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18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ 19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” 21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 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, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. ~ John 13:18-30
The Lord Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9, written by David 1,000 years before these events. In doing so, the Lord Jesus is showing He is in control, though for a few hours it will seem that He is not. Psalm 41:9 predicted that one would betray the Messiah. Judas did not have to betray Him. Judas could have turned away from his betrayal. Judas was not forced into being a betrayer. He chose to be the betray by the day-to-day choices which he made.
In v.20, we read, "Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." The reason Judas betrayed the One whom he had never believed in and received as Messiah. He had never bowed his will to the Lord, but had pursued his own definition of life, regardless of God's definition of life.
The Lord Jesus was "troubled in spirit." We see His human side through these words. He was troubled because He knew that Judas was about to betray Him. It is comforting to realize that, as a human, the Lord Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us right now.
It was difficult also for the disciples to believe this. The other gospels tell us they began to look at one another and say to the Lord, "Lord, is it I?" This response is one of the greatest signs of spiritual health in us. We are spiritually healthy when we do not point the finger.
This response is a commentary on the fact that we do know ourselves very well. All of us at times have done things that shocked us, things we did not know we were capable of doing, or said things we did not realize we could have said. The disciples feel this. Filled with self-distrust they ask, "Lord, is it I?"
An amazing statement is given to us through Matthew's gospel, and it reveals why Judas was the one who betrayed the Lord Jesus. We read in Matthew 26:25, in response to the Lord Jesus' announcement that one of the disciples would betray Him, "Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Did you catch that? Contrary to the other disciples' response, Judas said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Judas saw the Lord Jesus as his servant rather than seeing himself as the servant of the Lord Jesus.
We find it amazing that after three and a half years of living with the Lord Jesus, Judas came to this conclusion. Of course, Judas probably expected the Lord Jesus to be a political power, and he turned out to be so different. As v.25-26 makes clear, when Jesus identified him, he did so only to John.
In v.26, the Lord Jesus gave the bread to Judas who reclined to the left of the Lord Jesus. The one who reclined to the left of the Lord Jesus had the honored position. One last time the Lord Jesus reached out to Judas. Interestingly, according to v.23, John was reclining on the Lord Jesus right side. Judas reclined away from the Lord Jesus and John reclined toward the Lord Jesus.
John 13:27-30 refers to more than simply the darkness of night. Judas consistently refused the help of the Lord Jesus to choose differently. He consistently refused to surrender his will and let the Lord Jesus into his heart. As a consequence, Judas rendered power over his life to Satan and closed the door to the One who could open his eyes to real reality. When Judas closed the door of his heart to the Lord Jesus, he opened his heart to Satan.
John's gospel began with the words in John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Only the Lord Jesus can remove us from the control of the darkness. Only we can keep the seal of darkness upon our hearts. There are two choices: darkness or light, Satan or the Lord Jesus.
