Jesus' Betrayal and Coming Departure (John 13:21-38)

Daniel L. Arter

The Gospel according to John • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

John 13:21–38

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Don’t forget, this Wednesday, November 24th in lieu of our usual Bible Study & Prayer Time, we’ll have our annual Pre-Thanksgiving Love Feast at 7pm. This is really just an opportunity for us all to fellowship with one another, give thanks, and get to know each other. The evening will conclude with us taking the LORD’s Supper together, so please prepare to take the LORD’s Supper after dinner.

On occasion, I like to mention that if you’re visiting the church or if you’re a regular attender of the church and you have any questions concerning our doctrine, theology, and church, to please don’t hesitate to come and talk to me. Questions are good; and I’d rather spend some time with you discussing these things so that you can understand them and understand them well than you walk away with unanswered questions. In addition, if you have been thinking about baptism or church members, I’d love to speak with you today about it, so please reach out to me as soon as the service is over.

Starting next week on November 28th, we’ll be taking a break from our series on the Gospel according to John to prepare our hearts for Christmas. Last year, we followed the traditional advent themes, but I found it lacking in one respect, it seemed as if we rushed through each theme and we didn’t really get to spend a lot of time discussing and exploring those themes. So, this year, and for the next few years, I’ve decided that instead of switching themes each week, that we would spend all of the advent season focused on one theme.

So, this year’s theme for our Christmas at Grace & Peace series is Hope—each week leading up to Christmas, we’ll discuss the idea of hope, what the Bible says concerning Christmas and hope, and what the Bible says about our hope in Jesus Christ.

Next year, we’ll take another theme and so on over the next few years. Think of this as an extended series with a year-long break between each section.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the LORD through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways for you to do so: (1) in-person giving can be done through the offering box at the entrance of the building. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; and if you’d like a receipt for your cash gifts, please place it in an envelope with your name on it. If you’d prefer to give via debit, credit, or ACH transfers, you can do that either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or by (3) visiting us online at graceandpeacepa.com and selecting giving in the menu bar. Everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Psalm 100)

Our Call to Worship this morning is from Psalm 100, which I recognize is a significant leap from Psalm 36, but with it being the week of Thanksgiving, I thought it would worthwhile for us to focus our Call to Worship, Scripture Reading, and musical worship on giving thanks to the LORD. Psalm 100 is a shorter psalm, but it’s probably one familiar to you. It is an anonymous song of praise to the LORD and it follows a simple pattern—Vs. 1-2 and 4 call us to praise the LORD and Vs. 3 and 5 give us reasons for praising the LORD. Many scholars believed that this psalm would have been utilized as an entrance hymn as people entered the gates of the temple. Please stand and read Psalm 100 responsively with me: I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 100 ESV

A Psalm for giving thanks. 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Congregational Singing

In Christ Alone

My Heart is Filled

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)

Scripture Reading (1 Chronicles 16:23-34)

I’ve asked Tara to read our Scripture reading this morning from 1 Chronicles 16:23-34, but before she comes up, let me just give you some brief background information. The book of Chronicles is a parallel record of the history of Israel and you can find the same account of this passage in 2 Samuel 6:17-19. In this account, the Chronicler describes the restoration of the ark of the covenant. After the ark of the covenant was restored David had the ark placed inside the tent that was prepared for it and he appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers. That song of thanks starts in Vs. 8 and continues to Vs. 37, we’re reading just a piece of the song from Vs. 23-34, Tara will you please read 1 Chronicles 16:23-34 for us?

Sermon

Introduction

If you have your Bible with you this morning, please turn it to John 13:21-38. Again, that’s John 13:21-38 and while you turn there, let me just give some brief introductory material.

This is the last message from our series from the Gospel according to John before we jump into our Christmas at Grace & Peace series concerning hope. And because it’s the last message from John before we switch gears for about a month, we’re taking a section that if we had more time, we could easily split it into a few weeks, but because we’re about to change series, I wanted us to get to the end of chapter 13 before we switched (otherwise, there’s a very real possibility that we would lose out on the main point of the text because we’d simply forget about it before we returned to it). At this point in the text, we’re still in the Last Supper just prior to Jesus’ arrest and in this text we actually see Jesus allowing the plan of his betrayal to occur. This is significant because in it, Jesus tells Judas to go ahead and do what he’s going to do, which I think we can all admit the fact that since Jesus knows that it’s going to happen and he encourages it to happen, that there are some significant theological ramifications, which we’ll discuss today. In addition, we’ll see Jesus give the disciples what he calls a new command, which if they follow this command will show others that they are his disciples.

