The Dark Night of the Soul

Introduction:

This afternoon as we continue to celebrate Holy Week, we come to a day that is traditionally known by the Church as Silent Wednesday or Stealth Wednesday. We have journeyed with Jesus and seen Him cleanse the Temple, and we have Seen Jesus exercise His authority as He was questioned by the religious leaders on Monday and Tuesday. As He warned the people of the danger hidden in the religious leaders, those wicked tenants of God’s vineyard who killed the servants of God and ultimately would reject the Cornerstone of Christ, we have seen the tension building.

Wednesday is a day that the Bible says very little about what Jesus did, which is where the name Silent Wednesday comes from. It is also for this reason that many have chosen to focus on the betrayal of Jesus on this day, even though it most likely occured on Thursday night following the Passover meal. This morning we are going to look closely at this betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, and I want you to pay close attention to the details of the account and see the grace of Jesus that was extended, even in this incredibly dark time.

Judas’ heart had become incredibly dark. Jesus had taught His disciples that the eye was the lamp into the soul and to be careful of what we let into our hearts. He said, if the darkness be in you, how great is that darkness? John was the master evangelist of using a dual perspective on things in his gospel, and at the conclusion of this account of the betrayal of Jesus, he records that after Satan entered into Jesus and he left the room, it was dark. Indeed it was a dark night of the soul. Let’s examine closely this morning that beautiful, scandalous night.

Read text.

John 13:21–30 ESV

After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, 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.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 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 said this to him. 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. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

Pray.

Have any of you ever been betrayed by a friend? I know you have, and I know the pain and anguish you feel to be betrayed by someone so close to you. It is especially hurtful to be betrayed by someone that you have been investing your life into. This afternoon as we examine the betrayal of Christ, I want to highlight three things for us to consider:

1. Jesus knew who would betray Him

2. Judas made himself available to be used by Satan

3. Jesus extended grace to Judas until the last minute

Let’s take a minute to consider these three things, and then we will bring it home for us today.

1. Jesus Knew Who Would Betray Him (vv.21-26).

The meal that evening began with Jesus celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the 12 disciples. These were men that had been hand picked by Jesus to be His closest disciples. Jesus spent three years of His life pouring into these men and constantly teaching them about the miracles He performed and about the Kingdom of God.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, Jesus expressed His deep anguish over the fact that one of these men who had been so close to Jesus would betray Him. The word used here for Jesus’ soul or spirit being troubled is the same word that was used to describe the anguish Jesus felt at Lazarus’ grave. His insides were turned over within him!

Jesus says one of His famous, “Truly, truly” statements here. The word used for truly is actually the word Amen. It meant that this was a definite reality that was about to happen. This statement that one of the disciples would betray Jesus was a shock to the disciples, at least eleven of them! They had heard Jesus say that it was written that the Son of Man must be delivered over to the chief priests and leaders and be killed and raised again the third day. They knew the danger there was for Jesus to be in Jerusalem. They had even declared that they would go with Him and if they die, they die! But no one saw this blow coming! No one suspected that the betrayer would come from within! All of the disciples began to question if it might be themselves.

I believe that this statement Jesus made was not just to demonstrate to us today that He knew who would betray Him and what was about to happen, but also to give an opportunity for grace; however, I will come back to this in a moment.

Jesus had already identified the unfaithful man that would betray Him. He had stated it earlier in His ministry.

John 6:70 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”

He mentioned it in His High Priestly Prayer.

John 17:12 ESV

While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

John 17:22

Jesus knew the Scriptures that spoke of His betrayal.

Psalm 109:6–8 ESV

Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin! May his days be few; may another take his office!

Psalm 109:8 ESV

May his days be few; may another take his office!

Psalm 109:6-

Psalm

The Scripture even mentioned the exact person that would betray Jesus.

Psalm 41:9 ESV

Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Jesus confronted Judas with this reality in verse 27, by saying, “What you are about to do, do quickly!”

