Truly how great he is. That first little chorus that we sang, and that one part we sang that he is the apple of our eye. Did you catch that, that we, earlier this week I was I was in the woods, and this time of the year when you're out in the spring woods, you're very likely to get a bug in your eye. They are out and about, and that's what happened. I was out, and I got a bug in my eye just so quick. I had one in there. What do you do when that happens? It's like you can't rest until that thing's out of there. And you are, that's the only thing that's on your mind, is trying to get that thing out of your eye. What is the spiritual equivalent to that? If the Lord's the apple of your eye and somebody pokes that, what is your reaction? Does something well up within you to defend the Lord? I truly believe it is so. That's our spiritual instinct. We defend our Savior, and though He doesn't need our defense, He wants us to defend Him and represent Him here on the earth. Well, if you would, turn in your Scripture in the portion of God's revelation to us in John chapter 13. I want to continue our exposition here in John 13. Sometimes you feel your reliance on the Lord more keenly than others in preaching His Word, and so it is this morning. We want to begin in verse 18 of John 13. And of course, if we remember the last time I was here, I think it was about close to a month ago, the last time I preached, I preached on the doctrine of the resurrection and did leave the Gospel of John. I think it was in March, about a month ago, that we were last here. But it's a beautiful picture of our Lord in John 13, verses 1 through 17, He says in verse one of John 13, the end of verse one, he says, knowing that he should depart from this world to the Father having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end or to the uttermost. And we have a picture of how he loved them. He washed their feet. What a tender picture of our Lord and Savior, one who knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, that he was Lord of lords and King of kings, sovereign over all the universe. He knew all these things, yet he bowed down before these humble fishermen, these needy fishermen, and washed their dirty feet. What a rebuke to our arrogance. What a rebuke to our lack of unwillingness to serve each other. It's a beautiful picture of our Lord. So, I want to continue now following that. I think I'll begin reading in verse 17. Our text will begin in verse 18. We'll read through verse 30. And I want to just note here that this is the closing admonition with all the apostles, all the disciples, Here, verse 31 begins the upper room discourse, and notably, Judas is no longer in their midst. So this is the closing text of Christ with his twelve. Following verse 30, as I mentioned, Judas will have left and it begins that precious teaching of the Lord to his disciples in the upper room. If you know these things, verse 17, blessed are you if you do them. 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 his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he. Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he. Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me. And he who receives me receives him who sent me. When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke. 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. 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 we have what appears to be kind of a benign passage of scripture. But there is no such thing. Is there? No, of course not. It is only when you do a cursory reading of it that you think, oh, it's, you know, there's nothing that profound here. But it is. There's so much here. And the title I would give this today is just simply The Betrayal Foretold. And here in this text, the Lord revealed for the first time to his 12 disciples that one of them, I mean just think about it, one of them, and you know you start, what if it were one of us? And so he says to them, for the first time he reveals, I believe he might have spoken earlier that it must needs that he be betrayed. But now he says this betrayal will be from among us, one of us, one of you. And think about it, what is really betrayal if it is not treachery from a close confidant? I mean, you can't really be betrayed by somebody you don't know. So it's a betrayal is somebody who is close to you, somebody that you've trusted, somebody that you have been intimately acquainted with. Indeed, Jesus said, it's one of those whom I have chosen. Verse 18, I know whom I have chosen. Jesus said, he who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. I mean, here in about an hour or so, we'll have a fellowship meal. And that's what it's called. We get together to enjoy the most intimate of things in a corporate setting is to sit together and eat together. It is where we're providing, we're taking in nourishment, and we're enjoying a fellowship with one with another while we do this. It's a place of no striving whatsoever, right? It's fellowship. It's a meal. It's food. It's you intaking. It's you being fed. And it's in this setting that Jesus said, the one who ate bread with me, He who I have fellowship with, I have walked with, I've been intimately acquainted with, I've taught him, even so long as three years. But he, it is him who took of my bread, and that is, here it actually says, he ate bread of me. The psalm that this is quoting says, quotes David saying, he who ate my bread lifted up his foot against me. It's just the intimacy and safety that is assumed in eating together is a mark of fellowship and solidarity, is it not? We invite one another to our homes and it's a mark of our appreciation one for another as we