After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 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. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 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. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. John 13:21-30

            Have you ever been to a huge dinner where you saw before you so many of your favorite foods that you just didn’t know where to begin?  You gather around the Christmas tree and you cannot decide which present to open first.  You flick through the channels on the television and notice three of your favorite movies on at the same time.  Which one do you pick?  You have too many good options.  In a way, that is the dilemma every preacher including me faces every Maundy Thursday.  So many themes exist upon which you could preach.  So many events happened that night which could form the basis for sermon upon sermon.  You could obviously preach on the Last Supper itself and the meaning of Holy Communion.  You might do what St. John did and focus on the washing of the disciples’ feet by Jesus.  Move on a little further into the night and you could locate your sermon in the Garden of Gethsemane .  Jesus’ prayer in the Garden has been the basis for sermon upon sermon.  His arrest and betrayal by Judas took place there; so could your sermon.  Peter’s denial three times is a portrait of what proud human beings are really like:  “Even if all the rest forsake you, I never will…. I never knew the man.”  Can we ever forget the trial before the Ruling Council of Israel where the beatings and the insults took center stage? 

            This year something drew me to that last meal that Jesus shared with His disciples and especially to the conversations he had with two of them.  Some of Jesus’ words were spoken to Judas Iscariot.  The rest of the disciples did not understand them and they did not understand why Judas left the meal – but Judas knew.  Some of Jesus’ words were spoken to the beloved disciple and more occurs there than what we might have assumed the first time we read this Gospel account.

            For both men are sitting in places of honor.  Once much earlier in the Gospels it was none other than James and John, the two brothers, who once approached Jesus and asked if they might have places of honor some day.  Their specific request was that one of them sit at Jesus’ right hand and the other as His left hand.  To be sitting next to Jesus was the pinnacle of honor in their eyes – and they are right.  Tonight, you and I see two of Jesus’ followers sitting there, one at the right and the other at the left.  The one at Jesus’ right is the disciple whom Jesus loves.  He is the one who at the urging of Peter leans back and asks Jesus who the betrayer was going to be – none of them after all knew who was the traitor except for the Lord– and Jesus shared His heart and his thoughts with this beloved disciple who asked Him about the betrayal.  Some think that St. John was himself that disciple and that he is being polite here, not drawing attention to himself by using his own personal name.

            But that other disciple, the one on Jesus’ left, must have been Judas.  Jesus can speak clearly to Him as they were reclining around the table.  Jesus can easily reach over and give him a piece of the bread which He had dipped in the dish.  That could only take place if Jesus were speaking and reaching out to a disciple who was right next to him.

            And if it was a position of honor that Judas was given then that tells you something about our Savior.  He knew all along what Judas was going to do.  If you read the Gospels He knew before Judas did that this disciple was going to do something horrible in betraying the Lord.  But even though He knew the character of Judas and what Judas’ heart was like He still honored him and called him friend.  Jesus does that for you and me. Even though He knows the horrible sins of the heart you and I are capable of committing He still loves us and wants us to be by His side. And for Judas when Jesus reached over and handed him the bread that was one of the highest signs of friendship you could ever offer another.  In that culture of Jesus’ day and even in our own to break bread with someone is something that only occurs between the deepest of friends.  To me, it was as if Jesus was giving Judas one last chance to abandon his plans and one last chance to stay by His side.  But Judas rejected it all.  He chose to forsake Jesus in every way a human heart could.

            And once having rejected Jesus there was room in the heart for only one other person. The Bible says that at that moment when Jesus was reaching out to Judas in love and with Judas forsaking Him entirely that Satan entered into his heart.  If you don’t want the Lord and His love there is only one alternative for you.  Satan takes over.  And did you notice that at that moment Judas leaves the meal.  It is because Satan cannot stand to be in the same room as the Lord.  The love of God is nothing that the devil wants.  John tells us that Judas went out and he even tells us that “it was night”.  Why did St. John feel you and I needed to know that fact?  It is kind of obvious.  Every meal that is eaten in the evening like this one is going to be eaten at night.  Isn’t St. John kind of stating the obvious?  But he means to tell us more than just the time of day or the time of evening.  Judas abandoned the Lord Jesus.  He gave his heart over to Satan – and there was only the darkness remaining for him.

            That message is there for you and me too.  Jesus is here again tonight offering You everything He has and everything He is.  But He will never force His love upon you.  You have every freedom to choose that other way, the way of Satan and Hell.  And if you do… Well, there’s the darkness – out there.  The sad thing is that Judas never again came back to the light.  He stayed in the darkness forever.

            But then there is that other disciple.  I told you earlier that St. John was probably being polite or humble in not using his own name in this account.  And he may in fact be both of those things.  But it dawned on me that maybe he is sending a message to you and me tonight.  He sat in the place of honor with Jesus.  And all he says is that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Was he more loved than the other ones there that night; is that was he wanted us to know?  No.  Jesus loved them all.  You and I are also loved by Him.  What he meant to tell us is that the reason why you and I are so honored as to be by the side of Jesus Christ is for one simple reason:  Jesus loves you.  It was not your greatness or your sinlessness that put you by the side of the Savior.  It was His love for you that put you there where you will always be for eternity.

            And he is sending another message to us.  It says that to talk to the Lord and to be close to Him, enough to hear His words and to share His thoughts the beloved disciple had to lean back.  Since the custom was to lie around the table in a reclining position what you did was to lean upon your left arm and you had your right arm free to take the food and to eat.  It meant that to talk to Jesus the beloved disciple, as I said, had to lean back

            Two things happen when you do that.  One – you are offbalance and you are weaker because you are leaning back.  And two – it means that you are putting all your weight on the Lord.  That is a meaning of what it is to be a Christian.  A Christian doesn’t lean on his own strength – to quote the famous verse from Proverbs.  A Christian spiritually recognizes his or her own weakness.  And to become close to God we lean back on Him and we put all our weight on Him.

            Have you ever considered how many times that happens in the Bible and in the Gospels?  Jesus always seems to be carrying things at important points in our relationship with Him.  He carried a cross for us.  On that cross He carried all our sins and entirely paid for them Himself.  He used that image of Himself as a Good Shepherd who always carries the lambs.  And someday He will carry all of us His lambs home to heaven.  And why does He do that for you?  St. John told us.  It is because you are the disciple whom Jesus’ loves.  The sad thing is that Judas never understood this and never knew what it meant to be forgiven.  He chose another path and He chose the night time and the dark.  But you and I tonight are with the Lord.  He invites us to lean on Him again in Holy Communion and He offers you everything He is in that gift He gives you there.  And your sins are forgiven.  And you know He loves you. Amen.