In the sermon 'Thoroughly Known by Jesus', Jason Dohm explores John 13:18-30, emphasizing Jesus' foreknowledge of His betrayal by Judas Iscariot. The sermon highlights two key spiritual lessons: the necessity of spiritual cleansing symbolized by Jesus washing the disciples' feet and the call to self-sacrificial service. Dohm underlines Jesus' divine knowledge, noting that Jesus was aware of Judas' betrayal as a fulfillment of prophecy, particularly citing Psalm 41:9. The sermon stresses the comfort believers can find in Jesus' comprehensive and eternal knowledge, and His sovereign plan that encompasses all events. Jesus' revelation of the betrayal was intended to strengthen the disciples' faith, demonstrating that even seemingly negative events are part of God's divine plan. Dohm also discusses the implications of receiving or rejecting Christ's ambassadors, emphasizing individual responsibility in accepting the Gospel. The sermon concludes with a call to stop hiding from God, take comfort in His sovereignty, and guard against the slippery slope of sin, as illustrated by Judas' progression from theft to betrayal.

John chapter 13 verses 18 through 30. I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.

Most assuredly I say to you, He who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me." When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in his spirit and testified and said, Most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me." Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask him who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus's breast he said to him, Lord who is it? Jesus answered, It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.

Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, buy these things we need for the feast, or that we should give something to the poor, having received the piece of bread. He then went out immediately, And it was night.

You may be seated. Happy New Year! Can't believe it's 2019 already. We're off to a big start at Sovereign Redeemer Community Church. We're on pace for 104 babies on the year.

Which would double the size of our church. I don't think we'll stay on that pace. But that is the pace. The title of the sermon this morning is thoroughly known by Jesus. The thrust of the text is about Jesus' revelation that He will be betrayed and who will be doing the betraying.

But at the foundation of that is Jesus knowing everything. Jesus was not surprised by a second for the things that happened to Him. They were part of the plan. We are at the very beginning of a very extended discourse. This is a single teaching by Jesus that takes up chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

You have five continuous chapters of Jesus teaching his disciples. You will not find anything like it in the rest of the Gospels. That long of a discourse by Jesus. Almost all the words are read. It's almost all the words of Jesus Christ.

Jesus began, Chapter 13, by explaining a physical act that he performed to teach spiritual realities. The physical act was the washing of the disciples' feet, and the spiritual realities were two-fold. The first was we need to be washed clean. So the act of washing his disciples' feet was figurative for spiritual cleansing. Secondly, the physical act of washing the disciples' feet was to teach them that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.

And that anyone who would follow Him would have to follow His example and lay his or her life down in self-sacrificing service. So Jesus does this physical act of washing the feet of the disciples and teach those two great spiritual realities. In our text today, Jesus identifies that there is a betrayer, and then when he is questioned he identifies who it is that will betray him. Jesus has not been told that there will be a betrayer and who it is. He has not observed.

Jesus did not stumble on evidence, stumble on a note that makes it clear that Judas will betray him. He knows because Jesus is God. God is almighty, God is all-knowing, and God is present everywhere at all times. He's not like a superman. He knows without being told or observing.

So that's what's in our text today. As we go to our text, let's ask the Lord to help us. God, what a comfort it is to Consider the truths of our text today for those who are your people, for those who have a longing in their hearts to be done with hiding. What a terror the truths of the text are to those who have thought they could keep a secret. Both of these things are good.

It's good for your people to be comforted knowing that you have always known all things, that you know all things. It is good for people who don't believe and trust to be faced with the fact that there is no way to hide. Pray that you would press truth on our hearts. We pray it in Jesus' name. For a bit, I'm going to go verse by verse here.

Let's start by looking at verse 18. I'll read it again. John chapter 13 verse 18. Jesus says, I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled.

He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me." In this verse we have Jesus' comprehensive and eternal knowledge. So if you are taking notes by filling in blanks on the handout, comprehensive and eternal fills in the blank. Jesus' comprehensive knowledge, He knows it all, and His eternal knowledge, He's always known it all. There has never been a time when He didn't know it all. Jesus begins by saying, I do not speak concerning all of you.

So the context for this, we back up one verse to verse 17. Look back to verse 17. Jesus had just said, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them, but not all of you. Ok, so He's just taught about something that will bless you. Doing the things that you've learned leads to blessing.

