That You Might Believe I Am

(John 13:18-30)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Last time,
We saw Jesus
At the Passover Feast with His disciples
How He began His teaching at that time
With an example of humility and love
By washing His disciples feet.

We saw this was something

That Jews wouldnt usually do
Except in the case
Of showing hospitality to strangers
Jesus was reminding us
That His disciples
That we
Are only pilgrims and strangers
Passing through this world
This isnt our permanent home:
Heaven is.

On those occasions when foot washing was practiced

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The lesser would always wash the greaters feet
Not the other way around.
When it was the other way around,
It was an act of the greatest humility.
Jesus
Who is God in human nature;
The Lord of the universe
Humbled Himself to wash His disciples feet
To teach us that we should humble ourselves
To wash each others feet
That we should love
And minister to one another.

But He also washed their feet

To show them how much He loved them
Jesus was about to shed His blood
To lay down His life
That He might wash them
That He might wash us from our sins.

B. Preview.
Last time, we also saw that more than once
John reminded us that there was one present
Who wouldnt be cleansed by that sacrifice,

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The only one there that didnt belong to Jesus:
And that was Judas.
John wrote in verse 2, During supper, the devil . . . already put into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him.
Jesus said in verse 10-11, You are clean, but not all of you. For He knew the
one who was betraying Him.

John knew Judas Iscariot was Jesus betrayer

When he wrote this Gospel.
But it wasnt until this Passover meal
That He would first discover it.

This morning,
We see Jesus tell His disciples
That He would be betrayed
So that when it happened
It would again confirm to them
That He is God.

This evening,
Well see this was part of Gods plan
To glorify His Son.

II. Sermon.
A. First, Jesus predicts that one among His disciples would betray Him.
1. He picks up now from where He left off in verses 10-11,
Where He had said to His disciples,

He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and
you are clean, but not all of you. For He knew the one who was betraying
Him; for this reason He said, Not all of you are clean.
Jesus told His disciples
That their sins had already been forgiven
Through faith in Him.

Remember the effects of His crucifixion

Were applied backward
To all who had faith
He hadnt been crucified yet,
But His disciples were already clean
Just as its been applied forward
Since the time of His crucifixion.
His death still has the power to forgive
If you are willing to turn from your sins,
Trust and follow Him.

Jesus said they were all clean, except for one.

We saw He left that theme for a few moments
To explain the example He had just given them;
But now He returns to it.
We read in verse 18, I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have
chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, HE WHO EATS MY
BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.
Jesus knew who among them belonged to Him

Those the Father had given Him,

Those He had chosen to be His disciples
But He also knew who didnt.

Jesus told the twelve earlier in His ministry,

After many of those following Him left
Because of His teaching regarding eating His body and blood,
Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? (John
6:70).
He didnt discover this at some point in His ministry,
He knew about it from the beginning.

He knew not only that Judas didnt belong to Him

But that Judas was going to betray Him.
He says in the same context,
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and
who it was that would betray Him (v. 64).

He knew this because it was prophesied

In our passage, Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9,
Which we read earlier in our call to worship,
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his
heel against me (Ps. 41:9)
And He knew more specifically who it would be
Because it was revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit.

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We might pause here and ask a few questions:
a. Knowing it was certain that someone would betray Him,
So that Jesus might go to the cross,
Was it certain that it would be Judas?
The answer is yes.
It had to be one of the twelve
As was prophesied.

Jesus purposely picked each of the twelve

Who would be His close disciples.

Weve just seen that He knew

Those who were His
Eleven out of the twelve.

That means there was only one left

Who could have betrayed Him: Judas.

b. Does that mean that God

Made Judas do something against his will?
Did He force him to betray Jesus?
No.
Judas betrayed Jesus
Because he was a thief
And wanted money

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Which he could get if he handed Jesus over.
God never forces anyone to sin
He simply uses the sin that is already
In the hearts of His creatures
To accomplish His good purposes.
He did here what He did with Pharaoh.

We cant blame God for our sins.

Jesus told Peter in advance
As well see this evening
That he would deny Him
And yet when Peter did so, he wept
Because he knew had no one to blame but himself.

2. But does that mean that Jesus

Was happy about Judas choice?
Not in every way.
We read in verse 21, When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit,
and testified and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray
Me.

Jesus knew He had to be betrayed by one of His own,

So that He might go to the cross.
Jesus rejoiced in the fact
That His Fathers plan was moving forward
Again, as well see this evening.

But He didnt necessarily rejoice

In what this would mean for Judas.

Jesus was troubled by this. Why?

Because one of His disciples
Was going to betray Him;
Because one of His creatures
A man made in the image of God
One of His inner circle
Whom He had loved and ministered the Gospel to
For three and a half years,
One who had even preached the Gospel
And did miracles in His name
Was throwing Him and heaven away
For thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15).

