The scene in John chapter 13, where Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples, holds great significance in Christian faith. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) also depict the Last Supper as the moment right before Jesus is crucified, when He shares the bread and cup with His disciples, an event that became the origin of Communion. However, the Gospel of John, unlike the other three, delves into a more in-depth theological interpretation and focuses on Jesus’s words. Particularly in John 13, we see Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, followed immediately by the announcement that one of them will betray Him. In this context, we witness the contrast between Jesus’s endless love for the disciples and the betrayal of Judas, who rejects that love to the end.
David Jang points out that in this scene, “the act of love” and “the word of love” from the Lord are both revealed. The Lord washes the feet of His disciples and exhorts them, “You also ought to wash one another’s feet, just as I have done for you” (John 13:14), so that their community might serve one another in love. But in the midst of this atmosphere of love, Jesus declares that His betrayer is one of the disciples. This paradoxical scene, in which betrayal permeates a meal that should be filled with love, vividly shows how sharply the sinfulness of humanity collides with the love of God. David Jang emphasizes that love is never forced, and God’s love likewise does not forcibly change our hearts, because He acknowledges human beings as persons with will. Hence, Judas’s betrayal was never intended or engineered by Jesus; rather, it was the free-willed response of Judas, who would not turn back even though Jesus tried to hold onto him until the end. God never compels us into salvation; He calls us to repentance in love, but if one persists in refusing that call, God ultimately lets that person go.
In this passage, John records Jesus saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me” (John 13:21). To the disciples at that time, this must have been difficult to believe. They had witnessed miracles together, listened to the Lord’s teachings up close, and shared meals and lodgings as a tight-knit group. The notion that one of their own would betray the Lord was unimaginable. Yet Jesus already knew who would betray Him, and still He granted Judas every opportunity to repent. In John 13:20, Jesus says, “Whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.” This implies that receiving Jesus is tantamount to receiving God, and that to welcome Him is the most crucial step on the path of faith in God’s plan of salvation. Nonetheless, Judas did not embrace this counsel. David Jang suggests that at this moment, “the Lord’s request for acceptance was essentially the final opportunity for Judas to repent.”
Jesus even dipped a piece of bread and handed it to Judas (John 13:26), which in the Hebrew cultural context was often seen as an expression of deep affection or a mark of respect and goodwill. During the Passover meal of that time, the act of dipping bread and offering it was not just sharing food, but a sign of “special closeness.” It symbolized “I still love you. My heart is open toward you.” Knowing what Judas was about to do, the Lord fervently hoped he might still turn back. Far from a sign of judgment, that piece of bread was actually a last invitation of love, granted so that Judas might repent. However, Judas did not turn around, even after receiving the bread. “So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night” (John 13:30).
According to David Jang, this verse not only relays the time of day but also reveals “spiritual darkness” and “stubborn rejection.” The “night” here is both literal and symbolic of Judas sinking into spiritual darkness. The moment he left the table, he rushed to finalize the arrangements to deliver Jesus to the chief priests (cf. Matthew 26:14-15). Despite multiple warnings and loving counsel, Judas ultimately chose the path of betrayal—selling the Lord for his own benefit and worldly considerations. This outcome is a tragic reflection of the human heart.
Why did Judas commit such a grave sin? Across the Gospels, Judas is seen as the disciple in charge of the money bag (cf. John 13:29), the one who complained when Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus, asking why it was not sold and the proceeds given to the poor (John 12:4-6). He oversaw the finances of the community and is even reported to have stolen money (John 12:6), suggesting a deep-rooted greed. Yet it would be too simplistic to attribute Judas’s betrayal solely to a “love of money.” David Jang sees the root of Judas’s problem more profoundly as “a prideful heart that continually evaluated the Lord’s words by worldly standards and rejected them when they did not align with his own logic.” That is, when he realized that Jesus’s ministry was not unfolding as Judas hoped, and that Jesus would not become the “political Messiah” for Israel, Judas decided that the Lord’s path was a “failure” and chose to pursue personal profit instead. It can also be seen as a classic manifestation of unbelief—trying to exploit Jesus for one’s own ambitions, then turning away when things do not go as planned.
In this vein, David Jang warns that today, too, many people may walk the “path of Judas” in various forms. They might appear devout in worship or service, but if they do not truly love the Lord, and instead use their faith life as a means to achieve worldly ambitions, they are closer to Judas than they realize. Or, when faced with the tension between fully obeying Jesus’s word and following worldly logic, they may choose the latter, thereby rejecting His guidance. This attitude, if allowed to fester, can lead one to the brink of “selling the Lord,” just as Judas did. Betrayal may seem like an extreme event, but it often stems from a buildup of small, everyday acts of disobedience and self-centered judgments. Each seemingly insignificant “step outside” eventually leads to complete darkness if not reversed.