But that's only true of those people who have thrown themselves upon the mercies of God by trusting in Christ. It's not true of the unbeliever that they can use this as sort of a formula to get blessing out of heaven, to extract blessing from heaven. No, no, this all starts fundamentally with throwing yourself upon the mercy of God by trusting in Christ. So Jesus having just said that, if you know these things, blessed are you. If you do them, He draws a distinction and says, that's not true for all of you.

Look back to verses 10 and 11. We're still in chapter 13, but earlier in the chapter, verses 10 and 11. Jesus said to him, to Peter, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, But not all of you, for he knew who would betray him. Therefore, he said, you are not all clean." So Jesus has already been drawing a distinction among the disciples.

There are eleven who have thrown themselves on the mercy of God by believing in Jesus. And there is a faker. There is one faker. There is 11 who really believe and there is a faker. One who has said, I believe, but it is not true.

He has not thrown himself upon the mercy of God by believing in Jesus Christ. So Jesus has drawn a distinction and again in our text, He is making a distinction among the twelve. How does Jesus know this of Judas? Because He knows whom He has chosen. That's the words of the text.

Not, I know that I chose you twelve, but you twelve whom I chose, I know you. Of course he knows the twelve whom he has chosen. That's not what he's saying here. He's saying, you twelve, oh I know you. Inside and out.

And not I, Jason Dome, know you, Jim Santles. Or even I, Jason Dome, know you, Janet Dome. Now there's a different level of me knowing you and you knowing me. This is not a casual knowledge at all. We have lived with each other almost every day for 27 years.

We know each other really well. Not even that, but I, Jesus Christ, who was with God in the beginning, who was God in the beginning, through whom all things were made, through whom all people were made, know you." That's what's being said here. Not like even the most intimate knowledge of two people, but The Maker knowing the creature. The Maker knowing the creation. Jesus is saying, nothing about any of you is hidden from me.

You haven't been keeping any secrets from me. I know all your thoughts. I know every intention of your heart. I know all the words that you muttered under your breath and thought that no one heard. I heard." Jesus then points to his betrayal by someone who was thought to be a close friend as fulfillment of prophecy.

Judas has always been thought to be a close friend of the Lord Jesus Christ. But now, Jesus is revealing that Judas will betray him and that this isn't something out of the blue, but it's actually the fulfillment of prophecy. He quotes Psalm 41 verse 9. Now listen to the full verse. Here's the portion of the verse that Jesus quotes.

He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. The obvious Meaning of that is someone who eats bread with you is not someone, an enemy from the outside, but it was one who assumed to be a friend from the inside. That's the significance of one who ate bread with you. Not an outsider, an insider, and lifted up his heel against me." This is a picture that Jesus is painting of a horse that is poised to kick his master. So if you've been around horses, you know that some of them are disposed to kick, and that you have a fraction of a second of warning when they lift up their heel against you.

It's not like a single motion from ground to you. There is sort of a lifting up of the heel against, and it gives you maybe a second of notice. You better get moving when you see the heel lifted up against you. One who shared your meals with you, but who is poised to kick the Master. So that was what the portion of the verse Jesus quoted.

But listen to the whole verse. Listen to all of Psalm 41, 9. It even makes what Jesus is saying even more stark. Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me. So Jesus quotes that second half of the verse, Who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me." So Jesus quotes that second half of the verse.

Who ate my bread has lifted up my heel against me. The beginning of that verse just makes it even more stark. Even my own familiar friend whom I trusted. You are familiar to me. I was familiar to you.

I counted you as a friend. I trusted you. We know that Jesus has been carrying around the money box. He has been trusted, entrusted by Jesus even with the resources of Jesus and the disciples. There are three things I'll say about Jesus quoting Psalm 41 verse 9.

The first is this, Psalm 41 is a Psalm of David. Jesus is the Son of David. What does that mean? It means that King David, the mightiest king of Israel, was a type of Jesus Christ. In other words, God raised him up to foreshadow what Jesus would be and experience in many ways.

The mightiest king in the history of Israel was raised up by God to teach the people things about the real mightiest king of eternal Israel, God's people for all time, the Lord Jesus Christ. David points to Jesus Christ. David and his life are a prophetic type to point us to the mightiest eternal King of Israel. Jesus is the Son of David. So this being a Psalm of David tells us this is a prophetic type.

Listen to Peter in Acts chapter 1. In Acts chapter 1, they are down to 11 because Judas has committed suicide. So by the way, from our text, in 24 hours, both of the central figures in our text will be dead. 24 hours. Jesus will have died on the cross, Judas will have hung himself, and he will have committed suicide.

