Title: TROUBLE AT THE
TABLE
Focus: In the Upper Room, a troubled Christ shows his perfect love, that we may persevere and serve him in love.
Function: To move the people to develop a posture of self-awareness, gratitude, humility, and loving Christ-like service.
Text: John 13:18-38
Many people who are familiar with the Bible will identify
certain passages and stories as their favorite. I’ve noticed, for example, that
elderly Christians will appeal readily to Psalm 23; children will point to
David and Goliath, or Samson and Delilah. I wish I could tell you that the
story of Jesus’ conversation with his inner core of disciples in the Upper Room
is one of my favorites. But I can’t.
In
fact, entering tonight’s passage and trying to come to grips with what’s going
on, has been very difficult, if not troublesome. Every time that I turned
toward this passage these last two weeks, I became more and more restless. We
find the Lord Jesus at table with his 12 closest disciples. We are looking at a
kitchen environment, where heart-to-heart and heart-felt matters are put on the
table. There is tension and trouble at the table, but at the same time a
display of perfect love and humility. As a result, I feel myself drawn and at
the same time repelled from this troubled scene in the Upper Room.
I
invite you, nevertheless, to linger with me and reflect upon this story in
John’s gospel. For in the Upper Room a troubled Christ shows his perfect love,
that we may persevere and serve him and one another in love. In fact, through
this scene in the Upper Room, the Lord God moves us to develop a posture of
self-awareness, of gratitude, humility, and loving Christ-like service.
Stay
with me and let me tell you what strikes me, what troubles and mystifies me,
and then also what comforts me. First,
WHAT STRIKES ME
· Jesus’ sense of timing: The gospel writer tells us at the beginning of chapter 13 that “Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.” Jesus knew that his departure, his exodus is near. He also knew that his departure meant betrayal and death and would lead to resurrection and ascension. The time had come to get ready to face evil and death and God’s wrath on our sins. Jesus knows it’s crunch time! Here’s another thing that is so striking in this story:
· Jesus’ self-awareness or his sense of self: John tells us, for example, at the very beginning of this chapter that “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” Jesus is aware of who he is—not only the son of Mary (a flesh and blood person), but also the eternal Son of God the Father. Jesus knows his background; he does not only come from Nazareth, but also from God’s heavenly throne-room. As Jesus has his heart-to-heart moments with his closest disciples in the Upper Room, we see a man of destiny who knows his destiny. He has a strong sense of self-awareness. Here’s another striking observation:
· Jesus’ loving deliberate approach: John captures Jesus’ purposefulness in these words: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” Jesus is on a mission in that Upper Room.
Last night I had a phone conversation with our daughter
Jessica. She is a registered nurse, and she told me of a three-month old baby
she had cared for that day. The baby is in the hospital because it is not
growing. Everything seems normal, but the child’s weight is only about 9 lbs.
The doctors suspect neglect by the child’s 21 year old mother. Our daughter
observed that the mother has spent so far not more than 1 hour with her child
these last three days. Jessica thinks that the child is shrinking or losing
weight because it is unloved.
I’ve heard similar stories about baby orphans in Romania, for
example, who waste away because no one loves them, holds them, talks to them,
cuddles them or encourages them. No one, however, can accuse Jesus of
withholding love and care from his closest disciples or from us. On the
contrary. What is so striking is Jesus’ intentional love. For example:
Jesus reaches out to all his disciples and washes their feet.
Though he is the Master, he takes on the role of a servant to show us his love
and the way of sacrificial service and love. And as he does so, he points out
that we have a need to examine ourselves, so that we also are washed or
cleansed inwardly from all that is unrighteous, wrong, and evil.
Note also the loving intentionality of Jesus toward Judas.
Jesus lifts the veil of secrecy a bit and indicates that he knows that Judas
has evil intentions. By doing so, Jesus gives Judas an opportunity to change
his plans. In fact, Jesus calls Judas to consider the alternative of betrayal,
because Matthew tells us in his gospel that Jesus says (Matthew 26:24) “The
Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who
betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
And when Jesus gives the morsel of bread to Judas, he in
essence is saying: I know your plans, Judas. I know your heart. Now make up
your mind. And Judas does make up his mind. And Jesus lets him go. Because
of Jesus’ deliberate approach of love toward his disciples and Judas, Judas
will never be able to say that Jesus withheld his love from him. Neither can we
say such a thing.
