Loving the unlovely!

 John 13:21–33, 36–38

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

Food for thought! 

When we consider what was happening in this gospel, we can see what it means to love the unlovely people; Jesus loved Judas, and Judas hated Jesus (sounds similar?). 

First, there were the seating arrangements at the meal. The Jews did not sit at table; they reclined. The table was a low solid block, with couches round it. It was shaped like a "U" and the place of the host was in the centre. They reclined on their left side, resting on the left elbow, thus leaving the right hand free to deal with the food. Sitting in such a way, a man's head was literally in the breast of the person reclining on his left. Jesus would be sitting in the place of the host, at the centre of the single side of the low table. The disciple whom Jesus loved (John) must have been sitting on his right, for as he lent on his elbow at the table, his head was in Jesus' breast.

But it is the place of Judas that is of special interest. It is quite clear that Jesus could speak to him privately without the others overhearing. If that be so, there is only one place Judas could have been occupying. He must have been on Jesus' left, so that, just as John's head was in Jesus' breast, Jesus' head was in Judas'. This is why Jesus was able to dip the morsel and give it to Judas; he was just next to Jesus.

The revealing thing is that by custom the place on the left of the host was the place of highest honour, kept for the most intimate friend. When that meal began, Jesus must have said to Judas: "Judas, come and sit beside me tonight; I want specially to talk to you." The very inviting of Judas to that seat was an appeal.

But there is more. For the host to offer the guest a special morsel from the dish, was again a sign of special friendship. When Jesus handed the morsel to Judas, again it was a mark of special affection. And we note that even when Jesus did this the disciples did not connect the dots. 

There is tragedy here. Again and again Jesus appealed to that dark heart, and again and again Judas remained unmoved. God save us from being completely dull to the appeal of love. Yes, sometimes we are dull to others' appeal of love. They do everything to appeal to our heart, and we do everything to hate them.

Then quite suddenly the crucial moment came, the moment when the love of Jesus admitted defeat. "Judas," he said, “What you are going to do, do quickly. Because I have given up on you!” There was no point in further delay. Why carry on this useless appeal in the mounting tension? Why insist? If it was to be done, it were better done quickly. Yes, there is always a last time, a time when we can go no further; some times, giving up on someone or some course of action is the best thing to do.

Before he went away, Judas received the morsel, and the inevitable happened; the devil entered into him, not because he received an evil thing, but because being himself evil, he received a holy bread. It is a terrible thing that what was meant to be love's appeal became hate's dynamic. That is what the devil can do. He can take the loveliest things and twist them until they become the agents of hell. He can take love and turn it into lust; he can take holiness and turn it into pride; he can take discipline and turn it into sadistic cruelty; he can take affection and turn it into spineless complacence. We must be on the watch so that in our lives the devil never turns the lovely things until he can use them for his own evil purposes.

Did you notice that when Judas went out it was night? It was night because the day was late. But there was another kind of night. It is always night when a man goes from Christ to follow his own purposes. It is always night when a man listens to the call of evil rather than the summons of good. It is always night when hate puts out the light of love. It is always night when a man turns his back on Jesus.

When we follow Christ we walk in the light; if we turn our backs on him we go into the dark. The way of light and the way of dark are set before us. May God give us wisdom to choose light over darkness, to choose love over hate, to choose humility over pride, to choose Jesus over Judas.