This week’s message kickstarts a whole series of teachings from Jesus directly to his disciples that end in the high priestly prayer just before Jesus is arrested; and all of these teachings are started just after Jesus tells Judas to go and betray him. Just like the passage from last week’s message being emphasized due to Jesus’ recognition of his impending death, this week’s message and really every message leading to his arrest, is elevated because he knows that he is about to be arrested, tried, and put to death.

Let’s read John 13:21-38 together.

John 13:21–38 ESV

21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

As we study this passage, we’ll break it into two primary sections: Vs. 21-30, Jesus sends Judas to Betray Him, there are a couple of unique things happening in the first section. Jesus makes the statement that one of them will betray him and it’s the one who will receive the bread that he gives, but it’s clear that the disciples miss Jesus giving him the bread. So, after Satan enters into Judas and Jesus tells him to go and do what he’s going to do quickly, no one really understood what Jesus was saying to Judas. There’s a lot of speculation that we could make in this section, but I want to make it clear that we aren’t trying to speculate this morning, rather we’re going to look at this as an example of Jesus’ authority and sovereignty. That even when the disciples didn’t understand what was happening, Jesus was still in control. Vs 31-38, could technically be split into two sections, but because we’re about to take a break from the series, I didn’t want us to start it and then not finish it until after Christmas. In this section, we see Jesus giving the disciples a command concerning their love for one another and then we see Jesus telling Peter that he’s going to deny Jesus, but we’re going to focus on this New Commandment that Jesus gives. What this passage will show us is God’s absolute sovereignty in all matters—even when everything seems out of control, God is still in control; and because he is in control, we ought to obey his command to love one another.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus sends Judas to Betray Him (21-30)

The Bible tells us that “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit.”

Just as means of a reminder, when the Bible says “after saying these things” it’s referring back to the feet washing that Jesus performed for his disciples.

In particular, it’s pointing to the lesson that Jesus had taught them as part of the feet washing process, that if Jesus, who is the all-powerful, all-knowing Creator is willing to serve man, how much more should man be willing to serve each other?

And this refers to the brief statement that he makes that whoever receives the Holy Spirit receives him.

It’s after these statements that the Bible tells us that “Jesus was troubled in his spirit.” We could take time to try and determine what exactly Jesus was troubled in his spirit with, but I think he tells us bluntly what’s troubling him at the end of Vs. 21.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

I think most of us have a fairly decent idea of what it means to betray someone else, but for clarity’s sake: Oxford Languages states that to betray someone means to “expose to danger by treacherously giving information to an enemy.”

Which for those familiar with the life of Jesus, knows that this is precisely what Judas does, he exposes Jesus to danger by giving information about Jesus to the enemy.

Jesus tells the disciples that one of them will betray him and you can almost sense the shocked confusion that the disciples were experiencing.

You have to consider the fact that all of Jesus’ disciples had left behind their lives to follow him, that they had traveled with him for multiple years, and they had all followed his teachings and his way of life.

Typically, when a group of people travel together, live, eat, and work together for multiple years, there develops a bond of mutual friendship and even some amount of brotherly love for one another.

This happens even today with people that you work with, especially if you share a common religion, similar lifestyle, and worldview.

And just like the disciples experienced this uncertainty or confusion over who was about to betray Jesus, you would feel confusion if someone at your workplace betrayed everyone there.

The Bible tells us that Jesus claims that someone is about to betray him, and in Vs. 22-26a, the Bible says that “The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.’” There are a number of points to be made here:

Jesus tells his disciples that one of them is about to betray him, and vs. 22 tells us that “the disciples look at one another.”

Again, this expresses the confusion and apprehension that the disciples had. The disciples had lived, worked, and served together for multiple years, I’m sure that their relationships were tight enough that they had a hard time comprehending the idea of one of them betraying Jesus.

My assumption is that Judas covered his tracks well enough that no one was suspicious whatsoever, because the Bible says that they were completely uncertain of whom Jesus was speaking about.

