page 1, that verses 18 through 20 is a single
And it is within this section under this heading, Jesus identifies his
betrayer.
Now, at this point, I want to read the passage that we're going to be considering.
And we're going to read it out of this New King James Version.
Jesus said, I do not speak concerning all of you.
I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled.
He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.
Now, I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me.
And he who receives me receives him who sent me.
When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most
assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.
And then the disciples looked at one another perplexed about whom he spoke.
Now, there was leaning on Jesus's bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved.
Simon Peter, therefore, motioned to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke.
And then leaning back on Jesus's breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it?
Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.
And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Now, after the piece of bread, Satan entered him.
And then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly.
But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him.
For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, buy those things we
need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.
Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately, and it was night.
Now, that's the New King James Version.
And you'll notice, I believe there are six paragraphs within that translation.
Now, in the same study Bible, the Reformation Study Bible, but the different translation,
English translation, the English Standard Version, I have that reproduced for us also.
We're not going to read it.
I just want to draw your attention to the difference in the way that the paragraphs are set
forth.
Notice with verse 18, it's not a new paragraph, but rather it's right
at the margin.
In other words, verses 18 through 20 are to be attached
with the paragraph that goes before.
You follow?
In other words, verse 17 doesn't end the episode about the foot washing, but rather in the
ESV, verses 18 through 20 should be understood as within this episode
of the foot washing.
And then after verse 20, the ESV in the Reformation Study Bible has this heading,
one of you will betray me.
And then we have, you'll notice, verses 21 through verse 30 in a single
paragraph in the ESV.
And so where in the ESV you have one full paragraph and a portion of a paragraph, in the New King
James Version you have six separate paragraphs.
And so verse 18 is a continuation according to the ESV of the
previous episode.
And by the way, I was looking at my modern Greek text and I noticed the Greek editors,
Matthew Black and Kurt Alland and Bruce Metzger, also included verses 18
through 20 with the previous episode, interestingly.
The point is this, the ESV has verses 18 through 20 connected with the pericope of Jesus washing
his disciples' feet, the way that the New King James translators have identified its paragraphs,
particularly with its heading however, suggests that the words of verses 18 through 20 refer to what Jesus
was about to say.
They're connected with verses 21 through 30 rather than connected directly with the verses that went
before.
You follow that?
And particularly because of this heading that's inserted in the New King James Version, it really separates those
two as though they were two different episodes.
But in reality, verses 18 through 20 should be seen within the whole context of the foot
-washing event.
And I think probably the ESV has the better paragraph identification in that instance.
But having said that, I might point out a weakness in my view
in the manner that the ESV commonly distinguishes paragraphs.
And we have that in the text before you, right in the middle of page 2.
Notice verses 21 through verse 30 is set forth as one single paragraph
in the ESV.
In the New King James Version, you have six paragraphs between verses 18 and verse 30.
Up until recently, English writing style would begin a new paragraph every time there was a change of voice.
Whenever a new character began to speak, you would begin a new paragraph.
Jesus spoke, Peter spoke, John spoke.
Three different paragraphs.
And you can see that somewhat in the New King James Version text above.
There are six different paragraphs.
Six distinguishable paragraphs.
But the ESV gathers many sentences into one paragraph.
All of verses 21 through 30 is a single paragraph, regardless of the change of speakers.
And so in the same verses as the King James Version, the ESV has one full distinguishable
paragraph, not six.
And in this one paragraph, I believe that runs together, the dialogue of different speakers can
result in more difficulty in understanding the passage.
You follow what I'm saying?
When you read it, it just seems to run together.
When you have it in different paragraphs, you kind of emphasize and distinguish each
saying, each statement of each character.
I prefer the paragraph designation of the New King James Version, even though I don't think they got it right
here with verses 18 through 21.
And so these kinds of things are very subtle, but they really do influence or affect how we read and
interpret the Bible before us.
Verses 18 through 20 should go with the foot washing episode that goes
Well, after having said that, pointed that out, let's begin to work now through this passage in
the time that we have.
And so in verses 18 through 20, we have Jesus concluded his instruction to his
twelve in the setting of his washing the feet.
And so I'm moving those verses up to be at the end of that
washing the feet episode.
