Do turn, if you will, to John chapter 13 in the church Bibles.
I said I hoped to kind of do two more sermons in Psalm 17,
but I've been away and the end of this week was chaos.
So I've kind of been working on an article on the three nevers that Peter says to our Lord.
So you're going to get the fruit of that this morning.
And then it's something from Hebrews 13 tonight.
No Lord. No Lord. Have you ever said that?
No Lord. What a stupid thing to say.
How crazy it is to call him Lord and to say no to him.
Either he is Lord or he isn't.
And if he is Lord, you can't say no to him.
Or maybe you do.
Look at Peter in this passage. Look at verse 8.
Of chapter 13.
Peter says, no, no, no.
You will never wash my feet.
Never ever. Literally.
And not to all eternity, he says.
Never in a million years, Lord.
And this isn't the only time that Peter says no to Jesus.
Three times Peter says no to Jesus.
The most obvious time is at Caesarea Philippi.
Where he says no to the cross.
Jesus says this is what is going to happen to me.
And Peter says no, no, no.
That's not to happen.
And Jesus says get behind me, Satan.
Now there are many people on there.
There are actually many churches that would like to take the cross out of Christianity.
Now they'd love to do that.
But Jesus says, doesn't he, to that, get behind me, Satan.
Now Peter was one of those people.
He said no, Lord.
That will never happen to you.
And now he is saying no to having his feet washed by Jesus.
He's saying no to a changed life by Jesus, actually.
He wants Christianity without cleansing.
And it's not possible.
It's not possible.
It's a really famous episode, isn't it?
John 13.
You'll be familiar with it.
It's been ritualized and dramatized every Easter around the world.
It's inspired great works of art by Leonardo da Vinci.
And Dan Brown thinks he's found a hidden meaning, doesn't he, in the da Vinci code?
And people are fascinated, aren't they, by conspiracy theories.
Especially if they seem to discredit Christianity.
Well, if you've read the da Vinci code, it's absolute nonsense.
But I do want to say to you, there is a hidden meaning in this incident, isn't there?
I look at verse 7.
It says there.
It says what I'm doing, you do not understand now, but afterwards you will understand.
There's a hidden meaning.
It's not apparent now, but Jesus says to them, it will be apparent later.
John's Gospel is written, if you've read it, on multiple layers, isn't it?
And they're not arbitrarily imposed, a kind of hidden code within it.
But there is, deliberately intended by the author, many levels of meaning.
And we see that in this passage.
And so three things, three things beginning with P.
First of all, a portrait, then a parable, and then a pattern.
Verses 1 to 5, you can see a portrait of Jesus.
And then there's a parable of salvation between Jesus and Peter, verses 6 to 11.
And there's a pattern for us to follow.
And so writing many decades later, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
and with the benefit of hindsight, looking back on this event,
John sets the scene in these opening words.
Look at verse 1.
He says this is when it happened.
It happened just before Passover.
Just before the feast of Passover.
And Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of the world.
Having loved his own who were with him in the world, he loved them to the end.
In other words, John is saying he showed the full extent of his love towards others.
In this little passage here, he shows us something of the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of his love.
That's what this story is.
It's a glorious little picture.
It's a picture of love on its knees.
Think of a mother with her small children who've dropped food yet again on the floor.
Is she proud to her children?
Does the mother boast of her accomplishments to her kids?
No, of course not.
A mother might be very proud of her children, but she is never proud to her children.
Because love is not proud, is it?
Love is not puffed up.
Love does not stand on dignity.
So think of even the most powerful, high-flying executive.
When he's with his grandchildren, he'll get down on his knees to play, won't he?
It's what love does.
Love stoops.
And that's what Jesus demonstrates in the upper room.
He knows, verse 1, his hour has come.
He knows that it's now time for him to go to the cross.
All through John's Gospel, if you read it, you're told the hour has not yet come.
The hour has not yet come.
And then you get to chapter 13.
The hour has come.
And he knows it's time.
It's Passover time.
It's going to be time for him to lay down his life as a sacrifice to God for the sins of his people.
The time has come for him to go to the cross.
The time has come for him to leave this world and go to his Father.
And he knows in verse 3 that the Father has given all things into his hands.
