Bible Studies, messages, prayer, group activities, fellowship.

Date: July 2nd – July 4, 2010

Location: Manoir D’Youville

Contact information: Sam – 613-883-1830

Key Verse: 13:34,35

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Good morning! In last week’s passage, Jesus showed his disciples the full extent of his love by humbly washing their feet. In doing this, Jesus set the example for us to follow. We must follow his example by loving and serving each another with humility and love as Jesus loved us.
In today’s passage, Jesus reveals two shocking events to his disciples—Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. These events must have weighed heavily on Jesus’ heart, but Jesus still loved his disciples to the end. Jesus gave them a new command to love one another. Love is the essence of Jesus’ ministry because love unites us with God and with other Christians in a community of love. May God help us to accept this new command in our hearts today and put it into practice.

First, Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal (18-30)

Look at verse 18. “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’” In this verse, Jesus predicted that he would be betrayed. Betrayal is always painful, but it is most painful when we are betrayed by someone who is close to us. Jesus had chosen the twelve disciples and shared deep fellowship with them for the past three years. He had just finished washing each of their feet. Jesus knew that one of these men would betray him, but Jesus was not bitter. He knew that it was God’s will, according to the Scriptures. Jesus even quoted Psalm 41:9: “He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.” Sharing bread together is the expression of intimate fellowship. Every week we have lunch fellowship after the Sunday worship service. We enjoy good food and fellowship together and become close friends. Judas shared this kind of fellowship with Jesus and the other disciples for three years. Jesus had loved Judas with humbleness and sacrifice, but Judas reacted by betraying Jesus to the religious leaders.

Some of us can understand Jesus’ pain to some extent because we loved and served someone for a long time only for them to leave. It is indeed painful when our love goes unappreciated. Jesus felt this pain more keenly than anybody ever could. But Jesus didn’t despair. He understood it as God’s will in fulfillment of Scripture. Whether he experienced sufferings or joys, he found the solution in the word of God. So Jesus continued to love Judas to the end.

Jesus also loved and cared for his other disciples to the end too. Let’s look at verse 19: “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.” Jesus was concerned for his other disciples. Judas’ betrayal would certainly be a shock, but Jesus wanted to use it as an opportunity to strengthen their faith. After they overcame the shock, they would remember what Jesus had told them in advance and it would strengthen their faith that Jesus is the Messiah. They would know that Jesus’ death wasn’t a terrible conspiracy of evil men, but it was God’s sovereign plan to save sinners. Look at verse 20. “I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” In the midst of the painful betrayal, Jesus was full of vision for his disciples. Jesus knew that many would accept the disciples’ testimony that Jesus is the Christ. Through Jesus, they would come to God and the knowledge of God would spread to the whole world. We see that even in a painful time of betrayal, God’s word and God’s world mission vision remained in Jesus’ heart. We learn from Jesus that in a painful event, we must come to the word of God. When we come to God, we can find God’s divine purpose in the event. God’s word gives us inner strength to overcome it. God’s word renews God’s vision in our heart so that we may continue in our mission. We must remember Jesus’ words and continue to preach the gospel by faith.

Look at verse 21. “After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.’” When Jesus predicted his betrayal, it was with intense anguish. Jesus loved Judas to the end and Jesus was a friend to Judas to the end. But he had to tell his disciples the truth that one of them would betray him. How did they respond? Verse 22 says, “His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.” The disciples were totally shocked by Jesus’ words. They stared at one another without saying a word. Food which was on its way to their mouths was stopped in mid-air. The news that one of them would betray Jesus was totally unexpected. It shows that the disciples didn’t really know each others’ spiritual condition. Until now, each of them had a personal relationship with Jesus but very little relationship with one another. Instead of understanding one another, praying for one another, and helping one another, they competed to push others out of the way and become the greatest. There was no community of love among the disciples. Without spiritual unity in love, no one was aware of what was happening in Judas’ heart. Satan could tempt Judas and no one noticed because there was no love relationship among the disciples.
Now let’s look at verses 23-25: “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, ‘Ask him which one he means.’ Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’” Peter and John took the initiative to ask who was going to betray Jesus. How did Jesus respond? Let’s look at verses 26-27a: “Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” Jesus didn’t state Judas’ name and single him out. Instead, Jesus loved him all the more and tried to help him to repent. In Jesus’ time, it was customary for the dinner host to show special honor to a guest by dipping a piece of choice bread in a dish and then handing it to him. By doing this gesture to Judas, Jesus made a personal appeal to him. Jesus exposed his sin problem openly and challenged him to repent. Judas didn’t have to accept the bread; he could have refused the bread, saying, “I don’t want bread; I want eternal life.” But he took the bread. Judas rejected the love of Jesus, even when the bread of Jesus was in his hand.