Jesus had just instructed his disciples to permit him to wash their feet, but he
also gave them an example that they were to be washing one another's feet as well.
And what he meant by this was that he would be performing the work of grace of their ongoing need to be cleansed of sin.
They too should get effort to serve one another in this work of sanctification.
But then Jesus stated in verse 18, I do not speak concerning all of you.
Jesus was, of course, referring to Judas Iscariot, who was sitting with the other disciples throughout this
meal.
Jesus had apparently washed the feet of Judas along with all the other disciples present at this meal.
When Peter had first resisted Jesus from washing his feet, Jesus had indicated that one among them
was not really of them.
Verses 10 and 11, Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet.
It is he who is a Christian.
He's already cleansed.
He's completely clean.
And then Jesus said, you are clean.
Speaking of all the disciples, but not all of you referring to Judas.
And then verse 11 clarifies what he meant.
For he knew who had betrayed him, and therefore he said, you are not all clean.
Now, when Jesus said, I know whom I have chosen, in verse 18,
we who are reformed may immediately think in terms of God's eternal election.
And that's what chosen, of course, means in so many different places.
I know whom I have chosen.
We read in Romans 9 earlier, Pastor Jason, God has his elect, ones that he
chose before creation that they would be recipients of the grace, his grace in salvation.
But here when Jesus says, I know whom I have chosen, he was probably not speaking of
God's election of sinners unto salvation.
One reason we can say this is that the election by God of sinners to salvation is commonly
attributed to God the Father, not God the Son.
It's God the Father who elects sinners unto salvation.
And then, of course, he commissions his son to go redeem them.
Here Jesus speaks of choosing these men himself, ones who would be his closest
followers, ones whom he would designate as his apostles.
And so when he says, I know whom I have chosen, he's talking about specifically the 12 apostles.
Now, we can see this account of his choice of these men in Luke 6.
Jesus spent all night in prayer to his Father, and then in the morning designated 12 of them.
It came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray, continued all night in prayer to God.
And when it was day, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose 12, whom he
also named apostles.
Simon, whom he also named Peter, Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas,
James the son of Apphias, Simon called the zealot, Judas the son of James, and then a second Judas,
Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor.
But notice Jesus chose 12.
And I believe in John 13 when he says, I've chosen you, he's referring to this choice as apostles.
Jesus made this selection after spending all night in prayer to his Father.
But even when he chose them, Jesus knew that Judas would be the one who would prove to be a false
disciple, a false apostle, who would betray him into the Jewish and Roman authorities.
And now here in John 13, that time had come for this man to betray Jesus.
And so Jesus announced it beforehand.
We know, of course, that Judas and his betrayal of Jesus was foreordained of God.
This is what Jesus declared that had been foretold in Scripture.
Again, verse 18 reads,.
But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, he who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.
On another occasion, Jesus made this declaration when praying to his Father, While I was with them
in the world, I kept them in your name.
Those whom you gave me I have kept.
None of them is lost, and he's talking about the apostles, except the Son of perdition, that the Scripture
might be fulfilled.
We're going to consider that in detail when we get to John 17 someday.
The Scripture that Jesus was referring to is Psalm 41, verse 9.
The same reference that we have in our passage of John 13, 18.
It reads of Jesus referring to Judas as his friend.
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
The psalmist spoke of that friend in Psalm 41, 9, and it's a prophecy
of Judas, the friend of Jesus, betraying Jesus.
He's referred to as the son of perdition.
Which is a Hebraism.
In one sense, it describes a man's character as a wicked person.
He's deceitful, despicable.
But it also speaks of his destiny, because perdition is a word meaning hell.
Judas belonged to hell.
That was his destiny, his outcome of life.
As one wrote, interestingly, the same expression, the son of perdition, is applied to the Antichrist.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, in parallelism with the man of lawlessness.
Presumably to denote his evil nature.
But it may also include the thought of assured destruction, perdition.
Which is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2, 8.
A similar duality of meaning could attach the expression in our passage.
Son of perdition describes his evil character, but also his certain destiny of
damnation.
Now let's consider the meaning of the words of Psalm 41, 9.
It suggests great deceit, treachery, total disrespect, and even
contempt of one who is trusted and regarded as a close friend.
