[0:00] So, this morning we are continuing our study in the book of John. Today's text is John 13 verses 21 through 38.
[0:15] So I'll ask that you turn there, go to that passage in your Bible. If you are using the Bibles that the ushers provide, these ones here, we're on page 900.
[0:28] And we'll read that passage in a moment. But first, let's do a quick recap of sort of where we've been in the beginning of this chapter.
[0:40] So chapter 13 in the book of John marks this significant transition in the book. John has given 12 chapters to which cover roughly three years of Jesus' ministry.
[0:56] And now at chapter 13, we come to the final hours. This final evening of Jesus together with his disciples.
[1:08] His final evening before he is arrested, he is humiliated, he is tortured, and he is killed. And so we understand this is especially important stuff.
[1:22] Right? Because, you know, this is the stuff that's going to bring it all together. Because Jesus knows that these are his final moments together with his disciples. And so, as you'd expect, he used these final moments to press home his point.
[1:39] And in fact, this discourse that goes on here, John devotes a full five chapters to the teaching, to what Jesus says and does in these final hours together.
[1:55] Twelve chapters for three years, and five chapters for a few final hours. So back in verse one, we saw this confirmation that Jesus knows that his time on earth is coming to an end.
[2:11] And it says that having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The word end means limit.
[2:24] He loved them to the deepest, widest, highest extent possible. He loved them to the max.
[2:36] And then Jesus provides this example of his love in humble action as he washes the disciples' filthy, smelly feet.
[2:48] And he instructs his disciples, those in the room with him, and of course us by extension, all who would follow him in the future, to follow this example of humble service.
[3:03] But in this incredible display of humility, we see that there is more going on here. More than something just simply a model for serving others, you know, even to those unappealing or those unsavory tasks.
[3:20] There's a picture being laid out here of a greater spiritual reality. That there is a need for a cleansing, a spiritual cleansing.
[3:33] Not a washing of dirty feet, but a cleansing from sin. A removal of all the terrible offenses that we have committed toward each other and ultimately toward God.
[3:48] And that Jesus, the King of kings, the God of the universe, will be the one who goes low in order to accomplish this spectacular feat of love.
[4:09] So with that in mind, let's read our text this morning. I'm just going to step back just a little bit. Let's start reading at verse 18. I'm not speaking of all of you.
[4:24] I know whom I have chosen. But the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.
[4:36] I'm telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send, receives me.
[4:50] And whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in His spirit. And testified, truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.
[5:06] The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom He spoke. One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus. So Simon Peter motioned to Him to ask Jesus of whom He was speaking.
[5:23] So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, it is He to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.
[5:36] So when He had dipped the morsel, He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after He had taken the morsel, Satan entered into Him.
[5:48] Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly. Now no one at the table knew why He said this to him. Some thought that because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast.
[6:03] Or that He should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel of bread, He immediately went out, and it was night. When He had gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified.
[6:21] And God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself. And glorify Him at once.
[6:33] 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.
[6:47] 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.
[6:59] By this, all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, where are you going?
[7:12] Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow Me now. But you will follow afterward. Peter said to Him, Lord, why can I not follow you now?
[7:24] I will lay down My life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not grow, till you have denied Me three times.
[7:41] The Word of the Lord for us this morning. So, if you spent time in church, our passage today is probably fairly familiar to you.
[7:54] It contains some very familiar events. Jesus identifying Judas as His betrayer. Jesus telling His disciples to love one another like He has loved them.
[8:06] It also contains some very curious statements. Now is the Son of Man glorified. And where I am going, you cannot come.
[8:21] And admittedly, I struggled with this text. To see how these pieces fit together. There just didn't seem to be an obvious connection to link them together.
[8:37] And even more so, how to present them in a way that would make sense for us here. After all, if Jesus focuses final earthly hours to give this instruction, and John highlights these events, this has to be especially critical stuff to understand.
[8:55] So, my prayer is that by the power of the Holy Spirit, that God's Word here in John 13 would be clear for us.
[9:07] So, since Jesus says, Now is the Son of God, Son of Man glorified, let's start at that point. So, it says, When He had gone out, that's Judas.
[9:25] So, when Judas had gone out, 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 glorify Him at once.
[9:39] That's a lot of glorifies. But that's a really curious statement, isn't it? Now is the Son of Man glorified. And God in Him.
