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John 13:1-30
13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,1 but is completely clean. And you2 are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant3 is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled,4 ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
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,5 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus6 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.
[1] 13:10
[2] 13:10
[3] 13:16
[4] 13:18
[5] 13:23
[6] 13:24
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Hello, everybody. We're gonna be in John 13 tonight. So if you wanna go ahead and start making your way to John's gospel. It's also gonna be in your worship guide. Kinda felt like I got the, short end of the stick.
Jeffrey Heine:Joel got the babies. I get Judas. It's alright. We're gonna make it work. Gonna see how quickly we can just suck the joy right out of this room.
Jeffrey Heine:It's not going to take much. Here we go. We're continuing in John's gospel. We are in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples. We're gonna be reading part of the text that we did read last week and we looked at Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.
Jeffrey Heine:But for us to get this real picture and a sense of what's going on in this room, I think we need to start with verse 1. So join with me as we look at John's gospel chapter 13 beginning with verse 1. And let us listen carefully, for this is God's word. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own, who were in the world. He loved them to the end.
Jeffrey Heine:During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. And he laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. And then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus answered him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward, you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you.
Jeffrey Heine:For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
Jeffrey Heine:For I've given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. And if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen.
Jeffrey Heine:But the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I'm telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am He. Truly truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. And after saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and he testified, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me.
Jeffrey Heine:The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 1 of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus. 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.
Jeffrey Heine:So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And 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 had said this to him. Some thought that because Judas had the money back, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.
Jeffrey Heine:So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. The word of the Lord. It is to be your honor. Let's pray.
Jeffrey Heine:God of all light, we ask that you would speak to us. That you would bring to bear the great light of Jesus Christ and his gospel, to shine in our hearts, that we might know you and love you and trust you. God, in this time, we ask that you would remind us of the good news of the gospel, that our sins are forgiven, that our righteousness is secured in Christ, and that He is King. So, Father, speak to us. Your servants are listening.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen. So, 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival, some of you might recognize what that means. By looks of many of your faces, many of you do not know what that means. But in 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, folk hero Bob Dylan went electric. He had released 4 albums that had gained so much popularity over the years, and now he was releasing his 5th album.
Jeffrey Heine:And one side was the traditional old Bob Dylan, folk singer, acoustic guitar, but the other side of the l p was a rock band. And when he went to support that album, he went to the Newport Folk Festival, and it was riotous. Later on in that same tour, before he launched into Like A Rolling Stone when he was in England, In the quiet, right before the band struck up the song, someone called out, Judas. And everyone knew what what he meant. That Bob Dylan had betrayed a generation with an electric guitar.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, no one had to come out and explain what the reference meant. Everyone knew what Judas meant. Because Judas doesn't really need much of an introduction. Inside and outside of the church, people know who Judas is. The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, a little less known as than Judas or Bob Dylan, he said this.
Jeffrey Heine:One will get a deep insight into the state of Christianity in every age by seeing how it interprets Judas. End quote. Now, why is that? Why so much attention on Judas? Why is Judas so significant, and how does he offer this deep insight into the state of Christianity?
Jeffrey Heine:Well, I think it might be because of this, because Judas tests many of our deepest held beliefs. He pushes us to consider big things. He pushes us to consider what we believe about humanity, about our selves, who we are, what we need, what's wrong. Judas pushes us to consider how we view the world, how how we perceive what's going on in fallenness, brokenness around us. Judas pushes us, presses us to consider who we believe God to be.
Jeffrey Heine:In particular, his power and his will. So in our time together, I want us to look closely at what's going on here in this scene, to really consider the different interactions. John really slows down in this scene. He wants us to take it all in. And so I want us to look at that.
Jeffrey Heine:I want us to look at the scene. Then I want us to to really zoom out, and kind of look at the pieces of this drama. And hopefully from from 3 different vantage points, we we can look at it and see how, at the same time, this was man's sin. It was Satan's desire, and it was God's will. So, the scene.
