A New Commandment — John 10-14

0:00 Morning, everyone. Good morning. That last song is one of my favorite songs. And I first heard it about thirty years ago. There was a young woman in the chapel I was in in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin that sang it.

0:15 Thought she wrote it, but she was just singing it, a blind gal. And for those of you, here's an interesting question. How many of you in this room are at my wedding? Jennifer was... Well, Jennifer's not here.

0:30 My in laws, my mom was there. Scott was there, you were there. I guess so. Bob was there. But anyways, that young lady was in my wedding too.

0:40 She's sang along with another fellow that came from Wisconsin. Beautiful soprano voice. I'm failing to resist telling you a political joke, so I'm going to tell it to you quickly and then we'll move on. The story is told after Ronald Reagan left office that he and Nancy were going for a stroll in the cemetery, a cemetery. And I understand they had a really sweet relationship.

1:08 So as Ronald and Nancy were strolling through, he was focusing mostly on her, but his eye caught a tombstone. And he read the tombstone and it said, here lies an honest man and a politician. And he turned to his wife and said, look Nancy, they buried two men in that tomb. Enough said. There's nothing like hindsight to give clarity.

1:48 And John, the Gospel of John, John the author of the Gospel of John, has great clarity. He had a lot of time to think about these things that he has written down in his Gospel because this was written about fifty years after the events happened. He was one of the inner circle disciples. And he lived longer than any of the other disciples, I believe. I really appreciated how Voice of the Martyrs did an animated visualization of the life of Christ.

2:23 And it opens with this ship arriving in port, and it's on the Island Of Patmos. And out comes this old man being led by some rough soldiers into the prison there. And the soldiers there that were receiving this prisoner, John, just laughed and said, this is the dangerous criminal that all this effort has gone to to bring him here? And they wanted to know his story. And then that's how the beginning of the DVD starts, where John says, well, let me tell you about.

2:56 And he retraces his whole experience with the Savior, a really neat way to tell the story. And as you know, the theme verse for this study we've been doing is John twenty thirty one. These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. These are written that Jesus, the historical figure Jesus, there's no sane person on the planet that can deny that Jesus of Nazareth existed. And if you open the scriptures, you cannot deny that Jesus is the Christ.

3:39 He is the Messiah, the sent one. And furthermore, He's qualified to be the Messiah because He is the Son of God. Now, we can't save people, but we can point them to that truth. We can point them to the light. And I appreciated that about Jim's message a couple of weeks ago, Jim Bingham.

3:59 His main challenges for us was to accurately, with our words, defend the faith, explain the faith. And then, of course, with our lives, to illustrate the faith. I always marvel when I hear about skeptics that seek out to be that first one to disprove the resurrection, for example. And I remember the book written by Frank Morrison, Who Moved the Stone, he wrote this a long time ago, was published in 1930. But he was a skeptic that set out to disprove the resurrection.

5:11 And I think Mr. Pyle answered that in his message and other messages too, about devotion to the Lord, as he talked about Mary's devotion to the Lord. The Lord had certainly just raised her brother Lazarus from the dead, for which she was very grateful. But that gift that she poured out in chapter 12 was more than just a financial sacrifice. It was an expression of her heart.

5:39 And that's a challenge for all of us too, to pour out, to give our heart to the Lord. I appreciated last week that little interruption, we might call it, when Drew shared about his experiences the last few years and how the Lord was working in his life. Hopefully all of us have those stories to tell. Peter, I think back to the Gospel of John chapter six, Peter came to the point when Jesus said, you guys don't want to go away too, do you? Peter said, no, because you are the Christ, son of God.

6:17 He knew who he was. Or Thomas, poor guy, know him as doubting Thomas for all these centuries, but we got to somehow try to change that title, the faithful Thomas. John chapter 20. He was now with the disciples when Jesus initially appeared to them after the resurrection, and he doubted what the others were saying. But when he saw the Lord in John 20, he said, my Lord and my God.

6:49 So we're going to continue our study in John chapter 13 this morning. Jesus' public ministry is is almost over. And now he's focusing on on on the disciples before he leaves them. And last week, Clough, when he... Or not last week, a couple weeks ago, Patrick Clough did the first half of John 13.

