If you've ever been betrayed, you know how hurtful it can be, especially if your betrayer is someone you love dearly. Jesus knew his betrayer, but the disciples had no idea, even though Judas was a member of their core group. Today on Truth for Life we'll hear warnings and encouragement taken from Judas' story. Alastair Begg is teaching from John chapter 13. Yeah.
I think, you know, that in this present climate. With a humility of heart and an understanding of a dignity that comes through our calling. and our relationship to Jesus. There is far more opportunities than we realize. Oh.
take the gospel to our friends. in a kindly way. Because what Jesus is saying is that to reject that kind of appeal. is to reject Christ. And if anyone rejects Christ, they will be rejecting the one who sends Christ.
And the one who sends Christ is the God who loved the world and he gave his only begotten Son. that whoever believes in him wouldn't perish, but would have everlasting life. Life.
Now to the third one, which is verse twenty-one. After saying these things. Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified. The staggering thing when we come to twenty-one here. is that as readers We know what only two of the thirteen people at this table actually know.
And that is what we learned in verse 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. and that he knew, verse 11, who was going to betray him. We're privy to that. The others are not.
And what We ate It's important for us to grasp that Judas. had been chosen by Christ. It wasn't as if they were all going along the road and all of a sudden he was an interloper. He was hand picked. He was chosen by Jesus, as were the rest.
For three years he had followed Jesus. For three years he had listened as Jesus taught. For three years he had seen the signs that Jesus did. And yet now in this place, as he sits beside Jesus. who has said these things.
He's on the brink. Of sealing his eternal destiny. And therefore, we should not be surprised that after saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit. The word that is used there is a graphic word. For example, it's the same verb that you find in John 11.
in relationship to the death of his friend. Uh Lazarus. It's also I think the same As in Yeah, in verse 27 of 12, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Although Jesus is entirely in control, as we can see, he's already told his followers, I lay down my life, I can pick it up again, nobody takes my life from me, I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again.
And yet here He is troubled in his spirit. It would have been impossible for Jesus to be truly human. and not to be troubled. I guess there is probably no pain quite like the heartache that comes in the betrayal. of someone we regard as a good friend.
Now Jesus has alluded to this along the way. Here in chapter 13, In verse 10, he's given hints of this, hasn't he? Jesus said to them, The one who has bathed doesn't need to wash except for his feet. He's completely clean, and you are clean. Hang on.
But not every one of you. And then in verse 18, I am not speaking of all of you, I know whom I have chosen. Actually In back in ch in chapter six, he'd v made a very straightforward statement uh concerning this. At the end of chapter 6, Jesus said to them, Did I not choose you the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? And he spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
So, what we need to understand is that Jesus has mastery over all these circumstances. He's not caught off guard. The fact that the disciples didn't register this should not really be much of a surprise to us, I don't think, because they didn't register a lot of what he said. They didn't register the fact that he was going to die and be buried and so on. He said that to them on a number of occasions, but they never understood.
So it's hardly surprising that somehow or another that just went right over their heads. Surely they must have said, Well, I don't know who that is. Surely I hope it isn't me. And so, with a word that is used here in this statement. is that he testifies He testifies marturio which is a word that is used only every so often.
And it is used more in John than in any other place. And for those of you who are interested at all, let me just tell you that, for example, When it says that The man that was sent from God, namely John the Baptist, he came as a witness to bear witness about the light, that all might bear witness of him. That's the same verb. And it's the same verb, actually, in chapter 7. When The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it.
that its works are evil.
So John the Baptist is testifying to the fact that he is the one who stands in front of the one who comes as the light of the world. Jesus says, I testify to you that the world is evil.
Now here we have it. And after saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and he testified. In a court of law, it would be as if he stood and said, I declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I say to you. that one of you will betray me.
Verse twenty-two. stunned silence. The disciples looks at one another. uncertain of whom he spoke. They're mystified.
Now, the fact of the matter is that there is nothing here or afterwards. To suggest that there was any suspicion in relationship to Judas. It might just as well have been Peter. or James or John. In fact, Mark in his record says that when Jesus said this, they looked around and they said to him, It's surely not I, is it?
