Well, as you hopefully saw in the email, we are beginning a new series this morning, a new portion of scripture. John chapter 13 is where we begin. We're going to spend the winter and spring going through this section. If I do have to have throat surgery, I am going to write out the sermons and then the elders will read them. So we're going to go through this straight through one way or the other. So we begin with the first 17 verses of chapter 3 of the book of John. And remember this is God's holy and inspired word. And He has ordained for you to hear this passage this morning. 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 the 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 now, 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 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. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, Not all of you are clean. Now 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 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. Lord, I work on our hearts that we may receive your word with humility, to learn it, to know you and how to believe in you and then serve you. Grant your blessing on your word as it is preached around the world today. In Christ's name. Amen. John 13 begins the second half of the book of John. The Lord's public ministry has now ended. He will not speak to the crowds anymore. He will minister to his disciples in the upper room before his death. The time factor changes dramatically in chapter 13 also. Up until this chapter we've learned about three years of Christ's ministry. We've been following him for three years That's from chapters one through 12. From chapters 13 through 19, we cover 24 hours. And so time slows almost to a standstill in this new section, this second part of the book of John. And so this section is called Jesus Upper Room or Farewell Discourse. His final words to the disciples before he is crucified. Now, when a man is about to die and he invites his closest friends into a room with him and he shuts the door and he speaks to them, you know what he's about to say is very important as well as very personal. And that's what we have here. But in a sense, the door is open because all these words were written by the apostles as the Spirit brought them to remembrance as Christ promised them for us, his people, to hear even today. So we are invited into the upper room as disciples to hear his words to us. But he begins his farewell discourse, his upper room discourse, not with words, but with an act. He washes the disciples' feet. And as John introduces you to the act, as you look upon the text there, he begins uncharacteristically, and he only does this a few times throughout the book of John, He makes us aware of what Jesus himself was conscious of, what Jesus himself was thinking. And he does that to give us insight into who Christ is. Jesus, John tells us, was fully aware of what was about to happen. He knew he was about to suffer and die. It was the Passover and he knew he was the Passover lamb that would be offered to God. And so he was fully aware of what was about to happen in a few hours, that he would be taken and beaten and then crucified. He knew he would rise again. He knew he would return to the Father. And he knew, summarizing the three years, that he had done exactly what God had called him to do. He had loved his people to the end, those given to him by the Father, as John says. So he's fully aware, and John includes in that, he's fully aware of what Judas is about to do, that treacherous plot that Judas was hatching at the moment to betray him. So the question is, why is John letting us in on Christ's own self-awareness? And the answer is a couple things. First, when we understand what Christ knew, It makes what he's about to do even more remarkable. Given who he is, all authority has been given to him. He's the son of God. What he's about to do in washing their feet is even more amazing. But secondly, that would be the time we would expect him to be most concerned about himself, what he's about to go through. He's about to suffer and be beaten and die. And yet, what is he concerned about? He's concerned about serving and teaching his apostles, his disciples, a lesson. And so, all this self-awareness leads to verse four. Aware of his own authority as the son of God, and he had finished the work what he was about to do, he rose from the supper, he laid aside his garments and taken a towel, he girded himself about. Now you need to give that time to sink in, and I suggest all eternity won't be enough. God himself became man, and he takes on the role of a servant to wipe the disciples' feet. That's what a slave did. That's what a servant does. He washes the feet of the honored guests. Christ, fully aware he's the Son of God, begins to wash the disciples' feet with a rag. Now it's customary that when a honored guest comes to your home, your servant washes their feet because their feet was dusty and needed to be washed. Jesus was the obvious honored guest, right? And it does raise a question why the disciples had not washed his feet. If they're his servant and he's the honored guest, why hadn't they done it? Well, if we read the other Gospels, we find out why. Because their concern at the moment was which one of them was the greatest. They were looking ahead to the kingdom they thought Jesus was bringing, and they pictured themselves on different thrones and places of authority in Jerusalem. And they were arguing who would get what position. And so they weren't even thinking about that they should humble themselves. and become a servant to Christ. But Jesus begins to wash their feet, and you can imagine the surprise, almost shock, of what was happening, which would never happen in that type of situation. So Peter, as usual, says out loud what the others are thinking. It's not that he was different than them, he just spoke quickly and out loud. And so he says, Lord, you wash my feet? In the Greek, it's the pronouns that really come out here. You wash my feet? Jesus assures Peter that he needs this, that this foot washing is necessary, but that he would understand it later. You do not understand now what I'm doing and why, but you will soon. Now that's a hint that this foot washing represents something else. Foot-washing obviously was an act of servanthood. If that's all Jesus was doing, that would have been understood. But Jesus is giving them a hint. This foot-washing pictures something. And soon you will understand what this all pictures, why I'm doing this. But for now that meaning was concealed to the disciples. But Peter's problem was not only misunderstanding, it was pride. Notice he says, never shall you wash my feet. That's pride. That's Peter saying, I don't need you to