FBC Greenland Sermons
Love In The Midst Of Betrayal - John 13:18-38
Well if you had your Bibles turned to John chapter 13, we're going to be in verses 18-38 this morning. We're going to be actually finishing the chapter in John 13 and I told you all last week that it's going to fly by very fast as we go through the end of this book because we are really getting into now the betrayal of Jesus getting into the end of this story. And one of the things we're going to be looking at this morning is we're looking at Jesus being betrayed by Judas and if you're familiar with the Last Supper you'll be familiar with the scenes that unfold during this time and I titled this message love in the midst of betrayal because one of the things that we're going to see is the way that Jesus still expresses love and compassion despite being betrayed by somebody that he loved. And betrayal I think is one of those things that we have either all faced at some point or will face in the future. There are things that as human beings that we all walk through together at some point in one way shape or form and I believe betrayal is one of those things that we unfortunately experience. Whether it's something big or something small all of us seem to feel the familiar sting of betrayal and broken trust. We see it in our lives, we see it in our literature, we see it in our media. For example, Anakin Skywalker betrayed the Jedi to become Darth Vader if you're not familiar with that part of Star Wars. Gollum betrays Frodo and Sam so that he can obtain the One Ring of Power in Lord of the Rings. Benedict Arnold betrayed Americans during the Revolution and I could sit here and give you every historical kind of betrayal we'd be here for several hours because there's a lot especially when it comes to people wanting power. But today we're looking at what's arguably the most famous and most heartbreaking betrayal in history and that is the betrayal of Judas to Jesus. Look at John 13 18 through 38 with me. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen but the Scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I'm telling you this now before it takes place that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly I say to you whoever receives the One I send receives me whoever receives me receives the One who sent me. 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 who Jesus loved was reclining at the table of Jesus aside. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So the disciple leaning back against Jesus said to him Lord who is it? Jesus answered it is he to whom I give this morsel bread when I have dipped it. So when he dipped the morsel he gave it to Judas the son of Simon Ascarian. Then after he had taken the morsel Satan entered into him and Jesus said to him what you're 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 money bag Jesus was telling him to buy what we need for the feast or that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel bread he immediately went out and it was night. When he had gone out Jesus said now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once. 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 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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. 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. Peter said to him Lord why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. 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. Will you pray with me? Lord I thank you for this morning God we thank we are thankful for your word in the time that we have in it. God we just pray that you would be with our service this morning God that you would help us to understand this text Father in the way that we are witness to great betrayal and not just betrayal from Judas but God even Peter denying Jesus three times. Father I pray that in the midst of all this God that we would recognize and see your love your grace your mercy and father that even in the midst of a trail God you gave a new commandment that we are to love one another and God I pray that our lives will be marked by that. Father both in seasons of goodness in in seasons of darkness. So God we thank you for today. God I pray to you be with anyone here today who is more recently feeling the sting of betrayal. Our father maybe has been the betrayer. God I pray to you be with them especially this morning. God that you would help them to see your love your forgiveness and your compassion in this text. Jesus holy a precious name I pray amen. So I found the easiest way for us to walk through this text is to walk through this passage as a narrative. There's a lot going on and so I'm going to story a lot of it but a lot of these things are very important. We ended last week with Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and he mentioned that not all of them were clean. If you remember that part of the story he was speaking of Judas and this is where his betrayal becomes a lot more public. Jesus first tells the disciples that everything that is about to happen has a purpose. There's a reason for these things to happen. Verse 19 I'm telling you this now before it takes place that when it does take place you may believe that I am he and he reassures them that everything that's about to happen everything that's about the transpire from the betrayal to Peter's denial to Jesus being put on the cross all of these things have a good and glorious purpose and I think for us we often when we walk through really hard scenes of life we try to