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. (John 13:26-30 ESV)
Have you ever noticed that whenever you seem to have a spiritual breakthrough or a new revelation in faith, you almost immediately face a temptation or actually do something that is contrary to the belief and revelation you just had?
Let me give you an example. You heard at church you should love your neighbor as yourself and you actually determined to do just that for one of your neighbors by inviting them over to dinner. But as you walk over to do just that, one of your other neighbors cusses you out and throws garbage on your car in which you respond with nice four letter words and other choice phrases. Suddenly you don't want to love any neighbor.
The revelation in this passage is the revealing of the betrayer. The problem was that the disciples didn’t get what was happening. Judas received the morsel from Jesus. Jesus had said that the person he gives the morsel of food to is the betrayer.
Judas received love from his master. He was given the first morsel of bread from dinner. How could he possibly want to betray Jesus after the honor Jesus gave to him?
This brings us back to our initial observation: nearly every time you have a spiritual breakthrough or revelation in faith, you’re almost immediately faced with temptation or you go and do something in rebellion to the revelation or breakthrough you had.
Think about it. When do you face that temptation? When do you actually commit that act of rebellion? Is it at night? When nobody else is around? When nobody can hold you accountable?
Pray that when it is “night” and there is nobody else around physically to hold you accountable or watch what you’re doing, that you would choose to honor God and choose to live in obedience to the will of God.
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