Faith Reformed Church Stevensville, Ontario April 10, 2011 Morning Service. Text: John 13:21-30 Sermon: Into the Darkness

Transcription

1 Faith Reformed Church Stevensville, Ontario April 10, 2011 Morning Service Text: John 13:21-30 Sermon: Into the Darkness

2 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; AMEN. Our lesson today is a difficult one a sad one. It is not easy to watch the events portrayed, for it is the story of a descent into darkness. Into madness and misery. Judas Iscariot leaves the One who is the light of the world to embrace eternal night. Our lesson begins with the words of Jesus: I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me, and ends with the sombre observation, And it was night. Let me set the scene. The disciples have gathered in the upper room for the Passover meal. Jesus has been teaching them about self-giving love. He has both explained it with words and demonstrated it with his actions. He has humbled himself, washing his disciples feet and has exhorted them that they are to go out and do likewise. And then, when they returned to the table and the meal after having had their feet washed, he made a dreadful announcement. Let s turn to the lesson. After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant (13:21, 22). Jesus was troubled in spirit. The word troubled comes from a form of the Greek verb tarasso. It is a strong word that describes severe mental or spiritual torment. It is the word used when the disciples see the Lord 2

3 walking on water. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. It s a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear (Matthew 14:26). It s the word used to describe the reaction of Zechariah when the angel Gabriel met him in the temple and announced he would have a son. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him he was startled and was gripped with fear (Luke 1:11, 12). It s the word used to describe the Lord when he stood at the grave of his friend Lazarus just before he called him to come forth. He was deeply moved (John 11:38) because he knew that in raising Lazarus he was enacting a parable of resurrection to eternal life and that for resurrection to eternal life to become a reality he would have to bear a terrible double weight of both sin and God s judgement. Jesus was moved to his depths at the betrayal he was about to suffer at the hand of Judas. He was troubled at the thought that his love for Judas had not only been unrequited; it had been met with scorn and hatred. He was troubled because he knew the terrible destiny that was awaiting Judas. He was troubled by the presence of Satan, who would shortly move to possess Judas. He was troubled by the knowledge that the betrayal would lead him to the cross with its sin-bearing where he who knew no sin would become 3

4 sin (II Corinthians 5:21). He was troubled by the knowledge that the betrayal would lead to the cross with its judgement and he who had known unbroken and blessed fellowship with the Father would be forsaken and made to feel the full weight of the fury of God against sin. Beloved, sometimes we ponder Christ and his deity and we forget his humanity. We assume that because he has divine resources we lack he managed somehow to live above life that the trials and tribulations of this world did not touch him in any significant way. It s not true. If anything it is the other way around. The Bible teaches us that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin (Hebrews 45:15). If we know discouragement we can be sure that he knows discouragement. If we know distress, he knows distress. If we know sorrow, he knows sorrow. Let me get at the truth of the full humanity of Jesus by tying together some things I have been looking at this week. 1. I have been preparing lessons for a new membership class. In the first lesson we look at the Bible. Even though it is a collection of books 4

5 written by 40 or so people over the course of some 1,500 years it is absolutely clear that it is but one book with one author and one unified message. That perfect unity and cohesion of theme throughout the Bible that was written at different times and in different places and in different languages by different people tells us that it is a book of divine origin. It is the Word of God. And that s why the theme from the lesson this morning matches the theme from the lesson we will take up tonight. 2. In our evening service we are taking a look at the seven words of Jesus from the cross. Tonight we will come to his fifth word: I thirst. When Jesus said, I thirst, his words pointed to more than a dry throat. It was a word that spoke to the truth he was human in every respect, a man who knew a profound depth of pain and suffering. 3. In Hebrew thought, because they were a desert people with desert roots, streams and rivers were symbols of life and joy and blessing. Think of Psalm 46. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall: God will help here at break of day. At the end of days a river will flow from the throne of God. The 5

6 Apostle John had this vision granted to him: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life (Revelation 22:1-2). 4. On the cross Jesus gave up the blessing of living water. There is a passage in Jeremiah that reads, My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (2:13). When Jesus bore our sins on the cross, becoming sin for our sake, he was forsaken by his Father, the spring of living water, and was left with the broken cisterns we had made. Broken cisterns for a desert people mean death. They meant death for our Lord. 5. From glory to humiliation, from power to weakness, from reverence to mockery, from riches to want, from cleanliness to filth, from fellowship to loneliness, from blessing to curse, from life to death all this is contained in the words I am thirsty. All of this was experienced by our Lord. Jesus truly entered into the reality of human life. He became a man so he might know it from the inside out. And that is what we see in our morning lesson that tells us that Jesus was troubled in spirit. It boils down to this: There is no suffering you have gone through that he does not understand; there is no burden you carry that 6

