A troubled soul and a troubled spirit in our Lord. John 13:21-28

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." 

 

“He became troubled” - aorist passive indicative of tarassw. [tarasso]. Tarasso means to be agitated.

 

Jesus in His deity is not troubled. It says that He was troubled “in spirit,” and this refers to His human spirit. The Greek word pneuma is used.

 

In John 12:27 the same word troubled is used in reference to His soul, psuche.

 

John 12:27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

 

The troubled or agitated soul of this day, which was the third day of the Passion Week, resulted from the unknowns of the cross. What it would be like to come in contact with sin, to be separated from His Father and His own deity, and to die a spiritual death, to be completely and utterly alone for the first time, and how long would it take? Though confident in His success these unknowns gave Him a certain trouble to His soul.

 

In John 13:21 the troubled spirit is in reference to Judas whom He loved. This reference to the human spirit of our Lord, where doctrine is stored, shows an agitation about something that is known. The doctrine in the Lord’s human spirit knows what will befall Judas. He knows the prophecy of Judas, the 30 pieces of silver, that they will be used to buy the Potter’s field and that Judas would find his end in Torments and eventually in the Lake of Fire.

 

So the troubled soul refers to the unknowns of the cross and the troubled spirit refers to the knowns about Judas.

 

Interestingly enough, if we pursue the use of the word tarasso in the Bible we find a command to the disciples given in the upper room to not be troubled.

 

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

 

John 14:2"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

 

John 14:3"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

 

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

 

John 14:28"You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.

 

The reference this time is to their hearts, where doctrine is ready for application. Both times the Lord is encouraging them to not have trouble because He is leaving. They have eternal security and they will have peace from the doctrine given to them by means of the HS.

 

So does the Lord violate a command that He gives to them? Naturally, no, and the difference is that He faces an unknown and neither the disciples nor ourselves ever have an unknown. Sure we have unknown circumstances but we are never without the doctrine needed to be overcomers in every circumstance if we are positive.

 

The Lord does not apply doctrine in spiritual death - that is impossible, which is indicated by His repeated cry of “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [this is holy ground that I stand at the threshold of and have to admit that I do not understand it nor do I think I or anyone ever will.] Therefore the Lord is troubled in soul.

 

On this point of understanding I want to caution every student of the word of God when it comes to questions that seem impossible to find answers to. Many times the search for concrete answers can only result in the hope of faith in the program of God.

 

I quote L.S. Chafer, Systematic Theology.

 

Volume 1, Chap 1, Prolegomena.

 

FINITE LIMITATIONS MUST BE RECOGNIZED. Were it not for the fact that God has made a suitable revelation of Himself to men and that He expects them to give attention to it, it would seem to be unwarranted presumption for the finite mind to seek to comprehend that which is infinite. The theologian should never lose sight of the fact that he, as no other scientist, is called upon to deal with things supernatural, with things which transcend the boundaries of time and space where no unaided human thought can penetrate, and with unseen beings, including the three Persons of the Godhead and the angels. Confronted with such subjects as these, he should ever be in quietude of holy reverence, as was Moses before the burning bush, and ever impressed with the futility of dependence upon mere human opinion, as well as of the disastrous consequences which such dependence may induce. In the simplest of terms, God has spoken of Himself, and of things infinite and eternal. The Bible is that message and, while man cannot originate any similar truth, he, though finite, is privileged by the gracious illumination of the Spirit to receive, with some degree of understanding, the revelation concerning things which are infinite.

 

Volume 1, Chap 15, Divine Decrees.

 

Having thus ascribed a feeble note of praise to God, it now is necessary—as is incumbent upon all students of Biblical theism—to give attention to the problems which the theme of divine sovereignty engenders. There are issues involved in such a contemplation which are too vast for the finite mind to fathom, and no intelligent, reverent person will be surprised to discover the boundaries of his finite mind. When standing on the border between the finite and the infinite, between time and eternity, between the perfect, irresistible will of God and the impotent, perverted will of man, between sovereign grace and hell-deserving sin, who among men is too proud to exclaim, There are  some  things which I do not understand?