[9:52] Hasn't God always been glorified? Isn't God always glorious? Verses like Psalm 19.1, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
[10:14] So, is He saying He's only glorified because of these events? And further, what exactly is it that He is being glorified by here?
[10:27] Why is it now that He is glorified? So, to understand this, I think we need to understand a little bit of what it means to be glorified. You know, sometimes we use these phrases and they become sort of well-worn.
[10:43] We sort of lose touch with what they actually are saying, what they're actually communicating. So, why would anyone be glorified?
[10:55] Just in the commonness of the word. Why would anyone be glorified? Why would an athlete be glorified?
[11:06] Let's take a little example. So, a few years back, we had the Olympics here. And, you know, Canada did very well.
[11:17] They earned more gold medals than they'd ever done before. Most notably that they won gold in men's hockey. Now, suppose, you know, the Olympics don't actually work this way, but just suppose for a minute that anyone could just show up and compete in the Olympics.
[11:39] Now, they don't actually work that way. You have to actually qualify in world-class competitions in order to compete in the Olympics. But suppose for a minute that it didn't work that way. And someone not only just showed up to compete, but they signed up for every event.
[11:59] And to everyone's amazement, they won gold in every event. Now, that's pretty far-fetched, right?
[12:10] But if it were to happen, they would clearly be glorified as the best athlete ever. I mean, they would have pulled off. They would have done what no one has even come close to doing ever before.
[12:29] But we need to make an important distinction here. In one sense, they became the greatest athlete ever by winning those events. But did the winning make them the greatest athlete ever?
[12:48] Did the moment of the win, the moment they crossed that finish line, did that give them the superior strength, the superior speed, the agility, the balance, or focus?
[13:02] Well, no. Rather, they had the superior strength, the superior speed, the agility, the focus, which led them, resulted in them winning.
[13:17] The winning didn't make them the greatest athlete. Rather, it showed them, it made it evident that they were indeed the greatest athlete. And while this may seem like a bit of a subtle distinction, this is how God speaks of His glory in the Bible.
[13:36] God is self-declared. He declares Himself to be majestic, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, gracious, good, and the list goes on and on and on.
[13:52] And that makes Him intrinsically glorious. That means He's glorious. He's exalted. He's above everything else. Even if He never proved it out. Even if no one ever acknowledged it.
[14:07] Everything He does then does not make Him glorious, but rather displays it. It makes it manifest. It evidences His true glory.
[14:23] He is glorified in what He does because it shows so clearly who He is. That He is above and beyond all else.
[14:38] So here, Jesus says that now is the Son of Man glorified. God displays His glory in what He has created.
[14:51] He displayed His glory to His people throughout the Old Testament. We see that all over in there. But here, now, in the moment of our text here today, God is particularly glorified.
[15:07] There is something special in the display of God's glory going on here. Jesus has been saying all along that He seeks the Father's glory.
[15:19] And now, in these events, that glory begins to be revealed. So that just begs the question, doesn't it?
[15:31] What exactly is going on here then that is so unique? What is going on here that so uniquely displays the glory of God?
[15:42] And that's the first sermon point. God's glory displayed in humility. In verse 21, Jesus declares to the twelve disciples that it is one of them that will betray Him.
[15:58] Jesus has been saying for a while now that He must be lifted up, that He must die. But now He says that the one who will willingly hand Him over to that death is one of them.
[16:12] The betrayer, the enemy, is in their midst. The disciples are stunned. Eleven of them are apparently stunned because they have no idea who it is.
[16:27] And the twelfth, Judas, is likely stunned because he has been outed. So after being prompted by Peter, a disciple who we understand to be John, the writer of the Gospel, asked Jesus who it is that will be the betrayer.
[16:48] Who is it? Who is it? Jesus then identifies the betrayer as Judas. But the eleven still don't seem to catch it.
[17:01] Judas knows now he has been outed. He is fully exposed. And Satan, the arch enemy of God, having ceded the idolatry that a bag of money, not even a lot of money, but the amount of money that you'd sell one slave for, the price of a slave, would be better than walking in intimate relationship with the king of kings.
[17:33] Satan now enters into Judas to complete his attempt to overthrow the king. And Jesus tells Judas to do what he is going to do quickly.
[17:47] And Judas leaves and it is night. Dramatic events. Heart wrenching events.
[17:59] Events which evidence the monstrous wickedness of Judas. To betray the perfect, sinless son of God.
[18:15] This scene is so saturated with evil that even Satan, the sworn enemy of God, shows up personally.
