Bible Study series: John 13:21-30. This was part of God’s plan to get his Son on the cross.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 13:21-30
21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, saying, “I tell you the firm truth: one of you will hand me over.” 22 The disciples were looking around at each other, perplexed over who he was talking about. 23 One of his disciples was reclining close to Jesus, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter nodded to this one, to learn who it may be that he was talking about. 25 Then he leaned in closer in this way toward Jesus and said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus replied: “He is the one for whom I will dip a piece of bread and give it to him. So after he dipped the bread, he took and gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. 27 And after the piece of bread, then Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28 No one reclining at table understood for what purpose he said this to him. 29 For some were thinking that since Judas handled the moneybag, Jesus told him, “Buy what we need for the feast” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 Then after he took the bread, he left immediately. Now it was night. (John 13:21-30)
Comments:
21-22:
Jesus is again troubled in spirit (see 12:27). This time the occasion of his inner anguish is Judas’ betrayal.
Jesus had said that when he predicts something and it happens, they may believe that “I am” (v. 19). Here he is predicting that Judas would betray him. It takes discernment to see that Judas was going astray. When the signal came (vv. 26-27), the disciples were perplexed. They did not have the right discernment.
“I tell you the firm truth”: see v. 16 for more comments.
23-26:
The disciple whom Jesus loved. He is typically called the Beloved Disciple, as an abbreviation of the “whom Jesus loved” This is the first introduction of him to the reader. He will appear on four occasions in the final chapters of the Gospel: (1) Here in the upper room; (2) At the cross of Jesus (19:26); (3) At the empty tomb (20:2); (4) At the Lake of Tiberias, where the risen Lord appeared to seven disciples (21:20).
So who was the beloved disciple? If only the twelve disciples were present at the Last Supper, and Matt. 26:20 says twelve, then the evidence points to John, son of Zebedee. Further, if we combine Matt. 15:40 and Matt. 27:56, then in Mark 15:40 Salome was watching the crucifixion from a distance, and Matt. 27:56 says an unnamed woman watching the crucifixion was the mother of James and John, and John 19:25 says that an unnamed woman was the sister of Mary (Jesus’s mother). So adding up these three verses, some scholars says that Salome was the sister of Mary (Jesus’s mother). If true, the James and John and Jesus were cousins. So of course, out of the other disciples, apart from James, John would be the Beloved Disciple. However, some scholars say that it is tricky business to assume that an unnamed woman watching at the cross had to be Salome; any number of women from Galilee were reported to have been watching the crucifixion (Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49). So the unnamed woman could be one of them and not Salome.
You can take or leave the claim that Salome was the sister of Mary (Jesus’s mother). I like the idea, but I am skeptical.
Let’s pull back at little. This is a verse of intimacy. Remember: in the first century the dinner guests reclined at table, with their feet sticking out. They were not sitting at a table as depicted in Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. “In ancient times, the guests at special feasts would recline so that each would be resting on his left elbow supported by a cushion, with his feet pointing away from the table. In the upper room there were probably three tables arranged in a horseshoe fashion. Jesus and two of his disciples would be reclining at the center table. The place on Jesus’s right would be reserved for a close friend, while the place on his left would go to the special guest” (Mounce, comments on vv. 23-24). Mounce goes on to say that John was reclining on Jesus’s right, and Judas on his left, so he could easily hand the bread to him.
The Greek literally reads: “One of his disciples was reclining on the chest of Jesus” or more expansively: “one of the guests was reclining near the chest of Jesus.” Grammarian Novakovic teaches us, referring to Louw and Nida, that the expression means taking a place of honor at a meal. The Beloved Disciple (the one whom Jesus loved) was reclining at the right of Jesus, “since guests would be reclining on their left elbow to have the right hand free for dining” (pp. 100-01).
In v. 25, the Greek literally reads: “Lie down on the chest.” But once again Novakovic teaches us that it is a synonym for the phrasing in v. 23: taking a seat of honor at a meal. Or it could be understood more intimately for moving closer to the side of Jesus. Or BDAG (70.2) suggests, via Novakovic: “He leaned back from where he lay” (pp. 101-02).
In v. 26 John refers to Jesus as Lord. See the discussion at vv. 12-15.
Jesus dipped a piece of bread in the sauce and handed it to Judas, who took it and ate it. So why did the host, Jesus, offer Judas the most appetizing morsel? It was a mark of favor (Bruce, comments on vv.. 23-26). Maybe this explains why the disciples could not discern what Jesus meant. Judas may have been on Jesus’s left, another place of honor.
27-30:
I like Bruce here: If Judas wavered for a second, it was only to steel himself to carry out his fatal resolution, to become the willing instrument of Satan whereas he might have been a free follower and messenger of his master. Satan could not have entered into him had he not been granted him admission. Had he been willing to say ‘No’ to the adversary, all of his Master’s intercessory power was available to him there and then to strengthen him. But when a disciple’s will turns traitor, when the spiritual aid of Christ is refused, that person’s condition is desperate indeed (comments on vv. 27-30).
John notes that it was night when Judas went out. This is literal of course, but it may refer to spiritual darkness. Judas is about to lead the arresting crew to Jesus (18:2), as spiritual darkness enveloped him (Bruce, ibid.).
“Feast”: it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread which began at Passover and lasted seven days.
GrowApp for John 13:21-20
1. Betrayal is tough. How have you handled it? Read Eph. 4:32, looking for forgiveness. Are you willing to call on God’s grace to forgive someone?
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3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 