This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to day five of our look together through John chapter 13. We're going to
be looking today at the verses on either side of John 13, 34, and 35 about
loving one another, 18 to 33 that focus on Judas, and 36 to 38 that focus on
Simon Peter. The love of Jesus Christ, it is clear to see in John chapter 13.

And the response to Jesus' love is equally as clear. When it comes to Judas, in
verses 18 to 33, we see that Judas rejected the love of Jesus. Let me read for
you verses 18 to 20.

Jesus there says, "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. I'm telling you now
before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that I am he
and tell you the truth. Whoever accepts anyone I send, accepts me.

And whoever accepts me, accepts the one who sent me. " Jesus is talking about a
betrayer in the beginning of this passage. He talks about someone who's going to
lift up his heel against me.

That's the picture of a horse that's kicking his master, someone who's going to
do harm to someone. He's talking about Judas. In fact, as we walk through these
verses today, you're going to see that this entire meal is an appeal to Judas.

When Jesus was washing the disciples' feet and serving them, he was appealing to
Judas' heart. We see that Judas to Jesus' left, he was appealing to his heart.
When we see him giving some bread that's dipped in a bowl, that's an appeal to
the heart of Judas.

And Judas said no to that appeal. Listen to what happened, verses 21 to 30.
After he'd said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you
the truth.

One of you is going to betray me. " His disciples stared at one another at a
loss to know which one of them he meant. 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? " Jesus answered,
"It is the one to whom I will give the piece of bread, this piece of bread, and
I have dipped it in the dish.

" And 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. "What you are
about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him.

But no one at the meal understood why Jesus was saying this to him. Since Judas
had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was
needed for the feast or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had
taken the bread, he went out, and it was night.

The question many people have in this passage is, why in the world didn't
everyone know it was Judas? Wasn't it obvious? Jesus says, "It's the one I'm
going to dip into the bowl with, the piece of bread, and I'm going to give it to
him.

" And he does that, and yet most of the people don't understand. Well, the truth
is, everyone trusted Judas. And even though Jesus told John and Peter, they were
even a bit confused.

But Judas wasn't. He knew in this moment that he'd been found out. He knew that
his heart was seen for what it was.

And in that moment, instead of opening his heart to Jesus, when you're found
out, you can either open your heart or you can close your heart. And Judas
closed his heart to Jesus, and Satan entered in. Even as he left, the other
disciples thought he was being responsible, going to buy some food for the
feast, or being compassionate, going to go feed the poor.

They totally missed it. And then there's a lesson here. Betrayers are often hard
to spot.

They don't have horns. You can't always figure out, oh, he's got a betraying
heart and he's got a trusting heart. So what do you do?

In this world where there can be a Judas, even amidst the twelve disciples, what
do you do? Well, you do what Jesus did. You love.

Jesus loved even Judas. That gives great comfort to me. When I realize, even if
it's a betrayer, they need love.

Everyone needs to be loved. And Jesus gave Judas every opportunity to see his
love. How did Jesus love Judas?

He accepted him. He didn't push him out of that room while seeing exactly who he
was. He continued to love him for who he could be.

And handing him that bread was an invitation. It was an invitation to admit his
wrong, to turn from his sin. Now Jesus knew.

He knew that Judas wouldn't accept it, but he still gave the invitation. And
even to the end, even to the end, Jesus never gave up on Judas. Judas gave up on
Jesus, but Jesus never gave up on Judas.

And he goes out and the Bible says, what a sentence, "It was night. " Taking the
bread from Jesus was the final moment of decision for Judas. Even though God
knew what decision Judas was going to make, it was still a moment of decision.

And he decided to take the bread, accepting the truth in that moment that he was
a traitor. What he didn't realize, what he couldn't have realized, was how
deeply he was opening up his life to the work of Satan. What he was doing, going
out to betray Jesus, it may have made logical sense to him to force Jesus' hand.

Or more likely, it was merely a selfish reaction to the fear and the confusion
and the greed and the lying that had become the mix of his life. He had no idea
how much he was opening himself up to Satan's work in his life. That's why the
Bible says, "Don't give the devil a foothold because the evil one will use it.

" And Judas went out and it was night. And after Judas left, Jesus said this in
verses 31 to 33, "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.

My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for
me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now, where I'm going, you cannot
come. '" As soon as Judas left, Jesus launched into talking about the things
that he wanted to share with his closest followers.

He waits till the betrayer is gone and he talks, in fact, he uses one word five
times in the next two verses, glorified. Now how is he going to be glorified? By
the obedience of the cross.

That was his glorification, that he would obey God even to the end. How do you
glorify God? By obeying God in anything and everything, even to the end.

