A Glimpse into the Heart of the Master

Sitting in the upper room with all of his disciples Jesus and Judas felt knowing that Drews would betray him is the treasure about an when Jesus sends him out of the room and they assume that Jesus and not something that we need for the Passover feast do something that will be generous to the needy and to the poor so they have no idea what is actually happening as she says, reveals his trailer was about to happen, but hardly surprised. He knew his purpose and he accepted the outcome today of Renewing Your Mind, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson continues his series on the upper room discourse will learn that Jesus was intimately familiar with all the painful experiences of humanity, and that his suffering was not a pathway to defeat entrance to victory. While I was coming to our thoughts study farewell discourse of our Lord Jesus in chapter 13 under versus 21 through 71 we read one or two of those verses just to set the scene for us. After seeing these things is teaching about us becoming solvents of others. After saying these things Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified truly, truly, I say to you notice that this is really important. Truly, truly, I say to you one of you will betray me and then at the end of that section, Judas leaves the room and it was night on which whole plan. Judas had gone out. Jesus said now is the Son of Man glorified when I was a very young Christian was a painting in our local art gallery by the famous artist Salvador Dali. The title of luck painting some of you undoubtedly will have seen pictures of it. Christ of St. John of the Cross. It was a picture of Christ hanging on the cross. The cross was almost flying towards the fewer in the sky and down below was the sea of Galilee and fishermen on a boat. Listen John of the Cross sector whom reference is made in the title Wausau medieval mystical theologian in the Roman Catholic church on people love this picture, I chaired a member as a youngster you people use the Bible says filing cabinet. Sometime many of my friends teenagers in the Valley 20s which have this picture inside there labels that they almost used as a kind of devotional help. Few years later young university student Justin Blake. Plan the works of Francis Schaeffer begun to be published on in one of Francis Schaeffer's works, he has a commentary on this famous painting by Salvador Dali Christ of St. John on the cross that crosses flying above the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is nailed to the cross and Schaeffer makes the very important point, but none of us seem to have grasped which was this, but in this picture the cross never touches the and so he was really saying this Christ off Salvador Dali's imagination is not actually the Christ of the Gospels and Christ of St. John of the Cross is not actually Christ of St. John the author of the fourth Gospel because right from the beginning of the gospel John is telling us how the son of God has come among us and anchored himself to our world the way he puts it so dramatically in John 114 is this the word became flesh, just that the blood became a man, but the word entered into the reality, and indeed the frailty of our human condition, he became subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to use Shakespearean language that befalls all of us on will very interesting insight here into the wonderfulness in the life of the Lord Jesus. We've seen how Jesus has dramatically displayed the work he will do for our salvation, how Jesus has then taught his disciples to look at what he is done in two see if he is there. Lord and Master, then they should also be willing to follow his example in bowing before others becoming the bondslave. Indeed, our fathers in order to solve them for the sake of their salvation. And now it's almost as though John is sent. I just want to pause the action so that we can look together right into the heart of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus has now said that one of them is going to betray him, and to remember how John himself has said to Peter, and Peter has spoken with John and they want to find out who is going to do this.

And Jesus says is the one that I'm going to give the piece of bread to once I've dipped it into the marvelous juices. They refuse to.

He hands it to Judas Iscariot on Jesus is up. I'm telling you this before it takes place so that when it does take place, you will know I knew that it was going to happen and then we read these words in John 13 verse 21.

After seeing these things Jesus was troubled in spirit and so John has this amazing section in which you saying I'm going to take you inside the mind of the Lord Jesus as he does so several things unfold. The first is this he tells… That we've noticed in verses 21 and 22 but Jesus confessed that his spirit was deeply troubled, the language Jesus uses here is strong language.

He is saying. My spirit is agitated and know how if you if you were given bad news. It seems as though your your inner framework of emotion seems to be it seems to. It seems to be out of sorts that you feel a jangle of your whole packs it it's it's difficult to to stay still and this is what Jesus is experiencing.

Actually, the other Gospels will use similar language about this. In Jesus life, especially when he goes into the garden of Gethsemane on the ski contemplates the significance of what he's going to experience in the hours that follow. We are told that he has. He is not sense of profound homesickness of some degrees, far away from home and knows that there is much that needs to be gone through the is difficult and dark before they return home again. Actually the language that Houston Mark's gospel is the language that would have been used in antiquity of somebody who had received such a shawl that they they wondered if there their whole being was becoming due range and this is what John wants to point out to us. Not that he sent but Jesus said about himself.