tell ourselves the same thing. We say this has to be for some reason this has to be for some purpose but the reality is we often don't see why we were allowed to walk through something until it's over. That's why when James talks about in chapter one that we are to account it joy in my brothers when you face trials of various kinds for the testing of your faith produces endurance instead fastness. The reason why he says that is because we have to cling on to that promise when we are going through deep dark seasons we often don't see how God is going to transform us and change us and grow us in him in maturity and in love until after what we have walked through is over. It's clinging on to that promise that there is a reason why God has us walking through something that allows us to walk through with joy and with hope and so Jesus gives out to them this joy and hope that even this betrayal will be used for the glory of God and for the good of his people and that they would believe that all of these things transpire so that they would believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and then we have verses 21 through 30 and when you consider this story think about how heartbreaking this must have been. Look at verse 21 after saying these things Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified truly truly I say to you one of you will betray me. This is right after Jesus has knelt down with a towel to wash his disciples dirty gross feet. This is after he has showed them that this is how they are to serve other people not by washing their feet but by living so sacrificially so selflessly that you would seek to serve others because Jesus served them and then he tells one of his disciples or he tells the disciples that one of them will betray him and we often read this story and we think that Judas has always been this guy that no one ever liked. I don't know if you ever pictured that in your head but when I would hear this story over and over again when I would hear about the 12 disciples I'd go yeah there's 12 disciples but then there's Judas and you know everyone always knew he was shady and not great and like no one really had a close relationship with him. For some reason that's the narrative I built with my head because when you look at how John talks about Judas every time Judas is mentioned he said oh yeah that's the guy who's going to betray him. He'd say oh he's the one who was in charge of the money so he would use them for nefarious purposes or put some in his own pocket like there was always these seeds of Judas is not a great guy he's going to betray Jesus in the future but church I need you to hear this. Judas was Jesus's friend. Judas was someone that Jesus loved when he says one of them will betray him not all of them looked at Judas and went it's obviously that guy none of them knew who it was. The only reason why John is explicit in telling us who it is is because John was the one that asked Jesus hey Jesus who is it when he says that the disciple of whom he loved he's referring to John who wrote this gospel and so this wasn't a betrayal by a stranger this wasn't a betrayal by someone and that was a part of the group but it was kind of an outlier this wasn't a betrayal by by someone who was clearly a betrayer in that group this was someone who was trusted with the finances of this group this was somebody who stuck with Jesus through all the things that he had walked through he was a disciple of Jesus but his heart was far from Jesus and he was a friend who betrayed him I want you to think of a moment of time where you felt betrayed I want you to think back into your life and think about a moment you were betrayed by somebody you loved or somebody you knew somebody who was close to you and think about the pain that you felt and when you think about that pain you ask yourself who was it that caused that pain and I would wager for most of you it would be someone who was close to you somebody you knew somebody you trusted the sting of a trail from a friend radiates pain deeper than the betrayal from a stranger let me say that again the pain a betrayal from a friend sting so much more than betrayal from a stranger this is the kind of betrayal that Jesus faced and the disciples looked around trying to figure out who which one of them Jesus was referring to maybe some of them even considered that it could have been them they just haven't done it yet or they didn't know they'd be the one to betray Jesus right that Judas was not the obvious candidate in this they didn't know what was happening even when Judas was told whatever you're gonna do do it quickly and to leave they still didn't think it was Judas which in my mind I'm thinking alarm bells that's obvious like it's the one guy leaving the room after this huge proclamation obviously he's the one who's gonna betray Jesus but they didn't think that this was a very tight knit close group they loved Judas then it tells us that John was very close to Jesus and Peter encouraged John to ask Jesus who it was so John quietly asked who it was in verse 26 Jesus answered them is he to whom I gave this morsel bread when I have dipped it so when he dipped the morsel he gave it to Judas the son of Simon is scary it now John has made it clear to us throughout his gospel that Judas would be the one to betray him so this is not a shock to us even if you think about last week he talked about how not all of them were clean and how he's talking about Judas who would go on to betray him but betrayal does not happen overnight