18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
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 close to Jesus, 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 money bag, 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.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterwards.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow till you have denied me three times.
John 13:18-38
This is the passage in which both the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter are exposed and prophesied. It can hardly be accidental that both are mentioned. Someone has suggested that they are thus recorded to teach that we may not assume that denial is impossible to the ordinary Christian, or that, once denial has taken place, there is no further hope of restoration. Be that as it may, what we need to recognize is that both the betrayal and the denial stand as stark alternatives to 'dying the death' of which Jesus has been speaking. Refusing to make this submission, this humbling, can be critical and deadly.
Let us think first of Judas. We need to recognize at the outset that there is something here that cannot be ultimately explained - the age-old relation between predestination and free-will. What did Jesus mean when He said 'I know whom I have chosen' (18)? Some of the Reformers take it as referring to the eternal election and office of the disciples who were true believers, as if to say, 'I know that Judas is not one of My chosen ones'. Others think it simply means, 'I know the inward character of those men I have chosen as My disciples and know that one of them is rotten at heart.' On either interpretation, however, the problem remains. One recalls a word in another gospel, 'Offences must come, but woe to that man by whom they come' - this serves to accentuate the problem, for if there was a predetermining factor which ordained that Judas was the one by whom the offence must come, it is not easy from a logical point of view how it can be just to go on to say 'Woe to that man by whom they come'. But then, we are in a realm here that transcends logic, and this is one of the places where we must bow in worship and submission and recognize that here is something we shall never fully fath- om. Any attempt at arriving at a solution will drive us to the one extreme or the other. One thing is clear: we cannot think of Judas simply as a pawn in some celestial game, but as a real personality, with real powers of choice. It is just not possible to believe that Jesus looked up into the face of the traitor as He washed his feet, as if to say, 'I am appealing to you, but might as well save My breath because you are fore-ordained to be My betrayer'. Responsibility there must be, for Jesus to have said 'Woe to him by whom the offences come'.