John Chapter 13:21-27

He knew that when He chose you, He chose the nails. The amazing thing is, He counted you worthy of that sacrifice.

That the precious Son of God would lay down His life for you. Because He knew there was no other way. He knew that not our efforts, not our attempts, not our good works or the good things that we would do would be enough. He knew that. And He decided to lay down His life for you and I.

That's an incredible thing. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of The Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. Today we have a very valuable person with us. This is D.A.

Brown, one of David McGee's associate pastors here at The Bridge. And D.A., why are you so valuable? Because, Bob, God chose us. He considered us worth dying for so that we could live forever with Him.

That's exciting. You said we in there, not just you. Well, me, you, and everyone. He died for everyone, and He's longing for some of us to put our trust in Him.

That's awesome, brother. Let's listen as David McGee teaches on chosen by Jesus. Verse 20. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me. And he who receives me receives him who sent me. Your attention, please. This is the part that's so important.

We give an invitation every Sunday here. And the thing that makes that really important is that it's not me that's really inviting. It's the Lord. Now, the flip side of that is if somebody feels that tug on their heart and they don't step out in faith, it's not me they're rejecting. They're rejecting the Lord Himself. And if you continue to reject the Lord, at some point, you'll stand before the Lord, and you'll need to explain to Him why you rejected the death of His Son that was provided for the forgiveness of your sins. Friend, I don't wish that on anybody.

I do not wish that on anyone. Verse 21. 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. Then the disciples looked at one another perplexed about whom He spoke.

This is amazing. Part of the reason this was amazing, they looked at one another perplexed about whom He spoke. They didn't know. They did not know who was going to betray. Jesus knew three years ago who was going to betray Him, but they didn't know.

You know, friend, sometimes I'm tempted to treat people differently because of what I think they might do or might not do. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him and treated Him no differently to the point that they didn't know who was going to betray Him. And that's so convicting because had it been me, if I'd have been Jesus, you know, Judas would have been like a sermon illustration every time I was teaching. Well, you know, you could be like Judas who's going to betray me in a couple years, and, you know, he's really not getting it. Or, you know, you may, you know, he who has ears, let him hear. Except you, Judas, you don't have any spiritual ears. We all know that. You're going to betray me.

And, you know, and on and on. But Jesus never does that. How challenging, how convicting that is, how God-like. Verse 23, now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. I like that phrase, one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. And we, if you've been reading the Bible very long, you realize that that's John. That's John that's being spoke of there.

How do we know that? Because, you know, John tells us. As a matter of fact, it's the only gospel that John is referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

I mean, that's kind of cool because he knew Jesus loved him, but the other disciples didn't refer to him as the one Jesus loved. So it's kind of interesting. It's kind of an interesting footnote. And I don't know if you've ever stopped and considered some of the footnotes there in the Bible because it points to the reality of the Bible, and it points to the humanity of the disciples. You see, in our modern age, you know, and we refer to them as St. John and St.

This, and so they are, and amazingly enough, so we are. We're considered saints. That's an amazing thing once you ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins. I don't mean saint in the, you know, stained glass window halo around your head thing. I'm talking about saints in the real deal and that your sins have been forgiven.

And when Jesus looks at you, when God looks at you, you're white as snow. And sometimes we downplay the humanity of the disciples, and what happens is we downplay what the Lord can do with us. You see, the Lord took these 12 guys and turned the world right side up, right side up. And we tend to think, well, he picked them because they were special.

No, as we talked about earlier, they were like yeshiva dropouts. They weren't like special in the sense we think of special. They were special because Jesus chose them. Oh, Jesus chose you.

Guess what that means? You're special because Jesus chose you. And Jesus said, follow me. But I don't know if you've ever really understood some of the passages of Scripture.