What happened next? Verse 30 says, “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.” As soon as Judas took the bread, he left Jesus and went outside into the night. Light and darkness are key words in John’s gospel. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) Judas left the light of the world and went into the darkness. Judas had lived with Jesus and was trained by Jesus. But the problem is that Judas followed Jesus without making a personal commitment of love to Jesus. Slowly he began to love the world more than Jesus. Satan used his unrepentant heart to capture him as his instrument. We should not follow Judas’ example. We should follow Jesus’ example. Jesus lived a life of love. He loved his disciples to the end. We have a choice to live in darkness or live in love.

Second, Jesus’ new command to love one another (31-38)

What did Jesus say when Judas was gone? Look at verses 31-32. “When he was gone, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.’” In the midst of his sorrow and anguish of heart, Jesus glorified God. Here “glorified” means reveals the love of God. Jesus did this by loving his betrayer to the end. Jesus would do this most of all through his death on the cross.
Look at verse 33. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going you cannot come.” It was now the time for Jesus’ to depart from his disciples. Jesus knew how much they would long for him and look for him when he was gone. But he told them very clearly that they would not be able to come with him. They needed to remain in the world and carry out the gospel mission. God had called them to be apostles and witnesses of Jesus. They should preach the name of Jesus throughout the whole earth. But Jesus would not be with them in body. Perhaps the disciples’ heart sank when they heard this news. They may have thought, “How can we do anything without Jesus?”

Jesus understood his disciples. It is true that they were very young and without Jesus they could do nothing for God. Therefore, Jesus gave them a new command. If they obeyed this new command, they could work together for the glory of God. What is this new command? Let’s read verses 34-35 together: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus’ command was to love one another. Until now the disciples had only concentrated on their personal love relationship with Jesus. Now it was time for them to learn to love one another. Jesus wanted his disciples to form a community of love as coworkers and brothers in Jesus. This community of love is very important to carry out the work of God. When this love of Jesus circulated among them, they could have Jesus in their midst and reveal Jesus’ love to the world. Even though Jesus would not be with them in the flesh, the Spirit of Jesus, which manifests the holy love of God, would circulate among them. The Spirit of Jesus’ love would mark them as unique among all people in the world. The Spirit of Jesus’ love would melt the hearts of people until the message of the gospel could be preached to all people of the whole world.
Let’s read verse 34 again: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus called this command a new command, but at first it appears just like the old command from Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” But the old command differs in the standard of love. The old standard of love was “…love your neighbor as yourself,” but now Jesus clearly said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” It means that the new standard is Jesus’ love. The disciples must love one another with the same love that Jesus had showed them. So what is Jesus’ love? Jesus’ love seems endless like an ocean and difficult to describe. From today’s passage and last week’s passage, we can find several characteristics of Jesus’ love.
First of all, Jesus’ love is sacrificial. Human love is based on self-interest and mutual benefit. It follows a give-and-take mentality. But Jesus’ love is sacrificial. He humbled himself to become flesh and be born as a baby in a manger. He gave of himself to love and serve his disciples, even washing their feet like the lowest servant. He sacrificed his very life and shed his blood on the cross. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Out of his sacrificial love, Jesus laid down his life so that we may be saved and become his children. When I was 19 years old, I lived for 6 months with Pastor Samuel and Rebecca’s family when I was in a time of spiritual crisis. For those 6 months, they served me with three delicious meals everyday, drove me to work in the morning, and endlessly shared God’s word with me. They didn’t ask for even one dollar of rent. Through their sacrificial love, I could understand Jesus’ sacrifice and accept Jesus’ sacrificial love.
Second of all, Jesus’ love is unconditional. He loved his disciples who followed him and he also loved Judas the betrayer and his enemies who condemned him to the cross. His love didn’t depend on others’ condition or his own condition. Even when he was hours away from his crucifixion, he showed his disciples the full extent of his love (John 13:1).
Finally, Jesus’ love is forgiving. Human beings seem to have a spiritual radar for other people’s sin problems. When we discover them, we cannot love them. But Jesus loved all kinds of sinners with forgiving love. When a woman caught in the act of adultery was brought before Jesus, he acknowledged that she deserved to be condemned, and yet he showed her deep forgiveness, saying, “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11) Even when Jesus was nailed to the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus shows us his forgiving love again and again by cleansing us when we come to him in repentance.
Before Jesus, people loved according to an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. Because of their sins, they couldn’t really love God and or other people. But Jesus’ coming redefined the meaning of love. Jesus’ kingdom is the kingdom of love. He gave all his followers a new command to practice his love by saying, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Sometimes it seems that we love one another, but in fact we mostly just dwell on their weak points rather than truly loving them. That’s fallen human nature. Fallen men cannot love others because we are selfish by nature. But Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This is not a suggestion but a command. So how can we obey Jesus’ command?