Again, David had written, He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.
Jesus and Judas had ate bread together.
Which was an emblem of close fellowship of friends.
Further, Jesus said of him, He's lifted up his heel against me.
What in the world does that mean?
There are two ideas that are commonly asserted.
There are those who regard Judas as like a mule, kicking its master who
feeds it.
And that may be true.
Another understanding proposed is that Judas was as a man who showed such indifference and disrespect to
Jesus.
It's as though he showed the underside of his foot to Jesus.
Which would have been a very disrespectful act in the ancient world.
As one wrote, Some take has lifted up his heel against me to mean has shown the bottom of his foot as a
gesture of contempt.
Others take it to mean simply has kicked me.
Now, I want to give you a little personal experience of this in the next paragraph on page 4.
The belief that showing the bottom of one's foot towards someone to show great contempt to him is
still retained in parts of the world.
When I was pastoring an international church in Munich, Germany, we had people from
many places of the world, and there was usually 10 or 12 African
asylum seekers who had been sent to Germany by their family or their village who pooled
their money and sent this man to Germany, hopefully to be able to get a good paying job and send money back to help his
family and village.
It was a very sad thing, however, that when they got up to Germany, Germany had such an oppressive
social system and culture, they would never allow these men to do anything but the most menial,
hard labor work, and it was only enough that they could barely survive.
So they didn't make enough money to send home, and then they were too ashamed to go back home,
having failed.
And some of these men had wives and children they hadn't seen in three or four years, and they were just
grieved over it.
Anyway, I was having lunch with two of these men.
They were sitting across the table from me, and Sam, who was sitting next to me, he was a deacon in our church, but he had
immigrated from Nigeria about 20 years before and had married a German woman, and they had three sons between
them.
And so Sam began to talk to these two men from Nigeria, and he started delving into the
German culture and how difficult it was, and it's like I was lost to it.
It was like they forgot I was there.
And so here I was listening to them in their African context and talking to one another,
and Sam began telling these two men just how disrespectful toward him were his three sons
who were raised in Germany.
In a rather incredulous tone, he said to these two men, and do you know what they even dare to do?
When they sit in my presence, they cross their legs and show the bottom of their foot to me.
And these two men were aghast.
No, no.
It was just a total sight of disrespect.
And I became conscious at that point that people in our church tended to do that all the time, cross
their legs and whatnot, and they weren't aware that they were offending people left and right.
By doing this.
Well, perhaps this is suggested in this psalm, Psalm 41 .9, the total disregard
and disrespect of Jesus by Judas was conveyed by the words, even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted
who ate my bread and has lifted up his heel against me.
Jesus told his disciples the reason he mentioned his betrayer when he did.
Verse 19 reads, Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that
I am he.
To be able to predict an event that shortly came to pass was proof that one was a true prophet of God.
We read this in a number of places in the Old Testament.
I don't think that they will recite those because of the time.
But one of the proofs of a true prophet of God is if he gave a short -term prophecy
and it came to pass.
On the other hand, if a man claimed to be a prophet and gave a short -term prophecy and it didn't come to pass,
he was proved to be a false prophet.
And the instance I gave there from Jeremiah 28 was about Hananiah who was a false prophet.
When Babylon wiped out Jerusalem and Judea, he basically stood up and said this is only temporary, within two
years God is going to bring us all back, bring everything back, everything is going to be at peace.
Jeremiah said no, it's not in two years, it's in 70 years.
And so Hananiah proved to be a false prophet because his short -term prophecy was not
fulfilled.
However, this is an important matter, and now I'm on page 5.
Just because a short -term prophecy did come to pass, that itself was not proof that a man or woman
was of God.
In addition to the realized prophecy, short -term prophecy, that prophet had to speak in
accordance with the written scriptures.
If he failed to do so, even though the miracle came to pass, he was to be viewed as a false prophet.
And so there were two tests of a legitimate prophet.
A short -term prophecy had to take place, but everything he said had to be consistent with the scriptures,.
With the law of God.
Well, sometimes God would allow people to foretell the
future that would come to pass, but they were not preaching or teaching according to the scriptures.
And Moses warned the people, you're not to give heed to that man.