And he knows that he's come from God.
And he's going to go back to God.
And knowing that, knowing all who he is and all that he's come to do in the world,
he comes down from the table.
And he takes off his outer clothing.
And he wraps a towel around his waist.
And he washes the feet of his disciples.
And that's what's being painted for us.
Love doesn't stand on ceremony.
Love gets down on its knees to meet the needs of loved ones.
And that's what you see here, isn't it?
That is the hidden meaning in this painting.
Love which brought him down.
Love which brought the creator into his creation.
Love which brought the one who flung the stars into space.
Love that brought him who was always at the Father's side in glory to the feet of smiley disciples.
The him, it wasn't the nails that held him there.
It was his love.
For you and for me, having loved his own who were in the world,
he loved them to the very end.
He saw it through.
Probably the best commentary on John chapter 13 is Philippians chapter 2, isn't it?
Philippians chapter 2, which says this about him.
Jesus Christ, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
But emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man, being found in human form.
He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Joseph de Vista was a missionary in 19th century Hawaii.
It's the worst places to go as a missionary.
But he was a missionary to the leper colony on the island of Molokai.
You might have seen the film.
There's a film out about it.
One morning, he was preparing to take a service in the leper colony,
when Damien actually spilt boiling hot water on his bare foot.
It took him a minute to realize what had happened.
He realized that he hadn't felt anything.
And realizing what that might mean in a leper colony,
he poured more boiling water on his foot, on the same spot,
and there was no feeling whatsoever.
That morning, he went to church, and he opened the service,
not in his normal way, dearly beloved, or welcome to IPC, good morning.
He opened the service with these words,
my fellow lepers, my fellow lepers.
What a demonstration of love, isn't it?
It's one thing to go to a leper colony to minister to lepers,
but to die a leper's death, my fellow lepers.
Isn't that what Jesus has done for us?
Isn't that what is being demonstrated in this passage?
It's telling you that he is a friend of sinners.
He is numbered with the transgressors.
And that is baptism.
We've often thought of it, don't we?
He joins the queue of sinners to be baptized by John in the Jordan River,
confessing his sins.
Jesus is in line with them.
Jesus is numbered with the transgressors,
even though he was not a sinner himself.
He was numbered with the transgressors on the cross.
We're told he became sin for us.
He who knew no sin became sin.
It's him that I used to sing when we were growing up.
It's borderline heretical, but it's brilliant.
Listen to this.
How willing was Jesus to die that we fellow sinners might live?
The life they could not take away.
How willing was Jesus to give?
But Jesus was not a sinner, was he?
He was not a sinner.
And yet, in identifying himself with us,
he became sin for us.
Our sin was laid on him.
He was numbered with the transgressors.
Having loved his own, he loved them to the limit.
He loved them to the end.
And so what you've got in this passage
is a beautiful portrait of a servant king
who stoops to meet your need.
What you have in that upper room
is a prefiguring of what he will do at Calvary.
It's a picture of love on its knees.
How far love will go.
How love far will go to meet the needs
of people like you and I.
And the answer is this.
He will go all the way.
Here's the second thing that I want you to see.
That all who are loved by Jesus
are washed by Jesus.
And what I mean by that is
there's an interchange between Jesus and the eleven
and you see a parable of salvation.
It's a parable of salvation.
Peter says, doesn't he,
just look with me at John 13 again.
Peter says when Jesus comes to him
with the bowl and the towel,
verse eight,
you will never wash my feet.
Never ever.
Not a chance, Lord.
And Jesus answered him,
if I do not wash you,
you have no share with me.
It's not about hygiene.
It's not about COVID
and counting in 20 seconds while you wash.
It's about holiness.
It's a parable.
And Jesus is taking the social conventions of the day
and he's preaching the good news,
the gospel to Peter.
The streets of Jerusalem were filthy.
Not only with dirt,
but probably with sewage as well.
And the streets were a thousand times worse at Passover
because the city swerved to about five times its normal size.
And so if you went into someone's house on arrival,
there would be someone to wash your feet.
And maybe it would be a household slave
or the lowest in the whole household.
And Jesus says to Peter,
let me do that for you.
Let me be your servant.
Let me wash your dirty, smelly feet.
