And after that description, you think that he'll do something really impressive, maybe, that demonstrates his power.
Maybe about to take up a crown for himself, having been declared king just the following day, just the previous day.
And maybe he's about to do some amazing miracle to demonstrate his power.
But instead, what we find after the description is that he laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
And then he begins to do the unthinkable in verse 5.
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.
You guys have to think about this, right?
Because people's feet are dirty, right?
Maybe some of you guys are familiar with that moment when someone who's been working out or wearing tennis shoes all day enters a room and finally removes those tennis shoes.
And the smell just kind of percolates throughout the room.
You guys know that smell.
Maybe some of you guys are familiar with how wearing flip-flops in the summer.
You wear the flip-flops for a few days or, you know, the bottom of your feet get really dirty.
It looks black, right?
You guys know what I'm talking about?
It kicks up dirt.
It gets dirty.
And so imagine this.
This is in the Middle East, right?
This is Jerusalem.
It's a desert climate.
It's a lot hotter than it is here.
And it's a lot dirtier.
There's a lot of dust, dry dust on the ground.
And people walk around in sandals, even more shoddily constructed than today's flip-flops.
And they're wearing it all day.
Imagine their feet.
It's both sweatier and dirtier than the feet that we're accustomed to smelling and seeing.
And so because of that, it was customary for hosts, when they have guests over to their houses,
to arrange for someone, a servant, to wash their feet because you didn't want that kind of feet in the house.
But this task was reserved for the lowliest of the menial servants.
In fact, some of the Jews insisted that even Jewish slaves should not do such menial tasks.
Even the slaves shouldn't do it if you're a Jew, they said.
This should be reserved for the Gentile Jews.
Some Jews taught that.
And so that task, well, you can imagine the scenario.
So Jesus has come with his disciples to this place.
The guest meal has been prepared.
And Jesus sits as the host.
Everybody knows what needs to happen.
Somebody needs to wash their feet.
But not a single one of the disciples is willing to swallow their pride and say,
well, I guess I'll do it.
Because perhaps they'd be willing to wash Jesus' feet.
Yeah, I mean, he's the son of God.
He's the Messiah.
I'll wash his feet.
Oh, but Judas' feet?
Peter's feet?
No, there's no way I'm washing their feet.
That's the scenario.
And so you could imagine as there's this kind of tension in the room,
the disciples are looking around themselves at how mortified they would be
when they find Jesus laying aside his outer garments,
pushing himself up from this mat.
And he wraps a towel around his waist,
which is the attire of the menial servants during that time,
and proceeds to wash their dirty, stinky feet.
This is a stunning demonstration of Christ's humility and love.
And lest we miss it, John already reminded us in verse 2
that Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus,
is among the number of the twelve.
He's there.
And Jesus knows he's about to betray him.
And he washes his feet, his enemy, his betrayer.
And others are just shocked and uncomfortable.
So there's this uncomfortable silence in the room,
and they don't say anything out of embarrassment.
But Peter predictably objects.
In verse 6, he says to Jesus,
Lord, do you wash my feet?
In the Greek, the sentence is constructed to emphasize Peter's indignation.
It reads like,
Lord, you will my feet wash?
That's, Lord, you will my feet wash?
That's unthinkable.
And then so Jesus answers in verse 7,
What I am doing you do not understand now,
but afterward you will understand.
When Peter refuses stubbornly, he says,
You shall never wash my feet.
He's well-meaning, but Jesus responds to him in verse 8,
If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.
See, Jesus is insistent that he's going to wash his feet,
you know, not because of some false humility,
saying, No, you are going to let me be humble and wash your feet.
That's not what's going on at all.
Jesus is insistent because of the symbolic value of what he is doing,
because this act of humility and self-sacrifice,
it points to his death on the cross that is coming.
Someone who is deserving of honor and glory,
the perfect one, laying down his life,
humbly serving the people,
the people who ought to be serving him.
And so that's why he tells me,
If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.
That's the inheritance language.
It's only those whose sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb
who will have a share in Christ's heavenly inheritance.
So Peter, of the famous all-or-nothing personality,
responds in verse 9,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and head.
But Jesus restrains him in verse 10,
The one who has bathed does not need to wash,
except for his feet, but is completely clean.