share common goals and common bread together. Well, what does this, have you ever thought about this idea of lifting up his heel? I think it was quite a number of years ago, I can't even remember the details, but in the Middle East, and I thought about Saman, about asking him about, if this is still custom, but I think it is. This journalist was seeking an interview with Saddam Hussein. I can't remember, was it before, it must have been before Desert Storm. But he was, had a hard time getting, even getting an interview with Saddam. And when he finally, this was an American journalist, when he finally had the opportunity They were seated across from each other. This journalist inadvertently crossed his legs or something, and he lifted his heel. And it was an insult that promptly terminated the interview, immediately. That's a culture in the Middle East, I assume, to this day. The scripture, we see it time and time again in the scripture. I wanted to just point out a few cases where this is the language of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians, for instance, in chapter 15, in verse about 25, let's see, yes, 1 Corinthians 15, in verse 25, he says this way. For he must reign, speaking of Christ, he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, for he has put all things under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted." You have that language. Now, I want to just flip back to Joshua 10. A very interesting picture, word picture is given here in Joshua 10. We have, following the destruction of Ai, the five kings of the Amorites. I believe it was the Amorites. They gathered together, they banded together. Yes, it is the five kings of the Amorites. Now notice the battle of the five kings how they all raised themselves up and came together that Israel went out and God delivered them into their hands notice what it says in in Joshua 10 and verse 24 so it was when they brought out these kings they were hidden in a cave and Joshua came and called them out so it was when they brought out those kings to Joshua that Joshua called for the men of Israel and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him So, he brought his lieutenants and his captains out from his army and said to these guys who went with him, who fought these kings, come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings, and they drew near and put their feet on their necks." You can imagine the picture of absolute submission from the part of the kings to the absolute dominance from the part of these captains. Then Joshua said to them, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight. And after that, he struck and killed them. This is the picture, this is the custom was to show dominion. And here in our text, we have this idea of Judas. That is who Christ obviously is talking about here. He who ate bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. But more specifically, this is a reading from, it's a passage in Psalm 42. We read it, I noticed that we read it last Lord's Day in the scripture reading. Psalm 41 in verse 9 it says even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread Has lifted up his heel against me and the center column says has acted as a traitor against me And I was just pondering this thing about, because if we go to the end of chapter 13 in John, Jesus says, most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow to you, you have denied me three times. So what is the difference between a denial and a betrayal? On the one hand, you have a disciple of Christ betraying the Lord Jesus, and on the other hand, you have one denying. Well, I had to think of it simply as if you are a traitor, you have literally switched sides. your treachery is to such a degree that you have switched sides. And we notice in John 13 here, in verse two, in supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon's son, to betray him. You see, the devil had already put it there. Now, it wasn't until Jesus had given him the sop or the piece of bread dipped in, was it wine or meat juice, whatever it was, and given it to him, that Satan entered him, and Satan took possession of him, and the very enemy of Jesus Christ, who had withstood him since time began, was he had joined ranks with Satan. You see, he was a traitor. A denial is just simply saying, no, I'm not part of that camp. Just because you've denied it doesn't mean that you're not, right? But a betrayal is where you literally, you leave the camp and you join the enemy. And that is a distinguishing mark here that obviously that Judas lifted up his heel against Christ. He lifted up his foot against him, so to speak, to put his, as it were, to bring him into subjection to his will. And we have an interesting, again, an interesting usage of this term of underfoot in Hebrews 10. In Hebrews 10, 29, it says this way, of how much Worse punishment, and this, I should probably back up in verse 28, anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. You know, that's clear in the scripture. If somebody murders another, I mean, they're to be, after the testimony of two or three witnesses, they were killed. Now he says, of how much worse punishment Do you suppose will be will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot? Counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the Spirit of grace For we know him who said vengeance is mine. I will repay says the Lord You see trampled the Son of God underfoot But I want to recommend to you some reading. Write down 2 Samuel 16, 15 through 17, 23. It is thought that that is who David was referring to in Psalm 41. Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me. Ahithophel. 