It is only possible when we are in Christ. When we remember how Jesus loved such a sinner as we were, we can love one another. To be witnesses of Jesus, disciples first must love one another and form a deep community of love. It must have been very hard for Jesus’ disciples to love one another. Peter competed with John to be recognized as leaders. Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot were natural adversaries. James and John were nicknamed “sons of thunder” because they were like terminators. Once, they asked Jesus to terminate some people who didn’t believe. How could they possibly learn to love one another? They had to remember Jesus and how he had loved them. They had to struggle to love one another as an absolute command of Jesus. In any situation or circumstance they had to first of all learn to love one another. We live in a generation that is moved by feelings. But we cannot obey Jesus’ command only when we feel like it. We must obey this command even when we don’t feel like it through deeply remembering the personal love and grace of Jesus upon our life.

What is the result of loving one another? Let’s look at verse 35 again: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love is the trademark of Jesus’ disciple. When we invite random students to study the Bible, even though they don’t know us, they will come when they taste the love of Jesus. The strength of our ministry has been the grace of Jesus’ love. Whenever I look at you, I feel the overwhelming presence of Jesus’ love. Even though I was an unloveable person, many coworkers, especially Pastor Samuel and Rebecca, loved me like Jesus. When we love one another, the world will know that we are Jesus’ disciples. Love influences people until they can grow up in Jesus’ love.

Third, Jesus predicts Peter’s denial (36-38)

Let’s look at verse 36: “Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter was humanly very loyal to Jesus. So when Jesus said, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now,” Peter was very upset. He said, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (37). He had a strong decision and heart’s desire to be loyal to Jesus to the end. Peter was willing to die for Jesus. But Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times” (38). Jesus was telling him that Peter’s human loyalty—even though it was very strong—is not enough to follow Jesus. Jesus knew that Peter would disown him three times. Peter’s three denials show us that human loyalty has a great limitation. Many times we try to follow Jesus with our human loyalty. We fail many times. Eventually we must accept Jesus’ cross as the way of God’s love and commit our life to our Lord Jesus Christ.

We learned many things in this passage, most of all that Jesus commands us to love one another as he has loved us. Jesus’ love is sacrificial, unconditional, and forgiving. When we accept Jesus’ love and remember his personal love, we can love one another and build up a deep community of love in Ottawa UBF. May God help us to make a decision to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Key Verse: 8:37

Prayer: Lord, thank you for sending your Son for me. Make me a testimony of the love of Christ.

One Word: Through Jesus who loved us