7:16 And I won't ask for you to tell me what his three key words were, but I'll tell you. The three words he used to summarize the first half of chapter 13 were humble, holy, and happy. The amazing humility of the Lord Jesus, who as the Son of God washed the disciples' feet, there was a lesson in that for all of us, of course. Peter was struggling with that, but because he knew the Lord was holy. And then the application, blessed are you if you do these things, if you have the heart of service for one another, if we have the heart of service for one another.

7:57 So these chapters that we've begun now with chapter 13 are called the upper room discourse, where Jesus is spending a lot of time with his disciples in anticipation of going to the cross and returning to the father. And there's so much in these verses and chapters. Intense emotion, inspiring instruction, object lessons and word pictures, rebukes, betrayal we'll be mentioning betrayal today. And we'll see more of that in the later chapters, attempted heroics in later chapters. And it dawned on me, the beginning of chapter 13, where Jesus and the disciples are celebrating the last Passover, to the time he was actually on the cross and then in the tomb, is only about twenty four hours.

8:48 So much happened in those twenty four hours. I don't see how it was possible that the Lord slept at all in those last twenty four hours. So let's read the text. But before we do that, let's pray, and then we'll launch into it. Father, we do thank you for this chance we have to open your word.

9:06 We pray that your spirit might speak to us all and help us to understand it and to apply it. We are so thankful that you've helped us come to faith in the Lord Jesus, and we pray that you help us now in these few minutes. We pray in our Lord Jesus' name, amen. Okay, let's read through the second half of John chapter 13, starting at verse 18. And just try to put yourself into this picture.

9:37 I know I'm not the greatest reader, but just think of the different individuals involved here and what's going on non verbally. Okay, verse 18, Jesus speaking. I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. 'He who eats bread with me has lifted up a seal against me.' Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he.

10:40 Then leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly.

11:04 But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box that Jesus had said to him, buy those things we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately, and it was night. So when he had gone out, Jesus said, now the son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately.

11:40 Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, where I'm going, you cannot come. So now I say to you. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

11:59 By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake.

12:24 Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times. Now, I'm going maybe go out on a limb here, but I'm going to try to review my message without looking at my notes so that what I want you guys to take away, hopefully I already have. So the components of what I hope to communicate this morning is, first of all, the testimony of scripture. And we'll see that in the first few verses.

12:56 The testimony of scripture, is sure and reliable. And then we're going to see Jesus telling his disciples something in hopes that they'll actually get it. And part of the strategy of telling people what you're going to tell them and then telling them and then telling them what you told them and hopefully they'll get it. But we're going to see that the disciples don't get it this time around yet. Then we're going to...

13:22 I can't peek. Sorry. Let's talk about the betrayal. The whole Judah's betrayal of Jesus and then the fact that Jesus is going away... Oh wait, we left out a big one.

13:35 The glorification of Jesus, the son of man, and the glorification of God in the work of Christ that is quickly approaching. Remember, from this chapter to the cross is only twenty four hours. And then following that is the realization or the declaration by the Lord that He's going leave the disciples. And they were emotionally struggling with that. And then Peter's words of Peter's denial that he's going to fail the Lord.

14:06 So I'll try to wrap that up a little bit neater for you all and then you can take something with you, I hope. So, looking back to verse 18 and I appreciated the words of mister Pyle as he read from the the scriptures this morning about how specific the scriptures are about the person of Christ and how it has to come to pass And in verse 18, Jesus is saying to them, The scriptures say that somebody is going to deny Me, betray Me. And we can have absolute reliability on the testimony of Scripture, its authority and its inherency. All of Scriptures are God's word. Now, in a sense, John is writing this whole book as unapologetic for the Gospel, but this book is part of the whole book of the Bible, which is also, as Jim reminded us in that one word, redemption, the story of redemption.

15:37 And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. That was part of Drew's testimony. I'm not trying to pick on Drew, but when we get into the word of God, it will do a work in our life. We can trust the Lord to do that. The word is powerful, living and active.

16:00 Verse 19. Here's where Jesus is trying to explain something to them so that when it does happen, they can... The light bulbs will go on and they'll understand it. But this verse that he's talking about, He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me, that made me recollect to the words in Genesis three, where Satan was cursed, where God proclaimed a curse upon Satan. Some of you will remember that, I know, where He said to Satan, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.

16:45 And then it goes on to say, He, referring to Christ, shall bruise your head. A wound of destruction, Satan would be absolutely defeated. And you, Satan, shall bruise his heel, Christ's heel. It'll cause the Lord to suffer. And we see that coming about now in the Gospel account.