2 Samuel 16, 15 through 17, 23. It's the account of David's trusted counselor. And how when Absalom defected and rose up to take the kingdom, Ahithophel became a traitor to David, one whom David had trusted. And actually, I think it's the last verse in 2 Samuel 16 says that the counsel of Ahithophel if I'm pronouncing it properly, is like the counsel or like the oracle of God was to both David and Absalom. So he was a very well-known, very well-received, very well-accepted counselor. But if you read that account, at the end of that account Ahithophel got on his mule, went to his hometown went to his house got his house in order and went out and hung himself you see very similar passage to what happens to someone who betrayed the Son of God. And we, yes, it's just the similarities are kind of amazing. So just read that for your own. But one of the main, obviously, the primary thing about The idea of a heel, of the enemies being subjected, is obviously the first prophecy of our Lord in Genesis 3.15, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, but you shall bruise his heel. Well, I would rather have my heel bruised than my head. And what we see here is that Satan has gotten a fatal blow. But in our text here, we see that it is Jesus. It is our Savior who is in this place of being betrayed. He is the one. It is now here that the enemy is going to bruise his heel. Our Lord's heel is about to be bruised, but Satan will soon be crushed. In Romans, we have this beautiful verse. Romans 16, just kind of by the way of closing out the epistle of Romans, Paul says to them, For your obedience has become known to all in chapter 16 verse 19, therefore I'm glad on your behalf. But I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan shortly under your feet. He will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen. Well, praise God. he will soon be crushed. Right now we are still in the interim between the annihilation of Satan and the bruising of Christ's heal, but it will be ultimately accomplished. So I want to treat this text here kind of in a three-point way here. I simply want to point out, number one, when it was foretold, as we think about the betrayal foretold, when it was foretold, why it was foretold, and how it was foretold. So, we see clearly, and it's a very familiar passage to us as far as the betrayal of Judas, the betrayal of Christ by Judas, and I just want to work our way through here for a little bit here. When it was foretold, think about it with me, after three years of ministry, why did Christ not expose this man? Why was there not, and I think we have an answer in our text, but my point is simply that Christ was dealing with this man for three long years of ministry, going up and down in Judea with Judas in tow. And even more than that, our text reveals that he had the money box. Can you imagine being on a mission and you have 12 followers and you entrust the daily supplies and the money that is being donated, you entrust it to Judas and you know that he is ultimately in the camp of the enemy. It's just amazing to me of the long-suffering of God here, of Christ here, dealing with this man. He was even sent out two by two into the villages. Truly, we see that this is spoken of only after all of this time of ministry. But more immediately, we see What, when he foretold this to the disciples was after he had this intimate time of fellowship in washing their feet. He loved them to the end. And so he exposes, I think, and we'll come to here as we come to this last point of how he foretold it, but I believe he revealed it primarily to Judas himself, that he knows of the plot, you see, that Christ understood that this is going down, that he has a traitor in the midst because, and we'll see here later. after a long time of service, and I believe that it fits in, as it says in verse 18, I know whom I have chosen, but that the Scripture might be fulfilled. It is Christ being determined, as Brother Terry pointed out to the children, is that when we see Scripture being fulfilled, what does it do to our faith? It makes us immovable. we see that where he spoke and now it's come to fruit, now we're unshaken now because of the confidence that we have. And here we see that Christ walked through, went through all of his ministry time with Judas in tow as a corrupt treasurer, but so that scripture may be fulfilled that he who ate bread." You see, he had to be intimate with him for that scripture to be fulfilled. He who ate bread with me. He had to have had fellowship with the traitor in order for Psalm 41 verse 9 to be brought to fruitation. And so, that was when he foretold this betrayal to Judas. Now notice, the second one is, why was it foretold? Well, it is specifically stated in verse 19 in our text, why he said it. Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he, or that I am. Think about it. if you were part of an intimate small group, if you were on a small group mission with a leader, with your Messiah, as it were, and you were following him, and at the end of his time here, he would die by the hands of the Pharisees and the scribes, and, well, he was actually killed by the Romans, but he was instigated by the Pharisees. But it was a betrayal by one of his own, you see. One of the intimate little group here. Now what would that do to the rest of us? You would maybe think that Hmm, I wonder, I wonder why did, why did that happen? How did that, how can that be? And is it maybe that you would think, well, I don't know if, I don't know if he is who he says he is, you see. Because ultimately, he died by the hands of a traitor. And if he's God, why didn't he uncover him, you see? Well, he did. He did uncover him, and that is, I