Turn in your Bibles this morning to John 13.
We are stepping into a new phase of the gospel of John 13.
! Chapter 1-12 in some sense would give you a kind of an opening picture and then would expand it more.
Giving you a little statement or a little event that took place in Christ's ministry
and then kind of opening it up to help you understand more about the heart and character of Christ.
What's going to happen from 13 to 19 is that that order of starting small and getting bigger
is going to be reversed in that from 13 to 19 the focus of the gospel is going to keep on coming back
towards Christ and the cross.
I think sometimes we miss how central the cross is.
How important it is for us to get our head around the reality of Christ dying for us and in our place.
John doesn't want us to miss that.
And so if you would begin with me in John chapter 13,
let me begin reading at least to kind of frame your thinking there in verse 1.
Now before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father,
having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
During the supper,
when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray Him,
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands
and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper.
He laid aside His outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around His waist.
Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet
and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.
Let me point out to you this morning
that one of the key pieces of information that we need to hold on to
in our lives on a regular basis
is the love of Christ.
I think about the passage just for a moment back in Ephesians chapter 3
and if you were to ask me
what would be one of the more important passages
that I can hold on to
and rely on to be a comfort,
an encouragement,
an instruction,
a guide to me,
I would say it's this passage in Ephesians chapter 3
where the apostle says,
listen, here's my prayer.
Here's the thing that I'm interested in
that you might be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and height and width and depth of the love of Christ
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Well, I have to tell you that understanding the love of Christ
is not something that you can do without information.
Does that make sense?
You can't love Him if you don't know Him
and you can't love Him
if you don't understand the heart that He has.
And so as you look at this passage,
I want you to realize that
it drives home the point
that we find there
in verse 1.
Now, do you like the fact that John kind of tells us up ahead
what's going to happen?
How many of you remember going to class
and the first thing that happened in the class
after the professor or the teacher
introduced himself and wrote his name on the chalkboard?
Well, those are the good old days, right?
They don't do it that way anymore.
But the teacher said,
I am Bubba and I am here
to see that you get smarter
and I'm going to tell you up front
how this class is going to go.
Here are the homework assignments.
Here are the days that the test is going to happen.
And when it's all done,
you've got this information packed in, right?
Here's the apostle that says,
here's what I want you to understand.
Here's what I want you to understand.
Jesus, having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.
And so as we open up this passage
and begin to appreciate it in our own hearts and lives,
here's the thing I want you to comprehend
and plead with the Holy Spirit
that you will not be distracted
from the discipline of thinking carefully
and deeply about the love of Christ for you.
Well, let's get into the text and understand,
first of all, what we see is that
this is a love that is faithful and tender.
John sets the stage in our lesson
by explaining that here we are dealing
with the setting of the Last Supper.
Without overplaying the details of this,
I want you to understand that
we are actually talking about the Last Supper
prior to His crucifixion.
It's not a Last Supper.
It is the Last Supper.
And it is the Last Supper
that He is going to partake with His disciples.
And in that context,
we're going to find not only that
it was a supper that really celebrated
the fact of His coming sacrifice for us,
but it was also a supper
that was profoundly instructive.
I want you to imagine that here is Jesus
that is caught up in teaching His disciples
critically important things.
And in this context of talking about His death
and reminding them of the fact
that He was going to be sacrificed for them,
that there was a new covenant
that was in the frame,
He also does something that is very,
very surprising in that He washes the feet
of His disciples.
I think these facts come together
and are well understood under the frame
of the fact that He loved His own
and He loved them to the end.
It's against this backdrop of the cross
that we really see this picture of love
that we may be tempted to kind of skip over
and get caught on the big details
and not really see the overarching truth.
As we take up the theme of the love of Christ,
one of the things that I want you to understand here
is that Christ's love lasts forever.
Look at what it says there again in verse 1.
It says,
Having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.
You know, truth of the matter is,
we're okay at loving people who love us.
Isn't that right?
Really?
I remember talking with one young man
that was quite interested in finding a future wife.
And there's nothing better than coming to a pastor,
you know, a marriage broker that I am.
Ha!
He wanted my advice on this process.
And I actually,
I had the lack of wisdom
to suggest an individual to him.
It was one of my only mistakes
that I've made in the last ha.
But I remember suggesting
that he contact such and such an individual.
And I thought this person
was an entirely credible candidate.
I knew the person's character
and I was without hesitation
ready to recommend this individual.
Went out with the individual one time
and after that I said,
So how'd it go?
And he said this,
on to the next interview.