On another note, even Peter denied Jesus three times and even cursed Him (Matthew 26:69-74), but he ended up repenting and was restored. What accounts for the difference? David Jang explains that “Peter’s betrayal sprang from his weakness and shortcomings, while Judas’s betrayal was the result of stubbornly refusing to turn back until the end.” Peter loved Jesus deeply but momentarily fell because of fear and human limitations. Although he did deny the Lord, he soon wept bitterly and repented (Matthew 26:75). Judas, by contrast, did not stumble into betrayal out of love for the Lord; he deliberately activated his will and chose to betray Jesus, refusing to change course. Worse, even after the betrayal, he did not come to repentance but instead chose the path of suicide (Matthew 27:5), indicating that his heart had been completely severed from the Lord. John 13:30, stating “He went out immediately. And it was night,” symbolizes Judas’s irrevocable resolution to separate himself from Jesus. In John’s characteristic contrast between “light” and “darkness,” this “night” portrays Judas as fully engulfed in spiritual gloom. David Jang calls it “the moment Judas became entirely consumed by darkness.”
Even so, the Lord, seeing that darkness, did not desire to abandon Judas; He wanted to keep him until the very last moment. Judas, however, chose to step into that darkness of his own accord, rendering this moment one of the most tragic collisions between divine love and human sin. Yet the lesson here must not be limited to branding Judas merely as “an evil person who committed a terrible sin.” David Jang cautions us to “always examine whether we might harbor even a small seed of Judas within ourselves.” Within the church or in our personal faith, we may be tempted to prioritize worldly calculations or grumble when the Lord’s word is incomprehensible. And there are times when we refuse to accept the call to repentance that the Lord extends to us in love. If we discover this “Judas-like element” in ourselves, we must immediately turn, repent, and surrender ourselves once again at the foot of the cross.
Since the Lord never forces our hearts against our will, and instead calls us lovingly, our own choice remains crucial. In fact, Judas’s position in Jesus’s community—as the keeper of the money bag—was, by the standards of the time, clearly a place of significant responsibility. David Jang believes this shows “how much Jesus trusted him.” Money often sharply exposes our sinful tendencies, but if rightly governed, it can also become an effective tool for advancing God’s kingdom. Jesus did not deliberately tempt Judas by entrusting him with money; rather, Jesus likely believed that Judas would be able to handle this responsibility well. Over time, however, Judas failed to abandon his fixation on material wealth and worldly thinking, preferring his personal ambitions to his love for the Lord. Then, when Jesus’s ministry did not align with the hope that He would become some kind of worldly or military king, Judas grew disillusioned. Jesus kept choosing a path of humility, servantlike love, and obedience unto death—something Judas did not expect from the Messiah.
Then came Mary’s anointing of Jesus’s feet with costly perfume in John 12, and Judas, overseeing the communal fund, criticized that this perfume should have been sold for the poor. Although this statement might initially seem prudent, the Gospel clarifies that Judas was a thief (John 12:6), implying that his complaint was motivated more by personal gain than concern for the poor. David Jang sees this as evidence that Judas’s heart had already distanced itself from genuine love for Jesus. Even in our faith practices today, we must check whether a hidden self-interest or greed lurks behind seemingly righteous arguments. If love is not recognized as love, and grace is not recognized as grace—if our default approach is worldly calculation, as in “Why not sell this for money?”—then, like Judas, we run the risk of denying the Spirit’s voice.
It is said that Judas was seated “right beside” Jesus at the Last Supper. In ancient Near Eastern dining culture, people reclined around a table, often with their heads and chests close to those near them. Typically, the seat on the host’s right was reserved for the disciple whom He loved most, while the seat on His left was a place of trust or honor. In John 13:23-25, the disciple whom Jesus loved leans on Jesus’s bosom, while Simon Peter beckons to him, saying, “Lord, who is it?”—implying that Judas was likely near Jesus on the other side. David Jang regards this arrangement as evidence of “just how close to Him Jesus kept Judas to the very end, hoping to change his heart.” A normal person, suspecting treachery, might have pushed such a companion away or expelled him from the community. Yet Jesus, even at the Last Supper, kept Judas by His side, giving him one final chance.
