Have you ever had someone who was close to you let you down or betray you?  It is an awful feeling to know that one of the people closest to you would turn their back on you.  Jesus experiences this not just through Judas but the reality is that all of the disciples, with the possible exception of John, abandon Him as He is being tried, tortured, and crucified.  Let’s look at the account found in John 13 where He tells them what will happen. 

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. 31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

It would have been one thing for the disciples to simply flee because of self-preservation while Jesus was going through everything that He did for us.  Jesus, unfortunately, knew it was going to happen.  He knew that money hungry Judas would trade Him for some silver.  He knew that big, bold Peter would deny even knowing Him three times.  He knew the others would head for the hills and I’m sure many of them had “Peter” moments as well.  This must have been tough for Jesus especially knowing that this was His group.  This was who He was counting on to carry on His work once He was gone.  Jesus spends the next several chapters of the book of John imparting last precious bits of knowledge to encourage the disciples for what’s next.  Perhaps as we walk through that this week we will be encouraged for what God has next for us as well.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave