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So today, we're going to be looking at John chapter 13, verses 1 through 16. It's the beginning of the uproom discourse, as recorded by John. Let's read it. 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 supper, when the devil had already put it 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 back 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash your feet, you will have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, the one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That's why he said, not all of you are clean. 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? 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 ought 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 a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Let's pray. Father God, I come before your throne to ask for help throughout this message, Lord. Please be with me and guide my words. I pray that your spirit would be upon us and upon me as I try to teach this passage, Lord. Pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So I kind of want to grab some context for the uproom discourse as kind of an intro for the whole discourse, which is spanning from John 13 all the way up until John 18. Verse one is basically the perfect intro to that. It says, 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. we can see that jesus is in jerusalem and for the last for the last week the last week of his life which is called passion week uh... he's been teaching and preaching throughout jerusalem and performing signs and wonders throughout the city and john john records a lot of his teachings and his parables and the uh... conversations and stuff that that happened throughout passion week but in chapter thirteen we can see that john brings that all to a halt he brings it all slows down his uh... his recording of the events on this thursday night at the end of the week So we can see that the first verse in John 13 sets up the rest of the night, which 13 through 18 is one night. It's a couple hours, which is a discourse, a conversation between Jesus and his disciples. So John, in this first verse, brings us right into the mind of Jesus and brings us right into what's going on in His mind. So there's two parts to the verse that I want to talk about. The first half of this verse says, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, What John is revealing to us in this verse is the anticipation of his eventual death, which is going to happen in the next 24 hours. He's going to be tortured and whipped and have a crown of thorns put on his head, and he's going to die. And Jesus knows that. He's known that ever since before he even came into this world. and verse three talks about that again it says jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from god and was going back to god so jesus knows that he's headed back to the father he knows that he's that's the direction that he's going in the next twenty four hours and so we can see in these verses the kind of humanity of christ come through in these verses that john shows us And if we look in Luke chapter 22, verse 44, it's when Jesus is praying in the garden. And he says, And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. So we can see this humanity of Christ coming through, his anticipation. And he's distraught, obviously, in Luke. but there is a second half to the verse and that is not what jesus' mind is on throughout the upper room discourse now let's read the second half it says having loved his own who are in the world he loved them to the end and that verse is that second half of the verse is really beautiful in my mind his mind is set on his disciples his mind is not set on himself And we see later in John 15 that the upper room discourse is for all the saints throughout all of time. And so this discourse is meant to have a conversation with all the future saints. Romans 5.8 says, But God showed His love for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So we can see throughout this whole night Throughout the whole cross, Jesus' mind and His attitude is set on His love for the saints, His love for the disciples, not set on how much pain He's going through and how difficult it is. I mean, if you think about it, any of us that would have to go through something painful like surgery or something like that, it's really hard to not feel bad for yourself and kind of focus on yourself and the issues that you're going to have to put up with. But that's not what Jesus is about. That's his divinity coming through. So what's really beautiful about the last half of this verse is John says, he loved them to the end. The last six words in that verse. And on that point, I want to read a quote from John MacArthur. on talking about those last six words he says to the end in greek is east he loves that's the the greek translation and he still has means completely perfectly fully utterly to the max to the end both in terms of capacity and eternity He loves as much as he can love. As much as God can love, that's how much he loves. And for as long as God loves, that's how long he loves. Which is to say, he loves infinitely, both in capacity and in time. And I think he summed up that perfectly when John says, he loved them to the end. So, again, I just want to point out how Jesus' mind is set completely, to the end, on the saints and on the disciples. His anticipation is not exactly for the cross. His anticipation is for this upper room discourse. The theme of the upper room discourse is God's love