Private Ministry: Jesus' Confrontation with His Disciples (13:21-38)

Introduction:

Last week we saw from John 13:1-20, how Jesus, the Son of God, son of David, the Messiah, displayed before his disciples that necessary characteristic of a Christ follower, that of meekness. He did so by taking on the task of a household servant, and Washed His Disciple's Feet.

This morning we pick up where we left off as Jesus engages in necessary confrontation with his disciples in John 13:21-38. This confrontation would reveal three things:

Judas his betrayer

A New Commandment

Peter’s denial of Jesus

Text: John 13:21-38

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.

Main Idea: Since Jesus the Son of God Commanded us to love, and showed us that love in action, in like manner, we must, as his disciples, love one another.

We begin this morning’s message and the series of confrontations that Jesus will have with his disciples that will make our main idea possible with the sobering reality of…

I. Judas’ Betrayal Revealed (21-30)

(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.”

troubled in his spirit. Cf. 11:33; 12:27; Mark 14:34. From the beginning, Jesus has known what Judas would do, but His soul still feels distress as the time of Judas’s betrayal approaches.

Truly, truly, I say to you, - listen, this is really important.

one of you will betray me. - Jesus now in the privacy of his own disciples and away from the opposition of the crowds and religious leaders, gives a profound truth that from within the ranks of his own chosen disciples, there will come a betrayer.

(22) The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.

disciples looked at one another - they looked with suspicion…

uncertain of whom he spoke. Judas has hidden his betrayal so carefully that the other disciples have no inkling of it. Each one begins to fear that he might be the weak link (Matt. 26:22). Judas, too, mouths the question (Matt. 26:25)…

Matthew 26:25 ESV

25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

but the disciples apparently are blind and death to Jesus’ response.

(23) One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side,

whom Jesus loved. This description appears in 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20; and has generally been understood to be a reference John the son of Zebedee, the author of the gospel. This self-description may be John’s way of indicating not what distinguished him from others but what they shared: nothing more needs to be said about him but that Jesus loved him, as He did so many others.

at Jesus’ side. In a formal banquet in Jesus’ day, people are not seated but recline at the table (Luke 22:14 note). More then likely John occupies the couch or mat next to Jesus, so they can converse quietly.

(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?” - Peter’s own understanding of his weakness may have been behind this inquiry, since Jesus had mentioned this weakness in Matthew 16:21-23, and therefore needed assurance that he indeed was not the one who would betray him.

Matthew 16:21–23 ESV

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

(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.

It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread. This is apparently a favor reserved for a guest of honor. Judas was ready to betray the One out of whose very hand he had been fed!

(27) Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

Satan entered into him. Though Satan had earlier put the desire to betray Christ into Judas’s heart (see v. 2), Satan himself now enters into Judas, suggesting a more dominant influence in the actions to follow.

What you are going to do, do quickly. Jesus is still in control of the timetable and makes no further effort to hinder Judas on the way that he, under God’s sovereign providence, has determined to go.

(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.

They had been of the opinion that since Judas was in charge of the money-box (see on 12:6), he was being directed to buy whatever was necessary for the seven-day festival (see on 13:1); or that the treasurer had received the veiled instruction in order that he might give something to the poor. 

(30) So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. 

it was night. In view of Jesus’ use of this imagery in 9:4; 11:10, “night” is not merely a temporal indication that darkness has fallen, but also a symbolic reflection of the state of Judas’s soul.

So we’ve seen that Jesus first confronts his disciples with knowledge of Judas, his betrayer, and yet we see next that he confronts them with a most essential element of a Christ follower in a…

II. New Commandment Given (31-35)

Amazingly enough, having declared that he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, Jesus begins without any note of animosity, with an incredible statement regarding his glorification:

(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.