And this uncertainty causes the disciples to question the betrayal amongst themselves before one of them asks Jesus outright. Vs. 23, says that “One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motion to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.”

The wording is a little confusing, but essentially, what the author is stating is that the disciple closest to Jesus was the one “whom Jesus loved” and Simon Peter got the disciple whom Jesus loved’s attention to ask Jesus.

We know that the “disciple whom Jesus loved” is the author of the book—it’s the apostle John. And we know that from a number of reasons, but I think the two most profound reasons include the facts that if you take time to look at every instance of that disciple in John’s writings and you look at all that John writes about the disciple that Jesus loves—you begin to narrow it down and realize that this disciple was one of the few that had “seen [Jesus’] glory” on the mount of transfiguration, that this disciple was at the cross, and was one of the closest disciples to Jesus. Taken altogether and looking at a few other facts, it makes a fairly good case that when John writes about the “disciple whom Jesus loves,” he’s actually talking about himself.

And I want to clarify, that when John writes this, he isn’t saying that Jesus doesn’t love the other disciples; and he isn’t necessarily saying that Jesus loves him more than the other disciples. It is a self-designation that he utilizes to speak of himself, and it’s really more revelatory of his own sense of indebtedness to Jesus’ grace.

In addition, consider the fact that John has had a habit throughout his book of not giving significant details in order for the reader to focus on the truth being taught rather than the people themselves. This is probably an attempt to make sure that the readers focus is on what is being said rather than who said it.

So, Simon Peter gets John’s attention for the purpose of John asking Jesus who it is that will betray him

And the reasoning for this, why Peter gets John to ask instead of just asking himself has to do with proximity. All twelve disciples are at this table eating supper, obviously if there’s twelve people at a table, someone’s going to physically be further away than the others, and it’s clear that in this case, Peter simply isn’t as close to Jesus as John is so he asks John to ask Jesus.

Now on occasion, when Jesus would respond to questions like this, he would respond by giving a parable or utilizing some sort of figurative language to explain the situation, but in this scenario, Jesus outright tells us who the betrayer will be, but the disciples don’t actually get it, they miss what’s going on and we see their lack of comprehension as the text continues.

Vs. 26, says that “Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” Now there’s two things I want to say about this sentence before we continue:

First, there’s a symbolic reasoning behind what Jesus is doing for Judas and this symbolic meaning adds significant depth to what’s occuring as Jesus gives this morsel of bread to Judas. In our current culture, giving someone a piece of bread isn’t symbolic whatsoever, we share in meals all the time and pass back and forth different dishes.

In first-century Judaism, for the host to give a morsel of bread to a guest was a sign of friendship.

In addition, consider how easily it is for Jesus to give the morsel to Judas—he didn’t have to get up and walk to Judas, he didn’t have to pass it to Judas, he gave the morsel of food directly to Judas, which heavily implies that Judas was probably right next to Jesus—in a position of honor amongst the group.

That symbolism, shows us a significant amount of love and grace being shown to Judas from Jesus—that despite knowing that Judas was about to betray him, he still offered love and friendship to him.

Beasley-Murray is of the opinion that Jesus’ act of giving Judas this morsel was giving Judas the choice between betraying Jesus or choosing Jesus.

The symbolism is that up to Judas’ decision to betray Jesus, Jesus provided grace to Judas.

Secondly, there’s something interesting going on after this statement is made, because chronologically, it seems that as soon as Jesus makes this statement, he dips the morsel and gives it to Judas.

But let me remind you that John isn’t always completely chronological, in the sense that he isn’t necessarily writing everything that occurred—there could’ve been a few or even several minutes between him saying this and it actually happening.

Or it could be that Jesus said this in a hushed tone, because you’ll notice that when it actually does happen, none of the disciples realized what had happened and none of them react the way that you think they should.

Vs. 26b, “So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some though that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the feast,’ or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.”

Despite that last offer of friendship from Jesus, the Bible tells us that Judas accepted the morsel, but didn’t accept Jesus.

Despite the grace that Jesus showed Judas, even up to this end, Judas ultimately chose not to follow Jesus. And in the instance that Judas rejected Jesus, “Satan entered into him.” This is one of the most ominous statements in all of Scripture.