So, in actual fight, the staggering thing about it, the horrible thing about it is. That All of Judas's Activity. All of Judas's interest All of Judas's participation had proved throughout three years to be a suitable disguise is hypocrisy. It's terrible the songs I have in my head, but And your eyes. are a thin disguise.
That's the eagles. I don't know why I have these things in my head, but anyway, and your eyes are a thin disguise. He'd look out on him. He was able to play the game, he did it masterfully. He was there for all the talks.
He was present for all the miracles. And I shouldn't say that I'm surprised at all, and I don't think you will be, that it is Simon Peter then who is immediately wanting to know names. Give me names. One of the disciples whom Jesus loved, we take it it was John, was reclining at the table at Jesus' side.
So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. Imagine the scene, right?
So they're they're uh They are They're in a U shape. There's a table here, and there's a U-shape of them all around, going like this. And their feet are all sticking out at the back, they're not sitting up. Add a table. But in a meal like this, They would be on their left hand side, leaning on their left hand side, able to eat with their right.
And if Um as I think it may well be the case. Jesus had actually said to Judas, Do you just I I want you to be close to me tonight. Let's imagine at least that Judas now is on his left hand side, which would be a place of honour for for him to have Jesus on his right. And if John is in such proximity, the chances are that he's on. Jesus right.
We don't know where Peter is. But he always gets in on the action in any case. And so, somehow or another, he says. He says to John, he says, hey. Who is it?
What's yeah. We got a name.
So John He Uh sorry. Jesus?
So the disciple leaning back against Jesus, so if Jesus John's here and Jesus here, he said, Hey. Who is it? Nobody else knows about this. They're whispering. Jesus answered, It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread.
When I've dipped it.
So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas. the sun. of Simon. Iscariot. And in doing so, he unmasks Judas as the traitor.
The chances are that in a meal like this, From the little that I have read, and it is little. There would be occasions where It would be a gesture of kindness or of friendship. to give somebody from the meal uh a a a token of affection. And if that is actually the case, then we assume That he Who loved his own and loved them to the end, and chose them every single one of them. gives now to Judas a token of his affection.
And with that, A further opportunity. For Judas to climb down from the position. that he has taken for himself. Because in this one last lingering moment, The destiny of Judas. is actually in the balance.
Will he accept the gesture of friendship? Will he turn from the path that he has set for himself? Answer no. His course was set. And you will notice what it says.
that after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. At the beginning of the chapter, It was that Satan had put into his mind These things. Put it in his heart. to betray him. And so, now, with a word of direction on the part of Jesus.
He says, well What are you going to do? Go ahead and do it quickly.
Now notice. No one at the table knew why he said this to him. Nobody said, Well, there you go. We knew he was a bomb all along. We knew he was a con man.
They didn't. That's the thing about hypocrisy. That's actually the scary thing. The scary thing is how close you can be to the action. Proximity Is no Indication of reality.
If one of the twelve called out by Jesus, elect. To not salvation, but elect to the responsibility and privilege of being a disciple, can do this. then surely it makes all of us sit up in our seats. Does me. And some thought maybe Judas, because he had the money bag.
was going to go out and do some gesture of kindness. Give it to the poor.
So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out and it was night. The vast contrast between You're only going to have the light for a little while, said Jesus. Believe in the light while you have it. Judas heard that. Judas knew that.
Judas turned his back on it. and walked away.
Now it is now night. And I'm conscious of the fact that it's night.
So let just make uh let me just make it A couple of closing observations. One from Ryle. He says, on all the coasts of England, There is not such a beacon to warn sailors of danger. as Judas Iscariot is. to warn Christians.
And that's the point. How close to Christ we might appear to be. and yet not be his. Also to recognize that the betrayer emerges from the core group. They're not somebody who Yeah.
Just shows up every so often and is on the fringe of things. No, he's in the core group. Thereby making clear to us something that we need to pay attention to. that we shouldn't be surprised. If we find hypocrisy and false professions of faith, in the church.
I mean, if you've got it in the discipled mind. Isn't that what Paul was saying when he took leave of the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20? He says, You better take care of yourselves, fellas, and watch over the flock that's in your charge, because after I leave you, from among your own self, there will arise those who will draw people away after them. That's what we discovered in Jude. The problem in Jude wasn't a theoretical problem, it was a real problem that these people were present within the framework of things.