And you are clean,
but not every one of you.
So this explanation teaches a really important,
but an impractical distinction
between the initial once and for all washing of the Christian
and the ongoing continual washing
that must take place for the Christian.
Because the follower of Jesus,
once you place your trust in Jesus,
repent and believe in him,
you are cleansed once and for all.
You're saved once and for all.
You're justified once and for all.
And that is not a repeatable event.
That's once and for all.
However, the Bible still commands us
to confess our sins to him
so that we might be forgiven.
1 John, for example,
it says, Apostle John is writing clearly to believers.
He says in chapter 5, 13,
that he's writing to those who believe in the name of the Son of God
and have eternal life.
So he's writing to people who have eternal life,
yet he tells them in chapter 1, verse 9, 1 John 1, 9,
if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So this tension that we see here
is like so many other tensions,
other truths of Christianity
is because of God's eternal and omniscient perspective,
the contrast between that
and our finite and limited perspective.
Because from God's perspective,
he's timeless and eternal,
he sees our past, present, and future
all in one picture in the same way.
So for him,
that once and for all justification
deals with all of our sins.
So from his perspective,
we might rightly say that,
yes, our future past sins also are forgiven.
But from a human limited perspective,
it's been appropriate to say
that God forgives you of your sins
before you confess them,
your future sins before you commit them.
Rather, the Bible calls us to confess those as we go,
and that's the continual washing,
the feet washing that must keep taking place.
But that's not the same
as that once and for all,
the bath that takes place
when we first believe in him,
repent in him.
And the ground for that continual forgiveness
is not our own confession,
but it's what Jesus has already done for us,
his sacrifice on the cross.
So the one who has bathed
does not need to wash
except for his feet,
but is completely clean.
And you are clean,
but not every one of you.
So by washing the feet of his disciples,
Jesus simultaneously gives us
a symbol of saving cleansing
that he will affect on the cross.
And at the same time,
he displays his great love for us.
This is the love demonstrated.
And having demonstrated his love for us,
Jesus calls us to emulate it.
He commands this same love.
In verses 12 to 17, read it with me.
Do you understand what I have done to you?
You call me teacher and Lord,
and you are right, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and teacher,
have washed your feet,
you also are to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example
that you also should do
just as I have done to you.
Truly, truly I say to you,
a servant is not greater than his master,
nor is a messenger greater
than the one who sent him.
If you know these things,
blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus has given us an example
so that we might do them, right?
Now some people understand these words
to mean that we should continue
to wash one another's feet in a literal way.
There are denominations
that practice foot washing as a ritual.
But I don't think that's Jesus' intention
for a couple different reasons.
And first is that nowhere else in the New Testament
is foot washing mentioned
as a ritual to be practiced.
And that may be why in the book of Acts
you see the picture of the early church.
They don't, you don't see them
in the description of the early church,
them washing feet, right?
And secondly, foot washing
is not something that Jesus started, right?
It's something that everyone
in that culture practiced.
What Jesus is doing is instead
there's something that you would normally think
is beneath yourself.
This do for one another.
Love and serve one another.
And so Jesus, I don't think,
is instituting something
that we need to practice
in a ritualized sense,
but rather he's saying
that we have to serve one another in humility
even to the point of washing one another's feet.
So no doubt, I'm sure,
as Christians in the early church,
they did wash one another's feet.
And we have to think in our context,
what does it look like for us
to wash one another's feet,
to love and serve one another?
The fact that Jesus' point
is far broader than just foot washing
we can see later in verses 33 and 35
because he expands the command.
And this new commandment I give to you
that you love one another
just as I have loved you,
you also are to love one another.
That's the command that Jesus is saying,
emulate me, the command to love.
And if our Lord and teacher
deign to wash our feet,
then should we not also wash one another's feet?
If we are just servants of God, right?
But then if our master
washes his disciples' feet,
then should we not also wash
one another's feet?
If Jesus was willing to wash his disciples' feet,
then there shouldn't be anything
too demeaning for us,
too anything beneath us,
if it means loving and serving one another.
Who should be willing to do?
I don't know if you've ever been
a part of a volunteer organization.
I guess you are in the church,
but other volunteer organizations.
If you have been, like I have,
then you know it's really, really hard
to get people to do anything.
