John 13:18-30
To receive spiritual communications ever calls for a spiritual condition. Hence feet-washing was a needed preparation for those who were about to listen to the Lord’s last words, so rich with divine truth and spiritual comfort. There was one present, however, who had never been washed all over, on whom feet-washing would have no effect, and to whom the teaching of Jesus would have no meaning. The presence of Judas, plotting in his heart the coming betrayal, cast a dark shadow over the little company. Ere the last instructions can be communicated by the Lord, or received by the disciples, Judas must pass from the upper room into the night.
(Vv. 18-20). The way of his removal shows the tender solicitude of the Lord for His own. The treachery of Judas, long known to the Lord is very gently disclosed to His disciples. In the course of the feet-washing the Lord had made allusion to Judas, unnoticed, apparently, by the Eleven. Now He speaks more plainly, saying, “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen.” There was an inner circle of the Lord’s chosen companions to whom He was about to disclose the secrets of His heart. But there was one present who had no part in that chosen circle; one of whom the Scripture had said, “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”
This disclosure might well be a shock to the disciples and a test to their faith. Reasoning unbelief might have argued, “We knew not of the presence of the traitor, but if Jesus knew not, can He indeed be the Lord of glory?” The Lord disposes of such possible reasonings, and supports their faith, by revealing beforehand the coming betrayal. He says, “I will tell you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am.” They shall, through the betrayal of Judas, have fresh evidence that He is indeed the great I AM to whom all is known, and to whom the future is present.
On the one hand, the presence and treachery of the betrayer shall not be allowed to cast a slur upon the glory of the Lord; on the other hand, the utter break down of one numbered amongst the twelve shall not invalidate the commission of the remaining Eleven. That commission would remain in all its force, and thus the Lord can say, “He that receiveth whosoever I send receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me.” In the presence of the awful sin of Judas the glory of the Lord is undimmed, and the commission of the Eleven untouched.
(Vv. 21, 22). More, however, is needed to bring home to the disciples the terrible reality of this disclosure, and to remove Judas from their midst. The Lord will tell them plainly the nature of the sin, and finally reveal the man who will commit it. These further disclosures deeply moved the spirit of the Lord. “He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray ME.” Thus the disciples learn in language that none can mistake, that one of their number is about to betray the Lord. They must face the terrible fact, that the very occasion that a hostile world was seeking—and could not find for fear of the people—would arise from their midst in the person of one who feared neither God nor the people—one who had passed as a disciple of the Lord, had been His daily companion, seen all His works of power, and listened, unmoved, to His words of grace and love.
Such a disclosure troubled the spirit of the. Lord and raised the anxious questionings of the disciples as they looked one on another, doubting of whom He spake.
(V. 23). Looking on one another will not solve this solemn question. The traitor is present, knowing that he is discovered by the Lord, though betraying no sign that would expose him to others. To the Lord they must turn to find relief from this terrible suspense. The disciple who inquires of the Lord must be one who is near to the Lord. He who is nearest is one who can describe himself as “one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” Conscious of the Lord’s love to him, and confiding in that love, John is found leaning on the bosom of Jesus. The man whose feet, a little before, had been in the hands of Jesus, now reclines with his head on the bosom of Jesus. May we not say this position of intimate communion is the proper outcome of feet-washing. The head resting on that bosom of love, follows the feet-washing by those hands of love.
(Vv. 24, 25). Simon Peter, the warm-hearted disciple who, so often and in so many ways, seems to say, “I am the disciple that loves the Lord,” was hardly near enough to inquire of the Lord. He beckons to John to ask “Who it should be?” Quite simply John asks, “Lord, who is it?”
(V. 26). At once the Lord replies, “He it is to whom I shall give the sop, when I have dipped it.” Others have pointed out that the force of the Lord’s words is somewhat obscured by the Authorized Version. It is not “a sop” as if it were a mere casual act; but “the sop,” referring to a definite custom to give to a favored guest the specially prepared morsel of the feast. The Lord follows His words by giving the sop to Judas Iscariot, and thus, not only the betrayal is foretold, but the betrayer is exposed.
(V. 27). Already lust had opened the heart of Judas to the devil’s suggestion, now Satan himself takes possession of Judas. If there was any stirring of conscience left in Judas, any sense of shame, any shrinking from the sin he was about to commit, all is silenced with the entrance of Satan. With Satan there is no hesitation, and henceforth Judas becomes the helpless instrument of his designs. For Judas there is now no turning back, and thus the Lord can say to him, “That thou doest do quickly.”
(Vv. 28-30). The Eleven, stunned, as it seems, by this terrible disclosure, fail to grasp the meaning of the Lord’s words. Judas having been entrusted with the bag, they judge the Lord’s words must have some reference to meeting the needs of the feast or to relieving the poor. Judas has no misapprehension. The presence of the Lord has become intolerable to this devil-possessed man, so having received the sop he immediately arises and, without a word, passes into the night, only a little later to pass into a deeper night—that horror of great darkness—from whence there is no return.
It has been remarked that in all this solemn scene there is no denunciation of Judas, no reproach is heaped upon him, no word of expulsion is uttered against him, no demand, to depart is given to him. The presence of a false one is revealed; the sin he is about to commit is foretold, the man who will commit it is indicated, and then, amidst a silence more terrible than words, he leaves the light that was too searching, the holy Presence that he no longer could endure, and passes into the night for which no morning will ever dawn. Let us remember that but for the grace of God, and the precious blood of Christ, we should each one follow Judas into the night.