Judas, however, rejected this last loving appeal. When Jesus said, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:27), Judas immediately went out. John writes, “and it was night.” The other disciples had no idea where he was going; they assumed he was buying supplies for the feast or giving something to the poor (John 13:29). This implies that Judas had behaved so normally that the disciples did not suspect him. The seed of betrayal can remain hidden until it is finally unleashed, leaving others completely unaware. David Jang uses this as an analogy for today’s church, where someone may appear fine on the outside but be spiritually sick inside, having already let go of grace, eventually walking away from the Lord and returning to the world. Despite offering Judas His unwavering love and a final warning, Jesus could not change his closed heart, precisely because love cannot be imposed. David Jang repeatedly teaches that God endowed human beings with free will and does not forcibly remake our hearts. God’s love calls us unceasingly and sometimes uses discipline to bring us back from sin, yet the final decision is ours.
Jesus persisted in pleading with Judas until the last, yet Judas refused to turn back, stepping instead into the darkness. This illustrates not only the terrifying consequences of human stubbornness but also the pain of God’s love, which appears almost powerless in the face of a person’s rejection. “Judas took the piece of bread and went out immediately. And it was night.” Contained within this short statement is a massive spiritual drama—the betrayer’s choice, Jesus’s suffering, and the disciples’ ignorance, all intertwined. The disciples had no idea “who it could be,” nor did they fully grasp the tension and urgent appeal between Jesus and Judas.
In the context that follows (John 13:31ff), Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified,” declaring that the way of the cross is a way of “glory.” This is a remarkable paradox: at the very moment one disciple goes out into the darkness to betray the Lord, God’s saving work through the cross is set in motion as an act of glory. David Jang emphasizes that “God’s plan of salvation uses even humanity’s betrayal to bring about a greater good.” That does not mean God preordained or prompted Judas’s evil deed; rather, it means that no matter how extreme human wickedness becomes, God does not allow it to have the final say, but works it into a greater ultimate good through His sovereign plan. Through the cross, sinners are redeemed; through the resurrection, death is conquered; through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the church is born.
In this grand narrative, Judas operated on the side of darkness, forever imprinting himself as a tragic figure. But that does not mean God’s plan forced Judas’s hand or that Judas lacked any chance to repent. Until the last, Jesus invited him to return—“Come to Me”—but Judas persisted in leaving with the bread in hand. For us today, this scripture compels us to ask: “Are we, like Judas, receiving the Lord’s love and yet cutting His words to fit our own preferences?” David Jang particularly warns those who have attended church or practiced their faith for a long time. Even if we have heard countless sermons and taken part in worship for years, perhaps we still cling to money or personal plans more than to the Lord in the depths of our hearts. Or perhaps we hold certain expectations—“God should work this way”—and become resentful or even nurse the seed of betrayal when God’s leading does not meet those expectations. Judas’s example is not merely a relic of biblical history, but an ongoing cautionary tale for faith communities.
At the same time, we should recognize the “love that never gives up” manifested by Jesus right up to the end. His gesture of offering Judas the dipped bread cries out, “Will you really not turn back? My heart is still open to you.” David Jang teaches that this loving voice is at the core of the gospel. The good news is not simply about a “result” in which we are saved; it is about our heart’s constant posture of welcoming the love of the Lord. When Jesus says in John 13:20, “Whoever receives the one I send receives Me; whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me,” the term “receive” (whether rendered from Greek as dechomai or lambano) goes beyond a mere gesture of hospitality—it means embracing with one’s whole being. That is, we truly open ourselves to the Lord’s word, character, and path. Conversely, to reject Him is to shut the door on His love entirely. Judas’s choice represents the most extreme form of that rejection.
Confronted by this text, we must reflect on several points. First, we must examine whether we harbor any unresolved worldly ambition, greed for money, or fixation on status. Judas had heard Jesus’s words and witnessed miracles; he was even entrusted with the group’s finances, a clear indication of trust. But in the end, his greed overcame him. Many Christians today likewise confuse worldly success or material abundance with faith, or use the Lord as a means to fulfill their ambitions. Second, we must realize that if we do not surrender our biases and pride when confronted with Jesus’s words—especially when they challenge our thinking—we may ultimately “go out” and sever ourselves from Him, just as Judas did. Unless we are willing to relinquish our logic in favor of obedience, we risk drifting toward serious betrayal.
Third, we must trust that the Lord’s love upholds us to the very end, and we must respond sensitively to His continual call to repentance. Judas received the “last piece of bread,” yet refused to turn back. We should ask ourselves whether we, too, have repeatedly been handed “pieces of bread” as invitations of love, only to squander the opportunities for repentance. David Jang teaches that this passage ultimately depicts “the clash between God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness, where both judgment and love are revealed.” On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus shared the Passover meal with those He loved most, and this table was a setting of both profound foot-washing and fellowship in love. It was also the stage for Judas’s worst act of betrayal.
