What could be worse than to be hated by an enemy? Stay tuned, Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition is next. Welcome to this weekend edition of Renewing Your Mind with author and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul is also the Senior Minister of Preaching and Teaching at St. Andrews, a Reformed congregation in Sanford, Florida. All of us have enemies. Martin Luther identified the three biggest enemies in the Christian life as the world, the flesh, and the devil. Some of our enemies pose no real threat to us in that they only have an emotional hatred for us that goes no further than that. Others convert that emotion into action by either word or deed to do actual harm to us. At whatever level, nobody wants enemies. But is there anything worse than an enemy in your life? Today on Renewing Your Mind, as we continue our study of the Gospel of John, Dr. Sproul will take us back to the Upper Room to learn about the painful irony that led to Jesus' betrayal. Here now is Dr. Sproul with today's message, The Betrayal. Continuing our study of the gospel of John, I'll be reading this evening from chapter 13, beginning at verse 18. 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. 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 unto you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at one another perplexed about whom he spoke. Now there was one 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. And 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. And 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 they should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately and it was night. Please be seated. It was Maundy Thursday, and the disciples had gathered with Jesus in the upper room. It was on that occasion that we saw the humble experience that we looked at last Sabbath morning of the washing of the feet of His disciples by Christ. It was in that room on that night that our Lord instituted the Lord's Supper, the sacrament of Holy Communion, for the first time. It was in that room on that night that our Lord instituted the new covenant that was in His blood. But as we pick up the text at verse 18, We read Jesus saying these things, I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But in order that the scripture may be fulfilled, and then he quotes the text, he who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. And in this moment, our Lord quotes from the Psalm of David, Psalm 41, I will not read the psalm in its entirety, but in verse 4 of Psalm 41, David writes these words, I said, Lord, be merciful to me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you, and my enemies speak evil of me. When will he die and his name perish? And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies. His heart gathers iniquity to itself, and whenever he goes out, he tells it. Now, you see what David is saying here. First of all, he's confessing his own sin, and then he is crying out to God about this enemy who is spreading vicious lies about him, who's bearing false witness against him. And as he continues to describe the anguish that this enemy is causing him, he says this, all who hate me whisper together against me, and against me they devise my hurt. An evil disease, they say, clings to him. Now that he lies down, he will rise up no more. And then the climax of this lament is found in verse 9. Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, a friend who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. Beloved, it is one thing to be hated. by your enemy. But to be betrayed by your friends is one of the darkest experiences that a human being can ever endure. And we see that Christ is David's greater son, and in a real sense, David is the type of the Christ who was to come. And so that many of the things that took place in David's life are later recapitulated in the life of Christ. Now, of course, this whole psalm is not a messianic psalm. This whole psalm is not about Jesus, because at the beginning of the psalm, as I read, David is confessing his sin before God, which have no relevance whatsoever. or application to Christ. But where the application comes is at the point that Jesus quotes, my own friend, the friend who I have trusted, the friend who ate my bread, he has lifted up his heel. against me." In the ancient Near East, to be betrayed by one's friend was considered a heinous crime, but the most heinous crime of betrayal would be by a friend who had actually shared bread at your table. And when the night that our Lord institutes the sacrament of Holy Communion, He breaks bread and He distributes it to His disciples, to His friends, to those who had been His closest companions over the previous three years. And now He makes the announcement that one of these who is at the table eating with Him will indeed betray Him. There's some other little points in the text that I don't want to gloss over too quickly, because he said, the reason I'm telling you this, so that when it happens, when it comes to pass, you may believe that ego e me, that you may believe I am who I am. throughout the Gospel of John as we've been studying it this past year and more. We have seen the I am's of Jesus, where Jesus uses the formula borrowed from the Old Testament, from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew, where the supreme name of God, Yahweh, is rendered in the Greek by this formula, ego imi. And so Jesus now makes this pronouncement that he is about to be betrayed, that the scriptures may be fulfilled, that you, knowing the scripture, and knowing that I have predicted it, will now be confident that I am." Now when he said these things, he was troubled. He was troubled in a visceral way, deep in his spirit when he said, one of you is going to betray me. And we read that the disciples looked at one another perplexed about this when He said it. They were startled. They were stunned. They were confused. And if we look at the other records of this in the Synoptic Gospels, two of the other Gospels mention a detail that John omits here, and that is that when Jesus makes the announcement that one of those assembled there is going to betray Him, that one by one The disciples asked the question, is it I? Now in the seminary One of the rules or principles of biblical interpretation that I give to them is this. I said, when you're reading a text, you pay attention not only to the structure of the language, the nouns and the verbs and all of that, and not only do you pay attention to the immediate context and the broader context, but I want you to read the text in an existential way, not in the existential philosophical way, but in the sense of empathy. I want you to try to get in the skin of the people that are engaged here in the drama of redemption. Try to imagine to the best of your ability what they're thinking, what they're feeling, why they're behaving in the manner that they are. Now listen to this. You go to the upper room. You've been listening to Jesus for the last several weeks talk about the grim events that are in front of Him. He has told His disciples that He's going to go to Jerusalem, that He's going to go there to suffer and to die. And now He tells them that the hour is at hand. Now, the leader just says that He's going to die. What do you think that meant to the disciples? I can't imagine that there wasn't a one of them who didn't ask the question to himself, does this mean I will die with Him? Is it my hour too? This Jesus in whom I had placed all my hopes that He would be the Messiah, I had a different understanding of what the Messiah would be than what He's explaining to us now. I