John 13:18-20
18 “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.’ 19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. 20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

Key Statements:
“I know those I have chosen.”
Jesus knew exactly who Judas was AND what He would eventually do when He chose Him to be one of the 12 Disciples.

We also see that, even up to the last minute, Jesus was giving Judas opportunities to believe like the others.

“…you will believe that I am He”

He is still teaching to convince the other 11 that He really is Who He says He is.
20:31 gives us the purpose of the Gospel. “That we may believe…”

John 13:21-30
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, 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 Iscariot, son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly,” Jesus told him, 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 Feast, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

“He gave it to Judas Iscariot”

One thing we need to remember… It was a position of honor at a special meal that the host of the meal would serve you a piece of bread.

He was still showing His love for Judas until the point where Judas proved He was going to follow Satan.

“Satan entered into him”

We don’t know all that the words “entered into him” actually mean.
We know that Satan had entered into him once before this point.

What we do know is that Satan has taken over as the main point of influence in his life.
- Judas had surrendered the throne of his life over to Satan at that point to go and do what he was planning to do.

Big Question: How does Satan take over someone that has given his life to Jesus?
Answer: Judas had never truly given his life over to Jesus.
We see in the story in chapter 12, Judas was already a thief. He was already using Jesus for his own personal gain.
Satan simply used his influence in the area where Judas was already weak.

Look what happened as He taught them in the Garden…

Matthew 26:47-50
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus replied, “Friend, do what you came for.”

Now, what do you and I think about that?

We hate Judas.
He’s basically THE person that killed Jesus.
Does anyone in here know someone named Judas??
We think he deserved to hang from that tree and die in that field.

Here’s a question for you:
What do you think Jesus would have done if Judas had come to the cross, repented of his sin, and asked Jesus to forgive him?

You don’t have to answer yet…

You see…
Interesting to see what happens in the very next passage of Scripture:

John 13:31-32
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

Jesus is glorified along with the Father when He is lifted up on the cross.
And, He is glorified by the Father when He brings Him to Heaven to be with the Father.

John 13:33-34
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The words used here give the picture of a fresh look at an already established commandment.
- He’s just given them an example of how to take their love for one another to a completely different level.
- They already knew they should love each other, and their neighbor. BUT now, they knew what that love looked like.
- And it was very different from what they had seen in the past.

John 13:36-38
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 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!

Look what happened later…
Peter was in the courtyard. They had already asked him two times if he was a follower of Jesus. Both times he had said NO!

Then the third time…
Luke 22:60-62
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

What happened here?
- Peter had just promised that he would be willing to die for Jesus and would NEVER deny Him.
- And, then he turns on Him at the first opportunity.
What in the world would cause him to do that?
FEAR!
I believe he started to see that these people planned to kill anyone connected to Jesus and he didn’t really want to die that day.

FEAR took over!

Now let’s go someplace that we’ve not gone very often in the past. Let’s compare the two:

Judas:
Judas is a thief.
He is NOT a true follower of Christ.
He’s got an unhealthy love of money.
He acts like he’s following Jesus, but, when tempted by Satan, he betrays Him for money.

Peter:
He is a true follower of Christ.
But, he’s got a pride problem.
He promised Jesus he would never let him down and would die for him anytime.
I believe most pride comes from compensating for insecurity and fear.
Then, when reminded of his fear of possibly dying for Jesus, he denies Him for his own safety.

Both fell captive to an area of weakness that they had in their hearts.
Judas’ was a love for money.
Peter’s was a pride problem that left a fear in his heart.

One true Christian, one not… but they both fell into sin because the enemy hit them in the area of weakness.

Quick Question:
Is there an area of weakness in your life that you’ve not truly surrendered to Jesus?

In the End…

Judas hung himself
Peter was reinstated to ministry by Jesus on the shore in chapter 21

The Difference:
The way they dealt with their sin!

Matthew 27:3-5
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.


John 21:7
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

Judas went back to the Pharisees and made it all about the money. He turned to the things of this world. And, he was left all on his own.

Peter turned to Jesus at the first opportunity.

Listen to what Jesus told Peter:

Luke 22:31-34
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

In a few more weeks, we’ll get to look at where Jesus has prayed for us too.

What are you going to do about the sin in your life?
Where are you going to turn?