Complete Trust in Jesus’s Love

David W Palmer

(John 13:21–22 NKJV) When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” {22} Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.

In verse 1 of this chapter, we read that Jesus loved his disciples “to the end.” Verse 2 says, “The devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus” (John 13:2 NLT). Our Lord knew this, but after washing their feet—an act consistent with his having “loved them to the end”—he came to the moment that must have been very difficult for him; he had to confront the betrayal of one of those he loved—one he called, trained, washed, invested himself into, and equipped to take up his call.

The Lord and Master was “troubled in spirit”; his mood now very serious, he said, “One of you will betray me.” Obviously, he was talking about Judas Iscariot. However, the other disciples did not know who it was, and they were “perplexed.” Curious, and probably outraged, they desperately wanted to find out who would do such a thing. So they formulated a plan to find out:

(John 13:23–24 NHEB) One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining against Jesus’ chest. {24} Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to inquire who it was he was talking about.

I love this passage. In his gospel, John often referred to himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” At the Last Supper, he was “reclining against Jesus’ chest.” That’s why John was the disciple the others looked to when they needed to hear something from Jesus that they couldn’t. I find this an amazingly informative insight.

First, it shows, not only the complete love and acceptance Jesus has for his close followers; but it also shows John’s openness to receive Jesus’s lavish love for him. He readily accepted God’s love; he even identified himself by it—calling himself the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” After all, this is the same identity the Father gave to Jesus when he said, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11 NKJV). Today, I encourage you to allow God’s love for you to be the focal point of your identity.

Second, John’s carefree lean on Jesus was body language that expressed his faith; it showed that his heart was fully assured of his unhindered and complete acceptance in God’s secret place; and it illustrated the leaning of his entire being on Jesus in complete trust. John’s posture was the embodiment of one relying completely on Jesus—the perfect picture of Christianity:

Receiving Jesus’s love till he overflowed

Trusting Jesus with his whole being

At rest in perfectly safe security—unmoved by care, worry, and anxiety

Unashamed, un-intimidated, not feeling in the least bit unworthy, completely at home

Absolutely identified as one whom Jesus loved

In transparent and unhindered communion with the God who, through the heart and writing of John, says of himself, “God is love” (1 John 4:8)

Third, John’s relational closeness gave him access to the secret and previously hidden things of God—his mysteries. This is why even the amazing apostle Peter had to ask John about what Jesus was thinking.

You see, by living in such close relational intimacy with Jesus, John was able to keep his ear close to his Lord’s heartbeat. He could feel Jesus’s emotions when others could not. He was able to monitor Jesus’s pulse and detect his every breath. John’s acceptance of God’s invitation to abide in the secret place gave him privileged access to where he could hear, sense, and see what others could not. Even the other disciples—the called and anointed apostles of the Lamb—had to ask the one reclining with his ear close to Jesus’s heartbeat about what was happening.

I believe that this can be you. To have this level of intimacy, insight, and privileged access to Jesus’s heart, you don’t need formal qualifications; you certainly don’t need any special position, title, or prestige; and you certainly don’t need any qualification other than what Jesus has already given you. If you are born again, you already have all you need to rest in this depth of intimate access. You can live close to Jesus’s heartbeat, abiding deep in his secret place. Seated with him at God’s right hand, you can live with transparent access to his feelings, his intentions, and his mysteries. As a result, you can be the one others look to for insights from God, for disclosure of his mysteries and intentions, and for revelation from his heart.

Today, I encourage you to see yourself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Realize that God is love, and that …

(1 John 4:8, 16 NKJV) He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ... {16} And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Allow Jesus to love you, to wash your feet, or to do for you whatever else his love desires. Receive his love lavished upon you. Lean entirely on him; trust him with all of your worries, cares, anxieties, and frustrations.

He is perfect; but he loves us. He is able; we are not. He is sufficient—completely sufficient and able … “to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20 NKJV).

Paul understood what John experienced. No wonder he prayed the following prayer for us:

(Ephesians 3:14–19 NKJV) For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, {15} from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, {16} that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, {17} that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, {18} may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— {19} to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Let’s pray this prayer for ourselves—and for others—today. And then, come on in. Cast all your cares, worries, fears, and anxieties on Jesus, and then draw as close to him as you want. He has a place for you to recline on his chest today.