believe, what he is saying here. The why that he's foretelling this is so that when this comes to pass, that the disciples, the rest of them, would say, well, it is in the plan, you see. That it is part of the divine plan for the crucifixion and the salvation, the crucifixion, death, and burial of Christ for the salvation of humanity, that this betrayal would take place. You see, it takes away the possibility of being a victim. No, he's not a victim. Absolutely not. So you don't think that I inadvertently came into this place of betrayal and death. I tell you beforehand. And I think that is a large reason of why he foretold it at this point. Notice also that in verse 19 when he says this, I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am. And the he is in italics there, and so that is an indication of I am who I am. That he is divine, he is sovereign God. But then he goes on in verse 20, Most assuredly I say to you, He who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. Why does he put that in here? I think, again, it has to do with the fact that he is encouraging them at this lowly time of their ministry, of this dark time of betrayal, that his is a divine mission, and that if someone receives him, or someone receives the one whom Christ sent then he receives Christ and if he receives Christ and he also receives the one who sent Christ and that there's a there's a There's an encouragement here that they are all on a divine timetable that they are on a divine mission a divine agenda most assuredly it's barely barely I say to you he who receives a You know, think about that. What did Judas do? He rejected, didn't he? He pushed back, he rejected and betrayed. But Christ is now saying, look, if someone receives you, he receives me. And he who receives me, receives the one whom sent me. And so there is great comfort for these disciples. I want to just mention Peter in Acts 1. It's kind of amazing to me that Peter, let's flip there to Acts 1, briefly at least. In verse 15. Acts 1 and verse 15, and in those days Peter stood up in the midst. Now this was after the ascension. Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples. Altogether the number of names was about 120. And he said, men and brethren, this scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas. who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, which that's basically just another way of saying he switched sides, he became a betrayer of us. He became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity, And falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his entrails gushed out." Kind of a dramatic picture here. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem, so that field is called in their own language, Akodama, that is, Field of Blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it, and let another take his office." And we know how they took lots on two men. But he says in verse 24, and they prayed and said, of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." You see, Peter at this point was very comfortable with what had transpired. He was simply saying that the scripture spoke about it, let his dwelling place be desolate. He brings another obscure psalm in and says, This applies to Judas. Let another take his office. That's a different place. And so he was very comfortable. See how encouraging it was for the disciples to recognize that Judas' betrayal was part of the plan. And that it was not something that was outside of the sovereign God orchestrating the ministry and the sacrifice of his dear son. And so I think that is an encouraging point for us to remember, is that we can, as we relate to this sort of betrayal, I mean, have we not had, even in our own lives, I think we have experienced betrayal. I feel like I have. But I'm saying here is that it was under the sovereign hand of God, and it was in God's plan for this to work out. Now, the other point I want to make is how that it was foretold. And I never seen this before. But we have passages like Matthew 26-22 where the reaction is similar to what it is here. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. But notice here that in verse 21, when Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit. That word troubled is to mean that he was roiled on the inside. He was in anxiety. His soul was troubled. He was anxious. We have it in 1227. Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say, Father, save me from this hour?" That's the same word. He was, in verse 20, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And when he said that, notice what immediately happened. The disciples began to look around at one another and they were perplexed, which is kind of a I mean, other passages like Matthew 26-22 say they were exceedingly sorrowful. They consider, how can it be that one of us would betray the Lord? Luke 22-23 says they were questioning among themselves. And I had a passage, I think in Mark, I did not note, Mark 14, let me just quickly look at that, Mark 14, 9, it says this way. It's 1419. And they began to be sorrowful and to say to him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? You see that there was a lot of perplexity going on about them. And they were asking these questions. But notice that when Peter, who was in verse 24, Simon Peter therefore motioned to him." I don't know, how would you motion to someone who was across the table? You know, would you just mouth it to him? Ask the Lord who it is? Or would you, you know, you would Try to get the idea across, but Peter was just motioning to him, ask him. And this disciple that was leaning on Jesus' bosom is clearly identified in the last chapter of John, in the