"Lost In Transitions"
John 13:21-38
Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples. He is troubled, and tells his disciples that one of them is going to betray him. He dips his bread and gave it to Judas indicating he is the betrayer. His disciples misinterpret this, however thinking Jesus is sending him off to do a finance task, because he was the treasurer. Jesus begins to speak with his disciples and gives them a new commandment – that they love one another. By this, Jesus claim, people will know they are followers of Jesus.
1) "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” (v.21)
a) What does it tell you about Jesus, that knowing all along that Judas would betray him, he still included him in his closest circle of friends and did not treat him unkindly?
i) Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him yet he still treated Judas equally with the other 11 disciples.
ii) Jesus showed us how to treat those who will betray us (although we may not know who they are). When one betrays us, we are to follow Jesus’ example with Judas, including serving them and “washing their feet” so to speak.
iii) This is not surprising considering Jesus commanded his disciples to love their enemies.
iv) Matthew 5:43 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
v) Romans 12:14 – “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”
vi) Proverbs 25:31 – “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,”
vii) Loving your enemies and praying for those that persecute us is a commandment, not an option.
b) The disciples were unaware that Judas would betray Jesus. Judas must have masqueraded his true intentions very well. What does this tell you about Judas?
i) It seems that Judas was good at maintaining an outward appearance that was contrary to who he truly was.
ii) It is our tendency to make sure that we look good outside while on the inside we are rotten. We do this for a few reasons: We want to appear better than we really are. We hold people’s opinions about us higher than God’s. We find our identity in other people and not God. We don’t want to expose our “dirty laundry” for fear of losing respect, authority, and admiration.
iii) 1 John 4:20 – “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
iv) Matthew 6:1 – “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
v) Matthew 15:7-9 – “you hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
vi) Matthew 23:27-28 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
c) Is your outwardness a reflection of who you truly are inside?
d) If your outward “righteousness” is not reflective of your heart, have you asked God to change you?
e) Will you be honest and find a trustworthy friend to help you be accountable
f) Are you willing to be disciple by someone?
2) "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.”
i) Jesus is referring to Isaiah 43:9
ii) Isaiah 49:3 – “And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’”
iii) Jesus’ glorification is tied to his death.
iv) We tend to think that glorification is being out in front seeking attention and praises.
v) Jesus shows us otherwise, he humbles himself and willingly dies to be glorified.
b) Are you seeking ways to glorify yourself by being “on stage” so to speak instead of “behind the scenes”?
c) Are you humbling yourself among your brothers and sisters in Christ?
d) How can you show humility in your church? In your community group? At work? At home?
e) Jesus is about to die, yet he still gives his disciples very important instructions.
i) Knowing he’s about to be betrayed and turned over to be killed, Jesus still serves his disciples by giving them instructions.
ii) Jesus faced his death with courage (it doesn’t mean he didn’t want to die but it means he was obedient).
iii) Jesus had no doubt that the hand of God was in all of this.
f) Are you able to serve those around you in difficult times like Jesus?
g) In difficult times, do you put your needs above others in such a way that it shuts you down from being able to serve t hose in need?
h) When you’re facing certain difficulties, do you trust that God is sovereign and his hand is at work, even though the circumstances are not pleasant?
i) Romans 8:28-29 - “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
ii) Romans 5:3-5 – “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
iii) James 1:2-4 – “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
3) "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (34-35)
i) The commandment Jesus gives is based on a previous commandment found in the law of Moses that commands the people to love God with all one’s powers and to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
ii) Leviticus 19:18 – “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
iii) Deuteronomy 6:5 – “You shall love the Lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
iv) Jesus takes this commandments and doesn’t do away with them, but he adds to them.
v) In fact, in Matthew 5:43-48 he adds to love your enemies.
vi) The newness of Jesus’ new commandment is not to love your neighbor, but in loving one another as Jesus loved his disciples.
vii) In light of the fact that Jesus is about to die, saying, “just as I have loved you,” implies even willing to lay down your life for another.
viii) John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
b) Are you willing to love one another in your community group as Jesus has said, even willing to give up your own life?
c) Jesus said that people will know we are his disciples by displaying our love for one another. What does this mean in regards to our hearts and actions?
i) Showing love for one another can be fake, like in the case of Judas
ii) Exterior expressions, actions are not always reflective of a true disciple of Jesus.
iii) We are to love one another because there has already been a heart transplant inside of us. Only then, can we truly show love for one another that will mark us as true disciples of Christ.
iv) Christ is concerned about what you believe, but even more so he’s concerned that your actions reflect a true heart of worship.
v) We can read God’s word all we want but until we let the knowledge transform our daily living, only then will we be able to truly show we are followers of Christ.
vi) James 1:22 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
vii) Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
viii) Romans 2:13 – “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
d) Are you showing the world that you are a follower of Christ in your actions that express love for others in the body?
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