for us. Not our love for God, but God's love for us. So I hope that we can see that theme throughout the whole upper room. And if I can kind of have a series out of this or something, then I want to pull that theme out of every passage. So now we can move on to the first event that goes on in the upper room. It's the feet washing. Jesus is washing the disciples' feet. So I'm going to read John 13, verses 4 through 8. He 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 wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter and said to him, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you will have no share with me. So there's two different symbols that we can see in this passage. And the symbol is something, it's a picture of a reality. The symbol itself is not the reality, but it is pointing to something that is the reality. And so I want to point out two symbols in this passage. The first symbol is going to be the actual Passover feast. So what they're celebrating, what they're remembering in the Passover feast. Second, I want to talk about the actual washing of the disciples' feet that Jesus performs. And the Passover event is actually really interesting to see the connection of the Passover and Jesus' work on the cross. And that's the reality that comes through in the symbol of the Passover. So I'm going to read the Passover event, where God himself is speaking to Aaron and Moses. in Exodus 12 verses 6 and 7 and then I'm gonna do verses 12 and 13. It says, take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the 14th day of the first month, then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the door frames of the house where they eat the animal. on that night i will pass through the land of egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of egypt i will execute judgment against the gods of egypt for i am the lord but the blood on your doorpost will serve as a sign marking the houses where you are staying when i see blood i will pass over you this plague of death will not touch you when i strike the land of egypt i'm sure everyone really knows what the context is of this uh... event but i'll just kind of go over real quick the israelites were enslaved in egypt and god is inflicting these uh... plagues on the land of egypt and this is one of the plagues he's gonna kill all the firstborn sons and the first born male animals in the land of egypt the only way to escape that is for the israelites to slaughter a lamb and put the blood on the doorpost i hope you all can see the that this is a symbol this is an event that did happen but that is not what it's pointing to. The symbol of the Passover is pointing to the future Lamb of God who is to be slaughtered on our behalf. And we know that the future Lamb of God is Jesus who is about to be slaughtered on the following night of the Upper Room Discourse. So this Passover is going to show us what is really going on in these following events. So now I'm going to move on to the second symbol that we see in these verses, which is the feet washing. Jesus, in this passage, stands up from supper and takes off his garments, ties a towel around his waist, fills a basin with water, and begins to wash the disciples' feet. if we can kind of remember that i want to make an a comparison a parallel with another passage is funny enough nearly identical to what jesus is doing in john chapter thirteen the passage is going to be philippians chapter two verses five through nine says have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus 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 men and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name." If you can look close enough, you can see that these verses and the verses in John chapter 13 are nearly identical. What the difference is, is Paul brings that symbol to a reality that we can see. So I'm just gonna make comparisons with phrases in these verses. So John says that Jesus laid aside his outer garments. Paul in Philippians says that Jesus emptied himself. So he's removing part of himself. He's emptying himself in both scenarios. john says jesus took a towel and tied it around his waist paul in philippians says jesus took the form of a servant john says about jesus that he began to wash the disciples feet paul says that jesus became obedient to death even death on a cross and then finally john says that he put on his outer garments and resumed his place so after he performed the actions he put on his garments and went back to to where he was sitting and Paul says that God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so we can see that once Jesus' actions, Jesus' work is done he goes and resumes his place but we also see before that the absolute humiliation of Jesus and it's it's a pretty outstanding statement to say that god emptied himself and took the form of a servant more humility than i can even comprehend i think in contrast in luke twenty-two verse twenty-four the disciples in during the passover feast art arguing with each other about who is the greatest in the kingdom or who's to be regarded as the greatest. See, you can see the contrast between the disciples and Jesus. The disciples are solely thinking about themselves and how great they are and how cool they are and all that stuff, and that's what they're arguing with each other about. They're actually filled with hate. They're hating their brothers. Not love, the way that Jesus is focused on, but they're filled with hate for their brothers because they're so much better than their brothers. So I kind of want to dive into