Because there's no incentive,
there's no leverage,
you don't have anything.
You just have people's goodwill.
And so if you're in a volunteer organization
like that,
it's really hard to get people
to just come and sit and do nothing.
Like it's,
let alone take on real responsibilities.
But not so in the church.
Why?
Because Christ has given us this example.
Because Christ as a commander says,
wash one another's feet.
So we're eager to serve one another.
We've been saved to serve one another.
So we're eager to take on tasks
that others will consider to demeaning
beneath our dignity.
Because that's the humility,
the hallmark of Christians.
And note that this command
applies specifically to one another.
Right?
It's in verse.
And that's why Jesus calls his disciples
little children in verse 33.
He's referring to that circle of believers.
The Greek word behind the translation
of that little children
is a diminutive form
that conveys special affection.
It's an endearing term.
You could translate it as
my dear little children almost.
Right?
And it's beloved children.
So Jesus is actually,
and the Passover was traditionally,
the way Jews celebrated,
a family meal.
Right?
So the head of the household
presided over the Passover meal.
And so Jesus is radically breaking
from tradition
when he gathers his disciples
and sits as head of the household
over the Passover meal.
Because he's drawing them away
from their families
and constituting the new family of God
as he does this.
That's why in Matthew 12, 50,
he says,
For whoever does the will
of my Father in heaven,
he, that person is my brother,
and that person my sister and mother.
Right?
So Jesus is forming that new community.
And so he calls them,
his disciples,
his little children.
And so this applies particularly
to the way we treat one another
and serve one another
as believers.
But what about the people
who are not part of the family of God?
And do we not love them?
Well, of course,
that's not it at all
because Jesus calls us to love
even our enemies
in Matthew chapter 5.
Of course, we're called
to love everyone.
Of course, we're called
to love our neighbor as ourselves.
But just as people reserve
a special place of affection
for an intimacy
for their family members,
we do the same
for the family of God.
Doesn't mean we love
other people less.
We just,
at the risk of saying
something that seems paradoxical,
we don't love them less.
We love each other more.
Right?
And so that's why
Apostle Paul exhorts us
in Galatians 6, 10,
So then as we have opportunity,
let us do good to everyone,
and especially to those
who are of the household
of faith.
This command to love
one another
is so simple
that the youngest member
of the church
can grasp it
and appreciate it.
But at the same time,
it's so profound
that even the most mature
among us
can't exhaust it
or fully practice it.
So what does that mean?
What does it look like
to love one another?
The command to love
one another
apprehends all the commands
in Scripture
of the one another
commands in Scripture.
It means we greet
one another.
We rejoice with one another
in times of joy.
And we cry with one another
in times of sadness.
It means we confess
our gravest and slightest sins
to one another
in humility.
And we accept one another
in God's grace.
And then we pray
for one another
so we might be healed.
It means that we serve
one another
and carry one another's burdens
by meeting each other's needs,
caring for the sick among us,
providing for the poor among us,
assisting the heavy laden among us.
It means we're to be hospitable
to one another.
We are to be eating
in each other's homes.
It means we encourage
and edify one another,
exhort one another
to be faithful
and spur one another
on toward good deeds.
It means we bear
with one another,
forgive one another,
cover up one another's faults
and idiosyncrasies.
It means we teach
and admonish one another
and speak the hard truth
in love to one another.
It means we look out
for one another's interests
and not just
to our own.
That's what it looks like
to love one another
as Christ has loved us.
That's the church.
That's the kind of community
that Jesus set out to build.
Nothing less than that.
And loving one another
this way
is actually also
the best way
we can love
our non-believing friends
because it says
in verse 35,
by this all people
will know
that you are my disciples
if you have love
for one another.
Our love for others
flows from our love
for one another
because if we love
one another well,
people around us
will see that
and that's how
they will come
to recognize
Jesus in our lives
and His saving grace
in our lives.
That's how we reveal
Jesus to those people
around us.
We love one another.
So that's really
the most loving thing
we can do
for our unbelieving friends
and neighbors as well.
We share the gospel
with them
and we show them
the gospel
in the way we love
one another.
And this has been
documented
throughout church history
of how people
come to know the Lord,
how people come
to Christ
because by watching
how people love one another,
how Christians love one another.
