The Judas Sermon

John 13:18-30,

I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side,24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

This is the Judas sermon. It’s dark. It centers on betrayal, which can be one of the most emotionally painful and gut-wrenching experiences in human life. Have you ever been betrayed?

Our passage ends with John reporting “it was night,” which is not just the time of day but an ominous note about what’s to come, for Jesus and for Judas. 

This is an emotionally heavy sermon. But don’t think of that as bad. We’re human. God designed us with emotions; they are features, not bugs. He means for our lives to have rhythms of emotional heaviness, and relief. Many of us live in a desert of emotional triviality, or even emotional numbness. This heaviness can be good for you.

It was heavy for Jesus. Verse 21 says,

“Jesus was troubled in his spirit.”

That’s the same language we saw at the tomb of Lazarus (11:33) and when he realizes his “hour” has come (12:27). It’s a strong verb that “signifies revulsion, horror, anxiety, agitation” (Carson). It’s a visible emotional response, perhaps almost a panic, obvious to the others in the room.

Jesus is no stoic. He is human, fully human, with fully human emotions. And this, for him, is a heavy, painful, troubling moment. Not only has his “hour” come to go to the cross, but one of his chosen twelve, whom he loves and has just washed their feet, is on the cusp of betraying him. Jesus is not deadpan when he says, in verse 21,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

He’s emotional: shaken, stirred up, troubled in his spirit. They could hear it in his voice. And he’s without sin. 

Take note: you can be holy and “troubled in your spirit”; God made your heart to be moved, and facing death and the betrayal of a dear, close friend should be moving. Jesus, fully human, and perfect, was troubled. If you’re never troubled, that’s not a mark of maturity. It may be a sign you’re not well, not whole.

But oh how wonderful it is that the human heart is capable of such complexities. Even in this heaviness, remember the banner that flies over chapter 13, verse 1:

“…having loved his own who were in the world, [Jesus] loved them to the end.”

This is a chapter about Jesus’s love. So, even though this is the Judas sermon, this is also a sermon of great love — with love and affection even for Judas. Jesus washes his feet. And we’ll see in a minute a specific way in which he loves him to the end. 

Disciple Jesus Loved

In this passage about Jesus’s love we’re also introduced to “one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (verse 23). This memorable way John refers to himself will come back four more times in the last three chapters (19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20) before the author reveals his identity in the second to last verse in the Gospel (21:24). 

What a marvelous way for a Christian to refer to himself: one whom Jesus loved. John doesn’t even give his name but knows himself loved. This is the heart of being a disciple of Jesus: knowing yourself loved by Jesus, and gladly giving your life to make his name known, not your own. I don’t need to put myself forward — I am loved by Jesus.

Here’s where I want to go this morning… I want to end with two very personal questions for everyone in the room:

1. Could I be like Judas?

2. How do I handle the Judas in my life?

But first we need to know what happened to the first Judas. How did Judas get to the place where, in verse 27, “Satan entered into him”?

It did not come at random or without warning. Satan cannot force his way into a soul. He comes invited. And he’s welcomed, not just in a moment, but little by little, over time, in a process of a heart becoming hard to Jesus, and responsive to Satan, because it is becoming like Satan’s.

What Happened to Judas?

I see at least six glimpses in this passage of that process of hardening for Judas. And several of these are striking for us in terms of what not to do, and conversely what to do, to not be like Judas, but rather be like John — as a beloved disciple of Jesus, who leans on Jesus and communes with him, and stays with him, and in the end is held fast by him.

So, our first question: What happened to Judas? How did one of Jesus’s Twelve come to betray Jesus? What contributed to the process of hardening Judas’s heart?

1. He had been a devil-in-the-making.

Back in John 6, we got our first cue that a defector was among the twelve. This is John 6:70–71:

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

Jesus knows, but no one else can tell. No one expects Judas. The disciples even seem to expect themselves before they expect him.

But Jesus knows. We saw two weeks ago in verses 10–11:

[Jesus says] “you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

We can marvel here at Jesus as his “hour” comes. He is in full control, “not a hapless victim” (Carson). He knows Judas and chose him and allows this. Even as Jesus goes to the cross, he is master of this hour, like he is master of every hour. We saw in chapter 10, verse 18:

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”

And we so marvel at how Jesus goes to the cross: resolute, in control. Yes, troubled, and loving his own to the end. Which includes getting them ready to endure. So, in verse 18, he quotes Psalm 41 (we’ll come back to this), and says in verse 19:

I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.