So, after that, there are eleven, and In Acts chapter 1, Peter proposes replacing Judas with someone who has been with them. They draw lots and choose Matthias to replace Judas. Here is what Peter says as he is suggesting this. Acts 1 verse 16, Men and brethren, this scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. So Peter is putting his finger right on this and saying, David said this of Judas.

He is identifying David and what he writes in Psalm 41, 9 as a prophetic type. Where did he get that? He got that from Jesus. He got that from Jesus quoting this here. So first, this is a Psalm of David.

Jesus is the son of David. What that means is that David was a prophetic type. Many of the events in David's life point forward to Jesus and are fulfilled in Jesus' life. Second, let's think this through. Who is really the author of Psalm 41.9?

Well, it's the Psalm of David. David is the author. But that's not the ultimate answer. Not for anyone who believes that the Bible is God's book. But People who believe that the Bible is God's revelation of truth to man believe that there are many authors in the books of the Bible, written across 1, 500 years, that really there is one author, and that author is God.

And that author is God. He's not only the author of Psalm 41 verse 9, inspiring, perfectly inspiring David, but he's the author of every single verse in the Bible. So God is the answer to that question. Who is really the author of Psalm 41, 9? God, yes, but more specifically, the Word.

The Word. What do you mean the Word? Oh, I'm going back to the very beginning of the Gospel. In the beginning was the Word. Who was John the Gospel writer talking about?

The Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus' eternal Identity is as the Word of God. Before He ever took on flesh, He was the revelation of God, the giver of the Word, the Word. That being true, David was given this prophetic type by the Word, by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saying Jesus gave David Psalm 41.9 a thousand years before this night.

Jesus gave David the Psalm that Jesus is now quoting a thousand years before this night. Jesus didn't recently discover that Jesus was going to betray him. Jesus' knowledge is comprehensive. He knows it all. Jesus' knowledge is eternal.

He's always known it all. We've already seen this, at least a little snippet of it in John chapter 6 verse 70. John chapter 6 was probably a year earlier than the text we are studying today. Listen to John 6 verse 70. This is right after Peter said, you have the words of eternal life.

Jesus says, do you want to leave me like all these other people are leaving me? Jesus says, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to know and understand that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And here is John 6 verse 70, Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you the twelve and one of you as a devil." This is right after Peter said, we know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

We know that you are the promised Savior, the Son of the living God. Here again in John 6, a year before the betrayal, Jesus is drawing a distinction. There are eleven of you, one of you is a devil. So Jesus didn't stumble upon a note to a Pharisee. What will you give me if I betray him?

I can't believe it. No, This is not how this played out. Jesus' knowledge is comprehensive. He knows it all. Jesus' knowledge is eternal.

He has always known it all. In this prophetic type from Psalm 41.9, Jesus gives this picture of the horse poised to kick his master. This is exactly what Judas is. He hasn't kicked yet, but he's showing his heel. He's poised to kick his master.

Verse 19. Back to our text. Jesus continues, Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, You may believe that I am He." In this verse we have the purpose of Jesus revealing the betrayer. So if you have a handout and you're filling in blanks, purpose fills in the blank. The purpose of Jesus revealing the betrayer.

Why did he reveal that he was going to be betrayed? Why did he reveal the betrayer? Jesus could have known but not said. After all, he clearly didn't reveal the betrayer in order to thwart the betrayal. He doesn't thwart the betrayal.

He doesn't head off being betrayed so that he doesn't go to the cross. His intent is to go to the cross. He's not interested in saying, He's going to betray me unless you, 11, do something about Him. That cannot be what it is. That is not what it is.

So why does He reveal that He's going to be betrayed and who's going to be doing the betraying? Verse 19 tells us, To turn what might have eroded the faith of the other eleven into something that will actually build their faith. This is miraculous and wonderful. Miraculous and wonderful. What would erode the faith of the eleven like one of their own being the cause of Jesus' death, their master's death.

Can you imagine anything more dispiriting than that? Who would erode their faith? Well, Jesus takes this truth that under any other circumstance would erode their faith and turns it into something that will actually build their faith by telling them, here's what's getting ready to happen, it's not an accident. What a disciple maker this Jesus is. What a master this Jesus is.

He says, that when it does come to pass, when I am betrayed, you may believe that I am He." If you have one of the Bibles that puts words that were added by the translators in italics, They do it for meaning. They feel like the meaning will be harmed if they don't add a word that's not in the original language. In this case, not in the original Greek. You see that he is in italics. So that if you don't add the words that the translators added, you get this, that when it does come to pass, when I am betrayed, you may believe that I AM.