And I thought,
What?
We're not bad
at kind of loving those who love us
and loving those who kind of meet our criteria
and our frame.
I want you to understand
that the depth of Christ's love
is seen not only in this matter
of a lasting love,
but also a love that really cared about
the details and the depth of the needs
of his disciples.
Here we are at the Lord's Supper.
And I want you to understand
that in that frame,
he takes the time to explain
several very, very important truths
for us to hold on to.
You see, here is Jesus making it clear
that his love never changes.
It never changes.
Knowing what he did about Judas
and what was coming,
I want you to recognize the fact
that it was not the kind of environment
or circumstance in which you would follow through
and really, truly love that kind of person.
You may be a little vindictive towards him,
or at the very least,
you just kind of cut him off and say,
On to the next interview, right?
We've got another one.
It's all done.
Judas is gone.
And here is Jesus tenderly loving
the chief of sinners.
I want you to think with me just for a moment
of what all Jesus knew about Judas' heart.
If you were to work your way back into John,
you'll remember one of the things
that says about Jesus is that
he knew what was in men's hearts.
On occasion,
he knew what people were arguing among themselves about
even when he was removed from their presence.
He knew what the Pharisees were thinking.
And so it is safe to assume,
accurately, I believe,
that he knew exactly what Judas was involved in
and what his heart was like.
And so here is that dishonest,
wicked heart of Judas
that could claim no ignorance
in his determination to deny
and to betray Christ.
And here in the middle of the flow
of the last hours that Jesus has,
we find him doing something
that strikes us as unusual.
You see, here is Jesus
who is faithful in his love for Judas
and he can be trusted to love you as well.
Does that make sense?
If Jesus would love Judas
as vile and as wicked
as what he was going to be engaged in
and knowing all about Judas' heart,
if Jesus was willing to love him,
he's going to love me
and he's going to love you.
Tender.
Faithful.
There's something else
that I want you to mark here
in John chapter 13, verse 3 and 4.
We find that Jesus' ministry
was one that was saving and sanctifying.
Look, let me read it.
Jesus, knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hand
and that he'd come from God
and was going to God,
rose from supper.
He laid aside his outer garments
and taking a towel,
he tied it around his waist.
Now, the meals in ancient Palestine
were, particularly when you're talking
about a formal meal,
they were arranged around a low-lying table
and they had couches that people laid on
and were rather reclined and comfortable.
By the way, how many of you know
that the average meal today in America
takes about 18 minutes on the high side?
Now, you know,
how many of you have been anxious
about what's going to happen
after the supper
and you find out that it's done bang?
Now, dishes is a different story.
In the ancient world,
meals were social events
and they talked
and they went about it slowly
and there was one course after another
and just a very slow pedestrian approach
and here is the meal going on
and Jesus gets up.
By the way, when Jesus got up,
guess what every eye did?
What's up?
And then he takes a towel
and ties it around his waist.
Now, that was curious.
I mean, I bet you some of the disciples
were beginning to feel just a little nervous
because towels and saviors,
I mean, you know,
hard to fit together.
But then look what happens.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples' feet
and wiped them with the towel
that was wrapped around him.
By washing feet,
Jesus taught several lessons.
In order to understand these lessons,
there are several things
I want you to pick up on.
For one, washing feet
was an expected part of a dinner like this.
Guests didn't arrive in a limo
or get red carpet treatment.
The vast majority of people
in the ancient world
traveled by foot.
And they didn't wear high boots
coming up their calf.
They kind of stomped,
in many cases,
barefooted through the streets
or maybe they had some leather sandals
that,
and by the way,
how many of you know
that sandals are really not good
for keeping all the crud of life out?
And so when people would come
to a dinner
or people would come
to be a guest in your home,
the standard thing was
for you to assign
someone to wash the feet.
By the way,
the streets in the ancient world
were shared
by all.
And not only shared with all,
but also shared
with all the animals
that were part of the ancient world.
You had donkeys,
you had cows,
you had horses,
you had sheep,
and you had goats.
And they contributed
to the biomass
in the path.
I'll never forget
a Christmas program
that Judith and I attended
a number of years ago
in a church
that large church
put on just a slam bang
Christmas program.
And on top of the normal music,
they actually had sheep
that were, you know,
shepherds herded the sheep in.
Somehow or another,
the sheep got nervous.
And they came down,
I don't know,
I would imagine
there should have been
better planning,
but the sheep came down
the center aisle
and they were spitting
all these little pellets
out the back end
of every one of the sheep.