So in the midst of the shock and amazement that the disciples had over one of them being the betrayer, Jesus was not caught off guard. He knows the sheep from the goats. It is often the one that we least suspect that is our betrayer. If we knew who would betray us, we would not let ourselves be caught in their snare. But, Jesus knew this was necessary for the plan of God to unfold. And yet, He loved Judas to the end.

It is often the one that we least suspect that is our betrayer. If we knew who would betray us, we would not let ourselves be caught in their snare. But, Jesus knew this was necessary for the plan of God to unfold. And yet, He loved Judas to the end.

Now, let us turn to the second thing we need to pay attention to today.

2. Judas Made Himself Available to Be Used By Satan (vv.27-30a)

Whenever someone turns on a person, you have to ask the big question. Why? Why would Judas turn against Jesus? After all, he had been invited to follow Jesus and had willingly chosen to follow Him. Judas had even been given an important position in the ministry by being trusted to be the treasurer for the group. The Scripture tells us that Judas kept the money bag. So what happened?

Judas did not wake up on the morning of the Supper and decide all of a sudden to betray Jesus. This had been a slippery slope that he had been on for some time. As with most betrayals, selfishness and pride led to his downfall. This betrayal was a weed that had been planted long ago in Judas’ heart and had been fertilized by his frustrations and disappointments that Christ was not who he wanted him to be.

We have already looked at Jesus knowledge early on of Judas not being pure and His statement that one of the disciples was a devil. But we see glimpses into the heart of Judas as the gospel writers tell us that Judas began to grow frustrated with Jesus. The boiling point was reached when Mary took an expensive pottle of nard, or perfume, and poured it out on Jesus to anoint Him.

The Bible says

John 12:4–6 ESV

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Judas had a frequent habit of getting a little for Himself. There are many people who follow Jesus for what He gives them, rather than for who He is. Are you one of those people?

Judas had created a vision in his mind of who he wanted the Messiah to be. He wanted to have power and influence. He wanted to be wealthy and profit from Jesus’ ministry. Perhaps he even thought that Jesus would overthrow Rome and establish a revived kingdom like David. But Jesus just kept making one stupid decision after another, in his mind. He said things at just the wrong time to the crowds who were flocking to Him and pushed them away with controversial words rather than take advantage of a possibility for gaining more popularity and support. He kept having confrontations with the religious leaders that He would need to back Him if He were ever going to be king. He even allowed the spoils of the kingdom like this bottle of perfume to be wasted!

One wasted opportunity after another led Judas to decide that this was a king that would never be able to get the job done. Judas began to let this fester in his heart, and one day he approaches the religious leaders who were seeking an opportune time against Jesus to trap Him and get rid of this nuisance! He asked them how much it would be worth to them if he delivered Jesus into their hands.

30 pieces of silver! The price of a common slave. The price of the field they would burry him in. If Judas couldn’t follow Jesus to the top, he might as well get something on the way down.

The text says that Satan had put it into the heart of Judas in verse 2. This seed had grown by the end of the meal. Judas moves from simply thinking about betraying Jesus to actually acting on the thought.

Isn’t that how sin is? James says,

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James 1:15 ESV

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

I wonder today how many in the Church might be following the wrong Jesus. How many are following a made up version of who they want Jesus to be, rather than the One who says, “If you would follow me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” How many people have created a tame version of Jesus that will give them just what their greedy hearts desire? They want Him to save them from Hell; they want Him to pay their bills; they want Him to give them a good job; they want Him to heal them when they are sick!

But they don’t want the radical Jesus that confronts sin head on! They don’t want the Jesus that calls us to sell everything we have to buy the field with the treasure of the gospel hidden in it. They don’t want to be called to lay down their lives, in order that they might gain eternal life.

But before we bring this message completely home, let’s examine one last thing. This is perhaps the most profound and amazing thing we see in this passage.