This could be a subtle allusion to the seven I AM statements in the Gospel of John, each one being a claim to being God, going back to Exodus chapter 3, when Moses before the burning bush, and he wants to know who he should tell the Israelites sent him, and God says, tell them, I AM sent you. The self-existent God. I AM THAT I AM. So all of those seven I AM statements are a claim to being God. Jesus could be subtly referring to that here.

But at the very least, it is a confirmation that He is everything that He has claimed to be. So that when this thing happens, you, the other eleven, will know that I am everything that I ever said that I am. That I am sent from God. That I am His Messiah. That I am God.

Well, what does that mean for me? First, these marks of the Messiah in the life of Jesus mean that I should have every confidence that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be. Remember, every week practically we hit a mark of the Messiah. What is that? It is something that hundreds or thousands of years earlier, God said would be true of the Savior that He's sending, so that you would know that this is really the Savior, and not the other ones who claim to be the Savior, but have none of the marks.

All of these marks of the Messiah give me the confidence that Jesus is who He said He is. It doesn't make sense to put your faith to throw yourself upon and entrust yourself to one who doesn't bear the marks of the Messiah. Jesus bears them one after another after another after another after another. He bears them all. It gives me confidence to believe that He is who he said he was.

But also, and something which is very important, I am being taught that this disciple maker is more than a thousand years ahead of me in planning my life. In this text, I am being taught that this disciple maker, the Lord Jesus Christ, this master, is more than a thousand years ahead of me in planning my life. Is that useful information? You betcha. Because things are sneaking up on me all the time.

There are things that are out of the blue to me, but this gives me confidence that over a thousand years ago Jesus knew all about that. Actually, He is sending those things. This disciple maker not only knows about them, He is sending them. They are sneaking up on me, but they are not sneaking up on Him. Do you need to know that if you are in Christ?

You better believe it. It changes your whole outlook on life. When the world is going from one crisis to another in life, people who have learned the lesson of this verse, of this text, know that their master, the one who is bringing them along as a disciple, a learner, a pupil, a student, is more than a thousand years ahead in the planning of all these things. This knowledge takes the things that would otherwise erode my faith and sets me looking to my Master. So all these things coming to you, they are sneaking up on you, but they are not sneaking up on Jesus.

If you didn't learn the lesson of this text, these life circumstances would erode your faith, but when you learn the lesson of this text, it sets you looking to your Master. Jesus, what do you have in mind? I know you are a thousand years ahead of me and more. You are eternally ahead of me. So, this is out of the blue for me.

I didn't expect this. I didn't see this coming. But You not only saw it coming, you sent it to me. I'm looking to you. What should I do?

What should I say? What should I be thinking? What are you doing in my life? We'll be happier if we learn the lesson of this text. I know that.

Verse 20. Jesus continues, Most assuredly I say to you, He who receives whomever I send, receives me. And he who receives me, receives him who sent me. In this verse we have the implications of receiving or rejecting an ambassador. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks.

Ambassador fills in the blank. The implications of receiving or rejecting an ambassador. Now we have at the beginning of the verse another Amen, amen. When we see in the Gospel of John, and we see it over and over and over again, most assuredly I say to you, that's a translation. If we saw a transliteration of the Greek, what we would see is, amen, amen, I say to you.

So we're used to amen at the end to kind of punctuate and say so be it, but at the beginning, the double amen at the beginning is to put you on notice that something really important is getting ready to be said. He is signaling that he is about to say something really important. Here it is. Jesus knows the hour. He knows that the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

That was in the last quarter's recitation text or memory text. Jesus knows what's about to happen. He's about to die and be raised from the dead and ascend into heaven to sit at His Father's right hand." Overwhelmingly Jesus has been proclaiming the Gospel. He sent them out a couple of times to preach, but He was really preparing the places where they were preaching for Him to come behind them. Overwhelmingly, He has carried the banner for His gospel.

Now, He is going to be physically absent, and as His Father sent Him, as God the Father sent God the Son, He is now sending His learners, His students, His disciples. And within that framework, Jesus not being physically present, but sending ambassadors into the world, He is essentially saying, this is how it's going to work. I send you to proclaim the good news. I send you to proclaim terms of peace with a world that deserves the condemnation of God, but I offer peace to the world through my blood. I send you with the good news and a person who receives you actually receives me.

