4/9/09 - Mauny Thursday - John 13:21-30

THE LORD IS AWARE
- He is not fooled by your sinfulness
- He knows exactly what you need

John was right there. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” was reclining on his elbow right next to the Lord there at the supper table. The twelve disciples were celebrating the annual feast of the Passover together with Jesus that night and John happened to be placed right next to Christ. And so John was right there when Jesus said that someone in that very room would betray him. John was right there when Peter motioned to him so that he would ask Jesus the all-important question that was on everyone’s mind: “Who is it?” John was right there when Jesus said it was the one to whom he would give the piece of bread after dipping it into the dish. And John was right there when Jesus handed that piece of bread to Judas Iscariot. John was right there, front and center. He saw it all. He heard it all. But he still didn’t understand. None of the disciples did. None of them knew what was happening. Even though that scene seems pretty clear to us, the only person in that room that truly understood what was going on was Jesus himself. In fact, when Jesus told Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly,” some of the disciples thought Jesus wanted him to buy supplies for the remaining days of the Feast or that he was supposed to give something to the poor out of the treasury. Neither John nor Peter nor any of the other disciples knew what Judas had planned.
Judas must have been a very sly man! He was in charge of the money, he was the treasurer for this group of missionaries, and he had been stealing from the collection all along. But none of the disciples knew! Judas had also been sneaking behind their backs to talk to the chief priests about handing Jesus over to them. And none of the disciples knew! Judas had even planned that very night to lead the mob out to the Garden of Gethsemane so that they could arrest Jesus. And none of the disciples knew! Judas’ plans and his actions and his beliefs were hidden from his fellow disciples and his treachery went undetected until it was far too late. No one knew the extent of Judas’ sinfulness that was lurking just below the surface. Except for the Lord.
The Lord was aware. Jesus knew all along what Judas was up to, what Judas had planned, and what Judas thought. Jesus was perfectly in tune with what Judas had tried to hide so well from the very beginning. Judas’ intentions didn’t surprise Jesus. Judas’ actions didn’t throw him off guard. In fact, Jesus continually gave him opportunities to repent because he knew exactly what was in Judas’ heart and mind - even before Judas himself thought of it. Judas should have known better, but he didn’t. And the disciples should have seen it, but they didn’t. Only the Lord was aware. Only he understood what was happening that night as well as what would happen because of it.
I have a feeling that you are pretty sly in hiding your sins, too. I know I am! I think every person on this earth is able to hide their sins well! Because we’ve had so much practice! As kids we don’t want our parents to see what we’re doing. As adults we don’t want others to hear what we’re saying about them. And as people infected with a sinful nature we definitely don’t want anyone to know what we’re thinking! And so we’ve gotten good at hiding our sins. We pretend that we never thought those things about the person and go on as if nothing were wrong. We are careful to say those derogatory comments about that person only to those who we know will not get us in trouble. We do those things we aren’t supposed to do only if we’re out of sight and out of the way. We usually take great pains into making sure that as few people as possible know about our sins because we don’t want to deal with what they might say or what they might think or the jab of a guilty conscience once other people find out what really goes on in that mind of ours. And we’re usually successful! Just like Judas we are able to trick and to fool even those who are closest to us. Your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, your fellow Christian brothers and sisters don’t know the depth of your sins, do they? And not many know the depth of mine.
But the Lord knows. He is aware of everything we do, everything we say, and everything we think no matter how many other people do not. The Lord sees your hidden sins just as clearly as he saw the hidden sins of Judas. Jesus is not surprised. He is tricked. He is not fooled. He even knows about those sins that you have somehow managed to hide from yourselves. The Lord is aware of them all. And he doesn’t excuse any of them. In fact, he hates every one of your sins just as much as he hated the sins of Judas. And isn’t it a scary thing to know that Jesus knows what he knows?
But take a look again at how Jesus dealt with those sins that night in the upper room. Although he knew about Judas’ sin, he did no immediately condemn him. He did not immediately damn Judas to hell for even thinking about betraying the Lord. Nor did Jesus ignore Judas’ sin; he publically announced it to all of the disciples before it happened - giving Judas another chance to repent. And Jesus didn’t try to avoid embarrassing Judas; he dipped the bread in the dish and gave it directly to Judas - letting him know that there were no secrets with the Lord and it was still not too late to admit his guilt. Jesus didn’t even prevent Judas from carrying out his sin either; he allowed him to carry it out to its awful completion. And Christ did all of those things because he knew that what Judas was going to put into action would be the very way he would save his people. Jesus was fully aware of Judas’ sin and all of the suffering that would result because of it. But Jesus was also fully aware of what the world needed.
The world, you and I and even Judas, we all needed forgiveness. And this was how Jesus was going to accomplish it. And so he let Judas leave the upper room that night so that the mob could be gathered. Jesus voluntarily went out to the Garden of Gethsemane in order to meet his captors there. He let the fake trials and the harsh beatings and the false accusations take place. And he made sure that all of those events would eventually lead him to the cross. Because he was aware that this was exactly where we needed him to be. He knew the sins that each one of us would commit and he knew that we would never be able to handle the punishment. And so as our loving Lord and merciful Savior, he went to that cross to pay for those sins so that we would never have to. That means: he knows our sins personally! He is not only aware of them on an intellectual level, he is aware of how much punishment each one of those sins deserves because he experienced it! He suffered it! He died from it! Christ died from our sins because that’s what we needed him to do. And he was glad to do it. He didn’t like to do it, but he was glad to do it for our salvation.
The disciple whom Jesus loved, the apostle John, didn’t understand that right away. John didn’t know what was happening at the moment it was happening. He didn’t perceive who Judas really was, he didn’t comprehend what Jesus meant when he predicted his death, John didn’t even realize at first that Jesus would rise from the dead. But John would soon figure it out. Because he was right there every step of the way. He was not only in the upper room on Maundy Thursday evening, he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was in the courtyard of the high priest while Jesus was on trial, he was at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion, and he was the first of the 11 remaining disciples to look into the empty tomb on Easter morning. John was right there. And later on in life as he pondered what he had seen and heard, he undoubtedly realized that the entire time Jesus had not only been aware of his sins, but also of what he needed - forgiveness and salvation and peace. And so throughout his life John continued to spread and preach that gospel to the world. Tonight, that gospel is preached to you. Take John’s words to heart. Know that the Lord is aware of your sins. But also know that he is aware of what you need. And because of the cross, the grave, and the empty tomb, what you really need has really already been given it to you.
Amen.

“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” - Rev. 7:12