FBCWest 588 | Betrayal and Denial
Recorded On: 01/07/2024
Bulletin
Hymn # 407 “Trust and Obey”
SCRIPTURE READING – Psalms 54:10 & 11
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Holy Forever”
“Way Maker”
“Great Are You Lord”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Betrayal and Denial”
“How Great Is Your Love”
“Home Coming”
Sermon Notes
John 13:21 Jesus says clearly He will be betrayed
John 13:20 – 30 Disciples not sure who it could be, ask Him, and still they do not know
John 13:31 & 32 Jesus speaks of God being glorified, God glorifying Him immediately
John 13:33 Jesus tells them where He is going they cannot go
John 13:34 & 35 Will discuss net time too important to be a partial sermon topic
John 13:36 & 37 Peter says why can’t they come, that he would lay down his life for Jesus
John 13:38 Jesus tells Peter that Peter will deny Him 3 times very soon
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
Betrayal and denial. The foretold actions of two of Jesus' students or followers, what we would call disciples. These actions between friends would be despicable. When you consider it's against the Son of God, it's unfathomable. But we will show and see the difference between these two actions and these two men and the consequences thereof. And perhaps their actions are not the only ones.
Now again, the context of this situation and this message is what we call the Last Supper, the Passover celebration that Jesus celebrated with his disciples prior to his crucifixion.
As we took a look at last time, Jesus had just completed washing his disciples' feet,
all of them. Even the two that we're going to discuss today. And so in this context of the Last Supper, this Passover meal, verse 21 says, "And when Jesus had said this about his betrayal,
he became troubled in spirit and testified and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me." Now this is a strange statement because these 12 men who we call disciples, the ones who have been taught by Jesus their rabbi, one of them is going to betray him.
Betrayal has a unique kind of concept. It's from going from one side to the other side.
So for instance, every, well, I don't know about now, but when I was in school, we learned about Benedict Arnold and that he betrayed his country.
Now the interesting thing was that if you study the Revolutionary War, there was about a third of the people that lived in what we now call the United States that were pro the crown. And there were a third of the people who were just kind of neutral.
You know, this way, that way doesn't really matter. There was a third of the people who were wanting freedom and independence from the United Kingdom. Well, Benedict Arnold had served in the continental army and was well trusted by George Washington, the supreme commander. But then because of various factors, he decided to betray his country and sought to give information to the other side. And so he was detested and considered despicable because he betrayed his country. He went from one side of the fight to the other side of the fight. And so this is kind of the same kind of concept that this one that Jesus is going to say is the one who betrays Jesus. He goes from being a student to one who is opposed to his teacher. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know which one was he was speaking. And so there's this concern. Well, who could it be? Because the 12 of us have had this commonality among each other for the last three and a half years or so. And we could not fathom and guess who might be that one. And so they don't know and they're kind of discussing amongst themselves which one it might be. And there was reclining up on Jesus's bosom, one of the disciples whom Jesus loved. Now again, we had a concept of the Last Supper being like how we eat and how we see it portrayed in the painting of them sitting at a table. And we've got some things happening. We've got one guy at the end and all this. In reality, they ate in this sense like the Romans did being considered freemen. And so they would lean and then they would kind of be stacked. Well, one person who was closest to Jesus was the one whom Jesus loved. And we know that as John, because John seems to always refer to himself not as, "Well, I was there," or he just said, "The one that Jesus loved." Well, Jesus loved them all, but I guess he had this special affinity towards John. And when John started out, he was considered one of the sons of thunder. He was loud, he was voiceless, and he was one of the ones who wanted to be on the right or the left hand of Jesus. But as we will see through Jesus's teaching and impact on his life and how he progressed, he became one who was not so loud enough, but one who said, "Gentle children." Instead of demand things, he would try to provoke you in love to do things. So this one is closest to Jesus.