3. Jesus Extended Grace to Judas Until the Last Minute (vv. 22-30)

In order for us to understand this, we need a little help. We are Westerners. We eat sitting upright at a table with a fork, knife, and spoon. We sit around a table upright in chairs. But this is not how it was done in the 1st Century Middle Eastern World. In fact in many parts of the world we don’t see things done like they are here. They don’t even drink Sweet Tea in the North, folks!

Show Davinci Image

I want to show you an image of what the layout of the table would have looked like. The first image is of Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper. This has become what so many people think the Lord’s Table looked like. But this is not accurate at all. You can even see the hillside of Tuscany, Italy in the background of the painting.

Show Table Image

I want to show you an example of what the table would actually have looked like. There would have been several low tables placed in a horseshoe shape for the servants to come in and serve the guests.

Show Seating Image

At the table, there was usually the host seated at the middle table and on either side of the host were two special places. On the right side would sit the closest friend of the host. On the left side would sit the guest of honor.

Now I want to come right back to this in a moment, but first let’s consider a few things. Jesus had given Judas a prominent position of authority in His ministry. Remember that Judas was in it for himself, but notice the grace of Jesus towards this hardened man. Jesus gave him charge of the money bags as the treasurer. How many of you here trust just anybody with your bank account or credit card? Some of you might not even trust your own child! Yet, Jesus allowed this thief to have charge over the finances. That’s why it didn’t surprise the disciples when Jesus sent Judas away after he identified him as the betrayer. They didn’t hear this and when Jesus said, “What you are about to do, do quickly,” they simply thought he was sending Judas to fulfill the common custom of giving alms to the poor on Passover evening.

Jesus accommodated Judas’ desire for power by giving him a place of power in the ministry. But that wasn’t enough. For many people, they are the same. They can’t be satisfied with the power and position God has given them. They want to be Lord.

But, next we see that Jesus, before sitting at the table with the disciples and knowing that Judas would betray him, humbled Himself by taking the role of the slave and washing the feet of the disciples, including His betrayer. Even for Judas, he knew that Jesus was the most important person in the room. He was the host, the rabbi, the teacher! They were lower in position than Jesus, yet he exalted them above Himself. Calvin will speak more on this tomorrow, but for now we see Jesus love displayed towards an enemy that sought to kill Him.

Next we see Jesus give the best place in the room to Judas. The Scripture says that Peter motioned to John to ask who it was that would betray him. This means that Peter was some distance away. Some have argued the seating arrangement may have looked like this.

Show image.

If this is true, Peter would be in one of the least positions at the table. John is in the place of the best friend. We already know of the special place John had as one of the three in the inner circle of disciples. This would make the most sense as to why John leaned against the breast of Jesus. He would have been laying on his left hand with his feet stretched out away from the table. The natural motion to ask Jesus would be to lean back against Him.

We also can make a strong argument that Judas was on the left side of Jesus, close enough to dip the morsel, or sop, into the bowl with Jesus. Remember that this is the place for the guest of honor.

The final act of grace that Jesus gives to allow Judas an opportunity to turn back from the path he had begun to travel was to take the morsel, or sop, and give it to Judas. This was a special token of friendship. It was a morsel of bread or meat that might have been covered with bitter herbs and dipped in haroseth sauce. It was given as an act of friendship.

I believe that Jesus is giving one last offer of friendship to Judas. Judas is a villain! There is no doubt about it. But even to the man that Jesus would say,

Matthew 26:24 ESV

The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Jesus still offers a morsel of peace. There is one last chance to change his mind.

Think about it for a minute. How many of you would say today, “Thank God, he did not give up on me!” You did not receive His invitation the first time it was given. But because of the mercy of God and the patience of God you came to receive Christ as your Savior.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that Jesus did not know that Judas would betray Him and reject Him. Jesus knew this from the beginning. But foreknowledge does not mean that Jesus did not extend an opportunity for grace to Judas.