closing of this epistle, it is John himself. He refers to himself here as the one whom he was leaning on Jesus' bosom, and it specifically notes whom Jesus loved. I don't know what to make of that. There was an added... Jesus was extra fond of him. Or he loved him. I don't know. But it clearly identifies it in John 21 that it was the writer of this gospel that was leaning on Jesus' bosom. And it refers to Peter asking him who would betray him. But notice that Peter conveyed the question very discreetly and privately. It wasn't allowed. He just motioned him. And so we see that John was in the bosom of Christ. He was right up close. And the commentaries just pointed out that they believe that John just whispered to Christ. Who is it? that he just whispered, who is it, Master? And the Master just said, it's whomever I give the bread. There's a clue, the reason we do this, the reason we see this is that in verse 28, but no one at the table knew. You see that? No one at the table knew why Jesus said, what you do, do quickly. They didn't know for what reason he said this to him. For some thought, well, because he was a treasurer, that he had the money that Jesus was telling them, go see after our needs for, you know, either for the feast or whatever. Buy those things we need. Or give something to the poor. So, in an intimate setting where you have, you know, these twelve men gathered around with Christ, in a place of fellowship, you have these guys looking at one another perplexedly and saying, well, what is going on? Who is this? And then you have this other interaction privately. It's almost like they were talking over each other, trying to figure out who it was, but then the three were having this interaction, Peter and John and Jesus. But Jesus answered and said, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And so Jesus was the host of this supper. And it was customary that the host would give a choice portion to someone. And that is what happened here, is that he gave this choice portion, even the fact that he was showing John who the betrayer was, it was not, The action was not of such a nature that it showed the rest of them. So it was shared very discreetly. But I believe Judas knew. Judas must have known what was going down here, that Christ had revealed him. And if the choice portion was a token of Christ's last Blessing to Judas. Think about it. Most traitors, when they're uncovered, they'll run backwards. They're uncovered, their plots uncovered, so it's almost impossible to carry it out. But Christ here just simply gave him the choice portion that the host gives to an honored guest and gave it to Judas and Judas I'm not, there's no need for us to surmise how Judas knows these things, but Judas knew that what he had planned with the Pharisees, and now for Christ to speak openly about somebody betraying him, but privately, you see, he didn't even point Judas out to the rest of the disciples. And I'm not sure why, but it is a very gentle way to deal with Judas. So it was foretold discreetly. And so we have, instead of being repentant, instead of being broken, instead of being repentant by being singled out and realizing that the master knew that he had a betrayal plan, there was no repentance on the part of Judas. I believe he hardened his heart. As the commentaries point out, that here was another opportunity to just to say, well, I'm not going to go through with it. But no, he wasn't going to go through with it. He was going to go through with it. And one of the reasons is that he had given Satan an inch and Satan had taken a mile. You see, Satan had entered him. He was possessed literally, simply, and physically, personally by Satan himself. I think that there's probably rarely that that happens. that someone is personally possessed by Satan. But here we see that Satan was the enemy Judas was the instrument whereby the heel was lifted up against Christ in an effort to destroy Christ and to bring dominion upon Christ, you see. But it failed, it utterly failed, praise God. Jesus told him, what you do, do quickly, or you have taken the wages of iniquity, go now and earn them. Go now and earn what you were paid to do. And Judas went out, he says in verse 30, having received the piece of bread, that last token of Christ's goodwill to Judas, having received the bread, he then went out immediately. And why does it make a note here that it was night? It was night, wasn't it? Judas' soul was as black as night. There was a spiritual night falling. Christ would soon die, and there would be darkness over all the face of the earth for three hours. But it was night for Judas spiritually, and it's still night for Judas. because he loved darkness more than light. And he had just come from the presence of light. But he loved the night and he loved darkness and he betrayed him and truly Jesus calls Him, in John 17, the Son of Perdition. And so, we see here in this account how Christ dealt with the betrayer, and how He in love prepared His disciples for the fact that when this would occur, they would be well equipped to deal with it. And that Christ provided for them. And He still does that for us. He still provides for us. But notice that it is night. It was night. And so it is for all of us who are in the camp of the enemy. who are not partaking of the light that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that's all I have for you today. I thank you for your kind attention. Let's just remember to simply recognize that if you ever do face betrayal, It can be a tool that God uses for your good, and we remember that He is in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Well, thank you, and you will be dismissed.