So Simon Peter gestured to him and said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom he is speaking." So he goes, "Jesus, you're kind of his favorite. You're closest to him. Ask him." So instead of us debating who it might be, that he might tell us. Now, I love this because this is like people everywhere. Instead of, "So they asked Jesus, okay, let us know who it is." So he, Jesus leaning back, thus on Jesus' bosom, said to him, "Lord, who is it?" So he does what Peter asked. "Okay, Jesus, who is it the one that's going to betray you?" Jesus then answered, "That is the one whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him." So he's not going to say, "It's this guy." He's going to say, "It's the person I'm going to dip some food in." Kind of like, if you will, like having a French dip. You take some meat and some bread, you dip it in some au jus. He goes, "The person I do that and handed to, that's the guy." So he took it and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. So Jesus does what they ask him to do. He knows who it is that's going to betray him. And it's not just, "Now I'm going to betray him." Judas has already set into motion the betrayal. He's already set out the contract. He's been offered the 30 pieces of silver to betray him, and he's already set out how he's going to do it. And so the statement is there, and Jesus does it. "And after the morsel, Satan, then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." Now this is an amazing aspect, but not unlike who Jesus is. You see, I know by my personality, if you betrayed me, I'd want to get back at you. There would be this sense of hostility and dare I say hate because you betrayed me. The one whom I put trust in, the one who I tried to whatever, and he would betray me. I'd seek to get rid of him before he had the opportunity. But Jesus says, "What you're going to do, do quickly." Because he understood that this was the plan, that this is what's going to happen, and that he wants it done quickly. Because God has already set a timetable. So get on with it.
Now no one reclining at the table knew for what purpose he said to him to do this. So Jesus has said, "It's the guy I dipped the morsel in and gave it to him. That's the one who's going to betray me." And they're still not sure. So they don't know why he told Judas to do whatever. So they're going to make some assumptions. Now I don't have to tell you what assumptions do. Or some were supposing because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, "Buy the things we have need of for the feast, or else that he should give something to the poor." So instead of understanding what Jesus was doing, they still are at a loss because they just think, "Well, can't be Judas. He's one of us." So after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately, and it was night. So Judas does what Jesus told him to do, and he's doing it quickly. Now I want you to notice this one who had betrayed him, the one that Jesus knew who was going to betray him, Jesus still washed his feet. Like I said, my response is, "I want to get the guy." Jesus already knowing that Judas was going to betray him, washed his feet. Because it's not what you do, that you are worthy of love. It's who he is. His grace is not dependent upon your actions. His grace is dependent upon who he is, not who you are. Therefore, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him." Again, an amazing statement. He's saying, "Now God is setting into motion that the Son of Man is going to be glorified, and God is glorified in him." We all too often, when bad things happen in our lives, assume God is mad at us, or God is punishing us, or God is displeased with us, and it's anything but the truth. God is well pleased with Jesus. But in this action of Jesus submitting himself even to death by crucifixion, he is glorifying God. So maybe when difficulties happen in our lives, and maybe when we're falsely accused or betrayed, or maybe when things don't go as we think they should, or whatever, maybe it's an opportunity for God to be glorified. And being glorified by glorifying God, God is glorified in you.
What Jesus is going to do, and what Jesus is going to submit to, not only God is glorifying Jesus, but Jesus is glorifying God, and God is glorifying himself. The whole concept is just turned around,
because it's, "Well, if Jesus is the Son of Man, and is the Son of God," then all kinds of great things ought to happen, as opposed to, "How do I glorify God?" If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and will glorify him immediately. We talk about, "Good Friday," which I contend to you is not Friday at all, as something, and we look at that as a horrific event. But the Word of God just said that Jesus is going to be glorified immediately.
There is a glory about Jesus hanging on the cross. It's not just the resurrection, it's his death, burial, and resurrection. He is going to glorify God immediately, because by doing so, he will confirm the work of God and grant to us salvation. He is going to be glorifying him immediately. Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, now I will also say to you, "Where I am going, you cannot come." Now, he would tell the Jews that where he was going, they could not come, and they kind of understood his death.
But he said, "Where he was going, eventually to heaven, they weren't going, because they weren't believing." But he's now making a distinction that they can't go now. "I am with you a little while longer, and you will seek me." And as I said to Jews, "Now I also say to you, "Where I am going, you cannot come." So he's telling them, "I am going to die, and you can't follow me." Now, the next two verses I'm going to skip, the reason I'm going to skip them is not because they're not important. It's because they're so important, I don't want to include them in a separate message.