17:12 In his epistle, first epistle chapter three, John talks about the fact that Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. So there's an age long struggle. In the beginning when Satan leads man into temptation and into sin, it looks like a victory. But the Lord is going to turn that around to victory for Him. And in Hebrews two, we read that Christ through His death destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil.

17:43 So we have the benefit of all the scriptures to put these things into perspective and to align them into the puzzle of the Christian faith. But they didn't have that benefit yet, so they were still trying to put the pieces together. And he's telling them, I'm going tell you before it comes to pass, that when it does come to pass, you'll know that I am He. And we know from later testimony that they did put the pieces together and became an apostolic force for the Lord. Remember also at the resurrection, we could look at this in Luke 24, but we won't, where it actually uses, as the women came to the tomb and the tomb was empty and says, scriptures say, they were perplexed, they couldn't figure out where Jesus went.

18:33 And the angel said to them, don't you remember, they use the word remember, how he talked about the fact that he had to suffer and rise again? And then it dawned on them, yes. So I don't feel so bad when I don't get things the first time around. It's not unusual for us as well to need time for things to sink in. So verse 20, this is a verse I've pondered for a while.

18:59 But what it's talking about, in essence, is the Great Commission. And I think most of us are familiar with the Great Commission, the fact that Christ commissioned us to take His message to the world. So if we've been given the Great Commission, that makes us the Greatly Commissioned. And it's the message that we're preaching, it's not our message, it's the message of Christ. So look at that in regard to verse 20.

19:26 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me, and he who receives Me receives him who sent Me. That seemed, at first, like a very convoluted way to convey a truth. But what Jesus is saying is that those who are sent with a message, when that message is received, they're receiving the Lord Himself. And when you receive the Lord Himself, you also enter into relationship with the one who sent Him, God the Father. It's a great message that we have to share.

20:19 That occurs 25 times in the book of John, and four of those times are in this chapter, chapter 13. I'm not sure the significance of it, but in the other Gospels when a similar phrase is used, it's just verily once, verily I say unto you, not verily, verily I say unto you as it is in the Gospel of John. But it's a statement whose the essence of which Jesus speaking truly truly, I mean, pay attention, get this, don't miss it. Okay. Now, we're moving on to the verses 21 and following, dealing with the subject of Judas the betrayer.

21:05 In Matthew 26, a parallel account, Jesus informs his disciples that one of you will betray me. And the text there in Matthew 26 says that each of them were exceedingly sorrowful and each began to say, is it I? And even in those accounts, Judas himself asked the Lord, is it I? Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. That's something that the disciples couldn't comprehend.

21:42 Now, the verse that Jesus quoted in verse 18, He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me, is from Psalm 41. And it's part of the testimony of David. And David himself knew betrayal as well. Perhaps in this instance, David is thinking about not only his son Absalom, but one of his advisors and friends, Ahithophel, who had been one of David's close allies and counselors, had been swayed over to go with Absalom. And David was crushed by it.

22:21 And as we know from scripture, there's many parallelisms between David and the Lord. But these experiences of David prefigured the experiences of the Lord. A week ago, one of the brothers shared from Psalm 22 in the Lord's Supper. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Experiences of David, experiences of the Lord Jesus.

22:47 We see these testimonies throughout the scripture of the undeniable truths of the Lord Jesus. So when Jesus had said this, most of well, I missed the phrase. He was troubled in spirit. This is the third chapter in a row where we have something like this. In chapter 11, at the grave of Lazarus, John eleven thirty three, we read that he groaned in spirit and was troubled.

23:21 In that context, it appears that Jesus was indignant in the presence of death. I mean, death and Christ do not go together. He is the author of life. Death was never part of his plan. He was so grieved by the reality of death that it moved him to tears.

23:43 We read in John eleven thirty five, Jesus wept. And then again in chapter 12, after the Greeks were seeking him, the scriptures remark in verse 27 that his soul was troubled at the thought of approaching of the approaching hour, going to the cross. His soul was troubled. And now in chapter 13, we read that he was troubled in spirit. The anguish is perhaps even greater here as the hour was approaching.

24:52 And as I referred earlier, they were asking the Lord, is it I, is it I? They couldn't figure it out that one of them would be the betrayer. Certainly, were aware of their own weaknesses, but one of them a betrayer, there's no way. But yes, there was a way, and the betrayer was Judas. We don't know a whole lot about Judas.