7 he has not borne. Let s turn to Judas. There are a number of lessons we must learn from the terrible fact that Judas was a disciple but not born again. Here is the first one. A sinner needs more than an example; he needs to be saved. Think of this. Judas had the best example he could have had; he had the Lord. Judas had been chosen three years earlier. He had been instructed over the course of that time by the Lord himself. He had been in the company of the disciples godly men. He had heard the beatitudes, the parables and all the other teachings of the Lord. He had been given on the job training and had gone on successful mission trips. When Jesus said, Blessed are the meek, Judas saw in Christ the perfect example of meekness. When the Lord said, Blessed are the peacemakers, Judas saw the perfect example of a peacemaker. When Jesus said, Be ye holy, Judas saw true and perfect holiness personified right before his eyes. Above all, Jesus was filled with love for God and man and Judas saw it day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year and yet he remained an unsaved man. An example is not enough to meet our need. We need a Saviour. What we require is rescue from the ruin of sin and nothing less than 7

8 regeneration will suffice. The Holy Spirit must bring forth life in an individual so that the things of God become real to him and he is able to respond to Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Unless this divine work takes place in the heart, a person will remain confirmed in his sin and an enemy of everything holy. To put it another way, our example of Christian living, no matter how pure, is never going to save anybody. We must pray and ask the Holy Spirit to bring new life by causing people to be born again. God s resurrection power is needed for the sinner. Judas had the example of Jesus before him but he would not submit himself or own Christ as Lord in his heart. Instead, he hardened his heart against Jesus. Let me add one thing before going on so there is no misunderstanding. I am not saying that a Christian example is a bad thing or even an unimportant thing. It is vitally important that we reflect Christ in our daily living and walk with Christian integrity before the whole world. The point I am making is this: Jesus must be our Saviour before he can be our example. We can follow the example of Christ only if we first have a saving relationship with Christ. If that foundation is lacking and it was lacking in Judas no example of love or mercy or devotion or faithfulness of anything else will avail. 8

9 Here is another lesson for us to take from Judas. We cannot tell who is elect and who isn t. As people we look on the outward appearance; God looks on the heart. It looked very much like Judas was among the saved. He had all the outward bona fides of discipleship. He was within the circle of the apostles. The Lord had washed his feet. At the meal he was reclining next to Jesus in the seat of honour. And yet for all of that he was a stranger to the Lord and at the judgement seat Jesus will say to him, Depart, for I never knew you (Matthew 7:23). Two things need to be said about this. C. S. Lewis said one of those things in Mere Christianity when he described how God s judgement and our judgement differ: When a neurotic who has a pathological horror of cats forces himself to pick up a cat for some good reason it is quite possible in God s eyes he has shown more courage than a healthy man may have shown in winning the VC. When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing does some tiny kindness or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, he may, in God s eyes, be doing more that you or I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend. The second thing to say is this: We must make sure our place with God is secure. Paul exhorts the Corinthians with these words: Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of 9

10 course, you fail the test (II Corinthians 13:5, 6). Each time before sharing the Lord s Supper we test ourselves communally through the Service of Preparation which exhorts us to ask ourselves whether we make it our aim to show true thankfulness to God in our whole life, to walk uprightly before God and to live in love and peace with our neighbour. More than that, we must personally examine ourselves our actions, words and inclinations to see whether we continue to be in the faith whether it is before communion or not. In his commentary of II Corinthians Simon Kistemaker explains why this testing of ourselves is so important: Human weakness often causes us to underestimate the danger of failing to test ourselves. If failure occurs, our laxity turns into backsliding. Backsliding is characterized by failing to pray, to obey the message of Scripture, to worship, and to associate with fellow believers on the Lord s Day As a consequence, countless Christians gradually drift away from the Lord and, after some time passes, they no longer have fellowship with him. Every believer must give an answer to the question whether he or she is in the faith. How can you test yourself in this matter? Here is Kistemaker again: If I ask the question, What does it mean to be in the faith? I answer: I belong to Jesus Christ in this life and in the life to come; I dedicate my whole being to him as his faithful servant; I present my heart to him promptly and sincerely; I oppose sin and the works of the evil one; I long to be eternally with Jesus. If you can truthfully claim those answers in your heart, you are living in the 10

11 faith. Let s turn back to our lesson. After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to his disciple and said, Ask him which one he means. Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, Lord, who is it? 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 Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus announcement that he was going to be betrayed was met with stunned silence. The disciples didn t know what to say. They were confused. Donald Carson describes it this way: The Twelve were already somewhat disoriented by Jesus allusion to his suffering and death, categories they still could not square with their conviction that he was the Promised Messiah. Doubtless references to betrayal and treachery seemed similarly obscure. Perhaps some wondered if Jesus were referring to disciples just outside the ring of the Twelve; others might have wondered if the betrayal would be inadvertent. Perhaps the notion of betrayal did not seem very threatening to them since their Master could calm storms, raise the dead, feed the hungry and heal the sick. What possible disaster could befall him that he could not rectify? Peter, as usual, was the first one to step up to the plate. He waved at John and asked him to ask Jesus who he meant. John was reclining to the 11

12 right of Jesus. He had to lean back only a little way to be able to ask. Two things must be said. First of all, being very near to the heart of Jesus is a wonderful location from which to ask questions. When you draw near to the Lord in this way you can be sure he will hear. What keeps us from drawing near like this is sin. Psalm 66 puts it this way: I cried out to him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, The Lord would not have listened. (vv. 17, 18) Make sure to keep short accounts with the Lord, confessing your sin daily, so that you may remain near to his heart as you bring your prayers. The second thing to say is this: Being near to the heart of Jesus is a very good location from which to hear the Lord s answers to your prayers. How do you stay near so as to hear the Lord? There is a wonderful example of this in Isaiah 58. The people are complaining that God doesn t answer their prayers or recognize their fasting. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed? (58:3). God shows them through the prophet that their fastings and prayers are unacceptable because they are filled with strife, contention and exploitation. And then he gives this word: 12

13 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. [Now here it is:] Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and he will say: Here am I. (58:6-9). Let s get back to the upper room. Jesus answered in a way that apparently could only be heard by John. It was the one who would receive the bread who would betray him. Jesus took a piece of unleavened bread and dipped it into a mixture of bitter herbs, vinegar, water, crushed dates, figs and raisins. To be given this morsel by the host was a special honour for with it the host was showing kindness and love. Jesus was reaching out to Judas. Through this action he was saying, in effect, Judas, my friendship has not been withdrawn, even in this hour. Grace and mercy remain. Will you receive it? In the act of receiving the bread Judas was saying, Thank you, Lord. I am yours. But it was a deliberate, damnable lie from the heart of a man who despised the Lord and his ways of mercy and peace. And with that lie Satan entered him and his destiny was sealed. Our lesson ends, As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. 13

14 And it was night (13:30). Throughout the Gospel of John we find continuing references to darkness and light. Of Jesus it is said, In him was life, and that life was the light of men (1:4). He is called the light that shines in the darkness (cf. 1:5). Jesus says of himself, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life (8:12). Jesus is the light and so to leave Jesus is to enter into the darkness and not just physical darkness but spiritual darkness death and damnation. Now it is true that the rest of the disciples were going to enter into some dark days. Their shepherd was going to be struck and they were going to be scattered. They were going to do things that would make them ashamed. They were going to experience darkness from noon till three on that Good Friday. But their darkness is not to be compared with the darkness that engulfed Judas Iscariot. While the other disciples would endure darkness for a season, at the end of three days they would once more see the light of Christ in the resurrection. Judas went his own way; he found the darkness that endures forever. Let me put it this way. Jesus is holy. He is love. He is truth. He is 14

15 grace, patience, kindness, mercy, peace and every good thing. More, Jesus is the one and only source of all these things. If you turn from Jesus, you are turning from all of these things and you will not find them anywhere else because they are just not there. They are in Jesus and in Jesus alone. No Jesus, no holiness; no Jesus, no love; no Jesus, no truth; no Jesus, no grace; no Jesus, no patience; no Jesus, no kindness, no Jesus, no mercy, no peace and nothing good or pure or joyful. It is a solemn lesson today. It provides us with a solemn warning. So take heed. If you have wandered away from Jesus, come back immediately. If you are close to Jesus, abide in him and walk in his light in the power of the Holy Spirit who has drawn you to him. Never let him go. In Christ s name. AMEN. 15