And it's too much for him.
What you, you wash my smelly feet?
Never.
Not in a million years.
You'll never wash my feet.
And Jesus says,
unless you let me wash you,
you will have no part in me.
That's the same word,
the word part in me,
that's used in the prodigal son.
So the younger son goes to his dad, doesn't he?
And he says,
give me my share in the inheritance.
Give me my part.
Before he goes and he kicks off the traces.
It's the same word that was used for Israel
when they came into the promised land.
When they were given a share,
when they were given a part of the promised land.
It's the same word that's used in Revelation.
When we will have a share in the tree of life
as part of the holy city.
And Jesus says,
unless I wash you,
you'll have no share in what I came to do.
In other words, Peter,
if you recoil,
if you draw back from what I'm doing now,
then you're rejecting the very principle
on which my kingdom is founded.
You reject this,
you reject me and everything I stand for.
Because, Peter,
if you think that washing your feet
is offensive,
how much more are you going to find
the cross of Jesus Christ offensive?
If you're too proud to let me wash your feet,
how will you ever accept my death on your behalf?
My atoning sacrifice for you.
And if I don't wash you, Peter,
you will have no part with me.
No share in what I've come to do.
And that's the offense of Christianity.
That's the offense of the cross.
Unless I wash you.
Christianity is about being washed.
Christianity is about having
your sin cleansed
and your sin blotted out.
And that's our problem.
I want to ask you,
how's that happened to you?
Have you come to Jesus
to be cleansed from your sin?
Or are you too proud to do it?
Some hymns that we sing,
when you think of them,
they're so odd, aren't they?
Foul,
I to the fountain fly,
wash me, Saviour,
or I die.
Foul?
A bit extreme.
You sing, I'm foul?
The dying thief
rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day,
and thereof I,
though vile,
as he washed all my sins away.
Vile?
Is that what you're saying?
And our problem is Peter's problem,
that he is too proud
to admit that he's got a problem.
And many of us are like that,
aren't we?
We refuse to admit
that we need to be cleansed.
And we need to be washed.
And we need to be made fit
for the company of Jesus.
I'm not that bad.
I'm not that bad
compared to others.
I'm a decent person.
It's too humbling, isn't it?
And pride is so very subtle
that it can invert itself.
And so most of us,
like Peter,
we are far more comfortable,
aren't we,
with what we can do for Jesus
than what he can do for us.
And in fact,
a lot of people,
they think that's what
Christianity is all about,
don't they?
They think that Christianity
is all about doing Jesus a favor.
It's all about trying your best.
But Christianity is not about
what you do for Jesus.
It is about what Jesus
has done for you.
And so we see this
all the time, don't we,
in churches.
We can be really happy
serving and doing this
and doing that,
but we hate to be served.
It's one of the hardest things,
isn't it?
I'm told about growing older.
That you can't do
what you want to do
and you can't serve
as you used to serve
and instead,
you have to let
other people serve you.
And instead of people
depending on you,
you are dependent on them.
But that's a great picture
of what Christianity
is all about.
It is all about
what Jesus has done for you.
And Jesus says to Peter,
unless I wash you,
you've completely missed
the point altogether
and you've got no part
in what I've come to do.
And at which point,
Peter, in kind of
characteristic fashion,
does this great backflip,
doesn't he?
Look at verse 9.
He goes from one extreme
to the other.
He says,
Lord, not only my feet,
but also my hands
and my head.
First, he protests
about washing at all.
I don't need to be
washed at all.
And then he says,
I need a bath.
And what he needed
was to have his feet washed.
And Jesus says to him,
Peter, actually,
you don't need to have
another bath.
You need your feet washed.
If I come to your house
for lunch today
and somebody comes in
from the kitchen
and they say,
dinner's ready,
feel free to wash your hands,
and I say,
actually,
I'm just going to pop
in the shower,
you would think,
wouldn't you,
he's a very,
very odd man.
Because you would hope
that I showered
before I came to church,
which I did.
Not when you arrive
at someone's house
for dinner.
It would be weird,
wouldn't it?
Dinner's ready,
I'm just going to jump
in your shower.
No, what do we do?
We wash our hands.
I shower you
to do that
before you left home.
