Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

John 13:18-38

In this passage Jesus speaks of His betrayal by Judas and denial by Peter. You can imagine how you feel when friends disappoint you and realize how much Jesus must have been hurt by these actions.

First He tells His disciples in v. 19 that He is revealing the future to them. His reason for doing that is so that the disciples will understand what transpires. Although they may not grasp the impact of what is happening as they go through the next few days, later they will recall what Jesus has said and realize the importance.

Think for a minute about Judas. Although Jesus knew what Judas would do when He chose him as a disciple the other disciples were completely fooled by him. They thought Judas was a believer in Jesus just as they were. They completely missed the signs in Judas life that revealed his true character.

Consider how easy it is for those we associate with, those we even consider our friends who put up a front of knowing Jesus but really aren’t believers. Our life as believers, our daily walk with our Savior, is as important an example to them as is our testimony before those we know haven’t trusted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior. We must be careful about judging others (Matt. 7:1) but we are told in that same passage (7:16) that we will know others by the “fruit” they produce with their lives.

Finally, in this passage Jesus gives the disciples a very important command; (v. 34) “love one another, even as I have loved you”. We’ll see this exhortation repeated later in the book but I would encourage you here to meditate on the depth of Jesus’ love as He was willing to give up His life and die a horrible death so that you might have eternal life. He says in the next verse that others will recognize your relationship with Him by the love you show them. How is your love quotient today?