And I've duplicated Deuteronomy 13, 1 -5 that speaks to this.
If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dream, and he comes and gives you a sign or wonder, and the
sign or the wonder comes to pass, see, short -term prophecy realized,
of which he spoke to you, saying, let us go after other gods.
That's the message that accompanied that miracle.
Which you've not known, let us serve them.
You should not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.
Why?
For the Lord God is testing you.
To know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear
him, and keep his commandments and obey his laws.
You are to obey the scriptures.
And it doesn't matter if a man comes along and gives you a prophecy and a dream and it comes to pass, that doesn't make him a
legitimate prophet.
It's the scriptures.
And so Moses said that God may do this from time to time to test you, to see if
you love him.
But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he's spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your
God commanded you to walk, so you shall put away the evil from your midst.
And so ultimately it's not that someone can perform a sign or wonder that matters, but teaching and
obeying the written word of God is the true sign or indicator of a true man of God.
As Isaiah warned God's people, to the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word,
it's because there is no light in them, no truth in them.
The scriptures are to be the sole authority in matters of faith and
practice.
Now here, back in John 13, Jesus declared to his disciples in advance that one of them
was his betrayer.
And he declared in verse 19 why he told them this.
Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I
am he.
Had our Lord not told them in advance of the betrayal of one of them, they might have become greatly disillusioned and discouraged.
One of their own, one of the apostles betrayed him.
But for Jesus to have declared in advance this would occur, would guard their hearts knowing that their master had
not been caught unawares, or that his intentions and purposes had somehow been thwarted.
But Jesus intended that this advanced declaration of Judas' betrayal would not just
prevent their disillusionment and discouragement, but note this, and this is important, but that it
might confirm them in their faith that he was God incarnate.
Actually the pronoun he, look up at that verse again.
Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he.
Actually that pronoun he is not in the Greek text.
This is another example that we've seen, there's 25 of them in the Gospel of John, where Jesus
is making the declaration basically.
I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am.
It's another instance of the I am saying, the ego eimi, it's a declaration of
Jesus' deity.
I'm telling you ahead of time about these things so that you'll know that I am God incarnate, is what Jesus is
saying to his apostles on this occasion.
I won't read that block quote that substantiates that.
But after our Lord had declared to his disciples that one of them would betray him, he immediately followed up this charge with this
word of affirmation to those who were faithful to him.
And so we read in verse 20, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives, he who receives
whomever I send receives me.
He who receives me receives him who sent me.
Here's one more occasion in which Jesus prefaced his statement with the words, Amen,
Amen, or the Greek Amin, Amin.
Now it's translated in the New King James Version, Most assuredly, I wish they wouldn't have translated it
that way, but would have duplicated the words.
It gives emphasis.
The King James, I think, says, Verily, verily.
Some of the other translations, truly, truly, very truly.
Now, although this might be applied to people representing him or sent by him
throughout history, I would argue that, you know, he sent me, he called me to declare his
word.
And although in a measure, in a way it might say, the one who receives the one I sent receives me,
it's specifically talking about the apostles.
And I think that's important to understand.
We should understand that when Jesus said, I say to you, he was speaking directly to his twelve apostles minus
one, Judas.
Now later, of course, the apostles would select the disciple to replace Judas, so the number twelve would be complete.
And so this saying of Jesus would later affirm the apostles in their unique office to represent Jesus
Christ to the world.
Whoever receives you whom I sent receives me.
And whoever receives me receives my father who sent me.
This is a declaration of the authority of the apostles' office
as the foundation of the church.
The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
And so this is a declaration of authority and competency of the apostles.
He chose twelve because they were to be rulers over the twelve tribes of Israel.
Israel realized that's why there were twelve apostles, twelve tribes of Israel.
And in Matthew 19 he made that declaration quite clearly.
And so he's talking about apostolic authority.
And you and I, we believe the New Testament, which is basically a witness of these apostles.
When you and I read and receive the New Testament, we're receiving the witness of these apostles whom he sent, whom he
called.
And we're believing that New Testament witness of the apostles.
We're believing in Jesus Christ who called them and sent them.
And in believing that, we are receiving the father who sent the Lord Jesus himself.
He's talking about apostolic authority.