And in their case here,
it wasn't their hands,
but their feet,
and they needed
their feet to be washed,
and so do we.
Because as the people
of God,
as the people of God
who have trusted in Christ,
we have been forgiven
wonderfully.
We've been forgiven.
If you put your trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ,
you have been saved,
you've been regenerated,
you've been born again.
But you still need
your feet washed.
And as we walk
through the dirty streets
of this world,
week by week,
we pick up all sorts
of yuck on our feet,
and we come week by week,
don't we,
needing to confess our sin.
We know that.
Every day,
it's a parable.
Jesus is speaking
in language
that they could understand
and you can understand
to point you to the cross.
to show your need
of what he's about
to do for you,
to wash away your sin.
You don't understand,
he says in verse 7,
but you will later understand.
When later,
on the other side
of the cross,
at the deepest level
of how we're to understand it,
it's a parable of salvation.
A.M. Hunter,
a New Testament scholar,
says this,
he says,
there is no place
in Jesus' fellowship
for those who've not
been cleansed
by his atoning death.
Many people today
would like to call themselves
Christians,
but see no need
of the cross.
Ready to admire
Jesus' life
and praise his teaching,
and even perhaps
like Gandhi,
follow his example,
but they cannot
bring themselves
to believe
that Jesus died
for their sins.
And that's the gospel.
There is a fountain
that is open
to sin and uncleanness.
There's a fountain
filled with blood.
It's such peculiar
language,
isn't it?
Blood drawn
from Emmanuel's veins
and sinners plunged
beneath that flood
lose all their
guilty stains.
The dying thief
rejoiced to see
that fountain
in his day,
and there may I,
though vile as he,
just like him,
wash all my sins away.
That's the good news.
There's a once
and for all-ness
about it,
isn't it?
There's a once
and for all-ness
about the death
of Christ
and forgiveness
that no one
need to spare.
But there's an
ongoingness
that none of us
should be complacent.
In the atoning
sacrifice of Jesus
on the cross,
there is complete
cleansing for your
sin that is past,
that is present,
that is future.
When you put your
trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ,
he washes you
completely from
toe to toe.
And so that when
God looks at those
who put their
trust in his son,
he doesn't see you
in your sin
and your dirt
anymore,
he sees you
justified,
right with him.
Completely clean,
washed.
He gives you a
bath,
he cleanses you
from all your
sins,
but there's an
ongoingness as well,
isn't there?
Think of King David
and what he did,
how he lived a lie
and committed adultery
and murder
until Nathan the
prophet comes and
challenges him
and he is convicted
of his sin.
And in Psalm 51
he says,
Have mercy on me,
O God,
according to your
steadfast love,
according to your
abundant mercy,
blot out my
transgressions,
take them away,
wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity,
cleanse me from my
sin,
hide your face
from all my sins,
blot out my
iniquities,
creating me a
clean heart.
And renew a
right spirit
within me,
cast me not away
from your presence,
restore to me
the joy of your
salvation,
and then I'll
teach transgressions
your ways.
Sinners will be
converted to you.
David had fallen
into the mud
and the muck
of sin,
he'd lost the joy
of his salvation,
that's his testimony,
and the prophet
comes and says,
you're the man.
Do you remember
what John says
later on,
in 1 John,
he says,
if we confess
our sins,
if we own up
to our guilt,
if we open up
the closet,
take the skeletons
out and say,
Lord,
this is who I am,
God will what?
God is faithful
and just.
He will forgive us
our sin,
and he will cleanse
us from all
unrighteousness.
There's a once
and for allness
about the death
of the Lord Jesus
Christ,
and there's an
ongoingness.
The truth of the
Christian life is
we need to keep
short accounts
with God,
don't we?
We can't become
blasé about
walking through
this life and
the mud on our
shoes.
We need to be
cleansed and
ongoingly cleansed.
John Sott,
I think,
really helpfully
compares the
two sacraments
of baptism
and the Lord's
Supper.
He says this,
he says,
you're baptised
once.
I think that's
really important.
You need to be
baptised once
in the name of
the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy
Spirit.
There's one
baptism,
the Bible
says.
You don't
get baptised
over and
over again
because when
you do that,
you're
misrepresenting
the gospel.
