Doctrine prepares you for the betrayers so that you don;t lose God's happiness.John 13:17-20

John 13:17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

 

“If you know” is a first class condition with the perfect tense of oida. Oida means to already know so it refers to doctrine that is already in the right lobe of the soul.

 

So far the things that they should know is eternal security, confession of sin, fellowship, being prepared to communicate doctrine, the commission by the Lord to communicate as He did, and that they belong to the Lord and are therefore both disciples and slaves.

 

Up to this point in their exposure to the Lord’s teaching they should know these things.

 

Now they have a chance to do them. “Do them” is the act of teaching these things to others. “Do them” also refers to living in them themselves, but that goes without saying.

 

A communicator of doctrine is far more effective when he is living in and applying what he is teaching. He’s not perfect, and nor is any member of the body of Christ, but he should be applying whatever he is teaching. 

 

So the Lord is again entreating them to know mystery doctrine and to communicate mystery doctrine and if they do so a promise is given.

 

You are “blessed” - the nominative masculine plural of makarioj, [makarios] happinesses (pl.).

 

This means that by taking in doctrine consistently you are accumulating a concentration of happiness. Divine happiness is shared with you to the extent that you take in doctrine. The plural indicates that you can go all the way to having a maximum happiness from God based upon your entrance into the supergrace life.

 

And then there is the doing. For the disciples the doing is teaching, and so it refers to all believers as functioning in their spiritual gifts.

 

If you are functioning in your spiritual gift you are fulfilling your personal sense of destiny in the plan of God. With your earthly life laid aside and your spiritual life running on all cylinders you are sharing the happiness of God. There is no better place to be in the whole universe. That is the second principle.

 

John 13:18 "I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.'

 

The third principle: the omniscience of God does not hinder or violate human volition. Human volition is an extension of the angelic conflict and can never be violated by God.

           

“I know whom I have chosen” - aorist middle indicative of e)klegw[eklego] which means to choose or to elect.

 

The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that every believer shares the election of Christ by union with Christ.

 

In this is also the reality of free will. Christ didn’t choose these 11 and they had no say in the matter, as a hyper-Calvinist might teach, but instead the 11 believed in Christ as their Savior and so were elected to privilege at the moment of salvation through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, although this election would not occur mechanically until Pentecost, in the mind of God since eternity past they are elected Church-age believer who are in union with Christ. This privilege has occurred because they believed.

 

“that the scripture may be fulfilled” - aorist passive subjunctive of plhrow[pleroo] which here means implementation. The scripture cannot lie. It is impossible for God to lie; it is impossible for God’s Word to lie with regard to a principle, a concept or a promise. 

So we learn the principle that while omniscience does not violate human volition the traitor is still there and the scripture is always right on target.

 

Ps 41:9

Even my close friend, in whom I trusted,

Who ate my bread,

Has lifted up his heel against me.

 

“he who eats” - present active participle of trwgw, [trogo] not the usual word. The ordinary word for eating is e)sqiw[esthio]. Trwgwmeans the traitor is crunching his food. Apparently, this indicates that Judas has bad table manners. It reveals that Judas is devouring the Passover feast without a care for what it means. The other disciples are said to e)sqiwbut Judas chomps his food.

 

For us, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, which is taken from the Passover feast, the elements, though simple, mean a great deal. To just chomp of the unleavened bread and to chase it with a gulp of grape juice without a thought for what they mean is analogous to what Judas is doing here.

           

“has lifted up” - e)pairw[epairo] which means to reject the authority of. This is a part of an idiom. The raising up of the heel means to overthrow, to seek one’s destruction, or to reject authority. There is one there who has rejected the authority of Jesus Christ. This one has pretended to love the Lord but ignorance of doctrine means pseudo love. We have already seen that Judas has become extremely disenchanted with the Lord and His ministry and so he doesn’t really care what the Lord is saying, he’s chomping his food, which speaks of him devouring the Passover like it means nothing.

 

He has said and will say again that those who hated Him are going to hate them and so it continues for positive believers throughout the age - there will be hatred and betrayal by some.

 

John 13:19 "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.

 

The fourth principle: Doctrine prepares the believer for shocking behaviour, e.g. traitors. Sin, as such, is not shocking; witnessing a traitor in action is. Traitors are subtle. They smile at you while secretly plotting against you. Their discovery is always a surprise and therefore a shock.

 

Ps 55:12-14

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,

Then I could bear it;

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,

Then I could hide myself from him.

13 But it is you, a man my equal,

My companion and my familiar friend.

14 We who had sweet fellowship together,

Walked in the house of God in the throng.

 

Doctrine prepares a believer for this. It will still shock the believer, but with the doctrine of the depravity of man, the forgiveness of God and impersonal unconditional love he is prepared to handle it.

 

This does not mean that you will not experience certain emotions like disappointment or disenchantment, especially if the traitor is someone you love, as the Lord loves Judas.

 

Some people, even the people we love, even believers that we love fall into their own depravity and become selfish, so selfish that they will lift up their heel at you in order to get what they lust for.

 

John 13:19 "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.

 

The Lord states that this is happening now.

 

Before it comes to pass the traitor of Judas is revealed but they will not understand that it is Judas until later on.  

 

And when it comes to pass you will believe that I knew all about it and I still loved and protected Judas. I still offered friendship and eternal life to Judas.

 

Judas took the seat of honor at the Passover and the Lord allowed it. Jesus will even honor Judas with the offering of the morsel and Judas will take it, but even knowing that this was an honor, he’s already so far gone that Satan is again about to enter his body.

 

 

John 13:20 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

 

The fifth principle: Bible doctrine is perpetuated after the death of Christ. Christ taught verbally; He will send others to teach verbally after His ascension and there will be no generation of believers left without a Bible teacher or teachers.

           

“Truly, truly”—point of doctrine; “he that receives” - sets up the authority for Bible teachers. They must be received if you are going to learn doctrine. You can never learn doctrine from anyone whose authority you reject.

           

“whomever I send” - aorist active subjunctive of pempw[pempo]. Christ is today seated at the right hand of the Father. In the first generation He sent apostles and pastor-teachers.

 

After the canon of scripture is completed to every generation He sends pastor-teachers.

 

The subjunctive mood portrays a purpose. He sends for the purpose of communicating doctrine.

 

“receives me” - if you receive a pastor-teacher it is like receiving Jesus Christ, present active indicative of lambanw. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is represented today by the pastor-teacher. When a congregation receives the authority of a pastor-teacher they are receiving the authority of Jesus Christ.

           

“receives him that sent me” - in other words the chain of command goes right up to God the Father.

 

Christ knew when He quoted Psalm 41:9, “Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” concerning His betrayal that He was not understood by the disciples. So He announced plainly, “One of you is going to betray me” (John 13:21). Not one of the Eleven was able to identify the betrayer. In fact each disciple saw in himself the capability of being that person. “One by one they said to him, ‘Surely not I!”’ (Mark 14:19)

 

Mark 14:18 And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me —  one who is eating with Me." 

 

Mark 14:19They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, "Surely not I?"

 

John 13:21When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me."