And in receiving me, that person receives the Father who sent me. Notice it is at an individual level. It is at an individual level. He who receives, or she who receives. Not they who receive.

Of course, groups of people receive Jesus, but they don't receive Him as a group. Your family doesn't receive Jesus. Individuals in your family, though they all might receive Jesus, it is at an individual level that Jesus is received or rejected. By the way, we learned from Luke 10.16 that the opposite is also true. Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 10.16.

He who hears you hears me. He who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. So it's exactly the same thing but instead of with receiving it's rejecting. So both sides of the coin are equally true. To receive an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ is to receive him.

To reject an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ is to reject him. To receive him is to receive the Father who sent him. To reject him is to reject the Father that sent him. Both chains going up to God the Father who sent God the Son to send His disciples into the world to offer terms of peace to rebels. Jesus wants the eleven to understand the plan isn't derailing, The plan is unfolding.

The plan isn't derailing. The train isn't going off the tracks. The train is exactly on the tracks. Jesus is about to die. Jesus knows he's about to die.

He knows that the hour has come for Him to be glorified through His work on the cross. From the outside, It looks like his death will be a result of the betrayal. Are you with me? You're following me. From the outside, if you didn't know what the disciples now know, just outsiders would say, Jesus died because Judas turned him over.

Cause and effect. The cause is the betrayal of this disciple resulted in the death of Jesus. No, not true. It's not the plan derailing, it is the plan unfolding. A plan that existed more than a thousand years beforehand.

David said so. That was part of an eternal plan. And it was part of an eternal plan that Jesus would no longer be physically present on the earth, but would send Spirit-filled ambassadors in his stead to preach his word, to proclaim his word. Like heralds, ambassadors, to go out saying, claim his word. Like heralds and ambassadors to go out saying, the king has come and this is the terms of peace with this great king.

So the application to you and me. When the triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, when the triune God who has an eternal plan sends an ambassador to speak to you, a lot is riding on your individual response. You can't take credit from the person beside you. You can't blame the person beside you. When the triune God sends an ambassador to speak His words to you.

Not the ambassador's words, the King's words. When the King of heaven sends an ambassador to speak with you, a lot is riding on your individual response. So that if you hear the words of the king in a crowd, you can't take credit for the person next to you, nor can you blame the person next to you. It all rides on your response. Do you receive the ambassador in the words of the king?

Do you reject the ambassador in the words of the king? Listen to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2.13. Just listen. It's only going to be this one verse. Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 2, 13.

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe." Paul says, we thank God all the time that when you heard our preaching, you had the grace to see that it wasn't really our words, but that we were sent as ambassadors to speak the words of the King, and you received it as the word of God, not as me speaking to you. That is what Jesus is saying in our text. Friends, See past me. This doesn't mean that anyone who claims to speak for God really speaks for God. God in His Word has told us how we recognize.

When The ambassador says things that are consistent with the book. And when the ambassador has a life that says he believes the things that he is saying, When his life is consistent with the things in the book, then you receive him as an ambassador. This is just not anybody who claims to be sent from God. No. Are the words consistent with the book?

Is the life consistent with the words? The answers are yes. You should tremble to reject that ambassador that was sent to you by God. It is the same as rejecting Jesus Christ and when you have done that you have rejected God the Father. Who will you appeal to then?

Having rejected the one sent to you, it means that you've rejected Christ, which means that you've rejected God the Father. Who will you appeal to then? When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, Most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved.

Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus' breast he said, Lord who is it? Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. Having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, The son of Simon. In these verses, Jesus identifies the betrayer to John.

So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, it fills in the blank. Jesus identifies the betrayer to John. Look at verse 21. It says that Jesus was troubled in spirit. We see this language, actually this exact Greek word that in each instance is rendered or translated troubled.

We see it three times in the Gospel of John. We see it in chapter 10 when Lazarus has died and his sister Mary is weeping. It says that Jesus groaned in spirit and was troubled. It's the same Greek word as our text. He saw the human suffering associated with death, and he groaned in spirit and was troubled.

In chapter 12, Jesus said, now my soul is troubled. In thinking about being made sin and going to the cross bearing the weight of sin, his soul was troubled. The exact same Greek word. Now in chapter 13, Jesus is troubled on the reflection that one who has always been assumed to be a friend, who has shared meals with him, lived with him, had been a trusted friend to him. Jesus is troubled in spirit.