When he had gone out - Jesus’ betrayer having left the room, Jesus speaks pointedly of something that is about to happen…as if to say that this is meant for the remnant of the rest of his disciples…

Now (nyn [adverb] - at the present moment) is the Son of Man glorified. The verb is repeated five times. One might expect the opposite word (“humiliated”). John focuses on the revelation of God’s glory through Christ so as to bring out the glory of God revealed especially in the cross. Jesus’ announcement foreshadows the prayer that He will offer later that evening (17: 4, 5). This glory is for God alone:

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Son of Man glorified - equating Jesus, in his humanity, with God nonetheless

God is glorified in him and God will also glorify him in himself- see the oneness of the Father and the Son, who are in this together.

glorify him at once - note that the cross is the means by which this glory will be displayed.

(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.’

Little children - note the endearment of Jesus for the remnant of his disciples.

You will seek me. They will be deprived of His presence, but He will come to them after His resurrection and in the person of the Spirit of truth, turning their sorrow into joy (16:16–22).

you cannot come. This restriction is a temporary one. In time, His disciples will go where Jesus is, after He prepares a place for them (14:2). But in the midst of this declaration, Jesus issues a command that will help them in the meantime…

(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. This command has both an internal element to it and an external one, first the internal…

A new commandment I give to you, that you love (agapao [pre, act, sub] - this action is ongoing, intentional, and probable) one another. There is nothing new about the command to love, since Leviticus 19:18 teaches God’s people to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The new element is the change from “neighbor” to “one another” and the change from “as yourself” to “as I have loved you.” Christian love has Christ’s sacrificial love as its model, and the community of believers as the primary (though by no means exclusive) place in which it is expressed (cf. Matt. 25:40; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 5:25).

In light of Jesus’ subsequent death, just as implies a love that is even willing to lay down one’s life for another (see 15:13).

1 John 2:7–11 ESV

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

(35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - here we see the external…

Genuine, deep-seated, constant, and self-sacrificing love for one another is the distinguishing trait of the Christian. It is by the outward manifestation of this glorious quality that disciples of Jesus can expect to exert an influence upon the world, so that men will begin to know (γνώσονται) that to Christ (note ἐμοί emphatic) and to no one else these believers belong. Thus, everybody will begin to see “the Christ in the Christian.”

1 John 3:23–24 ESV

23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

So not only did Jesus confront his disciples by foretelling Judas’ betrayal, and confront them with this action on Judas’ part as the beginning of his glorification that would come as a result of the cross, and therefore would issue a new commanded to his disciples to love one another in the same way as he would display on the cross. But finally, even though this command to love as Jesus loved would be the hallmark of a Christ follower, Jesus final confrontation would be for each of Jesus’ followers, that no matter how sincere, they are still an unfinished and ongoing work as is displayed in…

III. Peter’s Denial Foretold (36-38)

(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.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” - Peter is trying to make sense out of jesus’ words, for he had traveled with Jesus for three years…

Where I am going you cannot follow me now - it’s like Jesus is saying, though you have been with me these years, I must go this final part alone…

you will follow afterward. There will come a day when Peter will follow Jesus, and as a result of his commission, Jesus gives a prophecy about the martyrdom of Peter (John 21:18, 19).

(37) Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

I will lay down my life for you. Peter is undoubtedly sincere, but he does not know his own spiritual weakness and vulnerability to fear.

(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.

Truly, truly - listen carefully Peter…

the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. See also Matt. 26:34; Mark 14:30; Luke 22:34. John drops the detail of the number of times the rooster crows, and focuses on the shameful fact of Peter’s denial.

So What?

Do we understand that although it was God’s ordained will to use Judas to betray Jesus, he did not however, make him betray Jesus, but used Judas’ own accountable, predisposed thinking and actions to bring about his divine purpose?

Do we realize that the command to love one another as Christ loved us is the primary hallmark of a Christ follower, and will be the means by which we are judged as such?

Have you given the people around you in your circle of influence reason to believe you are a Christ follower?

Do we understand that although we are the work of God, that there will be times of failure in our commitment to Christ?

This is not an excuse to sin but a reason for continual repentance and striving in our own sanctification journey.

Philippians 3:12–16 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.