He ought not to alarm us to the point of being entirely freaked. Better ought to. remind us As Calvin said, That the church despite all of its attempts to become a pure church. Membership interviews. All the things that we may seek to ensure that everybody is in and understands and so on.
The church is always a mixed multitude. It's always a mixed multitude. And when we think about the impact of Satan's activities. The Bible is given to make sure that we're alert to these things. Paul writes to the Corinthians: He says, Let us not be foolish and ignorant of Satan's.
Devices. Don't be ignorant, he says. Don't be so stupid as to walk around with your mouth open and assume that you're beyond all these things. This could never be the situation. No, no, he says, you shouldn't do that.
Now, what happened?
Well, we don't have time to work our way through, but again, he put it into his heart in verse 2. In verse 27, he entered him, whatever that means. The deed was now done. And so James, when he writes about the impact of this, says, resist him, and he will flee from you.
Well, how do we resist him?
Well, we resist him firm in the faith. We arm ourselves with the armor of God. We don't take ourselves too seriously. We're not just skeptical about the affairs of the world. We're skeptical about our own hearts.
We know the wickedness of our own hearts. We know the potential that we have for wandering and for failure and for messing up. And that reality then is there in order to say to us, come on now. Get a hold of yourself. Resist him.
In the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why James is so helpful on this. Don't open your mind, Alistair. to folly. to foolish, godless, thinking.
Do not read books about it. Do not watch movies about it. Do not include it in the purview of your existence. Do not open your mind to trash. And at the same time, Do not entertain thoughts of sin.
Do not play with sin in your mind. Don't play with the idea in your mind. For we have a roaring lion. seeking to devour. And don't whatever you do.
Make light. of the devils. designs. Because it is impossible to read this without realizing that Satan is influential in this drama.
However, Amodesa will close. He is influential in the drama. But Judas is still responsible for his choices. God is sovereign over all of these events. And the fact that God overrules the evil that bad men and women do.
As he brings his purposes to pass, does not make their actions any less Evil. For Judas the momentum of sin. have become Irreversible. He's an illustration. of the tragedy of Romans chapter one.
And God gave him Okay. Jesus said, Go out. And do what you're going to do. But here's the thing. that I want to finish with.
God is using all the dark forces. of chaos. That are going on in Jerusalem in this context as it comes to the crucifixion. All of the malignancy. All of the treachery.
all of the animosity. all of the reviling of those Who ought to have known better, and in many cases did know better. All of that, for which all men are. responsible. God was using all of that chaos.
In order to fulfill his purpose from all of eternity. You say, well, that's so hard for me to get my head around. It's supposed to be. But here's the point. The God who was doing that over all the chaos.
of the Passover in Jerusalem. is the same God In Christ. As an ascended Lord and King. Who is using All of the chaos malignancy, animosity, and reviling In the present context Of the unfolding drama of our lives at this point in the 21st century. He is in God.
Control. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. It doesn't always seem so. But it is so. He wasn't taken by surprise then.
And he hasn't taken by surprise now. We can trust him. We can't trust ourselves. We can trust him. But then if we have good friends around us, Then when we know that we can't trust ourselves.
Maybe a good elbow in the ribs. Maybe a good arm around the shoulder. Maybe a good promise of prayer. Maybe something. to say hey Stay in the race.
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Right now we're featuring a new booklet by Michael Reeves called Come, You Weary, Enjoy Christ's Comfort. Ask for your copy when you become a truth partner or when you give a one-time donation at truthforlife.org slash donate. And now here's Alastair to close. God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform he plants His footsteps in the sea and he writhes upon the storm.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense. God, trust him for his grace. behind a frowning providence, He hides. A smiling face. Blind unbelief.
is sure to err. and try his works in vain. God. is his own interpreter. and he will make things plain.
Lord, help us to trust you unreservedly, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for studying the Bible with us today. I hope you'll enjoy worshiping with your local church family this weekend.
And then join us Monday when we'll explore the feature that should distinguish every Christian community. from the surrounding culture. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