In a book entitled
The Rise of Christianity,
Rodney Stark,
a sociologist,
writes about the
meteoric rise of Christianity
from being this
minority religion
that was persecuted
to becoming the majority
religion in the Roman Empire
within a mere few centuries.
That's a remarkable
historical phenomenon.
And he writes that
during the two epidemics
in year 165 AD
and 251 AD,
each of those epidemics
killed up to a third
of the entire Roman Empire,
most people in the empire
deserted their friends
and relations
in order to save themselves
because the disease
was contagious.
But Christians stayed behind
and cared for their own.
And because of their care
for their own,
the rate of survival
was way higher
among the Christians.
And because of that
tight in the community
that Christians exemplified,
the people outside
looking in saw that
and was attracted,
drawn to it,
said,
I want to be a part
of that kind of community.
I want to be a community,
being a community of love.
And so people came to Christ
and led to a great revival
of Christianity
in the Roman Empire.
There's no silver bullet
for church growth.
We currently have
about six households
in our church
who live in East Cambridge proper
within a quarter mile radius
of each other.
And we have a lot more people
who are also really close
right outside of that.
And if we love one another
in this way
as God's calling us to,
as Jesus is commanding us to,
and showing us to,
if we do this,
I guarantee you,
people will take notice
and we will grow
and people will come
to know Jesus Christ
and this community of love
will grow and grow and grow
until it overwhelms.
And people can't help
but go to a grocery store
without seeing
a Christian loving one another.
That's the vision
for our church plan.
It's not,
it's not some gimmick
trying to pull some stunts
to attract people.
Our plan for growth
is to love one another
and to serve Jesus
and serve one another.
And so,
we are recipients
of an incredible commission
and promise.
Because Jesus says
whoever receives
the one he sends
receives him.
And whoever receives him
receives the one
who sent him.
He's saying the way
you love one another,
the body of Christ,
what you do for them,
you do for Jesus himself.
That's why in that parable
of the sheep and the goats,
you guys know
in the final judgment,
Jesus divides the sheep
and the goats
and what does he say
to the sheep?
When I was in prison,
you came and visited me.
When I was hungry,
you came and fed me.
He refers to these little ones.
He's referring to
the believers.
What you do
for the body of Christ,
you do for Jesus.
And so,
this is the love
commanded by Christ.
But though Christ
has demonstrated
his love for us
and he commands us
to love one another
as he has loved us,
we often fail to do so.
And this brings us
to our final point,
love betrayed.
Christ demonstrates
his love for his disciples,
but he will soon
be betrayed by Judas
and denied by Peter,
the foremost among
his disciples.
Jesus says in verses
17 to 18,
If you know these things,
blessed are you
if you do them.
I'm not speaking
of all of you.
I know whom I have chosen,
but the scripture
will be fulfilled.
He who ate my bread
has lifted his heel
against me.
Now,
I don't think Jesus
is saying here
that he knows
whom he has chosen,
meaning I chose you,
11,
but not Judas.
I don't think
that's what he's saying
because he says
in John 6,
early in chapter 6,
70,
Jesus says,
Did I not choose you,
the 12,
and yet one of you
is a devil?
So what Jesus
is saying here
is that he chose
the 12.
He knows whom he chose.
He knew exactly
what he was doing
when he chose Judas
to be among the 12.
That's what he's saying.
And then he cites
Psalm 41, 9,
where David laments,
Even my close friend
in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread,
has lifted up
his heel against me.
And this Psalm,
which David wrote,
is applied to Jesus
because David
was a type
or a pattern
or a model
that's pointed to Jesus
and Jesus fulfills
David's life
and what he represented
as a king of Israel.
And so that verse
is now applied to Jesus.
David's suffering
applied to Jesus
and he says
that he who ate his bread
has lifted his heel
against me.
Now,
eating once,
sharing your bread
is a big deal
even in our culture,
right?
You don't eat together
with strangers,
right?
You generally eat together
with your friends.
And when you invite
someone over to your home
that breaks another barrier.
You're saying,
I'm trusting you
and inviting you
into the intimate quarters
of my life.
That's what that represents.
In the Near Eastern culture
that Jesus is in,
this is an even bigger deal
than it is in our culture
because you only eat
with the people
that you really are intimate with,
you love.
