JULY 31, 2026 FACILITATOR

John 13:21-30 (PDF)

CONNECT WITH YOUR STORY

Discover more about your heart, life, family, and/or community.

  1. Rate yourself (1-10) on your ability to know what you are feeling and why.

  2. Rate yourself (1-10) on your ability to share this information with loved ones in a wise way.

(Identifying and articulating what you are feeling and why (or knowing and saying in a wise manner what you are feeling and why) is an important part of emotional health…which is an important part of spiritual health. Like any other conversation on our growth into Christlikeness, there is no room for shame and no need to avoid forthrightness (in answering these questions). By the grace of God, we are becoming more like Jesus and that growth happens most quickly when we humbly articulate the gap between our lives and the life of Jesus…and when we confidently ask for God’s help to make us more like our Savior.)

SURRENDER TO THE LIVING AND ACTIVE WORD

Pray for the gift of understanding and believing God’s Word.

LISTEN TO THE SCRIPTURES

Read the passage out loud several times.

[John 13:21] 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.

MEDITATE ON THE PASSAGE

Learn about the Passage. Reflect on the Questions. Consider the Examples.

  • In the verses just before our Passage for Meditation, Jesus tells his disciples he is about to be betrayed and will be betrayed in a way that fulfills Psalm 41:9 (“He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me”). These are the things that caused his spirit to be troubled.

  • While John does not write in this passage that Jesus said out loud what he was feeling (like he did in John 12:27), John, the eyewitness who was leaning back on Jesus, knew what Jesus was feeling. It’s very possible that Jesus told him and/or everyone present.

  • After testifying to everyone present that someone in the room would betray him, the disciples were confused, uncertain of whom he spoke. Simon Peter, unable to endure the suspense, motioned to (John) to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. Jesus answered (in line with Psalm 41:9), “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread.” He then gave it to Judas and said, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” (In other words, let’s get this over with.) While no one at the table (including John and Peter) knew why he said exactly this to him, some (certainly not Peter and John) thought that Jesus sent Judas on an ordinary errand.

  • Our Passage for Meditation offers a glimpse into the type of friendship the various disciples enjoyed with Jesus. As would be ordinary in the Ancient Near East (and is still common in many cultures today) platonic friends would regularly lean on one another at dinner, hold hands, and greet each other with a real kiss.

  • While we must be careful to not extrapolate too much in applying it to our lives, John notes an interesting progression in Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. (As the Son of Perdition, Judas is a unique figure in Redemptive History.) To start, it is clear in John (and our Passage for Meditation) that God was utterly sovereign over Judas’ betrayal. That said, in 13:2 John writes, “the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas...to betray Jesus.” At this point, the betray is something like an idea or temptation. But later in the supper and after washing the disciple’s feet, Satan (himself) entered into Judas after he had taken the morsel that Jesus had dipped. Some commentators see a connection between this experience of Judas and the “spiritual injury” that comes to unworthy participants of the Lord’s Supper…which was established at this very meal (1 Corinthians 11).

What does this passage teach us about God?

  • God knows everything. Either Jesus knew about Judas’ betrayal in light of his divinity, or Jesus was told about Judas’ betrayal by the Father. Either way, nothing is hidden from God.

  • God controls everything. Even with Satan in him, Judas did what Jesus told him to do.

  • God is troubled by betrayal, selfishness, greed, suffering, death, etcetera.

  • God befriends, informs, and includes his disciples.

What can we learn from this passage about a godly life and a sinful life?

  • The godly enjoy an intimate and enjoyable friendship with Jesus.

  • The godly, like Jesus, are troubled by (sad about, concerned about, frustrated by) sin, betrayal, evil, etcetera.

  • The godly, like Jesus, know and articulate to their community about what they are feeling and why.

  • An ungodly life can, for a season, look just like a godly life. In time though, the self-centeredness disregard for Jesus is revealed.

  • The godly increasingly spend the money God gives them on what they and others need.

How does this text display (and/or create a need for) Jesus’ saving work in our lives?

Jesus did not avoid the cross. He knew of Judas’ betrayal, but he did not stop him. In fact, he told him (and Satan in him) to do quickly what they were going to do. Jesus knew that he had to die to fulfill the calling and responsibility given to him by the Father. He was troubled. He was hurting. But he stayed the course and submitted to the sufferings and death that were required for him to bring salvation and deliverance to The Father’s children and his friends.

PRAY THE GOSPEL

Massage these prayers into and through your heart as they are read aloud.

ADORATION – Father, we praise you for your sovereignty and power. Amid spiritual evil and individual sin, you accomplished your purposes through Jesus.

CONFESSION – Lord, forgive us for when we are controlled by our emotions and for when our pride keeps us from sharing with others what we are going through.

THANKSGIVING – Jesus, thank you for being righteous and loving, even as you were betrayed by a disciple, abandoned by your friends, and forsaken by the Father.

SUPPLICATION – Holy Spirit, help us more fully appreciate Jesus’ amazing and beautiful life, grow our trust in the Gospel, and make us more like our loving Savior.

CLOSE IN PRAYER

Thank God for this time and the Gospel.