betrayal does often not happen overnight often betrayal happens over a series of decisions and someone's heart either growing harder towards somebody or a series of bad decision that leads to them finally betraying someone they trust for example if you think about Judas and think about his story Judas was a disciple of Jesus maybe having a desire to follow after Jesus but then over time Judas became more and more greedy with the finances if you remember whenever Jesus was anointed with the very expensive perfume Judas was upset by it he was saying things like you could have given that to the poor that was a year's worth of wages why would you do something like that but the reality was Judas wanted some of that money for himself he felt that it was wasted on Jesus so Judas had this dissension and then it's through this dissension through his greed through his sin that the Pharisees had an opportunity and Judas had an opportunity they came together and they made a plan to betray Jesus betrayal doesn't happen overnight and often it happens with one distrusting decision after another and I tell you that because I think there there are many of us who maybe don't want to betray somebody or betray their trust but we end up doing it because we have our own motivations or own dishonesty and the reality is I think if people were more honest and more open that betrayal would happen much less frequently but notice what Jesus does Jesus doesn't plead with him he knows that Judas is already lost in fact it says that Satan had entered in him that there was no more hope for Judas he was long gone and he simply tells them to go whatever he's going to do make him quick you know the disciples weren't sure why Judas left and they made their assumptions but in the face of betrayal knowing what Judas was about to do I want you to think about that sting you felt when someone betrayed you someone close to you you probably wanted nothing more than to confront them and say how dare you why would you do this I loved you I think about for example you guys know I'm a huge Star Wars fan but I think about the scene where Anakin is lying in the dirt and Obi-Wan has defeated him and Anakin Obi-Wan shouts you were my brother Anakin I loved you he says you were supposed to destroy the Sith not join them it's a very emotional scene amazing but the kind of hurt and pain that he expressed is what we expressed how many of us have been betrayed by family you were my brother you were my sister and you hurt me you were my husband my wife you were my friend you hurt me betrayal from family betray from the ones we trust and love hurt so much more and if it were us and Jesus his shoes knowing that Judas was about to go out and betray us what we have done probably yell at him or probably try to stop him or probably yell I hate you or something like that I don't know maybe we wouldn't have probably responded the way Jesus did but how does Jesus respond he responds with compassion he says whatever you're going to do go and make it quick he doesn't condemn him he doesn't yell at him he doesn't throw words at him or fist at him or anger at him I'm sure there's disappointment I'm sure there's heard and yes Judas isn't the wrong I'm not saying that he's on the right at all but Jesus his compassion and love for him was not compromised by betrayal and so then we have this this new commandment in verses 31 to 35 this new commandment that comes from this moment of betrayal so Jesus then addresses the disciples in the room and he doesn't tell them what Judas is doing rather he tells them the son of man will be glorified and he's going somewhere they cannot follow and after he says this he says the most popular verse in this passage in verse 34 and 35 and if you're familiar with the gospel of John or especially chapter 13 you probably know this by heart but he says this 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 by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another notice that he does not say this while Judas is there he's addressing them the disciples who are his true disciples one that truly loved the Lord you know there are times where we unrightly expect those who don't know Jesus to act like Christ followers but the reality is they won't if someone doesn't know Jesus they're not going to act like someone who belongs to him that we can't expect people that don't know Jesus to act like Jesus it's not possible without the power of the Holy Spirit but he tells them that you are to love one another just as I have loved you and he says this after Judas has betrayed him he says this knowing that Judas is going right now to the Roman authority to get Jesus arrested he says this knowing he's going to be put on a cross by people around him people that he loves because Jesus loves everyone he does this knowing that Peter's going to deny him three times that Thomas is going to doubt him he does all these things but he still does them in love remember in John 13 at the very beginning he says Jesus loved him till the end so he this commandment that he gives is coming from a place where this immense hurt but Judas's betrayal didn't kill Jesus' compassion it may have led Jesus to the cross to die for our sins but it didn't change the love that Jesus had for us and I would even argue for him so what does this mean though in terms of us see disciples of Jesus are defined by a few characteristics and he says it here in this text one a disciple of Jesus loves one another a disciple of Jesus one loves one another we think about