However, Judas had made his decision. Once that decision was made it was finalized by Jesus’ words, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” As is the case in John’s gospel, this phrase had a dual meaning.

The Bible says that Satan himself entered in to Judas. Not many of us can say this, nor do we want to. But many people believe the phrase, “The Devil made me do it!” Friend let me just advise you that the Devil can’t be more than one place at a time and most likely your sinful nature and mine made us do it. Our greed, pride, or lustful hearts made us sin. Perhaps we were influenced by a demonic force, but more times than not, we have enough evil in our hearts to get the job done on our own.

No

But here, we have this heinous fiend entering into the heart of Judas to accomplish the desires of the spiritual forces of darkness and accomplish the divine plan of God to deliver Jesus over to be the Passover Lamb for our sins.

The name used of Satan here is not diabolos, from which we get the word diabolic, but is actual satanos, which means accuser. It is the word that was used of him in Job when he appeared before God to accuse Job of unrighteousness. It is also the role he would assume in betraying Jesus. This Great Accuser would lead Jesus to the ones who would falsely accuse Him and have Him tried for blasphemy.

Ironically the one who really knew the identity of Jesus would lead the chief priests to falsely accuse Jesus. The one thing Jesus could not do was lie about who He really was. This would be the only thing needed, despite the inconsistent testimonies of the false accusers, to convict Jesus and send Him to the cross.

So when Jesus speaks to Judas and says, “What you do, do quickly,” He not only is speaking to Judas, but also to the one who now has control of Judas. Judas had allowed his heart to become hardened like that of Pharoah at the first Passover.

John records that it was night. Jesus had said, “If the darkness be in you, how great is that darkness?” Indeed, it was a dark night of the soul!

Conclusion:

By this point I know you must be exhausted. Surely not as exhausted as our Savior will be by the time this night of evil is over. Not exhausted to the point of pouring out sweat drops of blood over the anguish of His righteous soul. But exhausted nonetheless.

Let me conclude this message by calling us to consider a few things. First, let me remind you that while the disciples were shocked that it was one of the close inner ring of disciples that would betray Jesus, Jesus knew who were His all along. Judas had deceived all of the disciples as to the condition of his heart, even falsely saying, “Is it I Lord?” There are many people who are hiding in the churches and in leadership positions that are none other than the agents of Satan. They are undercover devils that seek the Jesus of their own imagination.

The Scripture tells us to test our hearts to be sure of the faith that lies in us. If you are here today, my plea to you is not to cause you to doubt your salvation, but to make sure you are following the real Jesus. Make sure you are not your own master, but that you have been sold to the True Master. We are all bondslaves of Christ. Our allegiance to Jesus must be that of a servant to a King. He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.

Second, don’t let your heart slip. It is a slow fade that gives your soul away as the song by Mark Hall says. We don’t wake up one day and decide all at once to compromise. We make little decisions every day to give away our heart. Even God’s people can be used by Satan. Did not Jesus say to Peter, “Get behind me Satan, for you are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind of the things of God, but on the things of Man.”

Last, I want you to see the grace of God. Jesus has not given up on you! Do you have a lost friend or family member? Don’t give up on them. Plead for them before the throne of God. Pray for their salvation and share the love of Christ with them.

I want to leave you with the words of the famous Puritan preacher, Matthew Henry.

The sins of Christians are the grief of Christ. We are not to confine our attention to Judas. The prophecy of his treachery may apply to all who partake of God’s mercies, and meet them with ingratitude. See the infidel, who only looks at the Scriptures with a desire to do away their authority and destroy their influence; the hypocrite, who professes to believe the Scriptures, but will not govern himself by them; and the apostate, who turns aside from Christ for a thing of naught. Thus mankind, supported by God’s providence, after eating bread with Him, lift up the heel against Him! Judas went out as one weary of Jesus and his apostles. Those whose deeds are evil, love darkness rather than light.

Don’t be one who abides with a dark soul. Come to the Light of the World and be saved!