Day 4 – John 13 : 21-30

V21: Jesus, fully human, with feelings like ours ( Hebrews 4:14-15) is troubled and weighed down by the thought of Judas’ betrayal – remember, He has always treated Judas like the other disciples.

V22: As He speaks of it again, the others are uneasy, unsure. Perhaps they wonder ” Is it me – will I betray Him?” Perhaps they recognise how fickle their hearts can be. ( Do we?) In fact, though they won’t betray Him like Judas, they will all abandon Him, and flee in fear.

V23: “The disciple whom Jesus loved” – John, who wrote this gospel, and hardly ever draws attention to himself by name. Nor does he mean that Jesus loved him more than he does the others, but rather he marvels that Jesus should love HIM at all. Do we?

V24-25: Peter wants him, being the closest to Jesus at the table, to ask who the betrayer is.

V26: Jesus doesn’t name Judas, but indicated him by a symbolic act. The offer of the bread dipped in wine was usually a gesture of favour and love – but Judas is unmoved by it.

V27: Yes, Satan, the devil, is at work in all this, Judas is his instrument, yet is still responsible for the terrible thing he does. There is a mystery here, but Judas’ own sin is real!

V28-29: Still the disciples don’t understand ( not even Peter and John, it seems) Judas seems to have acted as the “treasurer” of the group – but see ch12 v6 – he has been dishonest and treacherous from the beginning, yet Jesus has born with him for 3 years!

V30: Judas goes out ” into the night”. Ponder the weight of those words, as they reflect the darkness of his lost spiritual condition. But do we know the sure hope of salvation, through trusting in Christ as saviour?