It’s ominous for multiple reasons, but primarily due to the fact that it shows us that Judas has completely and utterly rejected Jesus as the Christ, for we know that Satan cannot enter into someone who is already indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

This entering of Satan into Judas is the second time that we see Satan interact with Judas, the first time occured in Vs. 2, in which we’re told that the devil had already put it into his heart to betray Jesus.

The entering of Satan into Judas shows us complete rejection of Jesus on behalf of Judas.

And Jesus, knowing that Satan had entered into Judas, then tells Satan to do it quickly. As I’ve mentioned a few times already, Jesus tells Satan through Judas to do it quickly, and no one in the room understands why Jesus said this.

The Bible says that some thought that Jesus was having Judas buy food for the feast or give money to the poor, despite the fact that Jesus did tell at least one disciple that the one who received this morsel from him would betray him.

So, the question then is, why didn’t the disciple whom Jesus loved do anything when Judas was given the morsel by Jesus? And I have two suggestions as to why this is the case:

Jesus gave the morsel to Judas much later than when Jesus told John that the one who received the bread would betray him—or in other words, it didn’t happen directly after that statement by Jesus, it might have happened quite some time after Jesus initially made the statement. And thus, John and whomever else that heard Jesus say this either forgot about it or it wasn’t on their mind anymore when the actual event happened.

I’m personally more inclined to think that Jesus initially made the statement in hushed tones and that only a few of the disciples had actually heard what he said; and I’m inclined to believe that the reason why those few disciples didn’t step up and stop Judas is simply because Jesus didn’t stop Judas, in fact, Jesus encouraged Judas to go quickly.

John, who we know for sure, heard Jesus make the statement, didn’t stop Judas after seeing the event because Jesus himself encouraged Judas to go quickly.

Which again, shows us something drastically important for us to realize. I’ve mentioned this several times as we’ve slowly worked our way closer to the arrest, trials, and death of Jesus—that often, particularly new believers, have a hard time understanding all that leads up to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Occasionally, particularly new believers, believe that the arrest, trials, and death of Jesus were so rapid, so intense, and so shocking that it seems completely out of control.

That Judas acted on his own against the will of Jesus, and the trials were completely crazy and out of control, and the death of Jesus was completely against his will, but if you read the text carefully, what you see is that Jesus was completely in control.

Despite the fact that it seems out of control for us, Jesus is still completely in control, which makes sense when you consider Isaiah 53, which tells us that Jesus could have opened his mouth against what was happening, but he didn’t. That he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent.

Jesus is completely in control and that’s seen in the fact that he has repeatedly told them of what was about to happen, and the Bible repeatedly tells us that he knows what Judas is about to do and what he’s about to experience; and yet, he doesn’t try to stop it, he doesn’t try to run from it, in fact, he tells Satan through Judas to do it quickly.

None of this was out of his control—he was completely sovereign through all that happened.

Now, that can cause us to have different reactions, but I think knowing that Jesus was in complete control in a moment that seemed utterly out of his control should provide a certain amount of trust in who Jesus is.

That if Jesus was completely in control when his life seemed out of control, then there’s a great possibility that he’s still in control when our lives are out of control

But it should also well up within us a certain amount of gratitude and thanksgiving in what Jesus had done for us. It wasn’t accidental, it was completely planned and organized by him. He remained completely sovereign and he allowed all these events to happen

And the reason for it was for the same reason that Jesus offered Judas that morsel of food before Judas made the ultimate decision to reject Jesus—Jesus is offering the same friendship and communion with him that he offered to Judas to all mankind.

Which is why he allowed Judas to decide to reject him and he allowed Satan to use Judas to betray him and he allowed all of the subsequent events during his arrest, trials, and crucifixion to put him to death.

Jesus is in complete control and he’s doing all these events to offer you reconciliation with the Father through him.

Despite the confusion of the disciples, it’s clear that even in his death and the events leading to his death, Jesus is still sovereign. And in his sovereignty, after sending Satan through Judas to betray him, he then gives a command to his disciples.

Jesus gives a New Commandment (31-38)

John 13:31–38 ESV

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

We see Jesus’ sovereignty in allowing Satan to utilize Judas to betray him; and after Judas leaves the home, Jesus says that the Son of Man is now glorified, and “God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.”

