Sermon Tone Analysis

John 13, verse 30, speaking of the betrayal of Judas says, /"Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately.

And it was night."/

John records something for us there many years after the fact that a burning, vivid image that stayed with him every time he remembered that night…that night in which Judas showed who he really was.

The hypocrisy now removed, the real Judas coming forth.

Even that night, John did not understand what Judas was up to, but later certainly he did.

And the one scene he remembers, Jesus has told Judas, "Whatever you do, do quickly," and Judas takes that piece of bread, and he leaves, and he opens that door.

And John sees as he goes out that it's dark it is pitch black.

Judas leaves the light.

The theme of John's Gospel so much that Jesus was the Light come into the world, and what a contrast that Judas chooses the darkness…that he has been with that Light, he has been with the other sharers of the Light, but he chooses the darkness.

In church circles, in fact in many circles, we speak of hypocrisy…hypocrisy from that old Greek word that spoke of the actor's mask.

The idea that you're pretending to be something you're really not.

The ultimate dark end of hypocrisy is betrayal.

It is thinking that a person is one's friend, one's close friend, only to discover that that close friend is actually that person's enemy.

Betrayal is the most hurtful of the feelings that you suffer when that truth is unveiled.

It is that portion of the discovery of unfaithfulness in a couple, the betrayal, the sense that you thought there was a trust, there was a closeness that really wasn't there.

It is that sense when you discover that someone has been cheating you, has been financially robbing you or a company you own or whatever the endeavor might be, someone you trusted…not a stranger…but someone has betrayed you.

Now Jesus knew His betrayer.

He knew what Judas was going to do, but the impact of Judas' actions was so powerful on all of the disciples that you cannot find a really flattering word about Judas in any of the gospel accounts.

He is always mentioned as the one who betrayed Jesus.

That night of betrayal in fact was so powerful that even the apostle Paul who wasn't there that night, when he is writing a letter later on to the Corinthians who have misused and abused the Lord's Supper, had turned it into something other than the memorial of the sacrifice Jesus had made for them, when he was trying to, I believe at least subtly, point out to them that they were being hypocritical in their observance of the Lord's Supper, that they came not to fellowship or to share in this meal but really to divide off into different groups…the wealthy over here, the poor over here…that they were in it for themselves and not for the memorial it was designed to be, even the apostle Paul notices that.

And when he describes the Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 11, he describes it this way: "On the night in which Jesus was betrayed, He took bread."

Oh betrayal!

Betrayal just undermines so much of what would otherwise be good Christian effort, good Christian ministry.

It undermines the focus the disciples had, the focus Paul wanted the Corinthians to have, and the focus we all need to have.

Such is the darkness of betrayal.

This morning none of us here feel as though we're the betrayer, but certainly we may feel we have suffered betrayal.

And in whatever side of this word you stand on this morning, I want us to look at how Jesus dealt with it.

I want us to look at the One who never betrays us, the One who is always faithful and true, how He deals with those who are less than they say they are.

It is the night when Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples.

They are enjoying the Paschal meal of the Passover.

They're gathered in a U-shaped, low table, sitting on the floor with their left elbows on the table as they surround this U-shaped table, their feet sticking out from behind the table or away from the table.

And with their left elbows on the table, they're able to use their right hand to eat the meal and to drink and so forth.

It also means they're just slightly angled toward their right side, and they sort of line up that way all the way across.

Jesus most likely is in the base of the U, perhaps in the center position…that is, the place of the host.

And Jesus serves as the Host at this meal.

He is the One blessing and breaking the bread which is the role that the host would do.

There are two honored positions there at that portion of the table.

There is the most honored position.

And actually the most honored position is to the left…just to the left and actually just slightly behind Jesus is the place of highest honor.

And to the right of Jesus is the place of second highest honor.

And then on it goes as the disciples wrap around this table in this upper room on this fateful night.

We pick up the story in verse 18 of John, chapter 13.