Sadly, many reject Jesus

For far less than Judas
Some do it for nothing.
We need to see here
That whatever we might be tempted
To accept in His place
It isnt worth it
Jesus is far more valuable

Than anything we could want or imagine.

Dont let the devil or your flesh convince you
That the fame or wealth of this world
Is in any way better than He.

Heres another question we should ask:

Is Jesus happy when people reject Him
And end up being condemned
Because its part of His plan? No.
He is troubled by it.
He says to the Jews in Ezekiel 18:32, For I have no pleasure in the death of
anyone who dies, declares the Lord GOD. Therefore, repent and live.
And He says to them in 33:11, As I live! declares the Lord GOD, I take no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his
way and live.
Our Lord doesnt rejoice
In the destruction of any of His creatures.
He calls everyone to repent and live.
But when they dont, its equally true
That He does take pleasure in justice being served
When those who have sinned and refuse to repent
Are justly punished for their crimes.

There is a very real sense in which

The Lord desires the salvation of all men.

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Thats why He commands
That His Gospel be offered to everyone.
Thats why when we share it
We can know that Jesus is sincere in His promise
To give eternal life to them
If they repent and believe.
We can also know that He is troubled
When they refuse His offer
And die in their sins.

If you havent receive His offer,

That troubles Him as well
He doesnt want you to perish;
He will not be pleased by your death.
Turn from your sins.
Receive Him now,
And He will receive you with open arms.

3. Notice that Jesus wasnt the only One

Who was troubled by His impending betrayal
The disciples were as well.
John writes that they began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which
one He was speaking (v. 22).

Weve already seen

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How Jesus told them earlier
That one of them was a devil.
Maybe after all this time
And all they had been through together
They had forgotten about this.
But now theyve been reminded
And looking at each other
Were wondering who it might be.

Peter wanted to know so badly,

He signaled the one closest to ask Jesus.
We read in verses 23-25, There was reclining on Jesus bosom one of His
disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to
him, Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking. He, leaning back thus on
Jesus bosom, said to Him, Lord, who is it?
Its generally accepted
That John is that disciple
Referred to in his Gospel
As the one Jesus loved.
Since he was close to Jesus
Not only physically,
But also in our Lords heart
Peter asked him to ask Jesus.
And Jesus told him,
But apparently, John didnt get the chance

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To pass this information on
To any of the other disciples.
We read in verse 26-30, Jesus then answered, That is the one for whom I shall
dip the morsel and give it to him. So when He had dipped the morsel, He
took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan
then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, What you do, do
quickly. Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose
He had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had the
money box, that Jesus was saying to him, Buy the things we have need of for
the feast; or else, that he should give something to the poor. So after
receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.
No one understood what Judas was doing, except for John.
Jesus kept it a secret,
So they wouldnt try to stop him,
So that Jesus would be betrayed,
That He might be glorified.
Well look at this more this evening.

B. But if Jesus didnt want them to know who was betraying Him,
Why did He bring it to their attention at all?
It was so that when it happened as He said it would,
They would be firmly convinced who He really was.
Jesus told us in verse 19, From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so
that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.

1. Who is Jesus?
What did they need to believe about Him?
At the very least, that He is the Messiah.
But even more, that He is Yahweh,

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The great I AM, the God of Israel.

2. How important was it that they believe this?

Jesus had said earlier to the Jews in John 8:24, Therefore I said to you that you
will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your
sins.
It made the difference between eternal life or eternal death.

3. How important was this to the work

He was about to call them to do?
They needed to understand
Who it was they were to proclaim.
They also need to bear in mind
That since God was calling them to do it,
Those who received them and their message
Were receiving God
While those who rejected the Gospel
Were rejecting God.
Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send
receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me (13:20; cf.
12:44).

When one of their own would betray Jesus,

They would know who Jesus really was:
Because only God knows the future.

4. This is how we can know Jesus is God as well,

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And so what He tells us is the truth,

Because He can foretell the future:
Judas did betray Jesus, as He said.
He was condemned, crucified,
And raised from the dead on the third day, as He predicted.
Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD
As an act of judgment on the Jews
For their rejecting Him, as He foretold.

If Jesus is God, we can know

That what He has said
In His Word is true regarding everything,
But especially regarding salvation:
If we believe that He is God,
If we have turned from our sins,
Trusted Him as our Savior,
And submitted to Him as Lord
Because thats what we want to do
We can know we are saved,
That He will protect us in this world,
Be with us in the work He has given us to do,
And bring us safely to heaven.

We can also know

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That when we share the Gospel with others,

We are doing it on His behalf,
And when someone receives
What we have to say,
They are receiving Jesus,
And the Father who sent Him.

May the Lord use this

To help us see again
The high calling the Lord has placed on our lives
And the honor He has given us
In being His representatives to others. Amen.

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