Next time, we're going to talk about these two verses, because they're that important not to incorporate in a message, but to have a message totally about that. So the next two verses we're going to skip. So he said, "You can't follow me." Simon and Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" The Jews caught on that Jesus is talking about his death. Peter hasn't caught on yet. He was like, "What? Are you going to Greece? Are you going to Rome? Where are you going that we can't go?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later." He's saying, "What is destined for me will be destined for you, but also what is destined for me, heaven, is also going to be destined for you." Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you? Right now, I will lay down my life for you." Peter is all in. And I would hope that the leaven who are left would have made the same statement. And I would hope that I and you and the rest of us would make the same statement, that I would lay down my life for you. See, Judas had betrayed him. He changed sides, but Peter's going, "Not me. I'm not changing sides. I'm willing to die for you." And Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?"
He's going to make a stinging statement. He asked him a question, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you did die me three times." Judas betrayed him. Jesus is telling Peter, "You will did die me." Peter is so confident that he's willing to die, but he's told, "No, you won't." Matter of fact, before the sunlight rises, you will deny me not once, not twice, but three times." And we would love to condemn Peter. And we would try to say, "But I wouldn't. I'd have died." No, we wouldn't. I jokingly tell people, "I've been faithful to the Lord several times, but there have been times in my life that I have not been as faithful." You will hear people say things, and I'll move it off of things. You'll hear people say, "My children are the most important thing until something conflicts with that importance." Then they do their own thing. And people will say similar to the same thing, "Then my faith is important until it isn't. Till some other demand or requirement or fear tells us to do something else." We stand or we fall because of the grace that God has given us. Not in our own strength, not our own power. Peter is going to deny him because the Scriptures will ultimately say that he is going to die alone. When we are not in a position of conflict, oftentimes we'll make a statement about how strong our faith is until our faith is tested. And so we need to rely on us if the Lord wills, "I will do X or Y." And we need to be cognizant of the fact every day. Because all too often, sometimes we are willing to say, "Lord, I'm willing to die for you." And if somebody were to put a gun to my head and say, "Deny him," I would probably say, "No, I won't. I'll die for him." Sometimes it's much more difficult to live for him, to live every day as a child of God, to live every day following his teachings and doing his teachings and being who he is. A few moments of bravery to say, "I will die for you." It's probably nothing to be compared with the bravery it takes to live every day for him, especially in a world that doesn't want us to follow him. That you can keep your faith to yourself, but don't express it to anybody else. Do we summon the courage to say, "No, no, I am going to be his witness whether you like it or not because he's my Lord, not you." Now, I want you to see something that's... Simon Peter denied him. Eventually he will be restored. Judas Ascariot betrayed him, but he could have been restored. The difference is not that Peter was a better man or did a lesser thing, but if you notice when we went back to last message, and if you read the Scriptures, when Jesus was washing their feet, he said that to Peter specifically, "If I clean your feet, but I do this, but not your cleans, but not all of you." You see, Peter had been forgiven and was going to be restored because he believed. Judas betrayed. It wasn't the betrayal that condemned him, but the fact that he wasn't clean, he wasn't truly a follower. He was there for the money. So when we look at our lives and we say, "Well, I didn't do as bad of things as that person or that person didn't do as bad of things as me," isn't the question. It's a matter of whether you believe, and by belief there is restoration. And those times that I have been unfaithful, he forgives me because I'm his and his blood covers all of my sins and his love, I will never be separated from it. Not life or death or tribulation,
none of those things, not even me. So the difference between Peter and Simon, I mean Judas Iscariot was not the actions, but who God had restored and cleansed.
So the message today is for us to understand. The yes betrayal denials despicable, horrific, especially when you consider not that among friends or teachers and students, but between people and the Son of God. And if he restored and forgave, then we ought to restore and forgive even when we've been denied our betrayal. And that it's not the amount of guilt, but who is the forgiver. And that we have been given the opportunity through our faith to be restored and to pray that when we are in that point when we are weak, and we always turn back to him, because he loves us and forgives us.
And we will see later that restoration of Peter. I'm sure between that rooster crowing and that restoration,
it's probably a miserable time for Peter.
But our God loved him even during that miserable time. And our God loves you even during that miserable time. And hopefully from this moment on,
we will not deny our faith. That when those difficult times come, when it's,
you need to do this versus that, and we know that that demonstrates that it doesn't seem that we're believers, that we reject doing that and do what isn't, that we do not deny. Jesus told Peter he would deny him three times. And there are times in our lives that we seem to mess up, mess up, mess up. But if he's cleansed you, he's forgiven you, he will simply wash your feet again. And all God's people said.