Jesus is speaking and 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.' 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."/

Jesus begins with the statement, "I want you to understand this," so when the future events transpire that Jesus knows are just imminently in front of them, that "When they happen, you'll understand I am who I said I was.

That I am He.

And that you in receiving Me have received the Father, and that you've not made a mistake on this.

There are going to be events, in other words, that are about to take place that will cause a lot of confusion.

Things aren't going to be going in a positive direction.

And just looking and judging on circumstances, you'll be tempted to think you've made a terrible mistake.

You'll be tempted to think that because of the present and temporal circumstances that you were wrong about the Messiah.

So I'm going to tell you ahead of time what is about to happen so that when it does happen, you'll know that I am He and your belief in Me was secure."

He says in verse 18, /"I do not speak concerning all of you.

I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled."/

Jesus says, "I know every one of you.

I know your heart.

I know what you're thinking.

I know what you're planning."

Now Judas has already met with the Pharisees.

He's already made his deal with them.

For 30 pieces of silver he is going to point out who Jesus is.

And just as a sideline, that in itself is a testimony of Jesus because Judas would have been well paid if he would have just told some dirt on Jesus, if he could have just let the Pharisees know of some things Jesus did in private that were less than messianic, if they could have just shared a dirty joke Jesus told, or that Jesus acted inappropriately in a certain way, or that He was blasphemous to the Father in a certain action He took, or that He did something that was less than stellar.

But the only thing Judas could do was point at Jesus.

The only thing he could do to give the Pharisees anything to grab a hold of was he could just simply identify who Jesus was.

There was nothing in Jesus' character, there was nothing in His history, there was nothing in His private conversations with the disciples that gave any indication of any secret tendencies or any subterfuge on His part, any plans to be profitable in what they were doing to do it for their own personal gain.

No! All he could do was just point to Jesus.

And for that they would give him 30 pieces of silver…the price of blood.

Jesus said this was to fulfill prophecy.

And it's so important the prophecy He speaks of.

It's actually out of Psalm 41 and verse 9. It's a statement of David who by the days of Jesus even became a type of the Messiah.

And the event that David is referring to is the betrayal of Ahithophel's following after David's son Absalom as he has usurped the throne of his father David.

When David would reflect on that, in Psalm 41 and verse 9, David said, /"Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me."/

This is the verse Jesus quotes…the last half of it at least.

And I wanted to bring your attention to the first half that set the context of this prophecy.

/"My…friend in whom I trusted."/

How powerful would those words be to Judas, a Jew who knew the Psalms, who knew the setting, who knew he was the Ahithophel on that fateful night.

And this wasn't just an enemy.

This wasn't the working of just a Pharisee.

This wasn't some people from the outside who were trying to attack and arrest and capture Jesus.

No, this was the work of someone who was close…His close, close friend.

And thus the betrayal.

That is what happens to us.

That is why betrayal is so awful.

It's one thing to expect someone who we're in competition with.

We can put up our defenses.

We can even accept those disappointments when they gain victories.

But when it's our closest confidant, when it's someone we have broken bread with, how difficult.

And how dark that moment really was.

So dark…as I said…the disciples never got over that betrayal.

They didn't get over the betrayal.

They weren't the ones Judas pointed to, but they so loved the Lord that even though this was part of the plan of God, they couldn't get over the betrayal.

Listen, you may be involved in an insidious work, you may be just hand in hand with Satan himself, and God may be using that very thing to bring about His glory, but it doesn't excuse you at all! It's still betrayal if you are betraying the trust of someone so close to you.

Verse 21 of John 13: /"When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit."/

I stopped at that phrase as I studied.

That is used a few times.

It's used of Jesus' response to how He sees the people grieving at the death of Lazarus.

This is more than just a perfunctory knowledge on Jesus' part.

He realizes His own death that is imminent in front of Him, and He realizes the awful nature of sin itself that it has its tentacles right in His own group.

My friends, if a disciple of Jesus Christ can so turn toward Satan that he betrays his own Lord, we need to humble ourselves and realize that this is not a message for somebody else.