When Jesus Disappoints Us (John 13:18-30)
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jeremy_1_03-06-2026_105652: [00:00:00] Welcome to another episode of Rebuilding Faith.
These are 10 minute Bible messages for people with questions and doubts. Today we're gonna look at two different disciples and two different responses to Jesus, in particular, responses to Jesus. When we're disappointed, what do we do when Jesus doesn't live up to our ideals of who we want him to be.
In today's passage, we see two different routes that we can take. We're gonna begin reading in John 13, verse 18. It says, I am not saying these things to all of you as Jesus talking. I know the ones I have chosen, but this fulfills the scripture that says, the one who eats my food has turned against me.
I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens, you will believe that I am the Messiah. Now, this is a crazy argument for Jesus to make, especially when we see the way in which he makes it. He's quoting from the Old Testament here. This [00:01:00] is Psalm 41, 9. Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.
So Jesus chooses a moment of personal betrayal to make a huge theological claim. Now in the NLT, it adds the phrase, the Messiah there. So you think maybe Jesus is saying that, but that's not what's actually in the text. Literally what Jesus is saying is, I am and if you've ever heard that, that's a reference back, a call back to much of the language used throughout the Old Testament about God.
And so Jesus says, I am. And he's making this divinity connection, even though one of the 12 disciples. Is about to betray him. It's an interesting time to double down on who you are when it certainly appears that not everyone believes in you. His identity does not depend [00:02:00] on whether or not people support him, which is fascinating because my identity does often depend on whether people support me and support my ideas.
Right? And maybe you can relate that we often. Associate how we are or how we feel about ourselves based on what people say about us, based on the support that we get. And yet here in a moment of betrayal from one of his 12 closest disciples, Jesus is making this claim. I am. He's displaying a different way of living.
And then we keep reading in verse 20. I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger. Is welcoming me and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the father who sent me. Now, Jesus was deeply troubled and he exclaimed, I tell you the truth. One of you will betray me. The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean, and the [00:03:00] disciples Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.
Simon Peter meant motioned to him and he said to ask, who is he talking about? So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked Lord, who is it implies? It's like whispered in his ear. Jesus responded, it is the one to whom I give the bread. I dip in the bowl. And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Escar.
So you have this moment that not everybody sees this conversation. We, we are privy to some insider details of what is whispered into Jesus' ear, but they see him do this act, of this bread. Now, I don't know how you envision this scene playing out, maybe he's just this whispering and then Jesus hands him this bread.
But notice the detail here that he dips the bread first. Scholars have noted this likely means that when Jesus dips the bread, he doesn't put it into Judas hands, he puts it into his mouth. [00:04:00] This would've been in an affectionate way, not bizarre, but an affectionate way of serving one of your friends, in this type of a meal.
And so again, as a very tender moment. For someone who's about to betray him. And in fact, that's the clue Jesus gives to the question of who is it? And he says, Hey, watch the person I give this to. And then he very affectionately gives this bread. And so when we combine this with what we saw a few weeks ago, we have Jesus washing Judas feet and then feeding him by hand.
This is not how I tend to want to treat the people who betray me or who I might want to consider an enemy to the things that I am about. And yet again, we see Jesus acting in ways that are very different than how you and I might handle this situation. Get to verse 27. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him.
Then Jesus told him, hurry and [00:05:00] do what you're going to do. None of the others at the table knew. What Jesus meant, right? They haven't heard all the dialogue that you and I have heard, and since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or go give some money to the poor.
So Judas left at once. Going out into the night, you have this kind of ominous ending of this part of the story. Now there are different explanations that the New Testament writers had. To explain what Judas did here, what was Judas A about? John implies that Satan had entered him here, but that he was inherently evil.
We have seen this earlier in chapter six, verses 70 and 71. Then Jesus said, I chose the 12 of you, but one is a devil. He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon is Scar, one of the 12 who would later betray him. So according to John, it's like this guy has always been set for this. This is the direction he's been on.
Luke suggests that the [00:06:00] devil made him do it similar to way John is describing here, Luke 22, 3. Then Satan entered into Judas Harriot, who was one of the 12 disciples. Matthew seems to imply that Judas did it for the money. Matthew 26, verse 1415. Then Judas is scary. At one of the 12 disciples, went to the leading priest and asked.
How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you? And they gave him 30 pieces of silver. So even amongst the New Testament writers, you have different ways of understanding what was Judas doing? What were his motives? What was he all about here? And it's easy to stereotype him like Judas is the bad guy.
But even the New Testament writers had different ways of trying to explain this. The pastor, Brian Zand has explained Judas like this. He said Judas didn't so much want to betray Jesus as he wanted to manipulate Jesus. Judas wanted to manipulate Jesus into [00:07:00] launching a violent revolution. So Judas has these ideals, right, of what he wants Jesus to do, and Jesus isn't doing it.
And so Judas is trying to force his hand. Now it's easy for us as we look at this story to make Judas into this almost like Disney villain type character of like the token bad guy. But I think you and I can relate more with Judas than we may be comfortable to realize because Judas is someone who is responding poorly when Jesus doesn't live up to his ideals, which invites you and I to ask how do we handle it.
Jesus doesn't live up to our ideals. I've certainly had those moments where I wish Jesus would do something that Jesus doesn't seem to be doing. I wish Jesus would've said something different or done something different. And yet we're left with the Jesus that, that we have, and sometimes that doesn't live up to the ideals that [00:08:00] we have.
So do we keep following him when Jesus doesn't live up to our ideals? Do we try to turn Jesus into the version that we'd prefer, that we'd be more comfortable with? Do we take things into our own hands like Judas is doing here? See, all of this is a tension that anyone who follows Jesus likely is going to have to wrestle with.
Now, conversely, we also have another disciple that is introduced here. This is a very interesting person, and there's not even an agreement on who this is, but it's known as. The beloved disciple or the disciple whom Jesus loved. You see this in verse 23. The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.
Now there's no scholarly consensus on definitively who is this talking about? Some have argued it's John, the writer of this gospel, but it's cloaked in this mysterious language. But we're gonna see this disciple [00:09:00] specifically mentioned in this way five more times after this. So you have this as the first of the six, and then five more times we're gonna see this disciple.
And it's often in a contrast. To what the other disciples are doing. This disciple seems to do these really endearing things to Jesus often in these moments where you see a contrast and so John leaves us with this image of these two disciples, one who is so disappointed, so heartbroken that he leaves to do his own thing, and then this beloved disciple who sticks around and is willing to follow Jesus even when he's not quite sure what's going on.
So the question for you and I today is how do we respond when Jesus doesn't live up to our ideals? I'll see you next week on Rebuilding Faith.