Here,
you don't associate
with enemies
and sharing the bread
with someone
and then to turn around
and betray them
was considered
particularly heinous
and evil.
And Jesus said,
that's what's happening
to him.
The one
whom he has trusted,
he who ate my bread
has lifted his heel
against me.
Judas,
one of Jesus'
most intimate companions.
Judas,
whose feet Jesus washed,
Judas,
who oversaw the money
for the twelve,
will betray him.
Jesus speaks even more plainly
in verse 21,
truly, truly,
I say to you,
one of you will betray me.
Now,
the disciples are confused
by the starting revelation,
but Jesus doesn't immediately
follow that with exactly
who's going to betray him.
And it's because of that,
so Peter just kind of
motions to John.
He says,
one of his disciples
whom Jesus loved
was reclining at table
at Jesus' side.
So Peter motions
to this disciple
and the disciple
whom Jesus loved
is John,
the apostle John.
And this is
the conventional way
of preserving
authorial kind of humility.
They don't,
authors try not
to put themselves
in the book,
in the book themselves.
Apostle Paul
does a similar thing
when he talks about
the man who ascended
to the third heavens.
He's talking about himself,
most commentaries agree,
but he doesn't refer
to himself by name.
And so,
and John,
and this is,
don't think of it
as a boast
because I don't think
John's saying,
oh, I,
the disciple
whom Jesus loved,
you know,
more than all the others.
That's not what's going on.
That shows profound gratitude
and sense of indebtedness
to what Jesus
has done for him.
I,
the one whom Jesus loved,
the son of God loved.
He says,
so he was sitting there
and he was reclining
next to Jesus,
apparently,
on Jesus' left side
or right side,
it seemed.
And,
and you have to kind of,
in order to picture this,
you need to know
the customs of this era
because when they're reclining,
that means they're actually
literally reclining,
usually leaning
on their left arm
like this
and they're kind of
lying down
on,
on a mat
and they're sitting
at a low table
and they would sit around
kind of in a staggered
kind of way
so that the person
on your left
would have their head
close to your chest
if you're,
I mean,
or,
you guys kind of know
what I'm talking about
so it's,
they're kind of diagonal
and so they're dining,
reclining in that way
and their feet
are all radiating outward
so it's kind of
around the table this way
and so John was on,
on an honor,
in an honored place
right next to Jesus
on the right hand
and so Peter
tells him,
hey,
ask Jesus,
who is this person
who's going to betray him
and then Jesus replies
in verse 26,
it is he to whom
I will give this morsel
of bread
when I have dipped it
and then he dips
the morsel
and gives it to Judas
Iscariot.
Now,
the fact that Jesus
is able to give
the morsel of bread
that he's dipped
to Judas
might suggest
and most biblical
commentators guess this
that Judas was probably
sitting on Jesus'
left hand
so John was on the right hand
and Judas was sitting
on the left hand
so Jesus was able
to pass it to him
so it's,
and dipping the morsel
of bread
during the Passover feast
and giving it
and the host
would do that
traditionally
that was also
considered an honor
and so Jesus
gives to Judas
a great honor
bestows on him
a great honor
when he dips
that morsel of bread
and gives it to him
it's almost
seems to me
like the last gesture
of his love
a plea even
an overture
and
and if you are
Judas
of course
by this point
you would have to
really dull
to not know
that Jesus knew
what you were about
to do
I mean Jesus knows
and so Judas
has really two
stark options
first is to
you know
rush out
and immediately do
what he was planning
to do
to betray Jesus
and the second
is to just
break down
in front of Jesus
and repent
unfortunately
he opts
for the former
because he says
in verse 27
then after he had
taken the morsel
Satan entered
into him
his sinful heart
gives way
to Satan's
possession
and Jesus
knowing this
says to him
what are you
going
what you are
going to do
do quickly
now apparently
Jesus' answer
to John's question
who is it
that's going
to betray you
wasn't really
audible to everyone
because it leads
to great confusion
now verses
28 and 29
it says
now no one
at the table
knew why
he said this
to him
some thought
that because
Judas had the
money back
Jesus was telling