There is a notion that because of the truth of the sovereignty of God, godliness equals dispassionate distance from every circumstance. Probably felt that. Wow, I'm really, I'm so troubled about the things that are going on, but I know that God's sovereign, God had to have sent these things so they wouldn't be upon me. So feeling like it's sinful to have the feelings of grieving about the circumstances that have come upon you, troubled in spirit and having a sense of guilt about being troubled in spirit. That Godliness would mean that you had a dispassionate distance from it.

This blows that up. That is not New Testament Christianity because It is not modeled by the sinless Son of God. Jesus was actually troubled in spirit. Jesus did not always have a dispassionate distance from the circumstances of life. And if you don't always have a dispassionate distance from the circumstances of life, You shouldn't feel guilty about that.

The Son of Man was a man of sorrows. That's a fulfillment of Isaiah 53 verse 3. He's called the man of sorrows. How's that for dispassionate distance? Never.

The Bible assumes we will be grieved by life circumstances sometimes. What then? Back to verse 12. I don't even have to turn a page in my Bible. Your Bible might be arranged a little differently, but you don't have to go back far.

Look at chapter 12, 27, and the beginning of 28. John 12, 27, and the beginning of 28. Jesus says, Now my soul is troubled, same word, and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father glorify your name." Jesus felt deeply about sin in the world and the consequences of sin in the world.

But his conduct was governed by looking to his father. So he didn't have a dispassionate distance. He was actually grieved about sin in the world and the consequences of sin. And there was nothing wrong with that. But it didn't govern his conduct.

That's the rule for us. Not to have a dispassionate distance, that would not be Christ-like. But also not to be governed by those feelings. Not okay To be governed by those feelings, driven by those feelings, made fearful by those feelings. For us that is faith.

That is faith. That is looking beyond the life circumstances and even in grieving, being troubled in spirit, seeing that there is a God who governs all these things. Now the disciples hear what Jesus is saying. They're perplexed. They don't know what to make of what Jesus is saying.

They're looking at one another. Now We know the end of the story and we've read the gospels many times. Each of the gospels having an account. Matthew does, Mark does, Luke does, we're in John's account of the betrayal of Jesus. How many times have you read this account?

Because we are so familiar with it, we sort of think, imagine Jesus says, I'm going to be betrayed, and everybody looks at Judas. That's not how it happened. They didn't know what to make of this. No one was more likely than the other. So they look around the room, not to one guy who they, I knew it was him.

No, there's not that sense. They're looking around the room at one another. How could it be any one of us? I believe the key to rightly understanding this is to understand that we have a special vantage point. You have a privilege as the Gospel reader that the guys in the room didn't have.

You have a special vantage point where you see everything and hear everything. The men in the room don't have that privilege. If you think they all have your vantage point as a Gospel reader, the passage ends up making no sense. That would play out like this. Peter wants to know who it is, so he sort of gives the signal to John who is beside Jesus, like, ask him, ask him.

So John says, Jesus, who is it? Everyone hears John say, Jesus, who is it? Jesus says, I have a signal. It's the one who I give the morsel of bread to. He dips it.

He gives it to Judas. Now everybody knows. If it happens like that, this text makes no sense. What is it? Now try this.

Peter is a special friend of John, who is a special friend of Jesus. By the way, when you see the disciple whom Jesus loved, if you go to the last six verses in John and just look at it carefully, the implications are the disciple whom Jesus loves is John. I don't know how you look at the last six verses of this Gospel and come away with any other conclusion, this is John. Peter has a special relationship with John who has a special relationship with Jesus. John is right next to Jesus.

And they are not sitting in chairs like we would sitting in chairs. Almost certainly they are reclining. The words of the text essentially say they are reclining. Now, I have never really understood this. Picture it this way.

They are reclining with their feet away from the table. When you look up pictures of the disciples reclining at the Last Supper, what you find is that they are either on their stomachs with their heads closest to the table, or they are on their side with their heads closest to the table. In either case, the feet are away from the table. John is right next to Jesus. So they're around the table.

They're reclining. Their feet are at the furthest point from the table of anything else in their body. Peter wants to know. He has a special relationship to John who is right next to Jesus. He has a special place at this feast, by the way.

This is a special place right next to Jesus. This is a coveted place that John has. It's probably why he thought that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Peter gives him the signal. Not everyone sees Peter do that.

Peter makes eye contact with John and gives the signal. Some in the room are oblivious that Peter has even made that. Maybe someone notices. Certainly they all don't. John is there.