don't like what I'm hearing. they know that every time that Jesus opened His mouth during the time that they were with Him, He spoke nothing but the unvarnished truth, and suddenly He announces to those who are seated there, one of you is going to betray Him. So every one of those assembled knew that there was absolutely no doubt that what Jesus had just announced was true, and that somebody in that room was going to betray Him. But he didn't say who it was. I think there was a fleeting moment, beloved, that every man there in the presence of our Lord thought, oh, no. Please, no, don't let it be me. They didn't know that it wouldn't be them. They hoped that it wouldn't be them, but they didn't know. That's why they asked the question, syriatim, around the room, Lord, is it I who will betray you? Now, one of the details that we get here in the text is that during the celebration of the Passover meal that evening, the disciples reclined with Jesus at the table. Now that's a detail that I'm afraid that the greatest artists in Western history have either overlooked or simply ignored when they've painted their depictions of the Last Supper, because invariably when we see the paintings of the Last Supper from da Vinci on down, we see people, even as this one, seated at the table, because normally that's the way Jewish people had their meals. They sat around a table. on rare and special occasions. Some of you may remember movies from Hollywood that would depict the Roman orgies, the Bacchanalia. They always have the emperor and his guests or whoever reclining at these low tables. leaning on their left arms, keeping their right arms free to put the food and the drink into their mouths. Well, when the custom of reclining at meal was first introduced to Palestine, it was completely rejected by the Jews because it was seen as a sign of decadence. because of its earlier association with the hedonistic cultures of the pagans. But over time, the other significance of reclining at the meal found acceptance among the Jews. And that was the significance that to recline a table meant a great occasion. And it was leisurely. in complete contrast to the first celebration of the Passover where the Israelites had to eat in haste as they were waiting to depart out of Egypt. I go into that detail for this reason. Jesus indicates in the middle of this when everybody is excited and scared and frightened, Peter signals to John, who is the disciple whom Jesus loved, who is seated right next to Jesus, reclining right next to Jesus, and in such a way that all John has to do is lean backwards and turn his head, and he's head to head with Christ at the Last Supper. And so the cue is given by Simon to John to inquire from Jesus, who is it? And John gives us that detail here that he asked Jesus, but it's obvious from the text that he didn't ask very loud. He whispers to Jesus, who is it? And Jesus said, watch John. Whoever I give the morsel of bread that I have dipped in the wine, that's the one. And so Jesus gives the signal to John to watch. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot. And he said, after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. And Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. Now he says that aloud so that the rest of the disciples clearly hear Jesus telling Judas to leave and whatever he has to do to get it over with. But they still have no idea of the gravity of the occasion as Judas rises and departs from their company. Now in the verses that follow, which I didn't read, we read simply, it was night. And when He had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. And if God has glorified Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and glorify Him immediately. Little children, isn't that something? He called them His friends. But in the celebration of the Passover, it was a family occasion presided over by the Father. And all of the children were gathered together for the celebration of the Passover. And Jesus adopts now the role of the pater familia, the head of the household, and he addresses his disciples as his children. He says, little children, I shall be with you just a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, where I'm going, you cannot come. And so now I say to you, a new commandment I give, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Now, ladies and gentlemen, some irony here. There's nothing new about that commandment. The commandment to love one another was deeply rooted in the Old Testament law. So what's new about it here? The only thing I can guess about the newness, the novelty of this commandment that Jesus gives on Maundy Thursday is the context of betrayal. I'm going away where I'm going right now. You can't come yet, but you will come. In the meantime, I'm giving you a new commandment that you love each other the way I have loved you. That is that you not betray each other. Remember later on at the end of the gospel when Jesus confronts Peter after Peter had denied him three times, and now they meet together and Jesus says to Peter, Peter do you love me? And we'll look at that when we get to that point in the gospel. But that comes right back to this moment where the love that Jesus was asking about was the love that is steadfast, that the love that stands up when push comes to shove, not like Demas who betrayed Paul, not like our friends who eat with us, sing with us, and tell us they're with us. until the crisis comes, Jesus said, that is not how I want my church to behave. And so He draws attention to the betrayal by which He will actually be glorified, and in that context demands from His disciples and all who will follow Him a love that gives no room, has no place for treason. By this we'll all know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another, then Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Quo vadis. Where I'm going you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward, Peter. Peter said, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I'll lay down my life for your sake. Will you? Will you lay down your life for my sake, Peter? Truly I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times." Not just Judas, but Simon as well. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition with R.C. Sproul as he takes us through the Gospel of John. In his six-part series, Providence of God, Dr. Sproul reminds us of the invisible hand of God behind all that comes to pass. If you'd like to secure a copy of Providence of God series, it's available on three CDs for a donation of any amount today. To get your copy, give us a call using our toll-free number, 1-800-435-4343. Again, that's 800-435-4343. In this series, Dr. Sproul brilliantly shows the wisdom and power of God's rule, clarifying how God can guide all events without initiating human wickedness or destroying human freedom. And he explains how your prayers are a crucial part of executing God's plan. Again, the six-part CD series, Providence of God, is available for a gift of any amount today. So give us a call at 1-800-435-4343. Again, that's 800-435-4343. Or you can go online to rymoffer.com. That's R-Y-M as in renewing your mind. And the word offer dot com. That'll bring a close to this weekend edition of Renewing Your Mind. Thank you for being with us. Join us again next weekend as Dr. Sproul continues to take us through the Gospel of John. Until then, you can keep up with us on Facebook at Facebook.com slash Ligonier. Ligonier is spelled L-I-G. O-N-I-E-R. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, Weekend Edition, the listener-supported radio outreach of Ligonier Ministries in Orlando, Florida.