Jeffrey Heine:Chapter 13, is a is an important marker in John's gospel. The first 12 chapters are traditionally called, the book of signs. And in the book of signs, what we see are these miracles being performed, and and individuals being raised up as testimonies. And so we hear from these different voices, we hear from these different miracles to testify as to who Jesus is. Who he comes from, the father, and what he has come to do, the will of the father.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, that's happening for the first 12 chapters. And now, in chapter 13, we transition into what is called the book of glory. And as Joel, talked about last week, in defining glory as that heaviness, that weightiness, Chapter 13 definitely starts out with weight and the heaviness of God. There's a tremendous amount of tension here in chapter 13. At the beginning of the chapter, John states that the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus knew that Judas would betray him. We see this early in John's gospel, in chapter 6. Jesus knew that Judas would be the traitor. And yet, Jesus brought Judas into the 12, into that inner circle. And Judas Judas was loved by Jesus, because Jesus loved his disciples to the end.
Jeffrey Heine:In chapter 17, which we're going to get to before too long here in John's gospel, Jesus prays his high priestly prayer, and in it he says this, while I was with them, speaking of the disciples, while I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. And I've guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. The son of destruction, Judas, lost so the scriptures would be fulfilled. And in this upper room of John 13, Jesus, knowing that betrayal was already set in motion, washed the feet of his disciples, including Judas. And we know this because John records Jesus saying to the disciples after Peter has that quick turnaround, you know, where he says, you're not gonna wash my feet.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus says, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part of me, no share of me. And then Peter says, wash all of me. And really, that's the kind of interaction that a disciple is supposed to have with Jesus. We we have confusion, we have doubt, we have concerns, we have questions, and we come to him and we express those things, and he teaches us, and then we yield to him. And after this interaction, what we see here, Jesus says this.
Jeffrey Heine:The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. Then John gives us a little aside there in verse 11. For he knew who was to betray him. That's why he said, not all of you are clean.
Jeffrey Heine:So here, Jesus is is is talking about a spiritual cleansing, an an inward cleansing that must occur. And he's saying that you are clean because I have made you clean, but not all of you. Not all of you are clean. Verse 16. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Jeffrey Heine:If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. And then again, an aside, I'm not speaking of all of you. He clarifies. I'm not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, he's saying, I'm not addressing all of these disciples. I'm not I'm not addressing all 12 of you. There is one among you who is not clean. I know whom I have chosen, and I know that one of you will betray me. And then he declares that the scriptures will be fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled in the betrayal of the son of man.
Jeffrey Heine:And he goes on to quote from Psalm 41. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. And then Jesus was troubled in his spirit. For the first time, Jesus is treating Judas as the traitor he always knew he would become. Because remember, Judas has already gone to see the Sanhedrin.
Jeffrey Heine:He's already gone out to those Jewish leaders and said, what will you give me if I can secure this discreet arrest of Jesus? He's already set this in motion. He's already agreed to the terms, and then Jesus states even more explicitly in verse 21, truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And the disciples are confused. They're uncertain as to whom Jesus is speaking about, which informs us that Judas was not the obvious answer.
Jeffrey Heine:He was known for being greedy with the money bag. Yes, we saw that in the previous chapter. But he was not altogether this outcast of the group, therefore the immediate answer that springs to mind, who will betray Jesus? And so they wondered who it would be in Peter. Imagine the large table there, and Peter motioning to John, the closeness of their friendship, and John sitting next to Jesus, leaning against Him.
Jeffrey Heine:And Peter motions to Him and says, ask Him. Ask him who it is. So he motions to him and he gets him to ask. And then and then discreetly, John says, well, who who is it? And then still yet discreetly, Jesus says, I'll I'll give you a sign.
Jeffrey Heine:It's gonna be the one that I give this little piece of bread to. And he dips it and he hands it to Judas. Now, why was it so discreet, and why does John record it this way? Well, perhaps perhaps it was so the disciples would not try to dissuade him from, going out and betraying Jesus. Maybe maybe they thought that he would be prevented somehow.
Jeffrey Heine:Maybe it's because what we later see with Peter, when they come to arrest Jesus, how he responds with a sword, maybe worse would have been done to Judas. And so to prevent that, this discreet scene takes place. And they don't know why, but Judas takes off. Jesus says to him, what you're going to do, do quickly. He essentially tells him to hurry up.