Jesus’ sense of timing,
his self-awareness, and his loving deliberate approach towards his disciples
and especially Judas—these are the things that strike me tonight.
Now let me tell you what
TROUBLES AND PUZZLES
What
troubles me is Judas’
inclination or propensity
toward evil. Judas’ straight- faced yet hypocritical participation in this
sacred meal in the Upper Room blows me away. Only two days ago, after Mary
Magdalene anointed Jesus with this very expensive spikenard oil, Judas made up
his mind to hand over Jesus to the chief priest. Judas was disappointed, yes fed up
with Jesus. In secret, Judas
plotted with the chief priests and now he is waiting for the opportune time to
hand him over to the chief priests. I don’t understand how Judas can sit there
and play along the game of hypocritical innocence: “Is it I, Lord? Should
I betray you?”
I am afraid that many of us in our culture today do not recognize the face of evil. The lines between what’s right and wrong are blurred today. When God’s truth and God’s laws are ignored and we determine our own truths and laws, we loose the ability to identify evil, and we ourselves become more prone to commit evil.
For
example, sodomy is now legal behavior. Infanticide of the unborn is legal;
Computerized virtual reality is making child abuse and pornography easier to
commit and legally defensible, because what you see being done on the
screen is only virtual reality. Never mind that baser instincts are fuelled by
the computerized, so-called “fiction” people see on
the screen.
As
a result, we also fail to recognize the need for repentance and forgiveness. In
fact, if I am basically a
good person, a decent fellow,
then why do I need a Savior to take my place and die for my sins?
Jesus’ warnings to Judas and to his disciples, including Peter,
trouble me: I am
vulnerable to sin; I must develop a posture of self-awareness, of gratitude,
humility, and of loving Christ-like service. Why should I think that roosters
don’t have anything to remind me of?
My
friends, the Scriptures remind us that the devil
is always prowling around, ready to pounce on us. I know, it’s a troubling
thought, but being troubled by our inclinations to sin is our first shield of
defense.
Here’s what mystifies or puzzles me: There is a
tension in the story that we cannot resolve. For example: Jesus knows what’s
coming. God the Father has revealed it to him. And Jesus is ready to fulfill
his mission and face crucifixion, death and resurrection; yet, he is also
troubled by what is to come; he fears the powers of sin and death. This is a
tension that I cannot resolve. I think the tension finds its answer in Jesus’
humanity and divinity. But I cannot explain it.
I
find a similar tension between Jesus’ disapproval and troubled spirit about
Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ divine mission to do what was determined in the
eternal decree or council room of God the Father before the creation of the
world. It is God’s sovereign purpose that His Son, Jesus should loose his life
so that you and I may live forever more. Somehow, in God’s design Judas plays a
role—a horrible role—to bring about God’s purposes. Yet, at the same time,
Judas is completely responsible for his hardened heart and betrayal of Jesus.
I hope that you do not despair as you survey the scene in this
upper room. Striking, troubling, puzzling thoughts and feelings—these are all
part of going with Jesus through his valley of the shadow of death.
Rather, remember! As we move from the Upper Room to the Garden
of Gethsemane and Golgotha (the Place of the Skull), we do so with a great
measure of comfort. Let me tell you from this passage what
COMFORTS ME
There are Jesus’ reassuring words to his disciples; He points
to his electing love—a love that never lets go of us. And Jesus says: “I
am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen….’ And then
a little later Jesus says: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come
to you.” We know that this is true, for Christ has sent his Holy
Spirit, who draws us near to the Savior, and who is our guarantee of eternal
life and salvation.
Judas did not draw near to the Savior; he allowed Satan to
bellow or stoke the flames of rebellion in Judas’ heart. And thus Judas’ heart
became hardened. But when you and I strike a posture of self-awareness,
gratitude, humility, and loving Christ-like service, the Spirit of Christ will
form and shape us and keep us safe with Christ. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus. Why not? Because God’s electing love in Christ
is strong and secured by the workings of the Holy Spirit.
Also, as we face Good Friday and consider the significance of
Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and death, we do so with bread and a cup in our
hands. For the Lord Jesus has commanded us to remember his death—and
resurrection—by eating bread and drinking the cup as modeled to us in the Upper
Room. “This is my body.” “This is my blood.” Take, eat, remember
and believe that the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was given
and shed for the complete forgiveness of all our sins.
Yes, in the Upper Room a troubled Christ shows his perfect
love, that we may persevere and serve him and one another in love.
In
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.