The Gospel of John
Chapter 13
Part VI
21) When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Mark 14:18) And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
Luke 22:21) But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me [is] with me on the table.
Concerning “When Jesus has thus said,”
John 13:10-11; 18-20) Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash [his] feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
11) For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
18) I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
19) Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am [he].
20) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
Regarding “one of you shall betray me,”
“By all these warnings, did not our Lord intend that Judas should be benefited? – that he should repent of his iniquity, and turn and find mercy?” [Clarke].
“It seems that Jesus was here giving the betrayer a final opportunity to abandon his evil plan. Without exposing him directly, the Lord revealed His knowledge that one of the twelve would betray Him. Yet even this did not change the traitor’s mind” [BBC].
“Jesus had said a year ago that “one of you is a devil” (John_6:70), but it made no such stir then. Now it was a bolt from the blue sky as Jesus swept his eyes around and looked at the disciples” [Robertson].
“By revealing the traitor, Jesus shows that He is in control of these events; He is not being taken by surprise” [Guzik].
NOTE: Jesus “was troubled in spirit.” Notice how Paul introduced his teaching on the Lord’s Supper:
1 Corinthians 11:23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread:
ANOTHER NOTE: This message that Paul “received of the Lord” included the fact that Jesus had been betrayed. It seems the “God” side of this God-man knew everything that was going to happen, just like He did when He was in Heaven, but the “man” side of this God-man had trouble understanding it emotionally. After all, in His humanness He struggled, or was tempted, in the very same way are; except, He never sinned.
22) Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
23) Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
24) Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
25) He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
Concerning “one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved,”
John 19:26) When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
John 20:2) Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
John 21:7) Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt [his] fisher’s coat [unto him], (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
John 21:20) Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
QUESTIONS: Why did John refer to himself this way? Did he believe that Jesus loved him more than He loved the others? Do you remember how this night began?
Luke 22:14-15; 24) And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
15) And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
24) And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
QUESTION: Again, the disciples were arguing earlier in the evening who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Is that why John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”? Had he already decided that He was the favorite disciple of Jesus, and would therefore be elevated to the highest level of greatest in the coming Kingdom?
ANSWER: Absolutely not! He was writing this Gospel, most likely, many years after this evening of which I am talking about. Some suggest John wrote this Gospel about the year A.D. 68; a few suggest he wrote it relatively soon after the Ascension of Christ; but the most common opinion is that he wrote it after returning from his exile to Patmos, somewhere around A.D. 97 or 98. It was a long while later when
NOTE: It was a long while later when John wrote this Gospel. Consequently, the argument concerning who would be the greatest was ancient history when John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” John witnessed the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. He was the only one of the twelve to do so. He saw with his own eyes the greatest expression of God’s love for us ever given. Note the following verses, also written by John:
1 John 3:16) Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.
1 John 4:7-8) Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:17) Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1 John 4:19) We love him, because he first loved us.
CONTINUATION OF NOTE: I would to God we all got the message in the way that John did. I would to God we would all think of ourselves as “the one whom Jesus loves.” Peter asks John to ask Jesus who the traitor was. John did.