 

The Lord’s trouble at this time is also about knowing the future of Judas. We will never have the power to know another’s future. They may get saved on their death bed for all we know, but the Lord does know and so He is troubled in spirit.

 

The disciples as well as all CA believers never have a right to be troubled in their hearts. If and when we are it needs to be confessed as sin.

 

1 Peter 3:14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,

 

1 Peter 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you,

 

 

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."

 

Since the upper room introduction of the mystery doctrine is for believers only obviously Jesus is not going to go on with His discourse until the traitor/unbeliever has been removed.

 

Being an unbeliever doesn’t make Judas a traitor but being an unbeliever makes it easy for Judas to become a traitor because he is the first recorded case of Satan possession.

           

However, though there was trouble in His spirit and soul He was not consumed by it. He handled it with doctrine. In fact, anticipating His victory, as the first Passover set the Jews free from slavery, He would free mankind from the slave market of sin, and He looked forward to this Passover.

 

Luke 22:15 And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

 

This would not be said by someone who was freaking out, but rather by someone who had conquered all fear. He had trouble or agitation in his soul over the unknowns of the cross and in his spirit over the knowns of Judas, but he still earnestly desired to eat the Passover with His disciples.

 

 

 

John 13:22The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.

 

“looked one on another.” The word looked is the imperfect active indicative of blepw,[blepo] which means that there wasn’t any prolonged staring. It means a quick glance; “at a loss” - present passive participle of a)porew [a= negative; poroj[poros]= way: ‘no way’], which means to be without means, to be without means to cope, to be perplexed, to be at a loss or confused. So confused is a little better. The passive voice of a porewshould be translated, “they were at a loss,” or “they were confused.”

           

Most likely more was said by Jesus. Speaking is in the present tense which tells us that He most likely kept on speaking a bit more than is recorded here. Only part of what Jesus said is recorded—the gist of it. The main point is that the disciples are confused or at a loss to know whom or what He is talking about.

 

John 13:23There was reclining on Jesus' breast one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

 

“leaning” is the present active participle of a)nakeimai, [anakeimai] which cannot really be translated in one word.

 

It is combined with the word kolpoj, [kolpos = breast] which is translated bosom in the KJV, but which means chest.

The two words mean to recline at a table during a meal. They didn’t sit at tables in the ancient world. The Romans had a couch on which they semi-reclined, feet at one end and head at the other. It means to recline at a table during a meal with one’s head at the level of someone’s chest. There is no leaning on a chest.

 

Kolpojdoesn’t even have to refer to the chest; it also refers to the hollow formed by the fold of the garment over the chest. So John’s head is where the garment folds over the chest.

           

“whom Jesus loved” - He loved all of His disciples. There has been much confusion over this, but if we go back to the original language we get clarification.

 

This is the imperfect active indicative of a)gapaw, [agapao] and it must be understood that this is a mental attitude love. It is a mental attitude love that is minus mental attitude sins.

 

If John was loved or admired more than the others it would have to be a culminative aorist of filew.[phileo = personal love emphasizing the attractiveness of the subject]

 

Since Jesus Christ is not a sinner and does not have mental attitude sins it also means relaxed mental attitude, and Jesus was more relaxed toward John than toward any of the disciples. It is the inchoative imperfect to indicate that Jesus had fewer problems, as it were, from John than from any of the disciples.

 

By this we can conclude that John was a bit more positive towards doctrine than the others, which is further shown by his willingness to overcome his fear and attend the cross on Cavalry.

 

John 13:24Simon Peter therefore gestured to him, and said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking."

 

John 13:25He, leaning back thus on Jesus' breast, said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"

 

Again, this does not indicate that John was directly on the breast of Jesus. He leaned even closer to Jesus to ask Him the question.

 

John 13:26Jesus therefore answered, "That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him." So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

 

The Lord answers John only and so protects the privacy of Judas.