Baptism is a
sign and seal
of our
regeneration,
of our
need to be
born again.
It's a sign
of your
justification,
of being
declared right
with God
by faith
in Christ.
You're
baptised
once,
but you
come to
the Lord's
table
frequently,
don't you?
And every
time we
come,
we examine
ourselves.
You need
to know
what's going
on.
You need
to know
what's
happening.
And we
examine
ourselves.
That's what
we need
to do
because at
the Lord's
table,
we keep
short
accounts.
we keep
coming back
for cleansing
and forgiveness
and feeding.
Those who've
had a bath
only need
to have
their feet
washed,
Jesus said.
And Jesus
says,
you are
clean.
You're
all clean,
but not all
of you,
not every
one of you.
Of course,
he's referring
his knee to
Judas.
Look at
verse 11.
For he
knew who
was to
betray him.
That's why
he said,
not all
of you
are
clean.
try and
think
yourself
into this
scene
for a
moment.
Judas
scares me.
Judas
frightens me
because I
can easily
see myself
doing what
he did.
Jesus
saw the
miracles.
Judas
saw the
miracles,
heard the
teaching.
He'd been
with Jesus
every day.
He was the
treasurer of
the twelve.
He witnessed
the wisdom,
the kindness,
the patience,
the consistency,
the goodness,
and the love
of Jesus.
He was an
insider.
He was a
disciple.
That's scary,
isn't it?
It's possible
for you this
morning to be
in church and
not to be in
Christ.
You can read
your Bible,
you can pray,
you can talk
the talk,
you can look
the path and
not be saved.
It's possible
to be close
to Jesus
and not
be with
Jesus.
You are
clean,
Jesus says
to his
disciples,
but not
all of you.
And I
think when
Jesus said
that,
that one
of you
will betray
me,
I think
there were
eleven
frightened
men in
the group.
In that
room,
don't you
think?
The other
gospel writers
tell us that
the other
disciples began
to say,
is it I?
Is it I?
Is it me?
And I
think that's
the right
response.
I guess
there were
eleven
frightened
men in
that room,
but there
was one
who wasn't.
And Judas
wasn't
frightened
because he'd
already made
up his
mind.
He was
going to
walk out
on Jesus
and betray
him.
He'd
already
done the
deal.
And so
this morning,
let me say
this to you,
if you are
frightened by
Jesus here,
then you
jolly well
ought to
be.
And if
you think
that could
so easily
be me,
that is a
very good
sign.
That you
are spiritually
alive.
And your
conscience is
working properly.
And if you're
not frightened
at all by
these words,
then you
really ought
to be.
Decades
later, as
John writes
this gospel,
he can still
see Judas
disappearing,
the silhouette
against the
door.
He disappears
out of the
door, verse
30, into
the night.
He immediately
went out into
the night.
He surrendered
to his greed.
He's in league
with the devil
to betray
his Lord.
And it
was night.
It is
darkness.
He walks
away from
the love
of Jesus
into the
darkness.
Into the
darkness of
a Christless
eternity.
him.
And so
be warned.
Don't be
Judas.
Make your
calling and
election sure.
Love portrayed.
Love
betrayed.
Love
displayed as
an example
for us to
follow.
Love
displayed as
an example
for us to
follow.
Most people,
when they come
to this passage,
go straight
here.
It's the
first thing
they see,
and it
turns out to
be the
only thing
they see.
And so
they see,
ah,
here is an
example to
follow.
Verse 12.
When he
washed their
feet and
put on his
outer garments
and resumed
his place,
he said to
them,
do you not
understand what
I've done
to you?
You call me
teacher and
Lord,
and you are
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.
You know,
a sense of
occasion,
some people
have it,
and some
don't.
Some people
get the
dress code
right at
a party,
others
don't.
And here,
the apostles,
the disciples
get it
wrong.
They turn
up to
the Last
Supper,
and they
are arguing
amongst
themselves,
who is
the
greatest?
It's a
remarkable thing,
isn't it?
I am the
greatest.
No,
no,
I am
the
greatest.
No,
no,
I am
the
greatest.
They
were arguing
about who's
going to
get the
top jobs
in Jesus'
kingdom.
Who's
going to
fulfill the
top positions?