Okay?
And the shepherds
were walking,
they're barefooted,
I mean,
the shepherds are barefooted.
And I,
I mean,
this was a sober moment,
I mean,
you know,
it's a Christmas program
and I am up there
just,
I'll go to my grave
remembering that program.
I don't know
what the gospel
was like that night,
but I'll never forget
the sheep
who left behind
these little tiny
little landmines
and everybody
was really nervous
about what it felt like.
How many of you ever,
no,
I won't go there.
Okay.
No garbage trucks
in the ancient world.
And so,
the pathway
was a cruddy place
to walk.
And washing sheep,
washing feet,
was expected.
I want you to understand
that whoever had organized
that dinner
had a bowl
and pitcher
on site.
Jesus didn't leave the room,
it was there.
And so,
I want you to understand
that as the disciples
came in,
every one of them
saw the pitcher
and the bowl there
and they knew
what normally happened
at a meal.
Jesus had already
repeatedly made
the point to them
that the one
who would be first
would be servant.
The one who would be
servant
was the one
that was important.
And so,
here were the disciples.
I can only imagine,
I don't have any
textual basis
to premise my argument,
but you can kind of imagine
knowing the disciples
were always about
who was first,
they were probably thinking,
well,
somebody ought to wash feet.
I mean,
and it's not me
because the truth of the matter
is I'm going to be number one.
Hey, Peter,
what do you think?
No.
I'm hoping somebody else
will do that.
And so,
here's the bowl
and here's the pitcher.
Peter ought to be doing this,
really.
Do you know how many times
he's put his foot in his mouth?
He at least ought to do something
for other people's feet.
And the bowl
and the pitcher
just sat there
and nobody moved.
It's interesting,
actually,
to recognize
that in the synoptic gospels,
they had been arguing
over and over again
about this issue
of who was number one.
In fact,
keep your finger there
in John.
We're going to come back,
but I just want you to turn
just for a second
to Luke chapter 22,
verse 24 through 27.
Hey, have you ever found yourself
just a little discouraged
with your spiritual progress
and development
over the years?
Raise your hand
and wave at me
just so I know
you're with me here, okay?
Don't despair
because if Jesus loved
and kept on working
on the disciples,
he's all over you too.
And here they are.
They're at the Last Supper
and they end up
having a dispute,
verse 24,
among them
as to which of them
was going to be regarded
the greatest.
Bowl and pitcher
right there in front of them.
They're arguing about it.
Beyond that,
going back now to John,
we find here is Jesus
who didn't give up on the 12
and he will not give up on us
as he makes the point to us
You look there in the passage
going back to John 12,
verse 13.
He starts to wash
the disciples' feet
and as he is washing them,
he comes now to Peter.
And by the way,
if there's anything
you know about Peter,
it's that he was one
who didn't have any hesitation
to say what he was thinking.
Sometimes that really
got him in trouble.
Isn't that right?
Classic illustration today.
Jesus had already washed
several of the disciples' feet
and here we come to Peter
in verse 6.
He came to Simon Peter
who said to him,
Lord, do you wash my feet?
Now, I don't want you
to understand.
It was like,
hey, are you really
going to do mine too?
It was like,
you doing mine?
No.
The underlying implication is
Peter was not interested
in having Christ wash his feet.
Why?
Peter understood
that the responsibility
of washing feet
belonged to the lowest
of the low.
I have a wonderful bride
and I remember
at one point
I had worked pretty hard
and my feet were really hurting.
How many of you
have ever had feet
that hurt bad?
And I asked her
if she would rub my feet.
Okay, she's in the nursery
so she's free
of this conversation.
Don't need to share it
with her.
She said,
there are a lot of things
I'll do for you, honey,
but rubbing feet
is not one of them.
That was earlier
in our marriage.
Now,
I rub her feet
and she rubs my feet
but you know what?
I see it on your faces.
You know,
rubbing feet is kind of
like over the edge,
isn't it?
Try washing them.
When the guy's been
stepping in donkey poop
and, you know,
sheep stuff,
you know,
it's like,
you're kidding.
me.
And here is Jesus
washing feet.
Well, Peter,
when he pushes back,
has Jesus respond
this way in verse 7.
What I'm doing
you do not understand now
but afterward
you will understand.
For most of us
that should have been like,
okay, I get it.
I may not.
How many times
did the disciples
not understand?
Do you follow that?
I think about Jesus
telling one parable
after another
and they'd all sit there
and nod,
you know,
as he was talking,
oh yeah.