He leans back. It says, on the bosom of Jesus. When I read this, I'm American and that's cringeworthy. Let me just comfort you. At this time, in this culture, there is nothing cringeworthy about this.

The first time I went to Malawi, Mala said, there's something you're going to see, and there's something as an American you're going to misunderstand. You're going to see men walking and talking, holding hands. This is not America. There are no same-sex undertones at all associated with that. Friends do that all the time on the streets of Malawi.

So, it's cringeworthy for me as an American to see it, sort of like reading this text, but at that time in that culture, there is nothing cringeworthy about this. In the garden just a few hours later, when Judas brings the mob to apprehend Jesus, he is going to greet Jesus with a kiss. There is nothing cringeworthy about that. It is a holy kiss at that time in that culture. It was the sign because it wasn't unusual.

Do you understand that? Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss. That was the sign because it wasn't unusual. Had it been unusual, It wouldn't have been the sign. So, understand the culture.

John is right there, and in a hushed tone, he says, Jesus, who is it? And In an answer, Jesus in a hushed tone says, I'm going to dip a morsel in, and it's the person I give it to. Now, Jesus is the host of the feast. This is the Passover Supper. Jesus is the host of the feast.

He is the master of the disciples. These are not co-equals. Jesus is the host. The host of the feast would be at liberty to give tokens of honor and special friendship during the course of the feast. This is a token of honor and special friendship.

A normal part of a Jewish feast. The host giving tokens of honor and special friendship. So this is not a random sign, a random identification. As Jesus gives a special token of honor and friendship to Judas, he is identifying he is betraying me. So two things in play here.

The nearer the host, the closer and more honored. We see that with John. He's a disciple of Jesus' love. He's right there at the bosom of Jesus. When he just leans back, there he is.

To be able to ask in a hushed tone that is not heard by the others in the room, and for Jesus to answer in kind. The second thing in place here is that the host of the feast is at liberty to give tokens of honor and special friendship at the feast. We have the parable where Jesus says, when you go to a feast, seat yourself low and have the host call you up and do a place of honor. Don't go sit in the place of honor and then the host says, you're really in somebody else's seat. Go sit down there.

This tells us something about the feast that is being hosted. Last verses. Verses 27-30. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Satan entered Judas.

Then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, buy those things we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately, and it was night." These verses, Satan enters Judas and Judas immediately leaves. So if you're taking notes on the handout, enters, fills in the blanks.

Satan enters Judas and Judas immediately leaves. The text says that Satan entered Judas. I want to say two things about this. One, notice the progression in John. There is definitely an observable progression in what we see.

In chapter 12, we learn that Judas has been stealing from the money box. He has been entrusted with the resources of Jesus and the disciples, and we are told by the Gospel writer in chapter 12 he was stealing. When Mary lavishes the really expensive spike nard on Jesus at their dinner, Judas says, why did you do that? We could have sold that for so much money and given it to the poor. And John the Gospel writer interjects and said he doesn't care about the poor.

He was stealing from the money box. So we got that information in chapter 12. Verse 2 of our chapter said, And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. The first thing we know is that Judas had been entrusted with the money box and that he was stealing. The second thing that we know is that the devil had put it into the heart of Judas to betray him.

In fact, when you trace this out in the other gospels, by the time this meal happens, Judas is already gone and offered to betray him to the chief priests and the scribes and they've agreed on a price. The devil put it into his heart. Now At the end of the supper, Satan enters him. So there is an observable progression. Compromise in life, demonic suggestion that is not resisted but taken up and nurtured.

And here at the end Satan enters him. Secondly, let's come at it from the farthest point possible. Do you all understand what I mean by that? I think in this case it helps us if we go to the complete other end of the spectrum and ask this question, can we resist the operations of the Holy Spirit? Our text is talking about Judas and Satan, but I'm saying let's talk about me in the Holy Spirit.

Can I resist the operations of the Holy Spirit? Absolutely. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5.19 says, Do not quench the Spirit. Paul is writing to Christians and he says, Don't quench the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 4 verse 30, Paul says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Again, writing to Christians, don't you grieve the Holy Spirit, Christian. So we know that we can resist the operations of the Holy Spirit. Here's what James says in James 4 verse 7, Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. This is exactly what Jesus did when he was tempted in the wilderness.

He submitted to God and resisted the devil. The devil got no foothold. He came with a three-fold temptation and he didn't gain a millimeter because Jesus submitted to God and resisted the devil and the devil fled from him. Judas did exactly the opposite. He entertained the temptations, there was compromise in his life, he gave a foothold, he gave permission, and the devil came in and ruled him like a tyrant.