Jesus was troubled in spirit, and testified truly I say to you one of you will betray me (especially significant because one of the verses in this section of Scripture that we know so well is that at the beginning of John chapter 14, Jesus will say to his disciples. Don't let your hearts be troubled and will see the connectedness between these two things when we come to John's Gospel, but I think the thing to notice here is that Jesus is troubled in spirit because the one who is going to betray him is present in the room you from experience that and perhaps a family gathering or some social gathering or gathering of neighbors or gathering in the charge that is one person in the room and that one person in the room can pollute the whole atmosphere. I sometimes think of it like this say that I remember the days when you walked out of an airport in order to be able to breathe clean air. But no, you run out of the airport to get past that 10 Jan Bhatia in order to breathe clean air. Know why this is because smoking has been done in most public places like airports and now it's all done obsolete and as soon as you step into the atmosphere.

If you're not a smoker then you feel it's polluting everything about you. If you are a smoker that he was quite normal happens when you get into the elevator doesn't in a high-rise building somebody comes in from the front floor and you notice immediately that the atmosphere in the elevator changes because there grasped indicates they been outside having a quick cigarette and just one person their breath. Not many brats and it changes the whole atmosphere so for Jesus. The atmosphere in this room has essentially become very tense and think about this man who is been with him three years. This minor is been appointed to the treasurer of the apostolic this minute seeing Jesus miracles, who is professed to be his disciple. This man is harbored in his heart, a resentment against the Lord Jesus, and Jesus is troubled in spirit. Now I think is a very obvious application of leftism as we as we see Jesus as he really is because he has been troubled in spirit. He is able to suck up and help those who likewise troubled instead then the passage moves on to tell us something else about Jesus being troubled in spirit. Jesus know reveals the identity of his betrayer. Interesting thing is, of course, is, as we have people who know John's Gospel, I would die has already been on Judas Iscariot, but that's not true of anybody in the room except Jesus and Judas Iscariot, with two of them share a hidden secret that Judas is on his way to betray the Lord Jesus, but none of the other disciples know this. John is actually from time to time muskies spoken about Judas's activity in the gospel, he's Jesus stopped and said I want you as dear reader, he's saying I want you to keep your eye on this man because this man who seems so insignificant. He doesn't do very much in the Gospels. This man is going to come right to the center of the gospel before the story is finished and we know certain things about Judas Iscariot that we know that he was pilfering Monday from the treasury of the disciples, we know that when Jesus was worshiped by a needy woman he was. He was the one who said this ointment could have been sold for a small fortune on the money given to the poor. John R and understood he didn't know what he meant, that money could go into the bag from which he was stealing. So as readers of John's Gospel has been on Judas Iscariot. An interesting listen to that here in verses 28 and 29 point Jesus actually dismisses Judas everybody apart from Judas and Jesus assume Judas is going out on a mercy ministry. He's the treasurer on when Jesus sends him out of the room. Then they assume that Jesus and not something that we need for the Passover feast start to do something, but will be generous to the needy and to the poor so they have no idea what is actually happening as Jesus reveals his betrayer.

The question is this how did Jesus know how did Jesus know that Judas was going to betray him.

I think the answer is twofold. First of all because he knew somebody would betray him. It was written in the Scriptures wasn't the one who shares my grad lifts his heel against us an interesting expression is entered in the light of Genesis 315 but the supplicant would crush the heel of the Savior on the Savior would crush the head of the self.

And that's the lifting up of the heel in the attempt to crush the Savior that will actually miss the Savior said but strike the Savior's heel and Jesus knows this he knows his Bible. How did he know that that was Judas Iscariot. How did he know was to the suspect we could survive, Senior was Judas Iscariot. He was God, but characteristically in the Gospels, Jesus has knowledge not just because he's God, but because he has perfect discernment.

John told us earlier in the gospel. Jesus didn't, and trust himself to people, because he knew what was in them. Sometimes we like Mark Dunkley. Yet we might not be able to find words to express both of I'm not sure I can really trust him in all our sinfulness and our ignorance and spiritual insensitivity. We are sometimes sensitive enough to field or something not right about very little doubt that the purity of Jesus discernment carefully understood the little signs were present in the life of Judas Iscariot that indicated he would be the one who would betray him in the four marks of lata actually the first is this the mark of somebody who will betray the Lord Jesus, and as Hebrews says trample him underfoot and despise the blood of his covenant sacrifice one of the signs will be but when they see grace and Jesus. They experience what I call and to grace they see grace and Jesus and they all reap how old by grace, but so far more common thing than we sometimes think the general assumption. When people see the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ will love the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's not true. Some of you know it's not true because that was your own experience. You saw the grace of Christ in somebody else's life, or in the teaching of the gospel. You actually hated you run from it. You sought to protect yourself against so that the grace that saves sometimes solves as a kind of litmus test as to where our hearts really are. The strange thing. People always by nature prefab law to grace is not strange, but is not true why because you can try to do law but all you're able to do about grace is receiver with empty remember a minister I knew telling me of the distressed physician who called him in great distress.