25:17 If you read the Gospel of Counts, and you read the list of the disciples, he's always listed last. And Matthew, Mark, and Luke also refer to him as and he was the betrayer. Of course there's not much good things you can say about Judas. He served as the treasurer. We know that from this passage and others.

25:41 And that he stole funds from the treasury. Peter talks about that in Acts one, Judas fell by transgression. He ridiculed Mary's anointing of Jesus in chapter 12 and suggested the money could have been better spent giving it to the poor. And sometime prior to the last Passover, he made a deal with the chief priests to betray Jesus. He had been part of the group for three years, and now his moment of revelation is about to occur.

26:22 He was there when Jesus washed his disciples' feet. His feet were washed. He heard Jesus say to Peter, you are clean, but not all of you. And at the time itself, he was probably sitting on the other side of Jesus. We know that John was next to Jesus on one side, but I'm thinking that Judas was quite possibly seated adjacent on the other side, a place of honor.

26:48 One of the expositors I read, G Campbell Morgan, who is no slouch, suggests that Judas was an incarnation of the devil, some kind of incarnation of the devil himself. And part of his reason for that is Jesus himself calls him the son of perdition, which is also a term applied to the man of sin in two Thessalonians two. Peter talks about him going to his own place. I'm still mulling that over a bit, but it would be the ultimate attempt by Jesus... By the devil to try to derail the Lord by infiltrating the crowd.

27:34 But obviously, going to the cross and betrayal was all part of the plan, how God turns things around to accomplish His purposes, just as He did in the life of Joseph. Joseph's brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. So John is there right next to Jesus and Peter motions to John apparently to say, hey, ask him, who is it? So John does and Jesus says, well, well, he didn't say well. He said, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.

28:08 And I don't know what the intervals of time are here, but scripture says he dipped the bread and he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And then Judas' doom was sealed. He took the bread, a friendly gesture from the Lord, sharing of the food. But when he took it, his doom was sealed. Scriptures say Satan entered him and took control.

29:08 But that was not it. Judas had betrayed the Lord. Verse 30. John remarks that having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately and it was night. John provides, one of John's tendencies in the Gospels is to provide markers, and he makes the reference, It was night.

29:33 I remember from when Abe preached, John in chapter 10 verse 22 said, It was winter. So he's helping us to frame the different events so we can know with certainty when they occurred. But there's a more than a literal meaning here, it was night. I have listened to camp verses from a number of kids this year, and John chapter three is the passage they've been reciting. It talks about man loved darkness rather than light.

30:04 Colossians one, Paul talks about us being transferred from the power of darkness. Evil loves darkness, and the night here embodies the fact that Judah's activities were sinful and dark. But that was all part of the divine plan for bringing salvation. Verse 31. So when he had gone out, Jesus said, now the son of man is glorified and God is glorified in Him.

30:47 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. So when He had gone out, when Judas had gone out, it was an exercise of self excommunication. He had left the opportunity of any hope. God never excludes any of us from from saving grace. We exclude ourself.

31:21 We know that god's not willing that any should perish. Read, we don't have time, but read John three sixteen-eighteen. Nobody will be separated from God for eternity because they didn't deserve it. But the hour had come. Now the Son of Man is glorified.

31:42 The final pieces are starting to fall into place for this whole amazing thing of Jesus going to the cross. So amidst the betrayal by Judas and the approaching sentence of death by godless men, the plan of redemption is unfolding a little bit more. And we see Peter in his sermon in Acts chapter two talk about how this all fits together, what appears to be one-sided really isn't. God had a plan and He was going to use wicked men to accomplish that plan. And it's interesting that through the execution of that plan, some of the main players said, I find no guilt in this man.

32:26 That was a testimony of Pilate. Even Judas realized when he had remorse, not repentance, remorse, when he returned the money he said, I betrayed innocent blood. And of course, the sacrifice had to be holy to be acceptable to God. So how was the Son of Man glorified, and how was God glorified in these events even at that point? Well, we could read in Luke 23 about the one thief on the cross that came to faith.

33:39 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. So even the process was bringing glory to God. And of course, the prophetic anticipation of the cross was now becoming a reality. The truths of reconciliation, of redemption, of appreciation, justification that we read about in Romans were now coming to be historically a fact. Instead of looking forward to them, now we look back to them.