And that's extended to the sufficiency and authority of our New Testament, the witness of the
apostles.
We have to wrap things up here.
At the top of page 7, Jesus reveals his betrayer, verses 21 through 27.
Our Lord first told the disciples one of them was a traitor.
When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit, testified, said, Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will
betray me.
And then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.
They didn't know who he was dealing with, who he was identifying.
Notice first, our Lord was troubled in spirit.
He was distressed, disturbed, distraught at the prospect that one of his own would betray
him, even though he knew all along he would.
This, of course, was an experience within his human nature.
He was troubled, greatly troubled, disturbed.
This was not within his divine nature.
By definition, biblical definition, the divine nature is never troubled.
God cannot be troubled, distressed, or affected by anything that happens in history.
He's infinite.
He's perfect.
He's unchangeable.
In his divine nature, Jesus was unaffected.
But in his human nature, he was almost overwhelmed.
He was troubled in his human spirit.
Just by word of application, are you one of his disciples ever troubled in spirit?
You have a high priest in Jesus Christ who knows very personally and experientially your distress.
And so you may take to heart the reality that Jesus Christ is able to
give you peace.
He's able to give you grace to help in your time of need because he went through the same things that you encounter.
He was troubled in spirit.
I might ask this question.
Think about it.
Why did Jesus speak in a manner that any of the twelve could have been the one?
They didn't know who he was talking about.
Now later on, we're going to see Peter insist, I'll never do it.
And he was, of course, betrayed the Lord before the night was out.
But the way Jesus revealed it, he said one of them would betray him, but he didn't tell them which one.
He told John, but apparently John just whispered to Jesus, tell us who it is.
And Jesus apparently whispered to John, the one I give bread to, he gave the bread to Judas.
And then Judas went out.
But everybody there, probably except John, didn't know who it was.
Why did Jesus do that?
Well, I think it's clear from the account that each of them, when he said that, at first thought
each of them was possibly capable of doing that thing.
And I think the way the Lord Jesus spoke to them, he wanted them
to think about themselves, each of them.
Is it me, Lord?
We should take a lesson from this.
The fact is, any one of us is capable of the most terrible kind of sin, if it were not for the promise and
grace of God to keep us in Christ.
But we should each recognize our own weakness and vulnerability to experience great personal
failure.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10, we won't read it.
But he says, I want you to consider everything that happened in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Of all the failures, of all the defections, those are all
examples to you as a Christian.
So it doesn't happen to you.
And then he concluded that section with the words of 1 Corinthians 10,
verse 12.
And I think when the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, one of you is a traitor, they were all doing a little
self -introspection.
Is it me?
Could I possibly do that?
And I think that's a healthy thing.
And you and I ought to have that concern.
I am capable of the most egregious kind of defection and sin, if it were not for the grace of Christ.
And so are you.
Better men than I have fallen.
Better men and women than you who have professed Christ and walked with
other Christians, have walked away from Christ, have betrayed him.
And so we should examine ourselves.
Notice, and we'll close with this idea, notice the special love that Jesus had for his disciple John.
John never identified himself by name in his gospel or in his epistles.
1st, 2nd, 3rd John.
But he described himself as one of his disciples whom Jesus loved.
And apparently everybody knew it.
Peter knew it.
Hey, John, you ask him who it is.
He knew that John had an inside track with Jesus.
J .C. Ryle wrote about this.
Let it be noted that the general special love with which our Lord loved all his disciples, and I believe John
13, 1 declares that, right?
He loved them unto the end.
Nevertheless, it does not prevent his having a particular love for one individual.
Why he especially loved John, we're not told.
Gifts certainly do not appear so much in John as does grace.
But it's worth noticing that love seems more characteristic of John than any disciple.
That in this he showed more of the mind of Christ.
It is quite clear that special friendship for one individual is consistent with his love for
all.
And it's noteworthy that of all the writers of the New Testament, none go so deep and reveal so much
of the hidden things of God as he who lay in the bosom of Christ.
This should not generate envy on the part of any of us, but I hope it generates some desire.
I want to be one.
That is, you know, loved of Jesus.
Not I want to be one who's loved more by Jesus than others.
That would be sinful.