Jeffrey Heine:And the 2 won't speak again until they are in the garden. When Judas walks up and says, greetings, Rabbi, and betrays the son of man with a kiss. And that's that's the scene, and and there are 3 vantage points, I think, that we can kind of walk around this scene that that will help us to understand the complexities of the drama that's unfolding here. The first one, as I said before, that we will consider is that the betrayal of Jesus is the sin of man. It's man's sin at work.
Jeffrey Heine:We need to keep in mind, that while Jesus was an inner circle disciple of Jesus, and he followed him for 3 years, and he had a share in the ministry as recorded in Acts chapter 1 verse 17. After all of that, Judas did not believe in Jesus. Earlier in John's gospel, in chapter 6, after Jesus had given this difficult teaching about how the followers needed to drink his blood and eat of his flesh, he said to the disciples who remain, chapter 6 verses, beginning with 63. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all.
Jeffrey Heine:The words that I've spoken to you are spirit and life, but there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him. And he said, This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father. And after this, many of the disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the 12, do you want to go away as well?
Jeffrey Heine:Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. And Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the 12, and yet one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, 1 of the 12, was going to betray him. Peter came once again representing the disciples, saying, we believe.
Jeffrey Heine:We have come to know and have come to believe in Jesus, again, just like he does in chapter 13, stops him and says, not all, Not all of you. I know whom I have chosen. I know that one of you is a devil. Judas was a co laborer with the disciples. Judas knew Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:Judas was a friend of of Jesus, but Judas did not believe in Jesus. In the last 50 years and even the last 100, there's been kind of a movement to lessen the loathing of Judas, an an effort to improve his image, to kind of rebrand Judas. And you see it, it often happens, around Easter, and you'll see it like in the magazine racks. They still make magazines, right? The magazines, you see those, the Newsweek and the Time, and all of them, as they run these different articles about the gospel of Judas, and brother Judas, and all the hidden messages of Judas.
Jeffrey Heine:And and they want to rebrand him as not being such a bad guy. And and we want to make it seem like he wasn't really betraying Jesus, he was just trying to provoke this mess Messianic revolution. He's misunderstood. And I'm not sure what it is about our western culture, where we want to demonize without restraint, but then exonerate without logic. And so we go after these things, and and and with Judas, we want to make it seem not so bad.
Jeffrey Heine:And like Kierkegaard said, how a culture interprets Judas tells us a lot about the state of Christianity. And I think not only to make money from these things, but I think I think that a lot of it has to do with trying to make ourselves not feel so bad. If we make Judas not so bad, maybe I'm not so bad. So how should we interpret Judas? The betrayal of the Son of Man was the sin of a man.
Jeffrey Heine:And to illustrate this, to to teach us on this, Jesus uses this sign of sharing bread. And then he quotes from Psalm 41. Psalm 41 is a Psalm of King David. And it was written, it's believed to be written about a time when he was in a lot of turmoil and a lot of strife because he had been betrayed by a close friend. See, what what had happened was, we see it in 2nd Samuel, chapter 16.
Jeffrey Heine:Absalom, David's son, Absalom, is coming into Jerusalem and wants to take over the throne. He's getting a lot of attention. He's winning the hearts of the people, and and there's a groundswell that maybe he could take the throne. And so he seeks some advice, and he gets advice from King David's trusted advisor, a trusted confidant and friend, Ahithophel. And so Ahithophel tells Absalom how he can capture and kill King David.
Jeffrey Heine:And so Absalom is moving towards that direction. David finds out about it, sends another counselor in there, and ultimately, Absalom fails. Absalom is killed. And Ahithophel, seeing the folly of his endeavor, the folly of his betrayal, he goes home, and he hangs himself. David writes this hymn.
Jeffrey Heine:As for me, I said, oh, Lord, be gracious to me, heal me for I have sinned against you. My enemies say of me in malice, when will he die and his name perish? And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, and while his heart gathers iniquity, then he goes out and tells it abroad, and all who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They say a deadly thing is poured out on him, and he will not rise again from where he lies.
