Grace in Betrayal

The Heart of Christ

John 13:18–20 NIV

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

A core truth of our faith is that God reveals aspects of Himself for the express purpose of stirring our hearts to greater faith and trust in Him. Jesus opens by reminding His disciples that everything that has happened that led them to this moment was done with Jesus’ full knowledge and was even done intentionally by Christ.

Jesus chose His disciples, all of them. Judas intentionally chose Judas. Judas’ actions that would occur in a few short hours were known by Christ. Let us just set this foundational truth before us, God knows all things. He is sovereign over all things. Nothing occurs in our lives, families, communities, or world that God is unaware of or caught off guard by. God is always in control.

Jesus knows exactly what is about to happen. He is sharing bread at the table with one who is seeking to gain for himself at the cost of Christ. Jesus makes reference to , a psalm likely written at the end of David’s life. David is ill and lying in bed. His son, Adonijah, seek to take the throne in his father’s illness. The betrayal David faces though comes from his close friend Joab who aligns with Adonijah. Joab and David have gone through thick and thin together. David held Joab as one in his inner circle.

In the same way, Judas was in Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus had invested in him for the last three years. What Judas would do though was not a surprise to Christ or to the Lord. Not only was a not a surprise, but it is something that they would work out for good.

Judas

John 13:21-30

John 13:21–30 NIV

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

You can almost feel the tension of the meal as it unfolds. Jesus has just said that there will be one who will betray him at the table. This betrayal is no minor betrayal, but Jesus has just likened it to Joab’s betrayal of David.

As the disciples sit and the progression of the meal occurs, the tension leads the murmuring which leads to their curiosity to take over. Simon is the first to pipe up, but he is not quite as bold after his foot washing episode where he put his foot in his mouth. Instead, Peter turns to John, the youngest disciple to ask Jesus who it was. This is likely at the start of the meal where the bread with bitter herbs would be dipped in oil and given to the one in the seat of honor, to the left of the head.

Judas upon receiving the dipped sum, responds in denial to the Lord, but our words are meaningless when they do not convey the true sentiment of our hearts. God knows our hearts and our words cannot hide our intentions.

It always strikes me that Judas being called out in front of everyone else did not shift his actions. Knowing that what he was about to do was wrong and that the one he was about to do it to knew, Judas still betrayed Jesus. If we think that this was in some way because Judas did not know what he had done was wrong or that he thought that he was right we see the error of this judgment as Judas later throws the silver back at the priests.

How often do we follow in Judas’ footsteps and cling to our sin in spite of Christ’s work in our lives?

Peter

John 13:31–38 NIV

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

We will revisit this section as we close out the book of John, but the gospel writer includes this passage to show how God will respond to our shortcomings, our betrayals. Jesus loves us first. Jesus loved Judas. Jesus loved Peter. Peter would betray Christ in the same manner as Judas. Judas turned Jesus over to the priests because he had lost his faith in Jesus being who Judas desired him to be. In the same way, Peter betrayed Jesus three times as he denied knowing Him to the common people because he had lost his faith that Jesus was who he thought he would be.

The mark of the Christian life is not in our lack of sin but rather how we will respond to sin. We are called to respond to sin with love. hen on wrongs us, we are to respond ith forgiveness. We are to respond with love for one another, not because the other is even deserving, but because of who Christ is.

This is how God works good from the bad. When we Christians show the love of God to those who have sinned against us, those who have betrayed us, those who have turned their back on us, been hostile to us, we proclaim that God is still sovereign. We tell the world that our God rules and reigns and we scream from the mountain tops that our God can and will work good from all of this. We show the world that our God is not limited by our actions but rather that He rises above them. We point them to the tender grace of our God who gives others that which they do not deserve because He is not phased by the short comings.