To strengthen their faith, he lets them know ahead of time that he knew a traitor would emerge. It’s painful, but part of the plan. He’s in control. And in verse 27, he even gives Judas one last command:

“What you are going to do, do quickly.”

Jesus knows the heart of Judas and what’s in him. Long had he been a devil-in-the-making, even though the other disciples had no clue and only Jesus knew it.

2. He kept the moneybag.

Verse 29 mentions that “Judas had the moneybag,” which we first came across in 12:4:

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Apparently, Judas was a master deceiver. He hid his love of money behind the veneer of care for the poor.

This is important: Satan had a way in with Judas: love of money. Judas gave the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27). How many times had Judas heard Jesus say,

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matt 6:24; also Luke 16:13)

Yet, Judas’s love of money was his fatal flaw. What started small in him, grew and grew, until he was willing to trade Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:10 that the love of money is the root of all evils. The kind of heart that loves money more than God is the heart of evil, in all its many forms. 

Cities Church, let’s newly be on our guard against the love of money. Check your heart regularly for love of money. Money itself is not evil. Having money is not evil. Earning money is not evil. But loving money is the root of all evils. Don’t give the devil that foothold. Fight it. Do what Judas didn’t do when you sense the magnetism of money in your heart: remember the surpassing value of Christ (Philippians 3:8), confess your sin, give generously. One of the best ways to battle love of money is give generously to meet needs in Jesus’s name.

So, Judas had the moneybag, and developed a love for money.

3. The devil put it into his heart.

This is chapter 13, verse 2, at the last Supper,

“the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.”

Note the process: Judas is, by nature, a devil and thief. And his heart is poisoned by love of money, and into such a heart Satan stands ready to put his bait: exchange Jesus for money. The slowly conditioned state of Judas’s heart has opened the door for Satan. Satan doesn’t need to control Judas and make him do anything. Judas’s heart has become so aligned with Satan’s that he gives him just what he wants.

4. Jesus gives him the bread.

Now, this may seem like a surprising step in Judas’s process, but this is what verses 26–27 say happened right before the fateful moment:

“…when [Jesus] had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him.”

This is a dramatic moment. At least two things are happening here. One is that it is an act of affection from Jesus to select a choice morsel, and dip it, and give it to Judas. Jesus, the host, is honoring Judas, and expressing affection for Judas in giving him the morsel. This is Jesus truly loving him to the end. Jesus washes his feet, and offers him one last overture of love, one last chance to come clean and repent. And Judas reaches out and takes the bread and receives Jesus’s favor, and instead of returning to Jesus, he gives himself over one last time to evil.

The second thing, with the mention of bread, is what we saw in verse 18 from Psalm 41:9: 

Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Psalm 41 is a psalm of David. Many betrayed David in his embattled life, including his own sons. But one particularly painful betrayal was that of his trusted counselor, Ahithophel, in 2 Samuel 15–17. When David’s son Absalom rebelled against him, David’s best counselor betrayed him and went over to Absalom’s side. Which was a deeply painful loss for David, and almost cost him the kingdom. 

Ahithophel knew exactly how to counsel Absalom, and if Absalom had listened, it would have been the end of David. But David had planted a spy, his friend Hushai, who offered alternative counsel and carried the day (and so bought David time to regroup). Ahithophel realized his folly, like Judas would, when his counsel was not received, and he went and hung himself, knowing what his fate must be when David returned.

Jesus, the descendant of David, sees in Psalm 41 what happened to David, and he knows the heart of Judas, and knows what is developing, and that just as betrayal happened to David, so too would it happen to him. David’s close friend (which Jesus will call Judas in Matthew 26:50), who ate David’s bread, lifted his heel (like a horse) against him. Even so, in one last act of love, Jesus prepares the morsel of bread and gives it to Judas, who takes it.

5. Satan entered into him. 

Now the fateful verse 27: 

“Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into [Judas].”

What does it mean that “Satan entered into him”? Luke says the same in Luke 22:3, “Satan entered into Judas.” In Acts 5:3, Peter says something similar to Ananias: “Satan [has] filled your heart.” What does it mean for Satan to fill a heart, or enter into Judas?