Jesus' past conversations with people another gospel text where he talks about you know teacher what is the greatest commandment in the law and he says you are to love God and love others a lot of the things that we're called to do is to love others to love those made in God's image because by loving those made in God's image we are therefore loving God who created them and if we want to love God and worship him rightly that we are going to love those made in his image you cannot have one without the other I love the way that first John for example talks about it and the fact that you cannot have a love for the Lord apart from the love of people they are both intertwined you cannot love God and hate people you cannot love people and hate God it's not it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't click and so when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus we are defined by our love for one another that we are to love each other the second is that we are to love God we are to love God now those things are not one over the other obviously our relationship with God is first but we are to love the Lord our God with our heart soul heart soul mind is straight into love others as ourselves that is what defines a Christ follower and that's the kind of behavior that a Christ follower has and if you were to ask someone do you know the Lord do you love Jesus those are the fruits you look for do you look if they're loving people well and if they love God now that doesn't mean they're going to be perfect at it right I would argue Peter loved the Lord but Peter still denied God three times it doesn't mean people are going to be perfect but it means that the status of your heart and the actions that follow will reflect a love for others and a love for God and lastly I would say the disciples of Jesus are defined by an imitation of Jesus that they should seek to imitate Jesus and all things and I think one of the areas that would be one of the most difficult to imitate Jesus is in this moment here where he's betrayed by a friend but he still shows love and even in their imperfections they were still disciples and the reality is church Judas didn't exhibit these things Judas didn't exhibit these characteristics that's why when Jesus shared his commitment it was not to all of his disciples with Judas in the room is with the Judas gone this is for the Christ follower this is how the Christ followers supposed to live and when you look at the evidence of salvation the lives of the disciples versus Judas Judas did not love people Judas most certainly did not love God and loved Jesus I spent not more than money at the very least but his disciples did his disciples loved him but then we have verses 36 through 38 and this is a bit more of a sobering text when we read all this because I'm sure all of us are like yes this is heartbreaking like I remember that pain oh but you know yeah Judas is a bad guy like he's you know he's gonna go betray Jesus and then he's gonna die later on like it's not this doesn't have anything to do with us I would never do that to Jesus but then look at this last text this is a sobering reminder to us that we are in perfect people capable of hurting too and I'm going to read the whole thing verse 36 Simon Peter said to him Lord where are you going and Jesus answered him where I am going you cannot follow me now but you will follow afterward Peter said to him Lord why can I follow you now I will lay down my life for you Jesus answered will you lay down your life for me truly truly I say to you the rooster will not grow till you've denied me three times see the disciples of Jesus as great as we make them out to be we're not perfect Thomas doubted Jesus when he returned and Peter would deny him three times as he's being led to the cross and we think that we are above the acts of these men and even that of Jesus but the reality is we are all sinful broken human beings even for those of us who love and know the Lord we are not perfect and we have to have the kind of humility to go to the Lord to ask for forgiveness and to correct sin in our lives what's really heartbreaking about this is that Peter claimed that he would lay down his life for Jesus right he said Jesus I'll lay down my life for you I'll give you everything I have but then when Jesus is arrested he wouldn't even admit to knowing him in the moment where Peter was put to the test Peter failed Peter said he's willing to lay down his life for Jesus but the reality was he wasn't we don't know if he would have died if he would have said yes I'm with Jesus or I don't deny him but Peter thought he would and so Peter denied three different times in church we must be humble before the throne of God to seek forgiveness and know that we need Jesus and all things we are not going to be perfect right even those that love the Lord did not serve him perfectly but what defines a Christ follower from somebody who doesn't know him is that a Christ follower seeks to correct those things seeks repentance and forgiveness and lives with the conviction of the Holy Spirit Judas did not have that but Peter certainly did and so what is the application that we have from this this morning there's three very simple pieces of application that I want us to walk away with the first is that we are to imitate Jesus in love this new commandment that he gives I think has a justifiable place as one of the most important verses in John 13 that we are to love one another as Christ has loved us and we have to remember the way that Jesus has