[18:27] How do these events display so significantly the glory of God? Look at Jesus. He knows full well that he's going to die.
[18:39] He knows full well that he will be betrayed to that death by one of those who is closest to him. He knows full well who the betrayer is.
[18:53] He knows full well that he's going to die. He knows full well that he's going to die. He knows full well that he's going to die. And he knows full well that he's going to die. And he knows full well. But this is not simply about his sovereignty in knowing that, his omniscience, his all-knowingness.
[19:07] His people need cleansing. And it will only be accomplished by the dirtiest of work.
[19:18] The lowest of humbling. And this is why Jesus came to earth. This is why God the Father sent him.
[19:33] And so, the eternal king of glory. The king of kings. The lord of all lords.
[19:45] Dips his bread into the pot. And hands it to Judas. In so doing, deferring honor.
[19:59] That's positional honor. That's not moral honor. But deferring honor to his adversary. And willingly surrendering himself to the will of Satan.
[20:13] If ever there was a moment that declares there is no one like our God.
[20:26] This is it. In the willing submission of Jesus to death on the cross in our place.
[20:40] The infinite heights of his love for us. Drive him to the lowest of humility. He is the only one who could do this.
[20:53] And he is the only one who would do this. Now is the son of man glorified. And God is glorified in him.
[21:07] And it was night. The darkness had set in. And Jesus, the light of the world, allowed it to envelop him.
[21:24] But remember John's opening words or near opening words to the gospel. In John 1.5 he says, The light shines in the darkness.
[21:36] And the darkness has not overcome it. As John MacArthur notes, Satan had entered Judas to carry out the greatest efforts of hell.
[21:49] But he was actually going to carry out the greatest effort heaven ever made to rescue sinners.
[22:04] Satan unwittingly participates in the greatest display of God's glory. Are you following me so far?
[22:15] Yes. Our second point then is to look at the disciples and see their pursuit of their own glory.
[22:27] So this glorification of Jesus as the only one who would and could love so completely as to humble himself so low, is reinforced by Jesus' statement, Where I am going, you cannot come.
[22:46] Only God's glory would be on display this night. This was Jesus' mission to be accomplished by him alone.
[22:59] No assistance from men in this. No one in this willing surrender but him. No one on the podium but him.
[23:16] And this isn't because God has prevented them. But they all would willingly abandon Jesus. They could not because similar to Jesus' admonishment of the Jews, they were still not focused directly on seeking God's glory over their own.
[23:37] They were still arguing about who was to receive the places of honor at Jesus' side when Jesus would be honored.
[23:49] And Peter's response, I think you love Peter. Peter's response likely representative of all the attitudes of the disciples.
[24:00] You know, Peter just gets it out there ahead of everyone else. His response tells it all. Peter, in a last ditch effort to prove himself worthy of being glorified next to Jesus, says that he is willing to die for him.
[24:20] But Jesus sees right through that. Peter's dedication to his own glory, in fact, would lead him to deny any relationship with Jesus that very night.
[24:36] There would be no place of honor next to Jesus this night.
[24:49] But there would come a time when they would be glorified. So, neat, Doug read the passage as our opening passage.
[25:00] From Romans 8.30, And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
[25:14] Once Jesus was fully glorified in his death and his resurrection, then all of those who put their trust in him alone throughout all time, them then, us now, are placed in him.
[25:30] We receive a share with him, an inheritance with him, and are to be glorified with him. And in the meantime, we've been given a part to play in God's continual display of his glory.
[25:50] Verse 34 and 35. Verse 35. 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.
[26:05] By this, all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another.
[26:16] So let's look at this familiar passage as our third and last point.
[26:27] Which is God's glory on continual display. So first off, this is new. It says, it's a new commandment I give you.
[26:41] It's new in a number of ways. It's new in scope. The previous command regarding loving other people was to love your neighbor.
[26:55] That's pretty much, you know, as we understand from Jesus' own teaching, it's pretty much anybody we would come in contact with. But here we are told to love one another.
[27:07] Who's the one another? Well, note that Jesus says this after Judas has left. That leaves Jesus alone in the room with the eleven disciples.
[27:22] His true disciples. Those that believe in him. And what does the Bible collectively call all those who believe in Jesus?
[27:36] What word does the Bible use for that group collectively? That's his church. This is instruction to the church for believers.
[27:48] For the way in which believers are to be to each other. Okay, it's also new in its standard.