him buy what
we need for
the feast
or that he
should give
something to
the poor
so it's
very possible
that only John
and Judas
were able to
hear what
Jesus was saying
maybe the ones
that were right
next to him
because they're
still confused
when Jesus
says go
whatever you're
going to do
do quickly
they think
that Judas
is going out
to buy
more supplies
for the feast
of unleavened
bread
which continues
the Passover
feast
or to go
out and give
alms to the
poor
which was also
conventional
traditional
practice
during the
Passover feast
and so John
even though he
knows what's
going on
he's shell
shocked
probably a
nerd by
Jesus'
incredible
declaration
and confused
probably why
Jesus is so
calm and
collected
and in
control
when he's
announcing
that someone's
about to
betray him
so he doesn't
say anything
and then
the rest
of the
disciples
assumed
just that
he went
to do
something
that he
was going
to do
with the
money bag
and then
so it
says in
verse 30
after receiving
the morsel
of bread
he immediately
went out
and it was
night
so if you've
been with us
throughout the
series in the
gospel of John
you know how
John uses
day and night
to refer to
light and
darkness
so this
now it is
night when
Judas leaves
it is the
night
the hour
of darkness
has come
the hour
of Jesus
departure
his death
has come
the series
of events
that would
lead to his
trial and
execution
has now been
triggered
and ironically
the hour
of darkness
is also the
hour of Jesus
glorification
as we've been
talking about
so it says
in verses 31
and 32
now is the
son of man
glorified and
God is glorified
in him
if God is
glorified in
him God
would also
glorify him
in himself
and glorify
him at
once
but when
Jesus talks
in verse 33
about him
departing
even though he
had been
preparing the
disciples up to
this point
everything that
just transpired
including his
exchange with
Judas and his
abrupt departure
is quickly
forgotten and
they just kind
of grab onto
that piece of
information
what you're
about to
leave
what are you
doing Jesus
so Peter
tells him
Lord where are
you going
verse 36
asks him
Jesus says
where I'm
going you
cannot follow
me now
but you
will follow
afterward
so Peter
then asks
Lord why
can I not
follow you
now I
will lay
down my
life for
you and
then Jesus
makes a
stunning
prediction
verse 38
will you lay
down your
life for me
truly truly I
say to you
the rooster
will not
crow till
you have
denied me
three times
you could
just imagine
you could hear
his ego
deflating
I will die
for you
no you will
deny me three
times before
the rooster
crows
and note the
irony of Jesus
question in
verse 38
will you lay
down your
life for me
right Peter
has got it
all backwards
who is going
to lay
who is life
down for
who that is
the exact
opposite of
what is going
to happen
Jesus is
laying down
his life
for him
and Peter
says to him
no I will
lay down
my life
for you
and unfortunately
for Peter
his boast
that he would
never deny
Jesus
even to the
point of
death
betrays his
naivete
and it
betrays his
ignorance of
human sin
and weakness
in fact his
his kind of
haughty self
denial is the
very root
is the seed
of his
eventual denial
and so let
me ask you
if if ever
you're more
aware of
and if ever
you're more
aware of
and concerned
about how
you are
loving Jesus
than of how
Jesus has
loved you
if ever
you're more
aware of
and concerned
about your
righteousness
and performance
than Christ's
righteousness
and what he
has accomplished
for us
on the cross
if you're
ever more
aware of
and concerned
about the
work that
you are
doing for
the kingdom
and for
Jesus
than the
work that
Jesus has
already done
for you
then that
same pride
that was
at work
in Peter
is now
seeking
to bring
you down
therefore
let anyone
who thinks
that he
stands
take heed
lest he
fall
1st
Corinthians
10
12
it's
the person
who is
confident
in his
own
strength
that is
in the
greatest
danger
of
sinning
and denying
Jesus
and it's
when we
are aware
of our
sinfulness
and weakness
that we
are most
grateful for
and dependent
on God's
grace
that's when
we're the
strongest
so in
his
autobiography
entitled
Confessions
Augustine
a 4th
century
pastor
and theologian
writes
the recalling
of my
wicked ways
is bitter
in my
memory
but I
do it
so that
you may
be sweeter
to me
that's what
we do
when we
remember
our weakness
when we
remember
our sins