I do not think it means that Satan possessed Judas in such a way as to control him beyond his will or to make him do anything that otherwise was not in line with his heart. Remember the process we’ve seen: from a hidden devil and thief, to a hardened hypocrite in his love for money, to a heart so callously evil he’s primed for the devil’s suggestions, and now to being totally in sync with the devil’s anti-Christ plan.

I do not think this means that the devil made Judas do it. Satan doesn’t have that power. He can’t make anyone do anything. But the very anti-God impulse of unchecked evil in the devil’s heart can also become so deeply cultivated in a sinner’s heart that he begins to share the very heart of the devil. Judas is not possessed against his will; Satan entered in according to his will. Judas is fully culpable. As Jesus says in Matthew 26:24,

“The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

6. He “went out.”

This may seem like a small detail in verse 30, but it is significant:

“So, after receiving the morsel of bread, [Judas] immediately went out. And it was night.”

The last step is that Judas departs. He leaves the fellowship. He goes out from communion with Jesus and from the gathering of Jesus’s disciples. He leaves them. The safest place in all the world for Judas would have been right there with Jesus, and with his disciples. But Judas goes out, into the night, into the darkness, into unchallenged communion with Satan and his plans against Jesus, and his plans to destroy Judas.

So, Judas is a devil, and he loves money, and he opens himself to Satan’s influence, and receives the bread from Jesus and doesn’t repent; his heart and mind are aligned lock-step with Satan’s, and at last, he leaves. He goes out from Jesus and out from his people.

So, we end with our two questions.

1. Could I be Judas?

The ultimate answer is no. There is one Judas. You have not had the physical, bodily proximity to Jesus that Judas had. Your story will not be exactly like his. Cosmically, you are not a devil-in-the-making like he was.

However, there is a sense in which you could be like Judas. This is very real. You could give Satan a foothold by nursing some particular sin in your life. Your heart could slowly become more callous, making yourself more and more evil and open to the influence of evil.

And the objective, visible flashpoint today is often the “going out.” Just as Judas’s last step was to leave Jesus and his people, we see it today over and over when once-professing believers leave their fellow disciples in the church. They “go out from us.”

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)

Brothers and sisters, perennial temptations include money, sex, and power, and plenty of other patterns of sin besides. Give the devil no foothold (Ephesians 4:27). “Keep your life free from love of money” (Hebrews 13:5). Don’t “go out” from Jesus and his people; stay in the room; stay at the Table.

Ask yourself this morning, Are you giving the devil any foothold in your life? Is there any unconfessed, un-renounced, unaddressed pattern of sin in your life?

My prayer this morning is that if anyone is on a Judas path, that they would turn. And that if any have unholy fears about being Judas those would be quelled, and you’d have fresh confidence how not to be Judas. Fight love for money and any pattern of sin. Give Satan no chance. Stay close to Jesus and his people.

And, as we close, I want to pray for fresh freedom to entrust to Jesus the one in your life you most fear could be Judas.

2. How do I handle the Judas in my life?

We are our brother’s keeper. This is what we covenant with each other in church membership: I will be the church to you; you be the church to me. We commit to be the church to each other, and live out Hebrews 3:12–13:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

We are our brother’s keeper, but not our brother’s lord. So, we finish with a word to dear friends, even parents, of those who seem like a Judas. They once professed faith; all seemed right. Then came the drift; or perhaps all of a sudden, it seemed, they “went out from us” and have not come back.

Many of us, perhaps especially parents, carry the burden more than is reasonable. Yes, pray, invite, seek to win them. Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:20). And trust your God. Do not carry what is not yours to bear.

Years ago John Piper wrote a poem about Judas’s father, Simon Iscariot. The poem had this refrain with which it ended:

Sink not in darkness nor despair, 
Bear not what yours is not to bear: 
When you have loved and lost then trust; 
The ways of God are always just.

And so we come to the Table. And take the morsel from Jesus with fresh sobriety and clarity this morning.

Receive His Bread in Faith

This Table, and our receiving in faith, and eating in faith, is a powerful regular means, among others, of Christ keeping us in him. How do you receive this morsel from Jesus at his Table week by week? Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 11,

Whoever [like Judas?] eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Yet when we do discern the body and eat and drink in faith, we share in the blessing and security that are ours only in Christ.