Dearly Beloved,
When was the last time you were betrayed and undercut? Last year, last week, yesterday, and today isn’t over yet? I’m not a country music fan, but I know most of the story lines and they go something like – “I loved her, but she didn’t love me; she took off with my best friend now I’m so lonely I could die.” That’s true not only for romantic relationships, but in all friendships. If you’ve ever had a trusted friend turn on you and attack you, it hurts! It’s surely one of life’s most emotionally painful experiences.
To relate to that emotional pain is to understand, in part, why Jesus became troubled in spirit as He thought about Judas in the Upper Room on the night of the betrayal (John 13:21). There were other things, besides Judas’ calloused heart, which troubled Jesus that evening but Judas was leaving the Light of the world and stepping into a blackness. When John states “and it was night,” he means more than the fact that it was dark outside. It is always night when a person rejects God’s love and goes into the darkness of eternity without the Savior.
- Judas’ betrayal of Jesus gives us a deeper understanding of Christ’s glory and of the depths of human sin.
If you were with us last Sunday, then you should remember that Jesus washed all of the disciples’ feet including Judas who He knew was going to betray him. The last half of John 13 that we will examine this Sunday deals with Judas’s betrayal, but the main exhortative teaching can be summed up with these words spoken by our Lord:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:35)
You may remember what our Lord said in Matt. 5 regarding love:
“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Matt. 5:46-48
Our Lord’s message to all of us I believe is, “it’s about time you start loving others the way I love you!”
Speaking of time you need to remember that you need to set your clocks ahead 1 hour tomorrow night. I hope to see you on time Sunday!
He makes all things beautiful in His time,
Glen