John 13:21–38

13:21–30 The Traitor. Jesus has just told his disciples that the pattern of the righteous sufferer will be fulfilled when the one who breaks bread with him lifts his heel against him (13:18–20), and he quoted Psalm 41:9 in John 13:18 as an umbrella statement to evoke the broader theme of the righteous sufferer found in the Psalms and the rest of the OT. Jesus knows what is about to happen to him, and he knows that one in his intimate circle will betray him. Should we expect Jesus to be stoical about his fate? Should we expect him to be dispassionate about the traitor, or perhaps even angry or vindictive toward him?

John writes that, having spoken of the looming treachery, “Jesus was troubled in his spirit” (13:21). The term “troubled” will also appear in 14:1 (cf. 11:33; 12:27; 14:27) when Jesus says to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” urging them toward trust in spite of the fact that he has just predicted Peter’s denials (13:36–38). As in 14:1, the reference to being “troubled” comes in regard to the events that Jesus discloses are about to take place, like threatening storm clouds gathering to burst.

Jesus appears to be troubled for the same reasons he wept over Lazarus (11:33). Jesus loved Lazarus, and he was not detached or unengaged from the sorrow resulting from the death of his friend. Likewise here Jesus is fully engaged in the flow of events. He is not attempting to stay above the fray, as though he could not be bothered with the petty concerns of mere mortals. We can safely say, too, that in spite of what Jesus knows Judas will do, Jesus loves Judas. Both the evil of treachery—the tragic choice of one with whom he has spent considerable time—and the unpleasant experiences awaiting him trouble Jesus.

In 13:21b Jesus says explicitly what he had hinted at in verses 18–20, that one of his disciples would betray him. Those who are loyal and faithful will always be surprised when someone on the inside breaks faith, betrays trust, and changes loyalties: this is why the disciples respond as they do in verse 22. The disciples are right to be shocked. Jesus is no doubt the best friend each of them has ever had. He is their justly admired leader, and this is cruel and horrific treachery. Given what they believe about Jesus, this is to them a betrayal of the nation, a betrayal of the hope of the Scriptures, a betrayal of their king, a betrayal of God.

At this point John gives us insight into a more intimate inner circle around Jesus, a circle that includes only Peter, James, and John. The arguments for John, son of Zebedee, being the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (v. 23) are very strong. Jesus named twelve as disciples. Jesus is likely with only the Twelve at the Last Supper, and evidence from other Gospels shows that Peter, James, and John enjoyed unique intimacy with Jesus (cf. Mark 5:37; 9:2). In John’s Gospel we see a close relationship between Jesus, Peter, and the beloved disciple here at the Last Supper (13:23–26), when Peter and the beloved disciple go to the tomb (20:2–8), and when Jesus appears to them after his resurrection (21:20–23).

The note in 13:23 that the beloved disciple “was reclining at table at Jesus’ side” employs an expression very similar to the statement in 1:18 that Jesus was “at the Father’s side.” That John uses an expression in 13:23 so similar to the one in 1:18 advances the message of what Jesus said in 13:20: “Whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” As Jesus relates to the Father, so the disciples relate to Jesus: the Father sends Jesus, who was at his side, and Jesus sends the disciples, one of whom was at his side. To receive the disciples is to receive Jesus, and to receive Jesus is to receive the Father. This establishes Jesus as the mediator between himself and the disciples, and the disciples in turn mediate the knowledge of Jesus to the world through their testimony. The only faith authorized by Jesus is the one led by the men he sent.

Once Jesus makes his startling announcement that one of his disciples would betray him (v. 21), Peter motions to the beloved disciple, who asks Jesus the identity of the traitor (vv. 23–25). This is a bold question, a request for sensitive, inside information. That Peter and the beloved disciple feel at liberty to ask such a question shows how close they feel to Jesus, and that Jesus answers the question shows his willingness to share privately with them.

Jesus answers the question in verse 26 in a way that enacts the fulfillment of his quotation of Psalm 41:9 in John 13:18. In Psalm 41:9 David speaks of how he was betrayed by one who shared his bread. Jesus quotes the passage as an emblematic statement of the way he will fulfill the pattern of the righteous sufferer, and then he creates the historical correspondence by sharing bread with Judas in John 13:26b. This is obviously not the first time Jesus and Judas have shared bread, but the quotation of Psalm 41:9 in John 13:18, followed closely by Jesus’ enacting the sharing of bread, intensifies the sense of fulfillment.