Jeffrey Heine:Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. And like David, Jesus was betrayed by a friend, someone with whom he had shared such intimacy that they shared food together, bread together, a trusted friend. Judas was betraying his teacher and his friend. Ahithophel betrayed David for power. Judas betrays Jesus for money, and reminds us that wherever our treasure is, there our heart will be also.
Jeffrey Heine:And it was sinful for Judas to do this, sinful to betray Jesus, and it was his willful act. It's what he wanted to do. He did not believe, and he went to those leaders on his own and led them to Jesus, and he betrayed Him with a kiss. This was man's sin. And at the same time, it was Satan's desire.
Jeffrey Heine:Twice in John's gospel, we are told that Satan entered into the heart of Judas with the expressed desire to betray Jesus. Satan put the idea of betraying Jesus into Judas's heart, and Satan entered into Judas to achieve that end. Earlier in John's gospel, we see where Jesus refers to Judas as a devil. And it's important for us to remember that the betrayal of Jesus was not only Judas' willful sin, it was Satan's desire. Tim Keller, in his book, Center Church, makes this statement.
Jeffrey Heine:The gospel is by no means a sentimental view of life. In fact, the Bible has a far darker vision of reality than any secular critic. It tells us that Satan and his legions of demons are at work in this world. It tells us we are so deeply flawed and cruel, and we can't save ourselves without God's intervention. End quote.
Jeffrey Heine:To rightly understand Judas and his betrayal of Jesus, we have to engage this far darker vision of reality. Now I want to acknowledge that that might be hard for you. It might be hard, but for others of you, perhaps this darker vision is, in a sense, a relief, because it confirms the darker vision of reality that you have experienced firsthand. A friend of mine in college, he went to Rwanda, and when he went there, he saw things that previously he had only imagined. A far darker vision of reality, Suffering.
Jeffrey Heine:And it caused him to actually question goodness. And there's a danger for us to do this here, to to see the darkness that is going on here, and for it to cause us to question goodness rather than confirming the biblical account of sin. The biblical account of evil. The story of Judas confirms to us our inclination, our our belief that things are not okay. In Judas betraying Jesus, we see the power of darkness at work.
Jeffrey Heine:Satan has tempted Judas from the heart, and has come into Judas to bring about these charges. A willing Judas being used by darkness to do evil. See, in chapters 14, and also previously in chapter 12, Jesus calls Satan the ruler of the world. And in that, we are reminded that no person is autonomous. Each one of us serves somebody.
Jeffrey Heine:Again, Dylan helps us here. We all have a master. In in Paul's letter to the Romans in chapter 6, he tells the Romans that that they are now dead to their former master's sin, and they are now slaves to righteousness, slaves to God. See, I I believe that we we enjoy certain parts of that phrase, certain parts of those verses that we want to be set free from sin. We want to be liberated, but we want to be liberated to our autonomous self, not to be slaves to God.
Jeffrey Heine:But we are either slaves to sin, or slaves to God. And Judas willingly submits himself to obey his master, sin. The domain of darkness is real, and you know that. The promise of the gospel is that you have been transferred. You are a citizen of the kingdom of God, yet day in day out we exist in the reality of the domain of darkness.
Jeffrey Heine:The news this week. I mean, if you just pay attention, you see it. Right? That's why I can say you know headlines that I can't even bring myself to read out loud in church. Terrible, horrific things confirming, verifying the domain of darkness all around us.
Jeffrey Heine:The darkness spoken of in the scriptures is easily verified in our world. All we have to do is look, but faith is required to think that anything can be done about the darkness. It was Satan's desire, the desire of darkness to see the son of man betrayed and delivered up. It was Judas' sin, Satan's desire, and yet it was God's will. So how is this possible?
Jeffrey Heine:Where do we get that? Judas' sin perhaps is easy to see, maybe even that it was Satan's desire, but that it was God's will that seems out of place. So the best way that I think that we can think about is actually to go to 3 different places in scripture that speak to this from 3 different vantage points in history. 1st, prophecy. The place of prophecy.