 

This is a second grace act on the part of our Lord. “I shall give” - He hasn’t come to this part of the meal, but there was a point in the meal when someone was given a special reward.

 

The word is ywmion[psomion] and it refers to a special piece of bread dipped in some meat sauce, and it was always a part of the centre of the table. It was sort of between the main meal and the desert. No one ever touched this plate until the host picked up a piece of bread and dipped it into this delicious sauce, and then offered it to some person. This was a high honour, a special honour. When the person accepted it then the others were free to dip into the sauce themselves.

           

“And when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas Iscariot” -this is the fulfilment of it. Whether it occurred in the next few seconds or not is not clear but it is clear that Jesus at this time or very shortly thereafter went through the “ywmionceremony,” the ceremony of honouring someone at the table.

 

The principle is stated again: This was a grace appeal the like of which had never been seen or recorded before. Jesus knew that Judas was a traitor and was already making arrangements to betray Him, and yet Jesus not only gave this man his privacy but in offering him the ywmiojHe offered him the highest honour from the host. And in effect whoever receives the swmionbecomes an honoured guest. Judas Iscariot was the honoured guest at the last supper! That it grace.

 

This was the final invitation to salvation, the greatest of all grace appeals, but Judas Iscariot is an unbeliever in reversionism.

 

By accepting the honour of the sop Judas perpetuated the hypocrisy of reversionism to the last degree. He accepted this high honour with negative volition in his soul. Jesus offered him this last chance and when he turned down this one he is again indwelt personally by Satan.

           

John 13:27And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him [verb means to come inside]. Jesus therefore said to him, "What you do, do quickly." 

 

This must have shocked Judas because his plans were unknown, or so he thought. I see this as another offer to Judas of salvation. Jesus is saying to him, “I know all about it. Go do it quickly.”

 

 

 

Judas still has a volition, even though this is a commandment from the Lord. Judas has rejected the positive commands by the Lord up to this point and here is one that he should re-think, but it’s too late.

 

The reason it’s too late is that Judas is no longer in control of himself. Judas has fallen off the edge into the abyss of human depravity, so much so that he gives a hearty invitation for the indwelling of satan, and there is no turning back now.

 

We will see later on that he will feel sorry for what he did, but sorrow does not equal salvation or deliverance from death in the lake of fire, only faith alone in Christ alone will accomplish that salvation, and concerning the person of Christ, Judas never changes his thinking.

 

So we see the commandment of Jesus to not be actually to Judas, but to the indwelling devil.

 

When Jesus commanded Judas to leave He was commanding the devil to leave, and the principle is quite obvious: the Lord Jesus Christ in His humiliation is infinitely more powerful than all of the power that Satan has or ever will have, and right now Satan is the ruler of this world.

 

Never forget that you are in union with the One who has this power. Nothing can happen to you or enter your life unless it is allowed by God.

 

Jesus, your Advocate, sits at the right hand of God in His humanity and there He constantly intercedes on your behalf.

 

No matter what evil plans satan and the kod are devising to destroy you, all their power combined does not add up to a fraction of a percent of the power of Jesus Christ - in His humanity even.

 

Luke 22:31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;

 

Luke 22:32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. "

 

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

 

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

 

This can refer to prayer to God the Father or operating in faith rest. Casting is a verb that means to throw your anxiety and worry right on to the shoulders of God through faith in His promises.

 

1 Peter 5:8Be of sober spirit,[SSE] be on the alert [no apathy]. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

 

1 Peter 5:9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

 

1 Peter 5:10And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

 

1 Peter 5:11To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In any conflict with the devil the Lord always wins. We win by association when we live by faith in His promises.

 

So satan must obey the command of the Lord to leave, and to do so quickly.

 

While Satan is gone Jesus gives chapter 14, the upper room discourse, and then chapters 15 and 16, Gethsemane discourse; and Satan himself does not get back to the scene until Judas comes leading the Romans and the Jewish temple guard to Gethsemane.