this scene. I want you all to try to imagine with me that you're one of the disciples in this upper room. You walk into the upper room and your feet are all nasty and stuff, and you're arguing with your brothers about how great you are and how much better you are than them. And you don't have the humility to even wash your feet as you go to sit down at a table that's probably about a foot high. And so the way that they would eat back then is they're kind of sprawled out, laying on the ground with their feet kind of in each other's faces and stuff, and that's why you wash your feet before you eat. And there's other reasons that you're supposed to wash your feet, but that's generally it. The lowest servant in the household is the one who is supposed to wash the feet of all the people. But when there's not a servant like that, you wash your own feet. But none of them seemingly washed their own feet. So we're in this upper room with our dirty feet and arguing and angry and hating our brothers. And all of a sudden you look over at Jesus as he stands up from the table and takes off his clothes, taking the form of a servant, ties a towel around his waist, fills a bowl of water, and walks over to your feet and starts washing your feet. Jesus Christ, the son of God, who is God himself, is on his hands and knees in front of you, washing your feet. After you've just gotten done arguing with your brothers about how great you are, the greatest person that's ever walked the face of the planet is now at your feet. washing your feet. And I can only imagine how good of a job Jesus did at washing the feet of the disciples. He did not leave one toenail unpolished. He didn't leave one crack in the toe with any dirt in it. He washed their feet clean. Jesus became the lowest man in that room. He became a servant. With us, I wasn't in that room, actually, physically. But with his saints, his future saints, Jesus got on his hands and knees for all of us as well. He lowered himself all the way to death, even death on a cross for me and you. And he didn't leave out one little crack or crevice on our bodies. He washed us in his blood, the blood that he spilled on the cross. His bleeding hands, As he's on his hands and knees, his bleeding hands washed each and every one of us, one by one. So, as Jesus is going around the table, washing all the disciples' feet, he eventually gets to Peter. And John says that Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. That is the true understanding of himself. Peter truly understands who Jesus is. Peter truly understands who he is himself. It is not right for the God of the universe to be on his hands and knees, taking the form of a servant and washing my feet, let alone taking my sin on his shoulders to die in my place. That, if I was Peter, and I just got done arguing with my brothers, and God is here trying to wash my feet, I think that I would end up just weeping, seeing my true self and seeing Jesus' true self. I think I may weep the same way that I weep when I think about my sin. There's another time that Peter truly saw himself in Luke 5, verse 8. I think this was when they were in the great storm and there was the wind and the waves and the rain and all that stuff. And they go over to Jesus and they're trying to wake up Jesus and saying, calm the wind and waves for us. We're fearful. And Jesus calms the wind and waves and says, O you of little faith, Luke 5.8 says, But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. I hope we can all see now why Peter would say something like that to Jesus. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. You shall never wash my feet. Let me read again those two verses, John 13. 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. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, 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. See, Jesus is now bringing that symbol or metaphor to the reality that we can see in the feet washing. But he says, you do not understand this, but you will understand this later. You see, without Jesus washing you in his blood, without Jesus getting on his hands and knees for you and cleansing you, every crack and crevice, you will have no place in heaven. jesus says you have no share with me this uh... that reminds me of the the parable that jesus told about about the king who's having a wedding and there's a man there that doesn't have the right wedding clothes on so the king says throw him into the outer darkness where there's a weeping and gnashing of teeth because this man did not have was not clothed in the right wedding clothes. You see, without perfection, without Jesus' blood, there is no way for you to get to heaven. There is no way to heaven without being washed in the bloody hands of Jesus Christ. And it's the same in the Passover, the Passover event when they slaughtered the lamb. Without that lamb's blood on their doorposts, their firstborn son would die, and the firstborn male animals. Without that blood, you will die like the firstborn children did, the firstborn sons. So in verse 9 and 10, Peter shows that he doesn't really understand what is going on. Because Jesus says, you don't understand, but you will understand later. And that's true. Because if we can see Peter's reaction to the things that are going on, he goes all the way from one extreme to the other. And it's kind of funny to me to see the hopelessness of a blind person, a spiritually blind person that doesn't see the reality of what's going on. But what's good is Peter is in the right place. All that Peter really wants is to have a