The Gospel of John

The Betrayal

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels and Sermons

Lesson: 45- 70

Genre:

Track: 045

Dictation Name: RR197Z47

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. Give unto the Lord oh ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name, give an offering and come into His courts. Oh worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, fear before Him all the earth. Let us pray.

Almighty God our Heavenly Father, we give thanks unto Thee that day after day Thy mercies are new every morning. We thank Thee that Thou art more mindful of us then we are of ourselves and so our Father, we thank Thee, we praise Thee, we worship Thee, we acknowledge that Thou art God, the author of all good things. Teach us therefore our Father to keep our wayward hearts from departing from Thy ways. Make us ever joyful in Thee, mindful of our duty unto the end and to one another in Thee and always filled with Thy grace and Thy spirit. Grant us this we beseech Thee in Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is from John 13:21-30. Our subject: The Betrayal. John 13:21-30.

“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.

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?

26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.”

This is a difficult text not because it is hard to understand but because it is so startling in its vision of the enormity of evil. Betrayal is something most people are familiar with and it is a painful fact. It always comes as a shock although in our Lord’s case His foreknowledge was clear. Betrayal is a deep hurt because it means that a part of our lives work and trust is despised and trampled upon. The betrayal of the sinless Son of God especially reveals the enormity of evil. All sin, all evil, is anti-God in nature and in its motive. So that evil whether it be done unto you or to the faith or to Christ Himself is anti-God, anti-Christ. But some people want such a world, a world without God is an impossibility but it is imagined by them as a better world and therefore God and His people must be betrayed. We see the wrongs done to us personally and it is true they are intended for us to feel personally but behind all evil is the anti-God, anti-Christ motive. People want a world in which evil can flourish and prosper, because fallen men are evil and they want the kind of world in which evil will thrive and triumph. A man wants an exception made to God’s law so that man’s will can be done and men resents the inflexibility of God and His law.

As one man said once when he wanted to get away with a sin he planned and did ‘I don’t see why a minor exception can’t be made in my case, I’m basically a good man’. Those who want exceptions want the privilege of playing god. Judas apparently shared the popular expectations concerning the Messiah, a nationalistic and a political agenda is what he wanted. Those who recognized that Jesus in some sense came from God saw Him as betraying the people’s hope. They shared Caiaphas’ beliefs that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not. There are many today who single out aspects of scripture as not practical. They profess to believe the Bible form cover to cover but they say that’s not practical. A very able and a likeable man, a powerful industrialist some years ago told me that the biblical laws concerning debt were impractical for modern society and would destroy the economy. In verse twenty one we are told that Jesus trouble in spirit said ‘verily, verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me’. Matthew and Mark tell us the disciples sorrowfully began to ask ‘is it I, Lord?’ Luke tells us that they began to question among themselves which of them it was that should do this thing. Now the question, is it I Lord, is a revealing one. Apparently all were troubled by our Lord’s decision to return to Jerusalem and face death. They disagreed with Him and they wondered if they were capable of betraying Him. Their hearts were already troubled with thoughts that were a betrayal. They looked at one another unsure of whom He spoke, wondering, is it I.

Could I do this? They were at the table and the Jews had adopted the then western custom of reclining at the table. They would stretch out, lean on their left elbow and eat with their right hand. It was intended to be a very leisurely way of eating, a relaxed way, which would be a bit more difficult for us because we have not grown accustomed to a lifetime of so doing. They very often would lean against the person next to them if he were a good friend. It was an easy way for them just as for Orientals squatting by the hour is no problem. But if we try it for five minutes we’re in trouble, we have trouble getting up. In verse twenty three John indirectly identifies himself as the one who was leaning against Jesus. Next to John was Simon Peter who asked John to ask Jesus who the traitor was because it was obvious that Jesus was not about to make a public denunciation but perhaps He would quietly tell John. John therefore asked Lord, who is it? While all the others were questioning one another as to what they knew, Jesus answered he it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop he gave it to Judas Iscariot the son of Simon. The sop was a piece of bread, a chunk of bread, broken off the loaf and dipped in wine. Sharing a sop was comparable to toasting a person with wine so that you could toast them by clinking cups or glasses or you could break off a hunk of bread, dip it wine, and hand it to someone. It was a mark of friendship, not ill will.

