Service and Betrayal

Service and Betrayal
John 13:28-30

28 Now [de] no man [oudeis] at the table [anakeimai] knew [ginosko] for what [pros] intent [tis] he spake [epo] this [touto] unto him [autos] .
29 For [gar] some [tis] of them thought [dokeo] , because [epei] Judas [Ioudas] had [echo] the bag [glossokomon] , that [hoti] Jesus [Iesous] had said [lego] unto him [autos] , Buy [agorazo] those things that [hos] we have [echo] need of [chreia] against [eis] the feast [heorte] ; or [e] , that [hina] he should give [didomi] something [tis] to the poor [ptochos] .
30 He [ekeinos] then [oun] having received [lambano] the sop [psomion] went [exerchomai] immediately [eutheos] out [exerchomai] : and [de] it was [en] night [nux] . KJV-Interlinear

28 Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. 29 For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, 'Buy the things we have need of for the feast'; or else, that he should give something to the poor. 30 And so after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night. NASB

It is night time. This is the environment of evil. Evil is that which is without truth. God is truth and therefore the light with which we can see if we have learned His wisdom.

The dinner is just about over. The apostles are wondering about Jesus' last comment where He stated that there was among them one who would betray Him. They heard the comment and then entered into various side conversations amongst themselves. They saw Jesus rise and go over to Judas and heard or thought they heard His conversation with Judas, but they drew the wrong conclusions from this activity. Thinking that Jesus was merely giving Judas some instructions having to do with the money he carried for the group.

Even John who asked the question for Peter, as to whom the betraying person might be, was not paying attention to what was going on around him.

Note that unbelievers like Judas (or even negative believers) position themselves around things in life that have to do with the world. Judas carried the money box. We have already learned that he dipped into the money for his own use from time to time.

Believers who lack any depth of knowledge in Bible doctrine are unable to discern what is going on around them. They are most likely to react emotionally to things - 'the apostles talked among themselves.' People hear things that they do not agree with and they walk away from their Bible study. People often times outright reject what they hear and move totally away from their Bible study.

Some will look elsewhere for teaching that they feel less threatened with, or something they find more compatible with the things they already believe in. Some will just reject whatever is taught and walk away from God permanently regardless of the message and the warnings they receive regarding their life.

God commands us all to 'Keep being filled with the Spirit,' Eph 5:18, Matt. 22:36-40, Gal. 5:22-23. This is the fellowship state of your life which you obtain by maintaining a constant watch (a vigil) on the sin in your life (if you judge yourself, then you shall not be judged), and confess your sins regularly to God the Father such that you remain in fellowship. In this state, God the Holy Spirit is in controlled of your soul. You are said to be 'filled with the Spirit.'

From this position then sooner or later you will learn Gods Word. Most of us float in and out of fellowship, especially as young believers in Christ, but as you advance in your spiritual life then your fellowship status will become more stable and your spiritual growth will accelerate.

This is the biggest barrier to the spiritual growth of the apostles. It was not until after the ascension of Christ, that they really began to understand all of these events. Jesus will state this in the next few verses. Right now they are in a sort of spiritual fog. They hear and see all that is going on around them, but they are just out of reach of the understanding of it all.

They did not give up, though they will be tempted when Jesus is crucified. That is not what they expected. It was all discomforting as to how they perceived life was going to be for them. And that is our principle today. When we are new to Bible study, that is to say, when we are in the early stages of our spiritual growth then every little thing, every little confrontation, is a potential threat to our continued growth.

We have expectations of prosperity, of all our needs being fulfilled, of life turning into a bed of rose petals, but we forget that we are still in this devils world and things just do not go our way, or as we expect them to go. We become frustrated, impatient, or some of us might even just float along in the fog as the apostles are doing.

Then something very difficult will hit us. Jesus is just hours away from being arrested and a day away from being crucified. The apostles simply do not expect this. It will totally destroy their comfort zone in life. They have been used to their comings and goings, of healing people daily, of eating their fishes and breads and everything is just rosy. They think that this is their calling in life, but God has different plans for them all. And that is probably true with all of us. We have our expectations, hopes and plans, and then life or reality happens and sends us for a loop.

The apostles are having another Passover meal. They are there together, talking, telling stories, recalling events of the past year. Everything is just peachy. How could life ever go wrong?

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