Dominion Senior Living John 13:21-35 Devotional

Pray. Turn to John 13:21-35. Read.

Main Point: God loves us with our wickedness, so love others.

God Loves Us With Our Wickedness (21-20)

In high school, there were only two possible reactions when the teacher announced “Okay everyone, we are going to split into assigned groups for our group project”. There was the person who shrugged their shoulders apathetically not caring about the project or the grade, and then the person who knew that if they wanted to get a good grade they would have to do all the work themselves. Of course the apathetic student and the hard worker only got paired together though because the teacher put them together. No hard working student would find a lazy one and say “Hey, I know you are not going to contribute anything to this, but come on, I want you on my team”. It makes no logical sense for the better student to bare the burdens of the other student, especially when they know going into the relationship that the student is only going to contribute difficulties.

To a much more extreme degree, Judas Iscariot was that no good student and Jesus took him in knowing his sins. Jesus knew Judas would betray him from the beginning of time, but still, Jesus chose Judas to be with him and apart of the twelve. Does this make sense to you? That someone would purposefully put someone within their circle that would kill them? I hope not! I hope you are saying under your breathe, what was Jesus thinking? He is literally asking to be killed…exactly! Exactly! Friends, Jesus knew the consequence of putting Judas in his circle.

Verse twenty one, Jesus explains that one of his disciples will literally hand him over. The disciples response in the next verse of confusion is because what that means: it means death at the hands of the Romans because of the Jews. to hand Jesus over is to kill him. Imagine sitting in a room and finding out one of you is going to get a person murdered. Then I think we can better understand why they are not sure who would do such a thing. To which one of the disciples inevitability asks, well, who is it?

Jesus responds is more revealing than you might first suspect. He tells the disciples that he will dip a piece, likely a piece of bread or herbs and then whoever he gives it to is the one who will betray him. The text says that he gave it to Judas Iscariot, then explains that Judas took the piece. We learn Judas is the one who will betray Jesus and that Judas knowingly accepts this as his future. Judas took the bread! If I was in a room and was told, whoever I give this bread to will have a horrible life and never enjoy life, if someone tried to give me that bread I would hit it out of their hand! I do not want that on me! But notice Judas takes the bread as to say, “Truly truly, I am the one who will betray you”.

Following Judas taking the bread comes the most horrifying words that could be said about an individual: “Satan entered into him”. Friends, it is scary to hear the cancer is back, it is scary to hear the death of a loved one, but do not be fooled, the enemy of God entering into you surpasses worldly sorrow. Why? Because we read of the death of a man’s body, but of a man’s soul.

I do think it is important to take a second to explain the tension between Judas’ own choice to betray Jesus and God’s willing this to happen.

a. As we explained, Jesus knew Judas would betray him. Also, Judas had to betray Jesus. Did you know that the Old Testament explained that not only the Son of Man would die and be betrayed, but that he would be betrayed by his own friend: Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”

Of course the Psalm is referencing Judas. Then we also must recognize that Jesus had to die to pay for the sins of man. All have sinned and thus have went against God’s perfect creation. God is a perfect and loving God, but he is also a just God which means he does not just forget the punishment of sin: which is death. Someone has to take this wrath on, but who can take on the very wrath of God? God! God can! This is why Jesus had to die. So Jesus had to die, at the hand of Judas, however, this does not mean Judas is not responsible for his actions

b. Let me ask pastor John MacArthur to help us understand this: “God ordained the events by which Christ would die, yet Judas carried out his evil deed by his own choice, unfettered and uncoerced by any external force. Both things are true. The perfect will of God and the wicked purposes of Judas concurred to bring about Christ’s death. Judas did it for evil, but God meant it for good. There is no contradiction”. Judas had a deceitful heart as we all do, and he acted on his sinful desires and God used this sinful desires to accomplish the greatest act in human history.

Then after taking the bread Jesus tells Judas to go do it quickly, then he leaves, and the disciples think Judas leaves for other reasons.

Have you ever read Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby? There is a scene where Gatsby mishandles a clock, which symbolizes he cannot handle or control time. At the end of our first section, John notes “It was night”. Which is very clear symbolism, like Gatsby mishandling a clock shows how he cant handle time, where saying it is night explains that Judas is lost in darkness. After he does all of these things it is night and Judas is lost in spiritual death. John does not want us to miss how this event shows Juda will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So what does this have to do with you brother and sister? Satan going into a man? Disciples are confused, Jesus dipping a piece of something, and it being night?