James and
John have
even got
their mum
to put in
a good
word for
them,
much to the
disgust of
others.
They're
jockeying for
position.
And as
Jesus prepares
to lay his
life down for
them,
they are
competing and
comparing
themselves with
each other.
the evening
meal is being
served,
verse 2,
and normally
the feet are
washed before
the meal.
but obviously
there's no
servant girl
because it's
hired room.
Somebody's
not done
their job.
Anyone could
have done it
but nobody
did it.
There was an
important job
to be done
and everybody
was sure that
somebody would
do it.
Anybody could
have done it
but nobody
did it.
Somebody got
angry about
that because
it was
everybody's
job.
Everybody
thought anybody
could do it
but nobody
realized that
everybody
wouldn't do
it.
It ended
up that
everybody
blamed
somebody
when nobody
did what
anybody
could have.
Welcome to
the upper
room.
And the
tragedy is
it's often
like that
in a local
church,
isn't it?
There's a
job to be
done but
nobody wants
to do it.
Somebody
ought to
have done
it.
Anybody
could have
done it
but nobody
did it.
Why
don't
they
do
something
about it?
Who are
they?
Anybody
could have
done it
nobody
did it
until
Jesus
he got
up
wrapped
himself
in a
towel
and
stooped
down
to
wash
their
feet.
And
he
does
for
them
what
they
were
too
proud
to
do
for
themselves.
There's
no household
slave
and all
the guests
are too
self-important
to do
that so
Jesus
does
it.
He
who
is
lord
of
all
becomes
the
servant
of
all.
How
embarrassing.
Twelve
red
glowing
faces in
the
dark.
And
the
silence
is
deafening.
I'm
breaking
the
silence
Jesus
says
do
you
know
what
I've
done
for
you?
I've
set
you
an
example.
I've
set
you
an
example.
How do
you learn
to write?
You learn
to write
in school?
You learn
to write?
How do
you learn
to write?
Do you
remember?
What do
you do?
You get
little letters
and little
dots
and you
copy
them.
Is that
right?
Is it
still like
that?
I think
it
is.
And so
you
do
that.
You
do
that.
You
follow
the
lines.
that.
You
may well
be
teaching
Sunday
school.
Maybe
volunteering
for
little
stars.
Maybe
washing
dishes.
Maybe
cleaning
toilets.
Maybe
giving
your
time.
Jesus
says
I've
set
you
an
example.
30
years
later
when
the
apostle
Peter
came
to
write
his
first
epistle
he
said
Christ
suffered
for
you
leaving
you
an
example.
In
his
steps
yes he
died a
substitutionary
death.
Yes he
died to
wash our
sins
away.
And that's
the most
important
thing.
But he
also died
giving us
an example.
And as
you see
the image
of Jesus
kneeling
with a
towel
wrapped
around
him
stooping
to wash
his
disciples
feet.
It's
so ingrained
in Peter's
mind
that he
says in
chapter 5
clothe
yourself
with
humility.
He
says this
is the
way that
I want
you to
do
church.
I've
set you
an
example.
Let me
wrap up.
As I
finish let
me ask you
this question.
Are you
saying no
to Jesus?
Is there
anything in
your life
and Jesus
is speaking
to you
about it?
at least
in your
heart
probably
not out
loud
you are
saying
Tim
no
Lord
never.
Not in
a million
years.
Don't
go there.
Don't
go there.
Anything
else but
don't
go there.
And Jesus
is saying
to you
this morning
that's the
very thing
I want
to talk
to you
about.
And
that's
the
very
thing
that you
need
to
change.
Let's
go there.
And
perhaps
you're
here
this
morning
and
you're
not
a
Christian
but
you're
definitely
interested
and you
see the
advantages
of
Christianity
and you
want
Jesus
as an
example
you think
he'd be
great
for the
kids
but you
don't
want a
relationship
with him.
You
don't
want him
as your
Lord
and
saviour.
And
you can't
bring yourself
to admit
that you
need a
saviour
and that
you need
to be
washed
because
you
stink
like I
do.
And
that's
the reason
he came
into the
world
to
rescue.
So
don't
say no
to him.
Don't
walk
out on
him
like
Judas.
Let's
pray.