Jeffrey Heine:Isaiah 53, Joel read this last week. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep that is before its shearers is silent. He opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away, And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.
Jeffrey Heine:And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. It was the will of the Lord to crush him. 2nd, the place of Jesus in the midst of the betrayal. He prays this in the garden.
Jeffrey Heine:My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Jesus did not pray for protection from Judas's sin. He didn't pray for protection from Satan's desire. He prayed regarding God's will, because that was ultimate.
Jeffrey Heine:Ultimately, that was what was at play in his betrayal and suffering. 3rd, the place of Peter, explaining the betrayal and the suffering of Jesus. In his great sermon in Acts chapter 2, he says this, men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs, that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
Jeffrey Heine:You crucified and killed him at the hands of lawless men. It was the will of the father to crush the son. It was the will of God, not for the cup to pass, but for the son to drink from the cup of judgment. And it was the will of God to deliver Jesus up according to his definite plan and foreknowledge. Jesus being handed over, being betrayed, was according to the very plan of God.
Jeffrey Heine:The father himself did not sin, nor did the father desire sin, but the Father permitted, planned, and was sovereign over the betrayal of the Son. And when Jesus came face to face with his betrayal, he did not pray regarding Judas, or regarding Satan, but regarding the will of the Father. Everything submits under the sovereignty of almighty God. Now this is a hard passage. It's difficult to consider all of these things, Judas, Satan, and God's will.
Jeffrey Heine:It's hard to see how all these things fit together. It is full of tension. And this passage doesn't resolve those last words, and it was night. Judas goes out the door. Jesus tells him to hurry, and he takes off, and he is enveloped in this darkness of night.
Jeffrey Heine:And he runs down the dusty streets of Jerusalem with clean feet. Feet that were freshly washed by the son of God. And he runs, hurries through the streets to betray that very same man. And as he runs down those streets, whatever the reason is, maybe it's greed and wanting money, maybe it's anger at the humility of Jesus, Maybe he's desiring to spur on that messianic revolution. Whatever the reason, the central thing is this, he did it.
Jeffrey Heine:He betrayed the son of man. He delivered him. He handed him over to be tried, to be tortured, and to be executed. And within a matter of hours, like Ahithophel, he will see the folly of his betrayal, and he will hang himself. Where does that leave us?
Jeffrey Heine:What What does that have to do with us now and today? And there's a real danger in trying to read ourselves into every passage of scripture, to kinda place ourselves in there in some manner. Because these are particular people in a particular place at a particular time doing particular things, but this this should matter to us today. Throughout John's gospel, Jesus has been saying time and again that he has come. He has come, he has been sent by the will of the father.
Jeffrey Heine:And the message that he is carrying out is the message from the father. And this, even his betrayal, is because of the will of the father. In the midst of all of this darkness and all of this chaos, the Father is in control. In a few weeks, we will look at the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, and and in that time, they're gonna break 2 of their own laws to secure a conviction. And in the midst of that chaos, the father is in control.
Jeffrey Heine:And in the crucifixion, the suffering of Jesus, and being beaten and whipped, spit upon, slapped, and crucified, In the midst of all of that, all that chaos and darkness, the father is in control. And all of this is happening, so that the darkness and chaos in your life, in your very soul, would be met with the unbearable light of Jesus. The father is in control. I'm reminded of the first chapter of John's gospel, When he's talking about Jesus coming into the darkness of the world, he says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. See, as Christians, we don't have to pretend like the darkness is not real.
Jeffrey Heine:We don't have to pretend like darkness is not all around us, and in fact, in us, as followers of Jesus, we have a sober view of the unthinkable darkness in the world. And we must hold fast that the unbearable light of Jesus comes in and the darkness cannot overtake it. Rather, He casts out the darkness in this world, and inside of us with His light. Close with these words from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. He says this, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as servants for Jesus' sake.
Jeffrey Heine:For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Let's go to Him in prayer. God, help us. Help us to be honest with you and with ourselves about the darkness that we know, And in that honesty, help us to see afresh tonight the brilliant light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of our Savior and King, Jesus. We pray these things in His name.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen.