April 2, 2025
Pastor John Hering
John 13:21–30
John 13:21–30
21 After saying this, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: One of you will betray me.”
22 The disciples were looking at each other, uncertain which of them he meant.
23 One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. 24 So Simon Peter motioned to him to find out which one he was talking about.
25 So leaning back against Jesus’ side, he asked, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread, after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do more quickly.”
28 None of those reclining at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Because Judas kept the money box, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the Festival,” or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
Betrayal, distrust, sadness and hurt. These are words that come to mind when we hear this portion of God’s Word. Betrayal comes in all sorts and sizes. In a marriage the betrayal may be unnoticed for a while. In time you can tell if your spouse is honest with their spending habits or do they have an unhealthy gambling addiction that betrays their trust? While it is perfectly fine to have some fun, sometimes desperate acts of selfishness (sports, video games, going out with friends without you) can create loneliness and sadness for those who you didn’t invite to go along with you. Friends betray friends. Children betray parents. Siblings betray siblings. Lovers betray lovers and it hurts! Then the salesman lies about the quality of a product, and since you only spent a little time together, it may not rise to the level of betrayal, but it still hurts.
So how does a man who has spent over 3 years with Jesus come to decide that he is going to betray Jesus. How does a guy who has seen Jesus turn water into wine, walk on water, feed over 5,000 people, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, calm storms and raise Lazarus from the dead come to a conclusion to betray Jesus? Today may the Holy Spirit impress upon our hearts and minds that
It’s Never A Good Idea To Betray Jesus
Who Exposes Hard Hearts of Rejection
We are with Jesus and the disciples in the upper room. They are celebrating the Passover Meal and recalling how God delivered the Children of Israel from Egypt. Jesus introduces the conversation before us with these words.
“18 “I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is so that the Scripture may be fulfilled: ‘One who eats bread with me has raised his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this right now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am he.”
We understand what Jesus is talking about because we know the whole story. We know God
“wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
1 Timothy 2:4
We also know that a person is condemned when they reject Jesus’ forgiveness through a heart of unbelief—
“16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”
Mark 16:16
So, we know who Jesus is talking about—Judas. Jesus teaches the disciples that Scriptures had to be fulfilled and God would turn this awful betrayal into good—the salvation of the world!
While Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is a horrible event, there are lessons for us to learn. For instance, there are some who think Judas grew impatient with Jesus. This was true of most of the disciples who thought Jesus was some sort of revolutionary that was going to overthrow the corrupt Roman government. But after 3 years Judas possibly got impatient. Jesus was talking about freeing people from sin. Judas wanted freedom from the authority of Rome, or even from the authority of God.
The Bible teaches us the Judas did suffer from the love of money. He was in charge of the money bag and was taking some of the funds for himself. We have seen Satan use this temptation throughout history whether it’s the C.I.A. or the cash register at work, or the bookkeeping in the office. The love of money is an easy temptation for Satan to use and definitely played a role in Judas betraying Jesus.
I wonder if Judas was just a coward. What if Judas was actually listening to Jesus when he said he was going to suffer and die? Maybe Judas was worried that his time with Jesus was coming to a close and he was going to “get out while I can” and “make a couple bucks to boot.” No matter what Judas was thinking, the fact is Jesus Worked To Expose Judas’ Hard Heart of Rejection. What we see playing out is what John talked about at the beginning of his gospel,
“yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil”
John 3:19
All through John’s gospel we have seen crowds of people turn away from following Jesus and now it is hitting his inner circle. Now it’s going to rattle the faith of all the disciples so that by the time Jesus’ is hanging on the cross we’re down to a couple of women and one disciple—John.
Knowing this, think about yourself as I read these words.
“21 After saying this, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: One of you will betray me.”
Jesus knows. Jesus knows what Judas is going to do and he knows that his actions will ultimately fulfill the reason why Jesus came. Jesus came to die in our place. Jesus came to be the substitutionary sacrifice. Jesus came to endure the suffering, the cross, and the wrath of God in our place. Now think about yourself. God knows you. God knows everything about you. God knew you before the creation of the world. Jesus isn’t caught off guard by your actions. Yet, he acts in compassion and love!
“22 The disciples were looking at each other, uncertain which of them he meant. 23 One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. 24 So Simon Peter motioned to him to find out which one he was talking about. 25 So leaning back against Jesus’ side, he asked, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread, after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”
This blows my mind! Judas knows that Jesus knows. Jesus Has Exposed His Hard Heart Of Rejection. We can only guess what was going through Judas’ mind. “Maybe I shouldn’t go through with it.” Or “I sure could use those 30 pieces of silver.” Or “I’m going for it. Even if he knows. I’m going to get mine and get out while I still can.” Sound familiar? Once a person decides to commit a sin they can come up with all sorts of reasons why it would be a good idea to do it. Ask Eve.
“6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate”
Genesis 3:6
Still Jesus acts in love and compassion and reaches out to Judas with that piece of bread to stop, repent, and be forgiven. Judas sadly reacts with a Hard Heart of Rejection and goes on to carry out his betrayal.
“27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.”
It Is Never A Good Idea To Betray Jesus. Jesus Exposed Judas’ Hard Heart of Rejection. God protect us from Hard Hearts of Rejection! Keep our faith strong in Jesus
Who Works Out Our Salvation
As with so many accounts in the Bible, people see the lower story but God sees the upper story. We get a peek at the upper story when Jesus speaks these words.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do more quickly.”
Jesus is in control and the time had come to save the world!
28 None of those reclining at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Because Judas kept the money box, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the Festival,” or to give something to the poor.
All they could see was the “lower story.”
John gives us these details about what the disciples were thinking and reveals to us how much the disciples needed Jesus their Savior. Jesus is with his 12 disciples and at this point in their life it would be great to ask them this question: “Are you saved?” But, they didn’t get this yet. I can’t imagine them saying, “Yes, I’m saved because the Holy Spirit has created faith in my heart to trust in you as my Savior.” St. Paul would be the one who explains this to us.
“9 Certainly, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and it is with the mouth that a person confesses, resulting in salvation”
Romans 10:9-10
The disciples aren’t there, yet. But, Jesus hadn’t died yet or risen from the dead. So what would these disciples do to be saved? Nothing! In the lower story the disciples thought they would have to do something. But, in the upper story only Jesus could work out their salvation for them and through faith they would be justified before God.
Jesus has already told them that he had to suffer and die. And the same Peter who gave his wonderful confession,
“you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world”
John 11:27
did not fully understand what this meant, for Peter also said,
“This will never happen to you.” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!”
Matthew 16:22, 23
There you see Satan at work against everyone in the room. He tempted Jesus to go against his Father’s will. Satan is tempting Judas to carry out his evil plans. Maybe it will be James and John because they wanted a seat at Jesus’ left and right hand in his kingdom. Or maybe Andrew because he struggled to see how Jesus would provide food for the crowds instead of trusting in Jesus. Or maybe Thomas because he struggles with faith, too. So, who of these disciples did Jesus save?
- Answer #1. “The Lord is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). It’s God’s will that no one perish in hell!
- Answer #2 “2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). This is for all people!
- Answer #3 “8 Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9). The Holy Spirit brings us to faith through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament! It’s God’s work!
Ponder Jesus’ Passion as Jesus Christ worked out the salvation of the disciples and for you. Believe it! Yes, Jesus worked to save them all, even Judas! Then Jesus spoke these words,
“26 Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread, after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do more quickly.”
I have always thought Jesus spoke these words to Judas, and of course he did. But, these words could be directed just as much to Satan. “Go ahead Satan and throw the first punch and see what I’ll do to you!” And the Lord God will take the evil plans of Satan and the awful betrayal of Judas and carry out the gracious and powerful Salvation of the world. So, John records,
“30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.”
It Is Never a Good Idea to Betray Jesus, but thanks be to God, our gracious Lord used these events to work out our salvation!
Dear Christian Friends. Ponder Jesus’ Passion as Jesus Predicts His Betrayal in the upper room. Jesus knows exactly what he is doing. Jesus also knows exactly what he’s doing for you. We will have Betrayal, distrust, sadness and hurt. Betrayal comes in all sorts and sizes. In a marriage the betrayal breaks trust. We are going to have our days of loneliness and sadness. Friends betray friends. Children betray parents. Siblings betray siblings. Lovers betray lovers and it hurts! Just like the disciples in the upper room, Jesus knows who they are with all their betrayal, distrust, sadness and broken hearts. But, here’s the Good News! Jesus is in the business of heart transplants. He went to work to save us. He continues to work today to keep us in faith through the promises of his Word and Sacraments. So, from thankful hearts Ponder Jesus’ Passion and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Never Betray Jesus. Amen.
