John Chapter 13
John also says the devil used Judas to betray Jesus.
These verses:
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. [Jhn 13:3-4 ESV]
The implication, the point here, is clearly that Jesus had authority over all the universe at this point. He was King of Kings and Lord of Lords at this time. And in that capacity, he still gave us the example of making ourselves humble and low and washing the feet of others. This example is even more profound than I realized.
And then this verse:
10 Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." [Jhn 13:10 ESV]
Jesus is telling them they are saved. Already. Despite what is to come, even Peter's denial. Peter is clean already. Judas is not.
2021 - It would seem from what Jesus says here that Judas was there when Jesus washed their feet. He almost certainly washed Judas' feet also. That is an amazing thing...
2022 - vs 11 is another of John's explanations inserted into the narrative. Who are these insertions for? Who was he explaining these things to? Does he do this sort of inserting in 1,2,3 Jn? In Revelation? It is so prevalent here that you have to think he was addressing someone or some group specifically. It fits with this being a polemic. So if this is addressed to the Sect of the Baptist, they were likely saying that if Jesus had known it was Judas who would betray him, he'd have said so, and he'd have done something about it. But since Jesus did nothing, he certainly could not have known. So John says here that he did know, and this thing that he said "...but not every one of you", is proof that he knew.
2022 - This verse:
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. [Jhn 13:13 ESV]. Jesus gives himself these two titles - Teacher and Lord. In Greek, didaskolos and kyrios.
2024 - This verse:
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. [Jhn 13:14 ESV]. This is a command. I am thinking of Bonhoeffer Chapter 2 where you don't sit around puzzling out what the command might mean in your own particular context, you just obey. You just do it. Don't sit and wonder where this Christian brother over here who has exactly zero church status is worth a hello this Sunday, you tell him hello when you bring him coffee and a donut. You serve him. If you even compare your status to his, you have missed the entire 1000' long boat! I do not believe this is a literal footwashing thing. We don't dress as they did. We don't bathe as they did. What it means is for us to do what a slave would do today. Remember also that this was not AT CHURCH, this was in private. The teacher served the students when it was just them. It was not to impress those "outside" who observed what happened. It was to teach them.
We can broaden it some I think to Christians serving other Christians, because he tells them to wash each the other's feet.
But here I am, modern Christian, over-complicating the simple. What Jesus here commands is that you serve your brothers, all of them, even if you REALLY ARE the one who should be teaching, and even if everyone knows that is the case!
2021 - This verse:
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. [Jhn 13:15 ESV]
How does this language differ from the "Lord's Supper" language. I know that foot washing is not considered a church ordinance, but how is it that we don't see it that way. It has to be that we think he spoke these words to the 12 only, but the Lord's Supper language was to the church. This would be a good study.
2024 - Jesus did not tell them to wash feet "in remembrance". Viewed this way, Jesus is not giving them an "ordinance" to practice in church, but an unforgettable metaphor for how Christians ought to treat one another.
2022 - This verse:
18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.' [Jhn 13:18 ESV]. This seems to be a reference back to Genesis 3: 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." [Gen 3:15 ESV]. The wording doesn't quite seem right though...In Genesis, the offspring of the serpent will bruise the heel of the offspring of the woman. But Jesus says the offspring of the serpent is lifting his heel against the offspring of the woman. Reverse interlinear inline says "He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." Hmm...Every way I look at it seems to indicate a mismatch between Gen 3 and Jn 13...
2024 - That is because this isn't about Genesis 3. The whole "heel" reference is not the key. MSB footnote on 13:18 says the scripture quoted is from Psalms:
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. 10 But you, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them! [Psa 41:9-10 ESV]. Obviously this is more accurate. I also included vs 10 from that same Psalm. This is one of those cases where Jesus quotes part of passage, and by doing so, incorporates the whole of the passage into his meaning. Jesus didn't remind them that this Psalm also foretells his resurrection and triumph and ultimately his vengeance against Satan and those who oppose God. But it is still there, and it will come to pass.