I think you can tell that there’s a specific theme in these two verses. The words glorified and glorify occur five times in these two verses, which is significant.

We’ve talked about the glorification of Jesus and the glorification of the Father through Jesus numerous times as we’ve worked through the text of John, but up to this point, it’s always seen as something that the Father gets and that the Son has temporarily laid aside for himself.

DA Carson suggests that “it is almost as if, now that Judas has gone, the last barrier to the onset of the impending ‘hour’ has been removed, and Jesus signals the development . . . the departure of Judas puts the actual machinery of arrest, trial, and execution into motion.”

Or put differently, what Jesus is saying in these verses is that the start of Jesus’ final days on earth has begun, and this initiating of his final days on earth glorifies both him and God; and it will continue to glorify both him and God.

You can think of it as the process of Jesus’ glorification has already started and it will continue.

But the point in this passage isn’t necessarily Jesus’ glorification, but what he says because of his glorification in Vs. 33-35.

In Vs. 33-35, Jesus tells the disciples that he is about to leave them and because he’s about to leave them, he gives them a new command. “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’”

So, Jesus tells the disciples that he’s about to leave and that they cannot come with him. Rather, what he does instead, is he provides what he calls a new commandment.

I think it might help you to think of this like him essentially telling them what he wants them to do while he’s away. Because he continues in that line of thinking all the way to chapter 18. That these are different things that Jesus wants them to understand and do while he’s gone; and what we see in Vs. 34-35 is the first thing that he wants them to do.

And the very first thing that he tells them to do is so simple to remember that a child could remember it. Vs. 34, “A new commandment I give to you, [is] that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are to love one another.”

Notice that I say that it’s easy to remember, but let’s be honest, it isn’t necessarily the easiest to do. This isn’t the only time that Jesus makes this statement, in fact, he makes the argument in Matthew 22:36-40 that there are two greatest commandments that all the Law hangs off.

A Pharisee comes to speak to Jesus in order to test him and says, “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And [Jesus] said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

And of course, those two commands to love God and love those around you are direct quotations from the Old Testament--”You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” is a direct quotation from what’s commonly referred to as the shema in Deuteronomy 6:5 and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” is a quotation from Leviticus 19:18.

The point being that the first thing that Jesus wants them to do is precisely what God had told the Israelites to do in the Old Testament—to love one another.

Now you might as, how exactly is this a new commandment? Because the Old Testament commands love for God and for one another, and Jesus himself teaches to love one another just like you love yourself?

It has to do with the standard of the love—In the Old Testament, the standard for the love was the Law of God and God himself. They were to love God because of who God is, but then the love for one another is based off God’s love for other people—or in other words, love one another because the Law which I’ve given you demands love for one another.

When Jesus speaks about the greatest laws being to love the LORD and love your neighbor the standard is to love your neighbor just like you love yourself—and let me just briefly state that this verse isn’t saying that you must love yourself before you can love other people—this verse assumes that you already love yourself. Thus, the argument isn’t that you must love yourself first, the argument is that you already love yourself, so love other people just like you love yourself.

Now, just before Jesus’ arrest, he gives this command but in a new way. Love one another just like I have loved you.

Jesus wants his disciples to love one another just like he loved them. The Greek word that’s being translated as love is the word αγαπη, which is commonly understood to be the type of love that God has for us, which reiterates the type of love that he expects them to have for each other.

This means that this love is not contingent on emotions or desires, this love is not fickle, it’s based and predicated on the type of love that Jesus had for them.

This is the same type of love that we see defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endurances all things. Love never ends.”

And we have an example of that love in how Jesus still offered grace and friendship to Judas even just before Satan uses Judas to go and betray Jesus.

Jesus is so firm on the need for them to love one another, that he tells them that all people will know that they are his disciples because of their love for one another.

Which in and of itself should be rather convicting because if you typically ask an unbeliever what they thought about a believer or even about a local church, the typical statement that you hear isn’t that they’re such a loving person or that church is known to be really loving.

In many cases, if that person or church didn’t claim to be Christian, you wouldn’t be able to tell them from unbelievers or any social club. Rather than knowing them for their love, their reputation is that of contention, of bitterness and anger, or of Pharisaic behavior. There are churches that are more known for their beautiful music programs, up-beat services, or even their political stances than they are for their love of one another.