We'll go through several real quick here. Matthew, and this is the part where the ear gets cut off, okay? Now, Matthew 26, 51, and it's on all four gospels, 26, 51 says, and suddenly one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. So Matthew doesn't mention the name. Let's see what Mark says. Mark says, 14, 47, and one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

Again, guy's nameless, right? Oh, I wonder what Luke says. Luke says, and one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Again, these accounts have graciously left out the name of who it was. But John and Peter kind of had this thing going. I don't know if you've ever noticed some of the passages, but graciously, the other three gospels left out who it was that took the guy's ear off. Well, John lets us know about this little detail in 1810. He says, then Simon Peter, having a sword, wanted to throw that in there. He had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear.

The servant's name was Malchus. So, you know, John felt the need to tell us who it was that cut the guy's ear off. And we'll talk more about that when we get to it, but it's kind of interesting that John wanted to note that little detail and you're going, okay, that's not really, that's just filling in the detail.

That's not, oh, but wait a minute. There's another passage that's really interesting too when it comes to John and Peter that I'm not sure you've ever considered. Or, you know, if you can take off your religious glasses for the moment and really see what the Bible says, did you know that John could run faster than Peter?

You know how we know this? John told us he could. Now, maybe you're sitting there going, I don't remember that part.

Let me help you out. John chapter 20, verse 3. Peter therefore went out and the other disciple, and we're going to the tomb. So they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he's stooping down and looking, saw the linen cloths lying there, and yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the linen cloths lying there. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and believed.

Isn't that amazing stuff? I mean, he works in there not once, not twice, but just so you won't miss it, three times. He's faster than Peter. And it's interesting because I think Jesus knew they had this thing going on, the John Peter thing. And the reason I think that is in John chapter 21, it says, then Peter turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on his breast at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one that betrays you? Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord, what about this man? And I love verse 22.

Jesus said to him, if I will, that he remains till I come. What is that to you? You follow me. Follow me. What is that to you?

You follow me. The reason that's so important is because we tend in life to worry about what the other person's doing. We get real concerned with what somebody else is doing wrong. We want to point it out to other, oh, did you hear about such and such and so-and-so?

Do you hear what they said? My goodness. Why do we do that? Well, the simple answer is, this is going to sting just for a little bit. It makes us feel better for just a moment. But can you really do anything about this other person?

Probably not. Now, believers, we tend to do this and we tend to do this with the people group that doesn't even know Jesus. They're not declaring that they're following him. They're not saying, they're not saying he's my Savior, he's my Lord, I'm going to pursue him. So don't be shocked at what they do because people that don't know Jesus will do a lot of terrible things. But remember the words of Jesus and he said, you know what?

What is that to you? You need to follow me. Don't worry about him. Don't worry about her. But you follow me.

What an incredible thing that Jesus would invite each and every one of us on this journey to participate, to follow him. You may have been passed over in life. I had two older brothers that they're big guys, man. They're very, very athletic. And they were always big sports guys. I was less of a sports guy.

I was more of a musician. But I don't know if you ever had this happen where people are picking out sides and picking out teams. And I used to go play backyard football with my brothers and they always got picked first because they were big and you know. And a lot of times I was like one of the last to get chosen. And that always made me feel like, I don't know, it was almost like people were deciding who had to have me. Maybe in some case you relate to that.

Maybe from school you didn't make the cut for some class or you tried out for a play and didn't get the part or you tried out for a team and you got cut or whatever. And so this makes this all the more powerful because Jesus hadn't passed over you. As a matter of fact, he's saying to each and every person this morning, follow me. Oh, you may not be the best and the brightest that Jerusalem has to offer, but I want you to follow me. And the amazing thing is Jesus enables you to follow him. Jesus empowers you to follow him. Jesus enables you to do the things that are impossible in your life, the things that are impossible in your life, to follow him. He is willing to do that for you and for me. And so he doesn't just say, follow me. He says, you know what, follow me and I'll help you to follow me.

I'll empower you. I'll give you the knowledge and I'll help you make the right decisions. Now the decisions we have to make, that is our responsibility. And sometimes we have to make tough decisions, don't we? And that's part of following Jesus. And that's the life lesson. You have to decide to personally follow Jesus.