This is not mystical. This is not the devil out of nowhere overpowering this poor innocent soul. That is not the observable progression we get in the Gospel of John. No, it is not. Now Jesus says, what you do, do quickly.

What is this? Is Jesus encouraging Judas to betray him? What you do, do quickly. No. Romans 1 talks about the downward spiral, the death spiral.

In Romans 1, Paul says that rejecting God leads to that foolish heart being darkened. When you take the things that you cannot deny, that there is a maker of heaven and earth, When you reject God at that fundamental level, it leads to your foolish heart being darkened. That's Romans 1, 21. And that leads to God giving you up to your lusts. Giving you up to your natural inclinations.

If you reject God, if you will not receive God as God and be thankful to Him, He'll just turn you over to your natural inclinations and you'll destroy yourself. This is the death spiral that starts with a rejection of God. He is patient but at some point he'll give you up and your foolish heart will be darkened, meaning you'll lose sensitivity and the ability to even discern truth from falsehood. And he will just give you over to your natural inclinations and you will do all things you would never imagine that you would do and it culminates in Romans 1.28. Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting.

That's exactly what is happening here. As Jesus says, what you do, do quickly. If you are bent on destruction, go be destroyed. I give you up to it. The disciples don't understand what is happening.

Some think that he's saying go buy the things we need for the feast. Remember, the Passover isn't an end-all event. It is the start of an eight-day event, all of which you would be feasting and need food. So some think he has been entrusted with the resources he is supposed to go buy for the week. This tells you how little they know of what's getting ready to happen.

They think, oh yeah, we need to buy for the rest of the week. There could be a rest of the week in that sense. Jesus dies in a day. Some think that he's been dispatched to give to the poor. It was customary during the feast to give to the poor so that they could participate in the feast.

And as an act of charity. Applications, I'll give you three. By the way, some commentators make a big deal out of it was night, maybe, I don't know. At the very least, it's a time marker. I think It's just a time marker.

I don't read a lot into that. You can read a lot into that. You're probably teaching truth from the wrong verse. Three applications. Do yourself a favor.

Stop any games you're playing. Stop them. You might have been playing them so long that you don't even recognize them anymore. You have on the authority of this text, the truth that Jesus' knowledge is comprehensive and eternal. He knows it all.

He's always known it all. You might have even fooled yourself. You've not fooled Him for one second. Not for a second. Listen to Hebrews 4.13.

There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." You thought, I have all these cloaks to hide these things. You are naked. You are naked before Him. There is no cloak for hiding anything. No creature is hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.

We will give an account. Judas and Jesus would meet again in the garden as Judas betrayed him, and then they will never meet again until Judas stands before him to be judged. And Jesus knew it all the time. He knew he was the son of perdition. He knew he was the devil in John chapter 6.

He knew he was the devil a thousand years earlier when he gave David Psalm 41. The joke is never on the one who knows it all. 2. Take heart, the disciple maker is a thousand years ahead of you. If you're a disciple, if you really have, thrown yourself upon the mercy of God by believing in His Son Jesus Christ, He's a thousand years ahead on planning the events of your life.

Today, tomorrow, every day you're going to live. He's a thousand years ahead. He has your best interests and his glory in mind. Isn't this such a comfort? He's a thousand years ahead.

I only say a thousand years because it helps me to have something concrete like that. It's from eternity past. Number three. Guard your heart and life. The slope is slippery.

You heard about the slippery slope. What does that mean? That slope is a hill. If you're on a slippery slope, you've been sledding, and there are the times where the run gets really slick, and you can hardly get back up to the top. That's the slippery slope, meaning you better watch putting your feet on that hill.

You'll slide to the bottom, but you didn't intend to slide to the bottom, but you'll slide to the bottom and then getting back up is a whole other matter. You think it's just a little compromise. I'll rebound quickly from the compromise I'm contemplating. It's a slippery slope. For Judas, it might have started with stealing from the money box, and then entertaining demonic suggestions.

Instead of submitting to God and resisting the devil, he didn't submit to God and he nurtured those demonic suggestions. At the end, Satan enters him and drags him into hell. He'll be taking his own life and throwing himself into hell in 24 hours. God, thank you for your word. Thank you for not withholding anything that we need to know from us, but for giving us such clear terms of peace and such clear warnings to keep us away from the things that would destroy us.

I pray that you would use these things to make us wise in Jesus name, Amen.