 

That means from sundown until about midnight the Lord Jesus Christ will be alone with the disciples. Satan will not be there and neither will Judas Iscariot. Satan has to stay with his reversionist until the betrayal and therefore he stays inside Judas Iscariot during the critical time when the Lord Jesus Himself will present the whole outline of the Church Age.

 

He will introduce the mystery doctrine; He will introduce the Church. Remember that the Gospels do not contain Church doctrine, except John chapters 14-17.

 

John 13:28Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.

 

No one of those reclining at the table” indicates complete privacy to Judas Iscariot.

 

Apart from Peter and John the disciples did not know from the observation of the morsel incident exactly what was going on, and they didn’t have any clue that Judas was a traitor.

 

And again, all of them dipped the morsel after Judas did, so there is enough ambiguity to protect the privacy of Judas.

 

Jesus respected both the volition and the privacy of Judas even though he was a traitor, and He did not publicly rebuke him nor condemn him.

           

John 13:29For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, "Buy the things we have need of for the feast"; or else, that he should give something to the poor.

 

It was common to go out on the night of the Passover and give to the poor. It was also common to go out and buy more supplies for the feast.

 

Either way, the Lord gave a command and so their speculation is meaningless.

 

A quick principle here: Believers may speculate on why another believer is doing what they’re doing. Baseless speculation can often turn to judging, gossiping, or maligning. Every believer is a priest and therefore has privacy to carry out the commands of God in the way he sees fit to do so. The Bible is very clear about judging the actions of another. We never have all the facts.

 

The exception to this is the parents’ authority over their children. Parents must evaluate motivation in their kids and determine blessing or discipline accordingly.

 

The most important thing a child can do to secure their future blessing is to obey their parents.

 

John 13:30And so after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

 

The afternoon events of the upper room have terminated and Judas, the Satan-possessed unbeliever, has been eliminated and has departed into the night.

 

Night is symbolic of the darkness in the heart of man that remains when he rejects Christ.

 

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

 

John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

 

Therefore with the only unbeliever is removed so that the mystery doctrine can be unfolded to the disciples.

 

The plan of God the Father with regard to the Church age is now outlined. At this point the upper room discourse actually begins.

 

Emphasis will be placed on the Father’s plan of glorifying Jesus Christ, plus the intensification of the angelic conflict.

 

Satan is also removed from hearing both the upper room and the Gethsemane discourse.

 

Therefore the Church Age will come as a shock to Satan (he cannot be in two places at one time, he has now made his command post in Judas Iscariot). Satan is doing something from which he will never recover; he is going away from the amazing doctrine that will be taught in the upper room as well as in Gethsemane.

 

Before he knows what’s happened the first invisible hero will be produced (possibly the deacon Stephen) making for the second witness in the angelic conflict which seals his doom in the Supreme Court of heaven.

 

 In Jewish Law, God’s Law, there must be at least two eye witnesses in any case for the condemnation of a defendant. Three witnesses are even better.

 

TLJC is the first witness. The first invisible hero is the second witness. With that the victor in the trial is all but concluded. The third witness, being Christian marriage most likely also occurred before any part of mystery doctrine was made known to satan. This is because the first epistles are not written until almost 2 decades after the beginning of the church.

 

But it is also God’s heart to bring many sons to glory. The trial doesn’t just end with three witnesses, but many more of the second and third types of witness are continually brought forward all throughout the age. Many more invisible heroes and many more winner marriages are called forth to the witness stand. So many that satan’s head must be spinning from his inability to stop it.

 

Our goal as believers is to be that second witness by becoming invisible heroes by exploiting the grace of God and sharing God’s happiness in this life and being occupied with the person of Christ.

 

The third witness is rarer because two invisible heroes must come together in humility and grace. Be that as it may, don’t base your success in the CWL on the third witness. It’s not necessary, but it is icing on the cake, so to speak.