And yet, Jesus doesn’t say that people should know you because of your political ideology, music program, contentiousness, bitterness, or anger; Jesus says that the world will know who you are based on your love one for another.

And it is that love for one another that proclaims Jesus to all who see them.

Now, before we get into application there are three verses that almost stick out that I want to just explain briefly before we start talking about application. In Vs. 36-38, we see Simon Peter saying to Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”

Again, it seems almost as if the last few verses stick out, but think of it like this. Peter has been listening to Jesus speak, and Jesus just said “where I am going you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.”

And in Peter’s mind, he’s stuck on Jesus’ statement, “where I am going.” In his mind, Peter is still thinking about the fact that Jesus just said that he’s leaving.

So, of course, the first question he asks isn’t concerning the command itself, it’s concerning that first statement of Jesus. “Lord, where are you going?”

And Jesus, in his normal almost vague way of answering questions just says, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”

To which Peter replies, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

And Jesus responds with a prophecy against Peter, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

Or in other words, Peter thinks that he would be willing to lay down his life, when in reality, Jesus knows that he isn’t ready to lay down his life, in fact, he knows that Peter will deny Jesus, which is then recorded in John 18:17, 25, 26-27.

Though interestingly, Peter does eventually lay down his life for Jesus, he just isn’t there in his own spiritual growth and maturity when he makes the claim that he would lay down his life for Jesus.

What we see in this last section of John 13, is that Jesus is absolutely sovereign—he is in complete control even as he is being betrayed by Judas and the work of Satan. And in his absolute sovereignty as his arrest, death, and burial is coming, Jesus gives the first of many commands that they love one another just like he loves them. This brings us to our application for the morning and I think you can see where I’m going with the application, but nevertheless, let’s look at some specific application for this passage:

Application

Jesus sends Judas to Betray Him (21-30)—in the first section of the passage, we read about Jesus making the statement that one of the disciples would betray him. And of course, the disciples want to know who this is, so we see Peter and John asking Jesus about who the betrayer is, which Jesus responds to by saying “it is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread.” Of course, we see Jesus giving that bread to Judas and I spoke about how this was really Jesus trying to extend grace and friendship to Judas even up to the very end, but Judas still rejects Jesus and Satan then uses Judas to betray Jesus. In this account, we see Jesus telling Satan through Judas to do what he’s going to do quickly.

As we studied this section of the passage, I really stressed the sovereignty of Jesus even in a situation that seems completely out of his control. Regardless as to what it looks like from a human perspective, Jesus is in complete control as Judas rejects him and goes to betray him.

So, what that tells us is that from the disciples’ perspective, there’s confusion, there’s a lack of understanding, and there’s a general ignorance due to that confusion and lack of understanding

But from Jesus’ perspective, there is no confusion and he understands everything that’s happening to the extent that while the disciples can’t tell what’s happening with Judas, Jesus recognizes that Satan has entered into Judas

And Jesus tells Satan to do what he’s going to do quickly.

This gives us two applications for this section:

First, recognize that even in situations that seem completely out of control, Jesus is still in complete control.

Despite the disciples’ lack of understanding and general ignorance of all that was occuring, it’s clear that Jesus has complete control in everything that’s happening to the extent that he allows Satan to use Judas to betray him.

I can’t help, but to think of Job who, though righteous in the sight of God, was allowed by God to face tremendous hardship in life, and when Job gets hit with that first wave of tremendous hardship, he makes this statement, “the LORD giveth and the LORD taketh, [nevertheless] blessed be the name of the LORD.”

I can’t help but to think of Colossians 1, which teaches us that Jesus created all things for himself, and as the Creator, he is before all things and he holds all things together.

So, even when life is tremendously difficult and everything seems like its falling apart, Scripture teaches that God gives and he takes away, blessed is his name, and that Jesus holds all things together.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is in complete control even when it doesn’t feel like he’s in completely control.

Recognizing that Jesus is in complete control helps us in two ways in particular:

It assures us that we don’t need to be in control—often, particularly when we do face great hardships in life, we try to take control of the situation. The problem with doing this is that it neglects the truth that Jesus is already in control. Rather than trying to take control of everything in life that seems like it’s falling apart, Scripture teaches us that Jesus already has it under control, which should then force us to rely on Jesus’ sovereignty.