34:15 And it's also, we give glory to the Lord when we worship Him, as the Spirit gives us thoughts to offer to the Lord in the Lord's Supper. So what looked to be a dark hour was actually a glorious hour for us and for the Lord. Moving on to the end of the chapter now, little children, verse 33. That's a term of tenderness that Jesus is using to communicate with his disciples. He could the Lord knew the anxieties that they were feeling and the TLC that they would need, and He had distinct concern for them.

35:00 We read at the beginning of the chapter, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And that phrase, where I'm going, you cannot come, is a phrase he said to the Jews as well, but he meant it two different ways. To the Jews, what He was telling them was that you will die in your sins. Where He was going, they were not going to be going there, to Heaven. But the disciples, what He meant by that was, you're not going with me now, but you will follow me later.

35:34 In fact, that's what he says to Peter. There was going to be a time of separation and he was going to try to encourage them. That's how the beginning of chapter 14 starts out, dealing with the emotions of the disciples that were expressed in four different disciples. And we'll talk more, talk more of that in a few minutes in closing. But he says to them, where I'm going you cannot come.

36:03 And then in verse 34, and this is important, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another. It's a new commandment in the sense of being fresh, of being dynamically illustrated by his own life before the disciples. And that's, of course, who we are to pattern our love after, the Lord Jesus. It's a love that is self denying, self sacrificial, unconditional, lasts forever. It involves giving up rights.

36:39 It involves absorbing mistreatment. First Peter two talks about he entrusted himself to him who judges righteously when he was mistreated. But it's a powerful love both among us as believers as we share it, but also as a testimony to the world. It says, by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. And that's always a challenge for us.

37:09 We can look at one Corinthians 13, There's a rich portions in different prison epistles. Colossians three, often read at weddings. Isn't that right, Mr. And Mrs. Boss?

37:23 Colossians three, Philippians one. There's much we can learn from the scriptures about loving one another as Christ loved us. And lastly, the new commandment, he also gives them new assurances as as the end of the chapter approaches. Peter says, Lord, I I would die for you. He meant well, but he didn't know.

37:45 Sometimes we don't know and we mean well. We just have to wait on the Lord to reveal it to us just what we are to do. And this chapter break here is probably not in the spot. Definitely, 13 flows into 14. And the phrase, let not your heart be troubled, is something the disciples needed to hear.

38:08 But Peter, Peter's the first disciple that had some anxiety. But we also, as we as we would, if we read on, we see Thomas had some questions. Lord, we don't know where you are going and how can we know the way? And then Philip says, what do you mean we've seen the Father? Show us the Father.

38:30 And then Judas, the other Judas, on in chapter 14 had a question as well. But Jesus gives them assurance in the first verse of 14. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. But just want to say a few words about Peter's...

38:51 Fact that Peter's going to deny the Lord. Another item in scripture that is a signpost that we can see before it happens, and when we see it happen, we can be assured that what we're contemplating is true and accurate. Peter meant well, but he did deny the Lord. And I would correlate that both looking backward and looking forward. Peter was a true believer.

39:30 But as a foot washing illustrator, we have that day to day crud that accumulates, even in a spiritual sense, that we need to have cleansed from us. We need to go to the Lord for cleansing. And we see that we will see Peter's restoration in John 21 when we get there. And I don't know who's going to be talking on that. But Peter, the Lord reaches out to Peter in chapter 21 and restores him.

39:57 Fellowship with him is restored. And Peter goes on for a life of great service. It's noon already. And I told somebody we'll quit at noon. Just want to leave you with the fact that the Lord is faithful.

40:18 Circumstances of life can often be daunting. We often don't understand as the Lord was trying to explain things to the disciples and they weren't getting it. We too don't always get things on first disclosure. So we need to be patient. We need to be keep seeking the Lord.

40:40 Keep listening. And be assured of his care for us. So let's pray. Father, we do thank you for your love to us. We know we could have gone much...

40:56 Spent much more time on dispatches, but even in this few minutes, we can see some great truths, the reliability of scripture, the fact of the... Of your son being the savior of the world, your tender care for your own, and the hope that we have, even though Peter wanted to go with the Lord right then where he was going, all of us as well have to wait for for the time of your call to take us home or for the Lord to return. So help us, Father, each day to just trust you and to walk with you. Again, pray for the body here as a local church at Memo. Love one another and serve one another and and honor you as a body.