But when they got private,
what would they do?
You know,
there's a point
that John didn't get.
Would you go ahead
and help him with this?
And Jesus would explain.
So here is Jesus saying,
Peter,
relax.
You'll understand later.
Oh,
not good enough
for Peter.
Right?
Peter said to him,
you shall never wash my feet.
Jesus answered him,
if I do not wash you,
you have no share with me.
To put it another way,
the washing work of Jesus
is part of relationship with Jesus.
I've got to tell you something.
There are some of you
sitting here today
that I have reason to believe
you've never come to faith.
You don't know Christ
as your personal Savior.
You know some of the vocabulary.
You've enjoyed being under
the umbrella in a sense.
But you've never come to the place
where by faith
you have come with broken humility
and said,
my life is a mess
and I'm a wreck
and I need Christ
to be my Savior.
And here was Peter pushing back
and Jesus made the point.
Let me tell you something.
Apart from being washed
in the blood of Christ,
you have no hope.
Well, there's another distinction
that Jesus makes here
and they're actually
two different washings.
Look at verse 10.
It says,
the one who has bathed
and that's an accurate translation
of the two different Greek words
that John uses
to describe what's taking place.
The one who has bathed
does not need to wash
except his feet,
but is completely clean
and you are clean
but not every one of you.
Now, the point Jesus is making here
because remember what happened
when Jesus said,
hey, listen,
if I don't give you a,
if I don't wash you,
you're not part of me.
Peter says,
well, do me all.
Jesus said, no.
The one who's been bathed,
the one who's been
covered by the blood of Christ
has been saved
and has a relationship,
but here's what happens
in the daily flow of life.
Mess follows.
So let me kind of push
these two different
washings together
so you can see
salvation is the once for all
bathing in the blood of Christ.
And there are some of you
here today
that can remember
what was it like
before you came
to the Lord Jesus,
your heart was dark
and your condition
was absolutely miserable
and you were under
the curse of the law
and you knew
the judgment of God
and yet there came the day
when by faith
you came to Christ
and he washed away
your sins.
What can wash away
my sins?
Nothing.
What?
But the blood of Jesus.
At the same time,
there is a time,
there is a regular time
where we need
the daily washing
of his grace
to deal with our sin
from day to day.
And so if you are here
and have been bathed
in the grace of Christ
and he has drawn you
to faith,
there's no need
to be plunged in again.
I got to tell you,
salvation is a once
for all event.
It's something that happens
by the grace of God
and you are turned
from darkness to light.
You who are not a son
are now a son.
But you still need
to be bathed
on a regular basis
to have the daily issues
of sin
in your life
cared for.
And so here we
understand that Jesus
is teaching us
both the matter
of salvation
that we need
to be saved
by being immersed
in the blood of Christ
and we need
daily cleansing
from the ongoing
battle of our sin.
Let me come to
one other piece
this morning.
Look there at verse 15.
Actually back up
if you will
just for a moment.
Verse 12,
he says,
When he had washed
their feet
and put on
his outer garments
and resumed his place
he said to them,
Do you understand
what I have done to you?
Nobody said a word.
You call me teacher
and Lord
and you're right
for so I am.
If then I,
your Lord and teacher
have washed your feet
you also ought to
wash one another's feet.
For I have given you
an example
that you should do
just as I have done
to you.
I find in this passage
not only a love
that is tender,
not only a love
that is saving
and sanctifying
but also a love
that is instructing
and blessing.
When Jesus
washed his disciples' feet
he was giving us
an example to follow
and I got to make this point
make it gently.
I don't believe
that what it is teaching here
is foot washing
and that every month
or every three months
that we ought to have
a foot washing service.
I think what is being
given to us
is the overarching
illustration of the fact
that the common
characteristic
of believers
is to be humility
and servanthood.
And here Jesus
is saying
if I'm willing
to be this kind
of servant
you have to be willing
to do the same thing.
What Jesus did
in washing dirty feet
calls us to follow him
and to serve
in lowliness
and humility.
The common
characteristic
of believers
that are walking
with Christ
is to be
a regular
willingness
to be used
for the glory
of the kingdom.
Serving one another.
I appreciate
actually being
in a fellowship
that we enjoy here
where when we ask
for help
we end up
with an abundance
of individuals
engaged in doing it
and we're continuing
to grow at that.
All last week
and for the remaining
four weeks
we will be
serving
Franklin County
Board of Elections
Training Ministry.
Every person
who has interacted
with their staff
from our fellowship
will tell you
the same thing.