No one other than John knew at the moment that Jesus was identifying the traitor because no one else heard Him. Jesus was not trying to shame Judas nor to impede him. Moreover it is an error to see in this act any evidence of Christ’s love for Judas, rather, He thereby reminded Judas that He had received nothing but privilege at His master’s hands. Disagreeing, Judas could have simply left the company of the disciples; instead he chose to betray Jesus. Our Lord’s act had as its purpose to shame Judas into an awareness of what he was and what he was doing. At that moment John tells us Satan entered into Judas. Luke tells us that earlier Satan had also entered into Judas and had led him to the chief priests and captains to betray Jesus for a sum of money. Judas’ every inclination was betrayal, as a result at least twice Satan entered into him to unite his will with that of Judas. Then Jesus said to Judas ’that thou doest, do quickly’ or ‘more quickly’. Get on with it. Get it over with and stop rehearsing your betrayal in your mind. No man at the table understood the meaning of this remark and apparently from verse twenty eight not even John. Our Lord had no attention of creating a scene of denunciations against Judas. With or without Judas our Lord’s arrest and execution would occur. As a result with the sop He gave a mixed and confusing signal to all. Some of the disciples assumed that Jesus asked Judas to take care of the expenses of the feast or to give something to the poor. The human inclination would have been some kind of confrontation, useless and emotional.

We would all have been for such a confrontation whereas our Lord knew the futility of words where evil and betrayal are concerned. As a result He turned a potentially emotional and useless confrontation into nothing. Judas was made aware that Jesus knew of His betrayal and He was thereby shamed and confounded. Precisely because Jesus’ action was so contrary to the usual reaction not even John at that time understood what was happening. Judas having taken the sup left immediately, we are told that it was night. When our Lord said that one of the disciples would betray Him it must have shattered Judas to know that Jesus was aware of his treachery. The sop and the instruction to proceed with his chosen way added to Judas’ confusion. To Jesus miraculous powers was now added His knowledge of Judas’ secret activity. Clearly Jesus was more than man and yet this did not deter Judas no matter how much it shook him. Being evil and having chosen evil he persisted in his evil. This is why our words cannot sway men in their evil course. We are told simply to make our witness and pass on, one word is enough. Later on Judas repented himself we are told and sought to cancel out his betrayal by returning the thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave, to the chief priests and elders. But scripture tells us there is a repentance to life which is a desire to change, to reverse directions, and a repentance unto death when we are unhappy about the results of what we have done, not our motive.

This was not a repentance unto life because all he did was try to separate himself from the crime, not to work against it. His confession of sin was only to the chief priests and elders not to God and not to Jesus Christ. He confessed to those in whom he believed except he knew now their evil and so he committed suicide. The betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas was the betrayal of his own life and his own future. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee for this Thy word. Make us ever mindful that all evil done to us is done primarily against Thee and because we bear Thy name and are Thy people. Teach us that even as our Lord overcame the evil done against Him so by Thy grace we shall also. Teach us in all things to look unto Thee and to know that all the evil of this world Thou art able to make work together for good for us who are Thy called and in Thy love. How great and marvelous are Thy ways and we thank Thee. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson?

Yes?

[Question] Did you say in the sermon that thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave?

[Rushdoony] Yes so that was another way of insulting our Lord when the leaders paid that price they were self-consciously saying he knows the law, the people know the law, we know the law. This is how we evaluate Him. It was a studied insult but like everything they did it backfired on them. Yes?

[Question] It seems like Judas is one of the best examples of why evidentialism is wrong.

[Rushdoony] Yes, excellent point, because all the evidence in the world pointed to the fact that Jesus was more than man. And as I indicated Judas knew that, Jesus had read his mind and Jesus had raised the dead. He knew that this man was somehow God but he was revealing his evil. He wanted God to serve his goals and when Jesus was no longer interested in his nationalistic goals he felt He should die. Well, the evidentialists believe that facts will convince people and they’re going to prove Christianity. Now evidentialism has a long history in both Catholic and Protestant circles, it’s the essence of the scholastic approach, it’s the essence of the Arminian approach, it’s the essence of the Clarkian approach in recent years and of many of his followers and of course the most popular presentation of it in our day has been by Josh McDowell and it is interesting that Josh McDowell in terms of studies his group made had to say that their converts are no better, their young people, college aged, in their moral conduct than the ungodly. That should have told him something, John Lofton called that to his attention but he couldn’t see it.

I think perhaps Mark you ought to write an article for the report on the evidentialism of Judas. That’s a very, very telling point. Well if there are no further comments let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father, we thank Thee for Thy word for it exposes unto us the enormity of sin, the enormity of man’s satisfaction with himself, the enormity of fallen man’s hatred for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Forgive us our Father that soften in the face of these things, in the fact of the evil we see around us and its hostility to us we sometimes want to be taken to heaven on flowery beds of ease. Have mercy upon us, give us strength to stand, to resist and to overcome the powers of darkness and bless us as we serve Thee. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.