It forces us to rely on Jesus’ sovereignty rather than our own—the fact that Jesus already has it under control, should force us to rely on him. Consider 1 Corinthians 10:13, there is “no temptation [that] has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” What Paul is saying is that your temptation or trial in life isn’t unique to just you, other people have faced similar issues in life, which means that if you’re faced with trials in life, there is an escape that God has provided for you to be able to endure it.

Usually, that escape is to simply run to Jesus and rely on his control and sovereignty.

Second, recognize that Jesus is in complete control and learn to rely on his control and sovereignty; and second, understand that Jesus’ willingness to send Judas to betray him shows the amount that he loves you.

Because Jesus is in complete control throughout this situation, we can see that the only reason Jesus is arrested, tried, and eventually crucified is because he was in control.

It is his love for us that caused him to go and die on the cross. Because he was and is in complete control, we can start to understand just how much he absolutely loves us enough to not only allow Judas to betray him, but to tell Judas to do it quickly.

How much does Jesus love you? He loves you enough to condescend and be born of a virgin, to live on earth as the God-man. He loves you enough to not just accept the fact that he’s about to be arrested, tried, and murdered; but enough to tell the betrayer to hurry in betraying him.

You have a God that cares for you with a love that is described as patient, kind, not envious nor boastful, not arrogant nor rude, not irritable or resentful. It’s the love that rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never ends.

This is how Jesus loves you; and knowing this truth should cause you to understand just how much God cares for you and it should cause you to want to worship him, serve him, and honor him with your life.

Jesus is in complete control and the all-sovereign Jesus absolutely loves you, which leads us into the second half of the text:

Jesus gives a New Command (31-38)—Jesus tells his disciples and by extension us, that we are to love each other the same way that Jesus loves us; and that by doing so, people will know that we are his disciples. The same self-sacrificing, patient, kind, never-ending love is what we’re to have for one another. My application is two-fold and it’s simple:

First off, do you love those around you the same way that Jesus loves you? Consider your own heart. Consider how you act and react to those around you, particularly within the church, and ask yourself if those looking in from the outside would consider that the way that we are together is filled with the love of Jesus?

Every church has a reputation and every Christian has a reputation—and quite frankly, what Jesus tells us is that those that are his are to be known for their love for one another. So, if we’re known for anything other than being loving towards one another, we’ve missed the mark.

If we’re known for what we’re against, or for being bitter and angry, or for being judgmental in life, if we’re known for sin, we’re not known for our love for one another.

And that love for one another starts on the individual level. If you don’t love those around you within the church, then the church can’t have a reputation of being loving.

Logic then tells us that the proper thing for us to do is to consider our own hearts and how we treat those around us. Are we being loving? Or are we acting sinfully towards one another? And if we’re acting sinfully towards one another, the proper response is to repent and start acting in love towards one another.

Secondly, I do want to emphasize that statement, that if the thing that you are most known for isn’t your love for other people, then you’ve missed the mark.

We live in a social media world, in which it’s very easy for us to post what we think without a second thought and then watch people argue and fight about it in the comments.

We’re very used to being very open with our political opinions and philosophical ideas (no matter how terrible or good they really are)

So much so, that most of us could tell you what political party someone belongs to and what their views are about any number of different things before being able to discern their religious beliefs.

And because local churches are made up of people, many churches are the same way—where the community knows what their political ideas are and their different views on any number of different things are, but no one knows how seriously they take their relationship with Jesus Christ.

I desperately hope that you see the issue in this. Jesus said that people will know that you are his disciples, if you have love for one another.

But if people know us primarily for our political ideology, philosophical views, and psychological worldview, but they don’t ever consider us loving people that care for their communities, aren’t we missing what Jesus is saying?

Consider what people know you for—and if it’s primarily not your love for Jesus and your love for others, let me exhort you to repent and seek to be more loving towards Jesus and towards others.

Put simply, what we see in John 13:21-38 is Jesus expressing his absolute sovereignty, even in his arrest, trials, and eventual death; and then we see that in his absolute sovereignty, he shows us his love for us by sending the betrayer to quickly do the betraying, which turns into a command to love one another just like Jesus loved us. This should cause us to (1) rely on his control and his sovereignty and (2) be known for our love of Jesus and for our love of others.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

Be Thou My Vision