when we
remember
our indebtedness
to Christ
that's when
we are
strong
that's when
Christ is
sweet to
us
that's when
we are
invulnerable
but Peter
in another
sense also
speaks better
than he
knows
because he
will first
deny Jesus
three times
but after
his denial
and Jesus
gracious
reinstatement
of Peter
and after
he has been
empowered by
the Holy
Spirit
at Pentecost
Peter
will lay
down his
life for
Jesus
tradition
holds that
Peter was
crucified
upside down
at his
own request
because he
refused to
be killed
in the same
manner as
his Lord
and Savior
and where
did the
strength
for Peter
come from
not from
himself
but from
Jesus
and that's
why Jesus
calls this
command
new
if you guys
caught that
right
he says
love one
another as
he has
loved us
that command
he says
is new
it's not
new
technically
speaking
right
because the
command to
love has
been around
since the
time of
Moses
so it's
not new
in its
content
but it's
new in
its
covenantal
context
because Jesus
has brought
the people
of God
into a
new
community
of love
and he
has formed
this new
family of
God
and has
empowered
them
and dwelled
them
with the
Holy Spirit
and so
then this
command to
love one
another
is new
in the sense
that it is
given under
the new
covenant
we now
are empowered
to obey
this commandment
in ways
that the
people of
God never
were previously
empowered to
do
so God
promised in
Jeremiah 31
behold the
days are
coming when I
will make a
new covenant
with the
house of
Israel
and the
house of
Judah
not like
the covenant
that I
made with
their fathers
on the day
when I took
them by the
hand to
bring them
out of
the land
of Egypt
my covenant
that they
broke
but this
time I
will put
my law
within them
and I
will write
it on
their hearts
and I
will be
their God
and they
shall be
my people
for I
will forgive
their
iniquity
and I
will remember
their sin
no more
that's the
new covenant
reality
and that's
why Jesus
calls this
command to
love one
another
new
because now
we're in a
new context
in a new
covenant
community
and now
we have
the spirit
of God
and we're
empowered
to actually
obey
this
command
so then
let me remind
you the
power for
obedience
then for
the Christian
lies not
in our
own
willpower
or self
discipline
it lies
in abiding
in Christ
it lies
in remembering
and living
in light
of his
grace
and glory
demonstrate
on the
cross
because if
Jesus washing
of his
disciples feet
is shocking
and unthinkable
then the
notion of
the eternal
holy and
perfect God
the king
the messianic
promised messianic
king dying
the death
of a criminal
slave on
the cross
is even
more unthinkable
and shocking
and that's
what the
foot washing
here points
to
just think
about it
in your life
every moment
in our
lives
of petty
selfishness
and envy
every lustful
thought
and a
wandering
glance
every harsh
words
in an
anger
every
instance
of greed
materialistic
hedonism
every wasted
hour of
unproductive
twittering
surfing
every
prideful
moment
in which
we judged
others
and thought
ourselves
better
now
instead of
having our
name
associated
with it
has
Jesus'
name
written
over it
in blood
Jesus
the holy
one of
God
who should
never
be associated
with our
sinful
squalor
so that
his holiness
his righteousness
can be
imputed
to us
for
our
sake
God
made
him
to be
sin
who
knew
no
sin
so that
in him
we might
become
the
righteousness
of God
if you
are not
yet a
follower
of Jesus
I want
to urge
you
this
morning
don't
spurn
Jesus'
love
as
Judas
did
and if
you
already
believe
in
Jesus
and have
trusted
in him
then I
exhort
you
to lean
not on
your own
strength
as Peter
did
but look
to Jesus
only
for it's
only in
so doing
that we
can love
one another
as Christ
loved us
let's
pray
God
we
are at
a
loss
for
words
when we
think
about
what
you
have
done
for
us
in
your
son
Jesus
Christ
that
he
bore
our
sin
so that
we can
bear
his
righteousness
we
will never
understand
why
that is
the mystery
and wonder
of your
grace
but we
do ask
that you
make
that wonder
that you
never let
us lose
that wonder
of your
grace
and mercy
so we
can
continually
behold
Christ
rely on
him
lean into
him
abide
in him
and in
so doing
be transformed
by your
love
so we
can love
one another
as you
have loved
us
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen
for
in
am
what
about
ti
one
who
that
would
be
yeah
I
can
imagine
you
hear
me
can
απ
bad
you