John revealed in 13:2 that the Devil had put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus. In verse 27 John explains that after Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. Apparently because Satan has entered Judas, Jesus can say as Judas approaches in 14:30, “The ruler of this world is coming.”

Having given Judas the morsel, Jesus instructs Judas to do what he has to do quickly (13:27), and John relates the suspicions of the disciples about the various tasks Jesus might be sending Judas to do (vv. 28–30). The speculations of the disciples are related to various things Jews did at Passover, whether in feasting itself or in giving to the poor (v. 29).

Jesus has been emphasizing that he is the “light of the world,” that the time of his ministry is the time to work while it is day, because night is coming (9:4; 12:35–36, 46). Once Judas has gone out to betray Jesus, John writes, “It was night” (13:30). “The day” is over. The time of the public ministry of Jesus has ended. The plot marches inexorably to the cross. Jesus has loved his disciples to the end by washing their feet, by staying the course that leads to crucifixion, and by loving Judas even as Judas refuses that love and repays it with an attempt to enrich himself, even if it costs Jesus his life.

13:31–35 The Commandment. With Judas gone, Jesus begins to speak of how he and the Father will be glorified (13:31). How can he say such things as he faces the cross? Because he knows that God works all things for good for those who love him (Rom. 8:28), and works all things for his own glory as well (Rom. 11:36). Jesus has just announced that one of the Twelve will betray him, has washed that man’s feet, and has broken bread with him. And now the man has left to join those conspiring against Jesus. Jesus knows that God is working good for those who love him, that Jesus will be glorified by these events, and that God will be glorified as well.

The “glory” in view is the cross, where Jesus will be glorified (John 13:31) in the display of his unique ability to satisfy the wrath of the Father, to bear the sin of his people, and to accomplish salvation. The Son of Man will be glorified at the cross because his infinite worth will be seen in the complete satisfaction for sin that he achieves. God will be glorified at the cross (vv. 31–32) because his unyielding justice will be upheld as he demonstrates his absolute commitment to righteousness through the punishment of sin. Simultaneously, God’s incomparable mercy will be made possible as Jesus makes propitiation for sin, and God’s matchless love will be demonstrated in his comprehensive commitment to saving his people. God does not spare Jesus, because he loves his people.

The remaining time Jesus has with his disciples will end shortly, when Judas returns with troops at his heels. Jesus knows this will take place in just “a little while,” and he tells his disciples what he has told the Jews: he is going where they cannot follow (v. 33; cf. 7:34, 36; 8:21).

On the eve of the new Passover sacrifice (the crucifixion of Jesus), the sacrifice that will accomplish the new exodus, initiate the new covenant, and open the way to the new pilgrimage to the new and better Land of Promise, Jesus announces a “new commandment” (13:34). This new commandment functions as the fulfillment of the old commandment, which could be summarized under the headings of love for God and love for neighbor. That Jesus issues a new commandment for his disciples to love one another, which John describes elsewhere as both new and old (1 John 2:7–11), means that this one statement formulates the duties of those who would participate in the new covenant that Jesus initiates in his death and resurrection.

In the rest of the NT, the disciples show that this means the old covenant has been made “obsolete” (Heb. 8:13). Never in Acts or the Epistles do the apostles teach a church to celebrate the feasts of the old covenant, to circumcise their sons or new converts, to observe the sabbatical year, to keep kosher, or to engage in levirate marriage. The old covenant and the Mosaic law were a unified whole, and they have been nullified with the passing away of the Israelite theocracy and the institution of Christ’s worldwide kingdom. The righteousness of God displayed in the old covenant is likewise displayed in the new, but the stipulations and terms of the new covenant are not like the covenant God made with Israel when he brought them out of Egypt (Jer. 31:32; Hebrews 8–10).

The disciples of Jesus are to love one another as he has loved them (John 13:34), and that love is to mark them, to distinguish them as their most notable feature, so that all people recognize the Christlike love of those who follow Jesus (v. 35).

13:36–38 The Denials. Jesus told the disciples they could not follow him (v. 33), and so Peter wants to know where Jesus is going (v. 36). Jesus responds by stating that Peter cannot follow now but will do so later, prompting Peter’s question concerning why he cannot follow now and his assertion that he would lay down his life for Jesus (v. 37). Peter desires to show the greatest love (cf. 15:13) for Jesus. Sadly, in his weakness he will not be able to do so in the immediate future. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the rooster crows (13:38).