2022 - This verse:
19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. [Jhn 13:19 ESV]. This is in red, and is the second time I have noticed that words in red seem to be an inserted explanation. In this case, this could be a reference to the OT where there is a passage that uses this as a test of the true prophet. If they say it will happen, and it does, that is a true prophet. This also corroborates the insertion in vs 11 that "proves" Jesus knew about Judas ahead of time. This is the same thing again, but in Jesus own words rather than as an insertion.
2024 - When I say insertion here I am not talking about an "addition to the original text" put in there 500 years later. I am talking about John, maybe 50 years later, and an eye witness to these events, including something Jesus said at this time that the other gospel riders did not include. John includes perhaps as a rebuttal to the Sect of John the Baptist, as Culman often says, or perhaps to rebut some other claim made by false teachers, or to some sincere but mistaken group that had arisen by John's time. John is "course correcting", as he has authority to do, as the last surviving apostle.
2024 - In Greek, that "I am he" at the end is "ego eimi". This is the exact same phrase as in "Before Abraham was, I am." When he said it then, it was recognized as Jesus claim to deity, to being God, and they were going to stone him for his trouble. He says the same thing here, in private, to the 12 (yes 12, Judas is still there.)
2021 - This verse:
21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." [Jhn 13:21 ESV]
This is the second time John has mentioned Jesus being troubled. 12:27 was the first time.
2022 - And this is the third time Jesus has indicated that Judas will betray him. Perhaps this was an argument by the Sect of the Baptist that carried a lot of weight at the time, and John is emphasizing the arguments against it very repetitively here. Three times Jesus said he knew it. His behavior now shows he knew it, not just his words. It really bothered Jesus that Judas was going to betray him. Jesus is allowing such treachery. Jesus is creator. He could so easily have stopped it all. But at this time, per vs 3, Jesus "owned" it all. All creation was his to save by a painful and ignominious death, or to lose if he decided we weren't worth it. What a moment.
2022 - Vs 26, Jesus tells John that he will give the bread to his betrayer. This makes John now a firsthand witness of Jesus' prior knowledge about Judas. The fourth time we've been shown this.
Jesus tells them his betrayer is among them. Peter motions for John - who is right next to Jesus - to ask Jesus who the betrayer is. Jesus answers indirectly that it is the one he gives the bread to. Then he gives the bread to Judas. This verse:
27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." [Jhn 13:27 ESV]
Could we say that Judas had not "embraced betrayal" until this moment? That he still could have backed out, but at this time, he decides to go through with it and to betray Jesus, even with all he has seen Jesus do?
2021 - No, I don't think so. I think Satan entering means things are going to a Spiritual level. Satan has a vested interest in making sure Jesus messes up these last few hours. He wants to attack him in the weakness that is inherent in humanity, and exploit these human weaknesses to bring about a sin that will disqualify Jesus as the perfect sacrifice. Satan cannot leave this to chance, he has plotted and planned it for far too long. He enters Judas to make sure Judas doesn't mess things up.
2021 - 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. [Jhn 13:30 ESV]
John is about as specific as you can get as to when Judas left. As I read it, in light of the information from JSB and the four cups, Judas was there for the first two cups, and for the bitter herbs, but was not there for the last two cups - the cups of redemption and praise. This makes pretty good sense.
2022 - These two:
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. [Jhn 13:31-32 ESV]. This reference goes back to the voice so many heard, and that only John reports. Here are several references here in John:
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. [Jhn 7:39 ESV]
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ... 23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ... 28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." [Jhn 12:16, 23, 28 ESV]
Why is the departure of Judas the "now" of Jesus' glorification? We saw earlier that all had been given into his hands. Was foregoing action against the betrayer a cause for glorification? Why?
MSB says Jesus was looking past the agony of the cross, and on to his glorification at the right hand of the Father. When Judas went out, the final piece was in place for events to unfold according to scripture. That sounds like someone trying to give a reasonable explanation to a difficult passage. It could be so...but it seems to me that the glorification of Jesus would have more to do with what he was doing than with what Judas was doing....
This verse:
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. [Jhn 13:34 ESV]
So this is new. Love your neighbor as yourself was not new, Jesus quoted it to the rich young ruler...or someone. But to love one another as I have loved you...that was completely new. Jesus gave this new commandment to his apostles - to the eleven at this point...but is it only for them? Or is it for the church?