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Love
Teaching Texts: John 13: 18-38
“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’
“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Joy Complete
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
God wants your joy to be complete and Jesus is showing us The Way.
In John 13, Jesus is eating in the room with His friends.
For 3 years, Jesus has walked with these friends. He called them to join Him out of their lives, to join in the Kingdom of God coming on earth as it is in heaven.
Now Jesus is saying one of them is going to betray Him.
Think about what Jesus is facing here.
Betrayal from a close friend
He is very troubled in spirit
It was night - He knows what the night holds
Failure of His comforters - you will deny me 3 times
“It was night” is an amazing detail just dropped in there.
Recall the dark night of the soul moments of your life.
Recall a moment of were you betrayed? Or,
When were you extremely troubled in your spirit?
We don’t have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness. We have One who has been through what we have been through.
That hospital waiting room
That night of anxiety
That break-up
The stress of ‘will the money come through’
Feeling alone when you thought you were loved
Not knowing how on earth you will ever feel better
Jealous, betrayed, unfulfilled, whatever it is.
“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned r against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. – John 13: 18-19
These moments will happen.
When we hear I am who I am - memory bells should be ringing.
The Exodus accounts of God revealing Himself
Yahweh, who made the bush burn
Yahweh, who confronted each of Egypt gods with powerful plagues
Yahweh, who parted the Red Sea
Yahweh, who shook the mountain
Yahweh, who knew Moses could only stand to see his shoulder blade
I AM WHO I AM
We need a God powerful enough to shake the mountain and split the sea.
But just as much we need a God who can sit with us in pain.
We need a God of fire and a God of unseen tears
Jesus shows us we have both!
Recall a moment God showed up in a time of need.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” – John 13: 34-35
How does this differ from the hallmark of the Jesus people in our day and context?
We are called to undoing the pain and hostility of these conflicted moments in our lives by responding in love.
Do you care for the purity of your own heart and life and not the condition of others?
Do you care about your own joy but not the other?
The path to my joy is the way of love for others.
Whatever you have been through, Jesus has been there and is with you
You can follow in His way of love then.
Jesus’ vision for healing the world is love
By this, they will know you are My disciples
Follow Me in the way of love
