"The Betrayal" John 13:18-38

The betrayal of Jesus by Judas in John's gospel is much more direct in pointing out Judas. Jesus quotes David in Psalm 41:9, "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." The images here are vivid. To break bread together in Jewish culture is a statement of relationship and trust. When we sing at communion, "Let us break bread together on our knees," I wonder if we are thinking about the activity we are participating in or the relationship that is also to be implied. The lifting up of the heel is probably a reference of a faithful horse that suddenly lifts a heel and kicks its owner, causing great pain. For John, Judas had been a long-term problem. Jesus had allowed him to get away with too much. John would have removed him from the treasury because of his dishonesty, but Jesus kept giving him room to change. Judas did not.

The disciples are at a loss as to who would betray him. In the other gospels, we have the repeated phrase, "Lord, is it I?" But here, John himself asks Jesus, "Who is it?" Then Jesus hands the bread to Judas and tells him to go do what he has planned. But the disciples do not get it and think that Jesus is just sending him out to get more food.

Following Judas' departure, Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for what is to come and to set the foundation for their ministry together after he is gone. In verses 34-35, he gives the guiding principle for that ministry,

"A new command I give you: Love on another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

The verb for "love" is agapao. It is a love built on primacy of the other person and his or her needs. We will talk about this more in John 21. But it is the chief indicator of Christian fellowship - initiating, self-sacrificing love.

Jesus finishes by telling Peter about an upcoming failure of his own. Peter is so heroic, and yet soon he will discover that he too is vulnerable to falling.