They met in the hotel for coffee and he said to this physician after she told him her story, he said, have you asked for forgiveness. She became so angry she picked up her purse and she stormed out of the hotel. Why because she wanted to be told there was something she could do in order to be saved and he was telling there was something she needed to receive the grace of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. That was this inner hostility sometimes to this betraying spirit is revealed if when arson is unmasked by Jesus, usually privately.

We seek to disguise it rather than confess that say it's interesting that the other disciples apparently said, Lord, is it I am going to betrayer but Judas Iscariot hardened his heart against the Lord Jesus.

What's even more significant here is, at least in terms of the chronology of this passage, Jesus did actually kneel down before Judas Iscariot on washer stuck 2 feet.

The giving of the saw may mean different things. But Jesus knelt down before Judas Iscariot on washer stuck 2 feet and display the most exquisite grace.

I think I can tell you how there is a little bit of laughter. Many people I've met many Christians who when I said that Jesus was the defeat of Judas come to me and said no he couldn't of done locked, he wouldn't have done but you wouldn't of done. I do.

I know you wouldn't number because I think I can speculate fairly easily. The loss of Dr. feet that you have thought yourself above wash. Here's a man who knows that Jesus knows he's going to betray him. Jesus is done there to think he looked up into Judas's eyes, would you think you saw. I wonder if he saw in those eyes. How dare you how dare you display such a gracious touch to my deputy feet on the climax of less than a month. Spirit is quite simply this, that the regard Jesus as they are solvent relevant be willing to become his servant and so Jesus is sold for the price of 30 pieces of silver as we know the price of a slave. That's actually hugely challenging for Christians in the 21st century. I think because so often we are encouraged even sometimes in public teaching. But Jesus is our slave.

But Jesus is somebody who come into our lives we will do the things that we would like Jesus to do for our lives, my dear friends. That's the spirit of Judas Iscariot, but the spirit of the Lord Jesus. So Jesus is troubled in spirit. Jesus reveals his betrayer and as he does so. This is especially true in verses 27 through 29. Jesus settles his own destiny notices wonderfully important for us because at this stage in the gospel. Jesus is being victimized and he's going to be victimized more Judas is victimizing Jesus the soldiers are going to victimize Jesus, but Roman soldiers going to dBASE. Jesus, the religious authorities are going to spit in the face of Jesus, the governor of the secular and the religious authorities will conspire to have Jesus publicly exposed and crucified. But none of them actually settles Jesus destiny it's it's marvelous really feel they are and they assume that they are in control. But Jesus is actually not making the moves that will inevitably and irretrievably settle his own destiny and it's very interesting, wasn't at all of this the gardens. When Jesus dismisses Judas to do #and says to them. Essentially what you are going to do. Judas you do not under my father's sovereign control and ultimately for my glory and the salvation of the world by Martin Luther used to put never forget.

He said that the devil is God's devil here is Judas Iscariot behind him.

The evil one seeking to destroy Jesus and Jesus knows that this is not his destruction but his pathway to glorification because through the serpent crushing his heel. He will crush the serpent's head and bring the most glorious salvation to all of his people and then when Judas leaves the layout becomes clear and convincing. There is no question that Judas's betrayal of Jesus was evil, but it brought about the Berry redemption that guarded plan from the beginning. As Dr. Ferguson put it, Judas did this under the father's sovereign control. It bolsters our fate doesn't this see God working as planned so perfectly in time and space you're listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Friday and we just heard a message from Dr. Sinclair Ferguson series lessons from the upper room in 12 messages. Dr. Ferguson looks in depth at the final charge. Jesus gave his disciples before his crucifixion. We will send you this to DVD set when you contact us today with your donation of any amount of regular ministries you can find is online@renewingyourmind.org or you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343. We study God's word. Our minds are renewed, our lives are transformed. That of course comes from Romans chapter 12. It's where we draw the name of our program there reminds me of something that Dr. RC Sproul wrote in his book the holiness of God.

He said this. The key method. Paul underscores as the means to the transformed life is by the renewal of the mind. This means nothing more and nothing less than education serious education in depth education discipline education in the things of God. It calls for a mastery of the word of God and then he says this we need to be people whose lives have changed because our minds have changed and really that's why Liggett or ministries exist to help you know what you believe and why you believe it, and that's why were here each day on Renewing Your Mind. So were thankful for your financial support and your prayers as we continue this important work. Thank you for joining us this week and we hope you make plans to be with this beginning Monday for Renewing Your Mind