21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”
22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 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 Iscariot, son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
“What you are about to do, do quickly,” Jesus told him, 28 but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
I've always been a bit confused by this passage. Jesus' meaning couldn't have been more clear. He told them one of them was going to betray Him, when they asked Him who it was He said it would be the person He gave the bread to, and then He gave the bread to Judas and told Him to do it quickly. I'm not really sure how the disciples didn't understand what that meant. But, upon reading it a bit more closely, it appears that Jesus maybe spoke softly to John, so that none of the other disciples heard Him say who it was going to be. That makes sense when you consider the disciples' reaction.
The tragedy of Judas is, like Pam alluded to yesterday, that Judas managed to be that close to Jesus and still betray Him.
For three years he was a disciple of Jesus. He watched Him perform miracles, he listened to His teachings and explanations, he lived with Him and was exposed to the Truth in a way only 11 other people in this world have ever had the opportunity to do.
And instead of becoming like Jesus, he became so treacherous and traitorous that Satan entered into him.
What's amazing is that Jesus doesn't give up on Judas even at this late hour, even knowing that Judas had already agreed to betray Him. He still washed Judas' feet.
But He also doesn't let the other disciples think this came as a surprise to Him - so that they would have no cause to doubt Him. He knew Judas would betray Him, but He chose Him as a disciple in order to fulfill prophecy - in order for Judas to bring about His death which was, of course, necessary for the plan of redemption and salvation.
There are numerous references in the OT to the fact that a close friend would betray Jesus.
Psalm 41:9 Even my close friend, whom I trusted,
he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
That was talking specifically about David and Ahithafel (a close friend who joined Absalom's rebellion), but it is also a perfect description of Jesus and Judas.
Psalm 55:12, 20, 21 If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were raising himself against me,
I could hide from him....My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
21 His speech is smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn swords.
Zechariah 11:12-13 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.
But despite all this, Jesus taught Judas and rebuked him, right till the end. Jesus didn't MAKE Judas betray Him.
MacArthur (emphasis mine)....
Judas was no robot. The idea that our Lord simply allocated to an unwilling Judas the part of the villain in the crucifixion is inconsistent with Jesus Christ. And it's inconsistent with the constant rebukes Jesus gives to Judas. All the way along the ministry of Jesus, he rebukes Judas. He endeavors to drive him to repentance, time and time again. And so we conclude that even though Judas' treachery fit into the plan of God, God did not design him as a treacherous man. That he became by his own choice. God merely designed his treachery into His plan. He didn't design the treachery.
You see, had Judas been predestined to be what he was, then our Lord would have pitied him rather than rebuked Him. Let me say it this way. God did not plan Judas' wretchedness, but He planned Judas' wretchedness into His plan. God didn't make Judas wretched. He took Judas, wretched as he was, and fitted him into His plan. Somebody had to bring about the death of Christ. This wretched man, by his own desire, evil as it was, was fitted into God's plan, and to make it happen. Judas Iscariot, then, was the chosen instrument of God, not apart from his own desire or his own will, to betray Christ and bring about His death. And to show that it was not the will of God apart from Judas' will, all the way along and at every opportunity, Jesus gave him every warning to bring him to repentance and salvation, and at every point he turned it down. And you'll see it as clearly as you'll ever see it here in John 13.
We need to learn from Judas. Not to become hypocrites. Not to allow our focus to shift away from Jesus and onto what we can gain from Him (or from betraying Him!). To take advantage of the great opportunity we've been given to be exposed to the Truth. To remember that great spiritual privileges can be neutralized by temptation.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: John 13:31-38
1 comment:
I really like MacArthur's explanation there because it can sound, when it says Satan went into Judas when he took the bread, that he was perhaps acting according to Satan's will rather than his own. And even if in some measure that is true, I think it's quite clear that had Judas been a true believer and follower of Christ, Satan would not have had this opportunity to enter into Judas and the deed would have been accomplished in some other way. I find it interesting, too, that it is mentioned in the book of John that Judas had charge of the money and helped himself to some from time to time. That sheds some light on his character and perhaps his motivation as well.
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