serve me this way. You know what that's like. You know how you love to give presents and things to others, but you hate to ask for help? You know what that is, right? Guys, what is that? It's pride, right? We don't want to ask anyone for help, but we want to give. Peter needed to humble himself and recognize his need. He needed Jesus to do what he was about to do. Notice the warning from Christ. If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. That word part can be translated inheritance or share. That's another clue that this foot washing represented something beyond itself. Jesus is saying that receiving this foot washing makes an internal difference. whether you're with me forever or you're separated from God forever. In this, the foot washing will represent what Christ will do on the cross the following day. That's where the ultimate act of servanthood would be offered, where Christ would wash their sins away as he humbled himself and received their punishment. You can even see the similarity of language. Jesus lays aside his garments The next day his garments will be laid aside as he serves them on the cross. And so Jesus is giving them a picture. I'm about to do something for you that you need. You need this so much that there's no hope without it. You have no way to be with me forever without this act of servanthood I'm about to do that is pictured by this foot washing. So Jesus is saying to Peter, Peter, if you cannot accept the scandal of the cross, the scandal of your need and what I'm about to do, you have no place with me. And it's great, Peter's response. He was weak, but he was a believer. He says, Lord, don't only wash my feet, wash all of me. In other words, if it means being with you, give me everything you got. Now in verse 10, Christ picks up on the local custom to show that the cross is sufficient to cleanse us and make us right with God. In those days, a traveler would bathe before he set out on a journey. And when he arrived, because the rest of his body would be clean, he only needed his feet washed. And so Jesus is saying to Peter, what this foot washing represents is all you need. You don't need anything else. In other words, the cross is sufficient to wash all your sins away so you can be with me forever. The Lord then says to Peter, but you are already clean as the rest of you, except of course for the one Judas. In other words, the Old Testament saints were already saved through faith in the coming Savior. The blood of Christ was applied to them even though Christ hadn't died yet. So because Peter believed in Jesus, he was already forgiven. He was already a redeemed individual. But Jesus knew, of course, with one person that hadn't happened and would not happen. And so the point we see here is the necessity of Christ's death. The only way to know God, the only way to forgiveness, the only way to be in heaven is to recognize our need and to believe in Christ alone for salvation, to repent of our sins, whether actual sins or sins of trusting in our own self or goodness, and trust only in Christ to wash our sins away. Christ is saying, if you're not willing to admit your need, to let go of all your self-righteousness, to let go and admit all your sinfulness and trust in what I'm going to do for you, there's no hope for you. Now, when Christ would rise again, the disciples would look back and say, now we get it. We did not understand what he was doing. Why was he washing our feet? What was he trying to tell us? Oh, he needed to die for us. That's what he came to do. That was what our need was, to take our sins on himself. So Christ is explaining through this act and preparing them for what he was about to do and why it was so important. that he die. But we see from the following words that the act of dying on the cross, which is pictured by this foot washing, was not only done to show them they needed to be cleansed from sin, they needed Christ's death, it also was to instruct them on how to live once they were forgiven, once they were part of the New Covenant Church. Because he goes on to use it as an example of discipleship, of Christian living. You call me teacher and Lord and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and teacher, washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you should do as I have done to you." That doesn't mean we get a pool in here and we start foot washings, right? Jesus is talking about a way of life. that this is what greatness is to God in my kingdom. You serve one another. And he goes on to explain, truly I'm telling you, a slave is not greater than his master. Do you think you're greater than Christ? Well, if you're not greater than Christ and he was willing to serve, then you should be willing to serve if you call him your Lord, if you're his disciple. And so the key to serving is remembering that God actually served us and became our servant. I don't like the modern tendency I see in Christianity to talk so lightly and casually about our relationship with God. He's become like a best buddy. It's just you don't see those ideas in scripture. We've lost in a sense the transcendence of God and His glory and awe, but at the same time we have to let it sink in that God served me. God came down and washed my feet, humbled himself to that point because of his love for me. That is the divine closeness and love seen here. He loved me enough to scrub the dirt off my feet, picturing of course what he did on the cross. Because He did, we can have that same self-awareness. When we serve, we serve with that self-awareness. We can almost put our name in there now. Because of what Christ did, I now belong to God. And when I die from this brief life, I go to the Father. And knowing God has loved me to the end, now I can be like Christ and wash one another's feet. I can lower myself to serve. to live for the best interest of my wife, the best interest of my kids, the best interest of my Christian brothers and sisters especially. That's what Christ did. And so now that He's done that, we are to be like Him. And this is what brings Him glory, not arguing about who's the greatest or worrying about who gets the most attention or praise. But how can I be like Christ and serve? and help others and live for their best interests. Now notice verse 17. Jesus warns us and reminds us that God's blessing is not only on those who know about this. A lot of people know about what Christ did on the cross. God's blessings are on those that these truths have penetrated to the point where they practice them. Blessed are those who do them. who serve because they are fully aware that Christ has served them at the cross. And now they wanna serve others in response. God's blessing is on you as you serve. May that be true of us. Amen. Let's pray.