They like
being here.
Do you know why?
Because
when they are here
they are served
without hesitation
and with kindness
and joy.
by the way
servanthood
opens the door
for gospel ministry
do you understand that?
And God
is giving us
one opportunity
after another
to do that.
Here is Jesus
washing dirty feet
and calling you
to be a servant
like He is.
Let me look
at another part
here
just for a moment.
Look down there
at verse 17.
By the way
this is a little verse
that is worth
remembering
memorizing
and etching
on to
your life.
Let me read it
slowly.
If you know
these things
blessed are you
if you do them.
Now
important to understand
this
there are two
different kinds
of blessings.
blessings.
Okay?
Bless you
my child.
I gave you
$100,000.
That's a blessing.
Bless you.
I'm going to
give you something.
I'm going to
do something
for you.
I'm going to
load you up
with something
that's good.
Blessing.
There's a different
kind of blessing.
This word here
that's used
is the word
makarios.
else.
In the English
language
it's actually
the word
happy.
Hey
who here
would like
to be unhappy
in a permanent
funk?
Just
try it
so you can
get a feel
for it.
Here's what
I want you
to do.
Frown.
Just frown
for a second.
You're doing it.
Some of you
are pretty
practiced.
I got it.
Here's what
Jesus says.
You want
to be happy?
Yeah.
I had a
chance
last week
to talk to
a guy
about the
Lord.
So what
do you
want out
of life?
Here's what
he said.
I want
to be
happy.
Well
who
doesn't?
You
want to
be happy?
Here's what
Jesus said.
Look at it.
Verse 17.
If you
know these
things.
By the
way,
what things
is he
talking about
in this
case?
He's
talking about
serving people,
washing feet,
wiping doo-doo
out from
between the
toes.
I mean,
he's talking
about really
getting into
it.
Do you
follow that?
Come on.
I'm not
trying to be
crude.
Just to
help you
understand.
It was
pretty low
life work.
Happiness
comes from
knowing
Jesus
and
obeying
him.
There's
some of
you here
today that
actually spend
a fair
amount of
your time
being pretty
unhappy.
That is
normal for
a person who
doesn't know
Christ.
Do you
follow that?
How many of
you remember
just how
unhappy it
was being
an unrepentant,
unregenerate,
hell-bound
sinner?
Does anybody
remember what
it was like?
Yeah,
it's miserable.
And if you
are here
today and
you do
not know
Christ,
happiness
is a
fantasy and
it will
never have
a permanent
impression or
place in
your life.
Why?
Because one
of the things
it says
repeatedly in
the book
of Isaiah
is there
is no
rest for
the wicked.
There are
some of you
here who
have known
the happiness
and the
freedom that
comes with
forgiveness and
having had
your sins
washed away
by the
blood of
Christ,
but you
have fallen
prey to
the enemy
of your
soul who
has misled
you to
think that
service and
being like
Christ are
not important.
unhappiness
flows down
the channel
of being a
self-focused
person.
Can I say
that slowly
so you
don't miss
it?
Unhappiness
flows down
the channel
of being a
self-focused
person.
Again,
just so you
don't miss
it.
Unhappiness
flows down
the channel
of being a
self-focused
person.
Let me read
the verse
again.
If you
know these
things,
blessed are
you if you
do them.
in summary,
with the
cross right
in front
of him,
in the
flow of
the last
supper,
Jesus
uses
washing
feet
to show
incredible
love for
the greatest
and vilest
of sinner
to confirm
to anyone
who is
here,
if Jesus
could love
Judas,
he can
love you.
And he
used
washing
feet
to teach
us that
happiness
comes
from being
humble
and being
willing to
serve.
Why?
because I
get to be
a little
bit like
Jesus.
Let's
pray.
Father,
you who
abide in
heaven,
who know
the frailty
of our
hearts,
and know
the need
of our
soul,
have
blessed
us beyond
measure
in sending
the Lord
Jesus to
be our
Savior,
to be our
teacher,
to be our
Lord.
And there's
some here
today that
need Jesus
as their
Savior,
and I
would plead
with you
that you
would convict
their heart
and challenge
them to
lay aside
their pride
and confess
their sins
and believe
in Jesus.
There's some
here today
that know
Christ as
their Savior,
but have
allowed
sin to
creep in
and need
the washing
ministry of
your word
and spirit
to be
revived,
to be
restored,
to find
pleasure in
being a
servant of
the living
God.
And our
plea is that
you would be
honored among
your people
this morning.
We ask in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's stand.