You have to decide that personally. You can't sit here and go, well, you know, my grandmother followed Jesus. Well, praise God, your grandmother followed Jesus.

That's good. Well, my daddy followed Jesus. Praise God. I'm glad your daddy followed Jesus. But are you following Jesus? Are you following Jesus? See, that's what cuts it right down because there's a lot of people, let's face it, there's a lot of people that go to church, but there's fewer and fewer people that seem like they really want to follow Jesus. They want to be doing the stuff that Jesus told us we're supposed to be doing. I don't know how we ever made the disconnect from believer to disciple, but we're all supposed to be moving towards being a follower of Jesus. You know, I've gotten now where I prefer the term follower of Jesus over Christian, because Christian has kind of lost its meaning. You know, I asked several years ago, I asked somebody, I said, are you a Christian? The guy said, of course I am. I'm an American.

I've shared this before. It wasn't one a few times in my life. I was speechless.

I was 20 feet away by the time I thought of something to say. See, that's been watered down. But follower of Jesus, that's real plain.

That's real simple. That's what we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be following Jesus. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge.

He'll be right back with more in just a moment, but I want to remind you of the free resources available to you on crossthebridge.com. There's a team of hundreds of people that will pray for somebody to be saved. You have a loved one that needs to know Jesus as Savior. You need people to pray for them.

You need someone to present God's Word to them. Every day we're presenting God's Word to them here on Cross the Bridge with Pastor David McGee. We can pray for them as well, just by simply going to crossthebridge.com and click on the Pray for the Lost button. All you need to do is put in the first names of the people you love that need to know Jesus as Savior, click on submit and immediately hundreds of people will begin praying for your lost loved ones.

What an awesome way to bring your loved ones to Jesus. Here's a word from associate pastor DA Brown. Hey Bob, we're excited about Pastor David teaching verse by verse, and we want to pray for some listeners in these cities in our audience today.

Parsons, Tabeka, and Wichita, Kansas, Bowling Green, Covington, Glasgow, and Louisville, Kentucky. God, we thank you for the listeners tuning in today in these cities and the surrounding areas. Lord, we pray that they would be reminded that you can heal them if they've been going through some physical stuff. Lord, that they would put their trust in you, maybe even have communion today. Lord, we pray that those that are not saved would put their trust in you today for the forgiveness of their sins. And God, we pray for revival in all these churches in the surrounding areas. And Lord, that the pastors would stick to teaching your word, perhaps even verse by verse, line upon line, chapter upon chapter. And God, that you would bless it as they honor your word, and your people are encouraged in their faith. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 24, Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. Having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. This was something you did with a friend.

When you dipped the bread into the sop, the harosette is what it was, an apple mixture, you dipped it in there and you handed it to your friend. That was an act of friendship. And even in this act of friendship, there was a betrayal going on. Judas who had heard the word, but I think it's safe to say was not a doer of the word. And Jesus, what an example, in the face of this treachery, in the face of betrayal, he offers Judas his friendship.

That's so challenging to you and I, isn't it? And understand it wasn't just here, but in Matthew chapter 26, verse 50, Jesus, when Judas comes with the troops, Jesus says to him, friend, why have you come? He calls him friend. And he says, why have you come? Now, I know that Jesus knew why he had come with the troops and whatnot.

So I think the question was a little bit deeper than that. Jesus was saying, you know, why have you come in light of the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness that I've offered you? Do you decide to reject me and betray me?

It's a cutting question for us as well. Verse 27, now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly.

What you do, do quickly. Now we need to understand something, because I've heard some teachings that talk about how Jesus was part of this whole political conspiracy, and he certainly was, but that he was a victim of this political conspiracy. He wasn't. This wasn't an accident, what went on here. The crucifixion of Jesus, while it may have been tragic, was not just a tragedy. While it may have had something to do with the conspiracy, wasn't just a conspiracy. See, because it had been planned for hundreds and even thousands of years. And what we see right here in Jesus looking at Judas, and he says, what you're about to do, go do quickly, he speeds up the timetable.