share with Jesus. He wants that closeness with Jesus. And so he knows that he doesn't deserve Jesus washing his feet. But if that's what needs to happen, then he says, Lord, not my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus responds to him and says, the one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. So the one who is bathed is completely clean. I think that that's a reference to Jesus holding on to us until the end and loving us all the way to the end. I think it's a contrast with the Old Covenant where they had to slaughter lambs every year in order to remember the Passover. we we have the living sacrifice we have the true sacrifice and the perfect blood from the perfect lamb of god so that when we are bade in his blood we are completely clean and never need to be washed again i think inverse ten jesus says he's bade uh... he was bay does not need a wash except for his feet And that kind of puzzled me. Why would we continually need feet washing? I think what he's saying is that even when you've washed, even when you've been bathed in the blood, you still need a continual sanctification from the Lord. You see, you walk around and your feet get dirty in the world. tracking stuff all over, arguing about how great you are, even if it's just in your mind about how great I am. But Jesus is there to wash our feet once again. And it's really cool when Jesus says, and you are clean, to Peter. That might be one of the best things that I could ever hear, is Jesus himself looking at you and saying, you are clean. So what are we to do? How are we to respond to all of this? Because I can't wash myself in Jesus's blood. I can't even wash my own feet. Jesus is the only one that can do that. So how are we to respond to this? So the final section of this passage is verses 12 through 16. And it's hopefully going to answer all these questions. 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? 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 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. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him." So the beginning of the section, Jesus asks a rhetorical question. He says, do you understand what I have done to you? And he asks this question because they don't understand. It's very obvious after seeing Peter's responses that he does not understand what is going on. The reality of the symbol has not been shown to them. They are still blind. They're blind to the humility and love that Jesus has for them. Jesus' mind is wholly set on love for his disciples. Then Jesus says, 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 ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example. So it's a pretty simple answer to how do we respond to this? What do we do? You see, Jesus, not only in the symbol, but also in the reality, went all the way from heaven, all the way down to earth, lower than any man has ever gone, to death, even death on a cross. Who am I to think that I can't go from all the way down there to maybe a little lower? My Lord and teacher has washed my feet. So what am I to do? So if you remember the beginning, my intro kind of to the upper room, the theme for the upper room is love, God's love for us. And we see here that love begins with humility. You cannot have love without humility. Does anyone know 1 Corinthians 13, four through seven? It's the definition of love, basically. It says, love is patient and kind, does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. How can you do one of those things without humility? You can't. Love is patient and kind. You cannot be patient or kind without humility. It does not envy or boast. The disciples were boasting right there and being arrogant and rude and insisting on their own way, being irritable and resentful. You cannot have the love of Christ without humility. And that is what Jesus is calling us to do. He says, I set you an example of love and of humility. Go and do likewise. Later in John, Jesus says that the greatest act of love is that you lay down your life for your friends. The unfortunate part of that is that you can only do that once. But Jesus shows us in John 13 exactly how we can be humble and love our brothers every day. Just follow his example of putting yourself lower than others and serving them. So what we need to do is repent of our pride. repent of thinking that i'm better than someone else even if it's just in my mind in traffic i need to think of myself as lower than everyone the way that jesus did and then maybe then you can truly love someone better than yourself so i'm gonna leave I'm going to leave this message with a song lyric that was stuck in my mind while I was writing these notes. It's the song Meekness and Majesty. It says, my quote says, Lord of eternity dwells in humanity, kneels in humility, and washes our feet. Oh, what a mystery, meekness and majesty. Bow down and worship, for this is your God. Father God, I thank you for this. I thank you for this teaching that we can draw out of this passage. Lord, I really want to desire to be humble. Lord, I desire to love my fellow man and to love you more. And I do not think of myself as lower than people. And I pray that you be with me in that and be with us, Lord. Be with our church as we try to repent of our pride. I pray, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.
Humility In Love
Sermon ID | 1027222018566938 |
Duration | 35:44 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday School |
Bible Text | John 13:1-16 |
Language | English |
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