And Jesus says, "I'm going to be glorified and I'm going away, and where I'm
going, you will not be able to go. " And Peter has a reaction to that, that
teaches us something else about our response to the love of God. You see, Judas
rejected the love of God on that night, the love of Jesus, but Peter, he missed
the love of Jesus.

He just missed it. In verse 33, Jesus says, "Where I am going, you cannot come.
" And then in verses 34 and 35, he says what we studied yesterday, these amazing
statements, "Love one another as I have loved you, you should love one another.

" But then I want you to notice what Peter says, what he comes back to in verse
36. John 13, verses 36 to 38, "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 asked, 'Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for
you. ' And then 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.
'" Now let's start at the beginning of this in verse 36. In verse 33, Jesus
says, "Where I am going, you cannot come.

" And then he gives them the new commandment, this life-transforming
commandment. And then in verse 36, Jesus says, "Oh, by the way, that thing about
where you're going, let's get back to that. " In fact, I think he even missed
what Jesus said in verses 34 and 35.

He was so caught up with his own question about where Jesus was going, he missed
the new commandment the first time it was spoken. And what scares me about that
is how often I do exactly the same thing. That's what's important because I'm
caught up in my own thing.

Let me just ask you an honest question. If you were Jesus, wouldn't you have
gotten tired of Peter after a while? I mean, Peter says to Jesus, "I'll never
forsake you.

I'm willing to die for you. " And Jesus says to Peter, "No, that's my line,
Peter. I'm the one who never forsakes you.

I'm the one who's willing to die for you. " I love the fact that Jesus chooses a
whole different person than you and I might choose. He doesn't choose the
polished person, the perfect person.

There's no such thing. There always have to be fakes. He chooses the lump of
clay and he fashions and he forms and he works and he changes hearts and changes
lives.

He chooses the jagged stone and the rough timber. Why? Because he can mold clay.

He can carve wood. He can chisel out stone. And Jesus loved Peter.

How did he love him? He forgave him. Even before Peter disowned him, he forgave
him.

While knowing what Peter would do, he loved Peter as if he'd never done it.
Somebody on our research team wrote about this passage, "When I was a brand new
believer, I totally identified with Peter. But now as I read this passage, I
feel impatient with him.

" I think that's true for a lot of us. We get over the fact as a new believer of
the reality of our own sins. And that's a bad thing.

That's a bad thing. I remember writing in my quiet time recently about this
passage, "Peter goes so quickly from never to more than you say, Jesus. He's a
bundle of emotions and contradictions and passions and decisions.

And yet Jesus used him in powerful, historical ways, ways that changed the
world. Far from perfect, lots and lots of obvious flaws, but God used him. Thank
you, God, that you use flawed people, because I am a flawed person.

" Jesus loved Peter. Jesus loved Judas, even though he knew he was going to
betray him, and Judas rejected that love. But Jesus also in this passage, you
get an indication of his love for John.

John was transformed by the love of Jesus. We read about John in this chapter in
the phrase, "The name, the disciple whom Jesus loved. " That's John.

Remember, John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, that doesn't mean that Jesus
loved him more. It just means that Jesus loved him. And John didn't want to use
his own name.

It was his way of mentioning his part of the story without pointing too much to
himself, so he just called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. But it was
also his way. When John called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, it was his
way of affirming what happened in his heart, "I believe this very night.

" When John heard those words, "Love one another as I have loved you," it
transformed his life. John's character and life were transformed by the love of
Christ. When John and his brother James met Jesus, they were angry men.

In fact, Mark 3:17 calls them "sons of thunder. " They had angry thoughts
towards others. But he's transformed at some point.

Meeting Jesus changed his life. This night changed his life. "Love one another
as I have loved you" changed his life.

How do I know that? Because those words became the theme of John's life. He
wrote some letters near the end of the Old Testament.

1 John 3:11 says this, "This is the message you heard from the beginning. We
should love one another. " John, the apostle at age about 90, is asked to
deliver one final message to the church.

It's as if he looks out over the congregation and he says simply to them,
"Here's the message. Love one another. " These words changed his life.

If you look at that short letter, 1 John, he uses the word "love" more often in
that short letter than any other book in the Bible. John clearly heard what
Jesus had to say that night. Love one another.

And it changed his life. This new commandment changed his life and heart. He was
transformed by the love of Christ.

As we pray together, ask for that same transformation. Say, "Jesus Christ, I
certainly don't want to reject your love. And Jesus Christ, I don't want to miss
your love.

I want to be transformed by your love. So in this moment, I make a fresh
commitment to the new commandment. Love one another.

Jesus, show me who to love today. Show me how to love today. And encourage me to
gain from you the strength to love today.

Thank you that you love me. In your name, Amen. Join us next week as we continue
to take a look together at what Jesus taught his disciples in that upper room
this holy night.

We're going to be looking together at John chapter 14.