[27:59] The previous command was to love your neighbor as yourself. Here the command to love is to love just as Jesus has loved us.
[28:16] Talk about raising the bar. No one has ever loved like Jesus loves. He loves perfectly. He loved his own to the limit, to the max, to the ends.
[28:32] But this is also new in motivation. We are called to love because he has loved us so deeply.
[28:46] This command is not primarily about imitation. Just following. You know, that's kind of the pattern we follow along in that. But about participation.
[28:58] We love because we've been first loved by God. And then our love becomes his love to one another.
[29:10] But also, lest this induce in us a sense of helplessness. Who can do this?
[29:23] Who can even get close to this command? It is also new in power. I don't want to spend too much time on this. Since to do so would be stealing from the sermon on John 15.
[29:40] But we understand, as this discourse will go on into the night, that this love which leads to our salvation then connects us to God.
[29:55] Like a branch to a vine. So that we have the power to follow Jesus and to be like him.
[30:07] But now the thing I really want you to see here is the purpose in this command. Verse 19 says that by this love we have for one another, all people will know that we are followers of Jesus.
[30:27] This is not some random consequence of loving each other like, well, I want you to love each other this way.
[30:38] And by the way, people will know you follow me as a result. This is purposeful on Jesus' part. To identify his followers.
[30:51] And it connects directly to the example of his love. And the purpose of his love that he has just showed. God is glorious.
[31:06] There is none like him. There are none before him. There are none after him. There are none like him.
[31:19] No one is even in his league. He is completely above all. Unrivaled in every way.
[31:34] And he purposes to put his glory on display. The ultimate display in the love he shows, in the sacrificial death of Jesus.
[31:52] The King of Kings, humbling himself to humiliation. In surrender to the plans of Satan and his servants.
[32:06] To be spit on. To be tortured. To be killed. To be killed. All to rescue undeserving sinners who will believe in him by faith.
[32:24] He will humble himself to the lowest of low. To display the heights of his glory. The Lord is not finished yet.
[32:35] But he is not finished yet. He continues on his purpose of painting his glory for all to see.
[32:50] By that love a people will be created. All those who trust in him alone. Abandoning their own glory as a result. And he will rebroadcast his great love.
[33:07] In the love shown by his people to one another. He is displaying his glory by the selfless, extravagant love shown by his church to one another.
[33:28] Which can only be explained by the effective work of God in us to create that love in us.
[33:40] No one else can love like that. And he will continue to do so until he brings about the day prophesied in Habakkuk 2.14.
[33:55] The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
[34:08] Dear brothers and sisters. Jesus calls them little children. It's a term of endearment.
[34:19] We are the intended canvas for God's amazing artwork. He purposes and is actively at work to display his glory through his people.
[34:37] Does your heart beat with a passion that the glory of God would be on vivid display? HD. Have you seen the glory of God expressed in his great love for you?
[34:56] Do you? Do you experience the love of God for others coursing through your veins?
[35:08] I'd like us to do something for this morning. Now don't worry. I'm not going to get you to get up and tell each other you love each other.
[35:21] And it's mostly because I don't think I could bear the sight of a bunch of guys kind of fist bumping. I love you man. That sort of stuff. That would just be pathetic.
[35:34] But seriously. And I want you to do this. I want you to look around the room. Side to side. Back.
[35:45] Forward. Look at the other people in the room. No, you're also looking at me. I want you to look around the room. Do you see those people?
[35:58] There's quite a different mix in here, isn't there? There's younger and there's older. There's married and unmarried.
[36:10] There's men and women. There's different income brackets. Different personalities. There's different likes and dislikes. But folks, this.
[36:24] This is your one another. If you are a believer. If you have responded in faith to the love shown by God in Jesus dying for you.
[36:40] If you have been a believer in faith to the mother, then God has placed you here. So that his glory would be made evident in your dying to self and your selfless love to these people.
[36:59] This is your one another. This is your one another. And that is living out the love that you were first shown by God.
[37:16] That kind of love takes humility. Only humble people love like that. And that humility can only be created in you by God and lived out by his continuing power, which he has promised, in you.
[37:39] You know, at Squamish Baptist Church, our core value statement. The core value statement says that we are God centered.
[37:54] And in the blood of Christ, our core values, in you. You know, we are living for his glory under the direction of his word. May God's glory shine forth brilliantly in this place by the love we would show to each other.
[38:14] other. Let's pray.