But I want to be one who is loved by Jesus like he loved John.
And how does that take place?
If I can spiritualize a little bit, John wanted to be right next to Jesus while eating that supper, right?
Laid his head on his breast.
He was closest to Jesus.
And Jesus loved him.
And Peter knew this.
Hey, John, he motioned to him.
You ask him, who is it that betrays?
And Jesus revealed to John, it's the one that I give this piece of bread to.
He dipped that piece of bread in the graveyard, wherever it was, gave it to Judas, and then told Judas, you go out and do what you're
going to do.
And then the Bible tells us that after he was given that piece of bread, Satan entered Judas.
He basically became possessed entirely by the devil.
Satan entered him.
Probably signifies, D .A. Carson said, thorough possession.
And he went out and did his deed.
What you do, do quickly.
And then it declares that no one at the table knew for what reason Jesus said this to Judas.
Some thought Judas, since he had the money box, Jesus was saying, go out and buy some things for the
feast.
Some argue, well, the feast is at Passover.
This proves it happened on Thursday.
The next day was Passover.
But it could very well be he was telling, they thought he was telling Judas, go out and buy things for the
feast of the unleavened bread that would begin the day after the Passover.
But he went out.
And then the last statement of this episode of this pericope is, he went out
immediately and it was night.
And that fits with the symbolism of John's gospel.
As one declared, night is more than a time note.
In view of the teaching of this gospel as a whole, it must be held to point us to the strife between light and darkness
and to the night, black night, that was in the soul of Judas.
He cut himself off from the light of the world and accordingly shut himself up to night.
And then our closing word about this, there may be a tendency for us to think of Judas
as this guy so foreign to us, so different from us, that there is
no application or common ground.
And I appreciated the words of Edward Klink on his commentary on John wrote this,
Judas must not be viewed as an isolated example but as a common experience in the church.
While the gospel is good news, it's not easily swallowed.
Scripture warns that the message of Christ is a stumbling block and foolishness, and that even Satan, the god of
this age, is actively blinding the minds of the world.
But as scary as this is, there is something else frightening in the example of Judas.
Judas does not represent disbelief among those on the outside of the faith opposed to Christ, but
disbelief among the faithful, those on the inside.
He was an apostle.
Judas is a far more threatening figure than Pilate or the Jewish leaders, for he reminds us that on any
day some faithful follower sitting among us might turn off the light and stumble out into darkness.
May this not be you, O reader of this gospel.
May the Spirit of God protect you from such a flight into the night, into darkness, and keep you in
Christ, shielded by God's power.
In intimate communion with Christ, hold firm, Christian, hold fast, church.
And I think that's a good word.
We of course are always concerned for the members of our church, the people in our church.
And we hear accounts or stories about the
hardness of heart, the defection, the sin, the
departure of some, and we become very concerned and burdened.
One of the first signs of a soul in trouble is lack of concern,
laziness in spiritual matters, a sense of complacency,
I'm okay.
And that's scary.
And it's up to us as a church, we're to wash one another's feet.
We are to attempt to awaken and serve one another unto good works.
And we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves, as the manner of some is,
even more so as we see that day approaching.
We live in troublous times.
And even in the churches, there are things that are going on that are being accepted and embraced by
mainline denominations.
Southern Baptist denomination we heard about this week.
Some really scary things that are taking place.
May the Lord keep us close to himself and keep our church faithful to
him and his word.
And may we be prayerfully out of love and concern watching for one another's souls as well.
And I hope when you see someone that appears to be deficient or defecting, that you
would be very prayerful and maybe even go to that one and express concern and the desire to assist and
encourage that one in Christ.
We are to exhort one another daily, lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
That's what happened to Judas.
May that not happen to any one of us.
Amen.
Let's pray.
Thank you, Father, for your word.
And we pray you help us to take to heart these concerns and warnings.
We pray, Lord, that you would pull back anyone here who
professes faith in you but is going off in the world and life in a way they shouldn't.
We pray that you would be merciful and gracious and give repentance afresh.
Help us as a church to be true to you, our God, and true to your word.
Thank you for the love of the Lord Jesus.
And we pray that love would be manifest in a wonderful, special way to us as we seek him.
For it's in Jesus' name we pray.