All of these things have to do with us because Jesus took Judas into the twelve knowing the outcome: death. Jesus did not just come to perform miracles, to disciple others, he ultimately came to give himself up on the cross. He did not take on the wrath of God to benefit himself, Jesus is perfect and without sin. Jesus took on the wrath of God for sinners. All of the sins Judas committed: embezzlement, lying, deceiving, friends even murder, Jesus came to save those people. Jesus came to save murders. All of us in this room have committed all of these sins, we have murdered in our heart by hating others, we have lied to others to preserve our own self image, I know I have.

So what does Jesus want from you? Does he want a good moral life or for you to give money to the poor? No! Jesus does not want anything from us because what could we possibly bring to the table with God? Nothing! Believe in him for salvation, as your Lord and your savior. Leave the sins behind that once ruled your life and live under the rule of king Jesus. He came to save sinners like Judas, but Judas failed to leave his sins and trust in Christ, that is how Satan entered into him.

2. Love Others (31-35)

There is a lot of glorification language in verse 31-32, it may be slightly confusing at first, but I really think what John is getting at is God is revealing who he is in Christ. Want to know the character of God? Look at the character of Christ. I do not think John is speaking of Christ’s final glorification in his return to judge the earth, but I think he is talking about Christ going to the cross and then being raised from the dead. Then he explains that he is leaving them and will no longer be with them. Again, speaking to when he will die for the forgiveness of sins.

I think often we read verses 34-35 about loving one another without reading those former verses. We just say “love others!”, without explaining how God has loved us.

I love one commentator who says “The commandments to love one another has almost no meaning apart from its contextual presupposition, “I have loved you”. Friends, we would have no reason for loving others if Christ had not first loved us. And any “love” we think we would have for other people would be motivated out of selfish desires. Again the commentator “to ask people to love one another is pointless if they have not understood the love of Jesus in his passover death for them”. In high school I would always be so surprised when sinners would sin. When unbelievers would do things that we would expect unbelievers to do, I would just be so shocked because I would rely on the common morality to keep people from sin. In that season I failed to recognize the truth that without accepting the love of Christ, we could not love others. We could not leave our sins. The gospel is not Christianity 101 friends, the gospel isn’t just basic or foundational in the Christian faith, the gospel is everything! Why should you love others? The gospel. Why should you mould your life around the local church? The gospel.

So we answered what we should do: love one another, then why should we do it: the gospel, but then where should we do it? Where should we love one another? Of course we are called to love all people, even in verse 35 John explains our love should be a witness to our faith. Also though, the primary place we should care for one another is in the context of our local church. There are the believers we have committed to love and care for. Not the kind of love that is focused on how one another feel, but the kind of love that focuses on God. What it means to love others, especially in your local church, is to bring them closer to Jesus. Our world today has such a distorted view of what love is, the Christian love asks hard questions and makes things awkward because it is true love. If I really want to love a brother I am going to ask him if he is struggling with greed or pride because I want that brother to be daily repenting from those sins and not harbor them like Judas. So ask those hard questions to others because you care about their soul more than awkwardness. I would encourage you to ask those questions to one another here at Dominion. Ask if your friend has been praying, if they have been reading the bible, ask what sins they are struggling with, and when they confess do not scowl at them, tell them the gospel! That is the reason for which Christ died!

When I first looked at our passage today I was a little confused, why do I have to preach verses 31-35 with Judas, they are different passages, they do not relate, but once again, the Holy Spirit through one of the gospel writers proves to be much wiser than I.

Have you been able to connected Judas’ story to Jesus words here? Do you see why John put them next to one another. There are likely more reasons that the ones I will give, but first Jesus shows his love by taking on our sin as a sacrifice. When Jesus tells Judas to “do it quickly”, he is showing his love to us by taking on the wrath of our sins. Jesus loves those who sin against him, what grace our God has.

Do you remember the “it was night” symbolism? Speaking of Judas going into darkness, in verses 31-35 Jesus tells his disciples to be the light. By our love we go into the light. John could have almost wrote “and it was day” at the end of verse 25.

I would encourage you to spend more time reading all of these verses to see even more the relationship between Christ’s sacrifice and our love. Then spend time examining the motive of your love? Do you love only because of Christ’s sacrifice? Or are you like me when so many times my love has a sinful motivation. Friends we serve a God who let himself be killed out of his love for us, let us love one another and primarily those in our local church with that same love.