You understand that? The scribes and the Pharisees were not prepared to move forward at this time with the execution of Jesus. That's part of why they were so out of sorts, and they were so, where are the witnesses? We got witnesses, we got fake witnesses, we know we bought some of them, where are they?

And you see them scrambling around, why? Because they were off schedule. So who was in control of the schedule? God was. Jesus was. Jesus wanted to be crucified on the Passover as a picture of the lamb, you remember what John the Baptist said, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the one that sped up the timetable. You remember Matthew 26 verse three, it says, then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. But they said, not during the feast.

This was their decision, unless there be an uproar among the people. See, their plan was not to execute Jesus during the feast. Jesus' plan, he turned up the whole timetable. He was in control of the whole thing.

The timing, everything. This isn't something that just happened. This is something that had been planned, again, thousands of years ago. There's an interesting scripture in Exodus chapter six, talking about the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. It says, therefore, say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from the burdens of the Egyptians.

I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgments. Way back in Exodus, talking about redeeming you with an outstretched arm. And this verse carries extra significance, because when you're studying the Bible, there's what's called the law of first mention. What that means is, the first time you see a word occur in the Bible, you give it more weight about what it's communicating. It's the first place that the word arm occurs in the Bible, with an outstretched arm. Sounds like a very accurate description of the cross. God was in charge.

The Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, talk many places about how Jesus was to die on a cross, hung up with outstretched arms. I don't know if you've stopped to consider this. Do you realize in the history of mankind, there is a brief 50-year window where a Jewish person would have died a Roman death?

A brief window. Because the Jewish people, do you remember how Jewish people executed other Jewish people? They picked up rocks, they stoned them. Well, there was a brief season where the Romans were in charge of the execution of the Jewish people. The Romans executed by crucifixion, if you were not a Roman. Jesus knew. Jesus was in charge.

You want to know something even more amazing? Jesus knew what was about to happen, but he knew there was no other way. See, he saw you and I lost, struggling in our sins, with no access to God. He knew that we couldn't have a relationship with him, because sin, our sin, was in the way. And Jesus knew. Jesus knew when he wanted to choose you, when he wanted to say to you, follow me, he knew what that entailed.

He knew you as one author, but he knew that when he chose you, when he chose you, he chose the nails. And the amazing thing is, he counted you worthy of that sacrifice. That the precious son of God would lay down his life for you, because he knew there was no other way. He knew that not our efforts, not our attempts, not our good works, or the good things that we would do, would be enough. And he decided to lay down his life for you and I.

That's an incredible thing. And our final life lesson is that Jesus considered you worth what he went through on the cross. Jesus considered you worth what he went through on the cross.

I hear a lot of people talking about self-esteem. I'm not going to get off on that rabbit trail, but God counted you worthy. You're worth something precious to God.

Because you can tell what something's worth to somebody by the price they're willing to pay for it. Think about the price that Jesus Christ was willing to pay for you. And in light of that, in light of knowing that, can you really look at him this morning and say, no thanks, I really don't want that. As the Lord stands here this morning offering to you complete forgiveness, a clean slate, turning from your ways and your sin to his ways, can you really reject that?

I hope not. Obviously there was one of the 12 that did, Judas did, but I don't wish that hard on any of you friends. I'm sure it's more complicated than that, Pastor.

No, it's not. Jesus said believe and you would be forgiven. And when you believe, you confess with your mouth. Book of Romans 10 13 says, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So all you have to do is ask the Lord to forgive you and be willing to turn from your ways to his ways. A lot of times we try to turn from our ways to his ways before we've asked him to forgive you of your sins. I know people that try to get cleaned up and get their act together before they come to church.

That's backwards. You don't get cleaned up to take a shower, do you? You don't get cleaned up to come to church. You come to the Lord and the Lord begins to change you as we've seen time and time and time again. So it boils down to this, knowing that Jesus wanted to give his life for you, can you really this morning say no thanks? Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Now God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven, you've been born again.

Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him and he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood, through radio, through the internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give, either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.