loved us right Jesus loved us more than we could ever love other people we think that we love people well but the reality is Jesus loved them so much more and better and when it comes to the kind of love that Jesus had Jesus would be betrayed beaten spit on mocked but he still wouldn't hate people he still showed love for them he still showed compassion for them now does that mean that we let everything slide that we don't defend anything that is right that we just let people walk all over us and are never never stern no we don't because think about Jesus for example when Jesus saw his temple being defiled what did Jesus do he flipped tables and he kicked all the people out who were defiling what the temple was meant for this does not mean that we are not allowed to defend others this does not mean that we cannot say things are right or things are wrong but here's what this does mean it means we don't do them from a place of unforgiveness or of hate or of anger we do so out of love a desire for them to know the Lord right Jesus whenever he was on the on the cross wouldn't just tell people no it's okay you know keep beating me it's fine like that's not the kind of attitude he had but he did say father forgive them for they don't know what they do this is the kind of love that we are to have and as much as maybe people have wronged us we've wronged Jesus so much more our sin is greater than any sin that anyone has against us yet Jesus still died for us and loves us this is the kind of love that we should have for other people the second is that we are to imitate Jesus in forgiveness imitate Jesus in forgiveness do you think about that passage in Matthew where Peter asked Jesus how much should I forgive someone who's who's wrong to me and Jesus he says to 70 or or seven times or 70 times how how many times do I forgive somebody who's wrong me and then Jesus says no you should forgive them 70 times 7 now it doesn't mean that you should get your calculators out right now and calculate how much that is I don't know off the top of my head but I know it's not a small number but when it comes to forgiving other people it should not be something you calculate to keep track of a whole grudges for that's not what forgiveness is now forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things right you may not be able to reconcile the same relationship you had somebody that has wronged you but you can forgive them you should forgive them it's biblical for you to forgive them the Bible tells us that we should not hold grudges that doesn't mean that you have to be buddy buddy with the person who wronged you again reconciliation and forgiveness are two separate things but forgiveness is the first and most important step see Romans chapter 12 says to live at peace with all so far as it depends on you well the part that depends on you is the forgiveness and if Jesus can forgive you of your sin you can forgive others for sinning against yourself against you and the last point of application for us is that my hope for you is that you would handle betrayal like Jesus that you would handle betrayal like Jesus that when someone wrongs you when someone betrays you that your first inclination would not be to hate them or to shun them or to yell at them or scream at them but that it would be to forgive them and extend them as much love and forgiveness as you can as it was given to you in your sin against God so let me do this we're going to pray and then we're going to have a time of invitation I'm going to invite our worship team to come back up and to sing one last song but during this time if you've ever had a point in your life where you have been hurt or betrayed I want you to think of the person who did that and I want you to pray for them this morning I want you to pray that one that in your heart that you would forgive them and let go of what they've done to you the harm they've caused you the pain that they've given to you and that you would ask the Lord to soften their own heart so that they would seek after him that seek to be made new but maybe you're in this room this morning and you don't know the Lord maybe this idea of forgiveness and of grace and of reconciliation is foreign to you I would love for this to be an opportunity where you can come forward where one of us can pray with you and talk to you about what it means to be forgiven of your sin and to know the Lord intimately will you pray with me this morning God we thank you for today God we thank you for who you are Father we pray that you would help us to love in the midst of betrayal God that you would help us to love in a way that is radical that we would love in a way that is otherworldly God that you would help us to forgive others who hurt us who sin against us God that when someone hurts us and we struggle to forgive them God that we would think of the way that we have sinned against you and yet you forgave us God we know that we're going to be being perfect at it God I know that we're going to have our struggles but Father I pray to you and help us to be imitators of you in love and God that you would help us to live out the commandment that you give us that we would love one another as you have loved us God I pray that would define our actions our words our character and our heart and when we struggle with those things God that we would run to you for help so God I thank you for today and God I'm grateful that even in the midst of our own betrayal to you God that you still love us your son's holy and precious name I pray, amen.