 

John 13:31 When therefore he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;

 

We call this large section of John’s Gospel the upper room discourse (13:1—16:33). Here the Lord gave final instructions to the apostles. In prologue to this discourse, He spoke of His departure (13:31—35).He refers to it as His glorification, saying, “Now is the Son of Man glorified” (v. 31).

 

The Son had glorified the Father by revealing Him to people (1:18). By His life, words, and works Jesus had revealed all that it was possible to reveal about the Father to people.

 

He had glorified the Father through His revelation of the Father. Now through Christ’s death and resurrection the Father would confirm to people that the Son was who He claimed to be. Thus Christ could refer to the coming events as God’s glorification of the Son.

 

As God reveals through this means the identity of the Son, God Himself would be glorified as the One who sent Him.

 

Christ said plainly to the disciples that in a few hours He would leave them and that it would be impossible for them to come with Him (v. 33).

 

He must go alone. This revelation completely overwhelmed the Eleven. During the years’ of their relationship with Him, they had come to trust Him completely for every need. He had assumed a role like that of a father, providing, protecting, guiding, and instructing these men as children.

 

They had come into an inti­mate fellowship with Him. The proof that they desired to see it continue was their willingness to accompany Christ to Jerusalem even though they felt this journey would involve their own deaths (v. 37), which Peter would say falsely, but what they all concluded back in chapter 11 when they left Perea.

 

Thus when Christ told them that they could not accompany Him when He departed from them, they felt utterly desolate. But Christ gave them a commandment: “Love one another” (v. 34). They had been bound by a mutual love for Him, and now they were to be bound by a mutual love for each other. Christ said this was “a new-commandment.”

 

And it is through this commandment that the world will know that we are his disciples.

 

The Old Testament demanded that one not only love God but one’s neighbor as oneself. Thus the command to love was old. Christ not only commanded them to love but to do so “as I have loved you” (v. 34), and the latter part was new.

 

So when the Lord was asked by the scribe as to which was the greatest commandment, He said:

 

Mark 12:29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! [hear is first - PV] The Lord our God is one Lord; 

 

Mark 12:30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

 

Mark 12:31"The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

 

He combines the commands because they cannot exist without each other. You cannot love your neighbor as yourself unless you love God. The same is true of the command that the Lord gives in John 13.

 

That was the greatest command up to that point. But now that the Lord is beginning to teach the mystery doctrine of the church age, a greater commandment is given.

 

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

 

John 13:35"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

 

Under the old commandment the test of love for one’s neighbor was one’s love for oneself. The test under the new commandment was to love as Christ had loved them.

 

Christ had just demonstrated the kind of love’ that He had as well as the degree of His love (13:1—20). His love had brought Him from heaven’s glory to this earth. His love had brought Him from His’ position at the right hand of the Father to the position of a Servant. His love motivated Him to offer the honor of the morsel to the betrayer.

 

Christ demanded this kind of love of these men. As His love had made Him a Servant, so their love for each other was to make them servants of one another.

 

Thus Christ was saying that in fulfilling this commandment to love one another, they would provide for each other what He had provided for them while He was with them. This kind of love would be a sign to all people that the Eleven were His disciples.

 

 

 

Each movement in Israel historically had had its peculiar identifying sign. The sign that one was related to Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision. The sign that one was related to Moses and the Mosaic law was the observance of the Sabbath. The sign that one was related to John the Baptist and his message concerning the coming Messiah was water baptism. The sign that one was a Pharisee was that he wore a phylactery either on his forehead or upper arm. These external signs all indicated a relationship to a particular movement in Israel.

 

Christ gave His disciples a new kind of identifying sign. It was not an external sign that could easily be imposed but an inner sign that required a transformation. The sign was mutual love. Their love for each other would not only be a sign of identification with Him, but the exercise of that love would provide for these what He Himself had provided for them while He was with them.

 

John 13:31 When therefore he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;

 

John 13:32 if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.

 

John 13:33 "Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you also, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'

 

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

 

John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."