At the same table where one person might lean on the Lord’s bosom, whispering “Who is it, Lord?” with tears in his heart, another was secretly planning to sell the Savior for thirty pieces of silver. Light and darkness, love and betrayal, salvation and judgment all converged in that one place. In the crescendo of this collision, John 13:30 declares, “And it was night.” It was night for Judas, and it symbolically represents the dark chapter that any of us may face. As that night unfolds, Jesus prays in Gethsemane, is arrested, tried, and nailed to the cross. Yet in passing through that night, He opens up the morning of resurrection. Will we remain in darkness like Judas, or, like Peter, weep in repentance and stand again before the risen Lord? This question faces each of us. David Jang stresses that “Even if everyone sins, there is always a road to renewal through repentance. But those who keep their hearts hardened will inevitably walk into the night.” We must pay close attention to this exhortation.
In the end, John 13:20-30 shows how deeply human beings can plunge into sin and, at the same time, how boundlessly Jesus continues to love us. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and offered bread, summoning them in love. Even when He said, “What you are going to do, do quickly,” it was not a cold dismissal, but rather a final plea, “I still want to love you, but you leave Me with no choice.” Judas misunderstood and rejected that love, and once he walked out into the night, he never returned. Yet this dark event set into motion the path to the cross, through which we receive the grace of salvation. Such is the ironic yet transcendent providence of God.
One of the primary points David Jang underscores in his sermon on this passage is that “we are also constantly being handed pieces of bread.” The Lord approaches us through His Word, worship, communion, prayer, and the life of the community. Each time we receive these pieces of bread, we must decide whether to interpret them as an expression of His love and open our hearts, or merely take the bread in hand while heading out into the “night.” Faith is not an intellectual concept we passively grasp; it is a daily act of welcoming the Lord into our hearts.
Therefore, upon reflecting on this story, we should not merely condemn Judas but ask whether we see any reflection of him in ourselves. Then we must also be grateful for the love of the Lord, who refuses to give up on us until the very end. How immense the grace that we still have room for repentance! Even if we feel we have already gone “outside,” like Judas, we can be like Peter and return in tears, because the way of repentance remains open to us. Judas tragically forfeited that chance, but as long as we have life, we can still seize it.
Ultimately, John 13:20-30 is a dramatic intersection of Jesus’s final meal and Judas’s betrayal, conveyed in one of the most tense moments of Scripture. “So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night” is, without question, among the most tragic sentences in the entire Bible. Yet at the same time, its lessons—its warnings and its role as a cautionary mirror—are profoundly significant. Anyone who truly contemplates this passage will be compelled to examine whether a small seed of betrayal is sprouting within. If such a seed is found, we must uproot it through immediate repentance.
Moreover, we recognize that the Lord never quits on us—His promise of love stands firm. Hence, this passage is both a scene of judgment and grace, love and enmity, and a concrete illustration of what divine “personal invitation” looks like, rather than love forced by power. David Jang often compares our presence in worship and hearing of the Word to “receiving a piece of bread at the Passover meal.” After receiving it, which path will we choose? The Lord has the power to straighten our crooked ways, and He beckons us to follow Him. But whether we turn or leave remains our decision. Although the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts to repent, the possibility of refusal still looms, a truth revealed by the case of Judas.
In this context, David Jang insists that “becoming a Christian means continually dying to ourselves before the Lord and striving to obey His will.” A life of faith is not made of one single decisive moment; it is formed through daily decisions either to accept or reject His invitation. People do not become Judas overnight, nor do they become Peter in a day. Through repeated acts of acceptance and obedience, we step out of the night and into the light, away from betrayal and toward devotion, away from death and toward life. On that path, we are always fortified by the grace of the cross and the hope of resurrection. That is why the motifs of love, suffering, betrayal, counsel, repentance, and glory intertwined in John 13 persist in relevance for our lives today.
In summary, John 13:20-30 presents the intertwining events of Jesus’s final Passover meal and Judas’s betrayal in one of the most intense scenes in Scripture. The phrase “So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night,” as recorded by John, implies not merely that it was physically dark, but that Judas was making a definitive choice to enter spiritual darkness. David Jang’s exposition highlights both God’s love, which does not override human free will but continues to invite us until the very last moment, and the grim outcome of human obstinacy that refuses that invitation and brings about a horrifying end. He further teaches that we can use this story as a mirror for self-examination, repenting every day so that we avoid betrayal and instead commit ourselves anew to the Lord. This is the heart of “the gospel of the cross, which even now offers us fresh opportunities for life,” and also “the love of the Lord, who never gives up on us until the end.” Which direction will we choose after receiving the bread? Confronted with this question, our hope is not to vanish into darkness like Judas but instead, like Peter, to repent and return to the embrace of the Lord and greet the dawn of resurrection with Him. Pastor David Jang and many others repeatedly stress that it is this same Savior, Jesus Christ, who leads us on that path.