Scripture Reference – “Judas and Peter”
(Josiah Hall)
John 13:21–38 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
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Today’s passage foreshadows two acts of betrayal, raising challenging questions: how can two individuals who were both so close to Jesus betray him? If individuals as close to Jesus as Judas and Peter fail, what hope is there for me? By juxtaposing Judas and Peter, John provides some guidance for those wrestling with these questions.
First, note that despite John’s earlier statement that Judas was known to steal from the money bag (12:4–6), the disciples never suspected that Judas would be the one to betray Jesus. Instead, none of them know about whom Jesus is speaking (13:22). Yet while the disciples were caught by surprise by Judas’s betrayal, Jesus wasn’t. Back in 6:71, John alerted us to the fact that Jesus knew of Judas’s betrayal before Judas even knew of it himself. Likewise, with Peter, Jesus predicted his denials before the thought had likely crossed Peter’s mind. Yet even though Jesus knew of his disciples’ failures in advance, he loved them faithfully and consistently throughout all his interactions with them.
Second, while both Judas and Peter betray Jesus, John places the predictions of each’s betrayal side by side to alert us to key differences between them. Judas, despite having followed Jesus for three years, ultimately leaves him, departing into the night (13:30). Recall the pervasive imagery of light and dark throughout the Gospel. By departing into the night, Judas is rejecting the light that Jesus offers, preferring to stay in the world under the rule of Satan (13:27).
Peter, on the other hand, never leaves Jesus. True to his desire to remain with Jesus (see 13:36–37), Peter will follow Jesus even when Jesus rebukes him for cutting off the high priest’s servant’s ear (18:11). Even after his denials, Peter continues to follow Jesus, never separating from his fellow disciples. This highlights the role that believers play in one another’s lives encouraging faithfulness.
Throughout my graduate studies I went through a period of significant wrestling with whether I believed the Bible’s claims about Jesus to be true or whether the Scriptures were merely human documents like any other historical text. One of the primary anchors for me during that very difficult period was my continued involvement in the local church. Close friends allowed me to wrestle with my doubts and through their testimonies to God’s work in their lives they provided powerful reminders of the veracity of Bible’s claims about who God is and his redemptive work in the world. Peter’s story takes a similar trajectory. As we’ll see in coming weeks, Peter, despite his failures, never withdraws from the community of the other disciples, but instead is with them when they hear of Jesus’s resurrection and encounter the resurrected Jesus. Likewise, even when Peter decides to go fishing in Galilee in John 21, other disciples go with him, not leaving him alone.
The failures of Judas and Peter can indeed be disheartening and challenging to us, but the passage provides us encouragement whether we are ourselves doubting or are walking alongside those who are. Jesus faithfully loved both Judas and Peter up to the moment that Judas walked into the night and even through Peter’s denials. Wrestling with Jesus’s teaching, as Peter did, does not cut us off from the love of Christ. Instead, God provides grace to enable us to remain faithful through the community of other believers, those who love as Jesus loves (see Jesus’s command to love in 13:34–35), being patient in times of struggle and doubt.
Weekly Prayer Focus: University and Medical Community
Daily Prayer Request: “Pitt RUF” Please pray for the RUF campus ministry at Pitt. For ministry leaders Gavin, Callie, and Abbay, as well as for student leaders. That they would be filled with the Spirit, empowered for ministry and joyful in service.