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Well, if you would, open your
Bibles to John 13 as we continue our journey through the gospel
according to John. We have a very interesting passage
to consider this morning, and it is truly my heart's desire
that this passage would just cause
us to worship. it would inflame our hearts and
invigorate us to worship. I certainly appreciated the worship
time this morning and what Brother Jay shared in relation to Ephesians
chapter 3 and how the great love of Christ works in us to cause us to respond
to Him, to submit to Him. So I want to begin here in John
chapter 13, beginning in verse 1. My text
will be John 13, 1 through 17, and the title would simply be,
Christ Loves His Own. Beginning in John 13 verse 1,
Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour
had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father,
having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to
the end. And supper being ended, the devil
having 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 to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments,
took a towel and girded himself. After that he poured water into
a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them
with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon
Peter, And Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet?
Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand
now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, you
shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not
wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said
to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is
completely clean. And you are clean, but not all
of you. For he knew who would betray
him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean. So when he had
washed their feet, taking his garments and sat down again,
he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord,
and you say, well, 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 as I have
done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not
greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than
he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them." Blessed are you if you do them. Well, I had to think of 1 John 3.16. By this we know love. How do we identify love? What
is the standard of love? Is it a fuzzy feeling? Is it,
what is it? By this we know love because
he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down
our lives for the brethren. That is his sacrificial death
on the cross and laying down his life for his people. That's
the standard. That's how we know what love
looks like. We don't even, we're not able
to necessarily comprehend what love is outside of an example
for us. So we have it here in John 13
where he says in verse 1, Having loved His own who were
in the world, He loved them to the end. Now I want to begin
here in this first section. In verses 1 through 5, kind of
that first section here, I want to notice what Christ knew. I want to notice what He knew. That'll be kind of in this first
section. we had looked at this concept
of this, my hour is at hand, in verse 12 of 27, in verse 27
of chapter 12, he says this way, now my soul is troubled, and
what shall I say, Father? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this purpose I have come to this hour. And so, here in
John 13 and verse 1, When Jesus knew that His hour had come,
that He should depart from this world to the Father, He was here
in a fellowship with His closest associates, His disciples that
He had discipled for close to three years. And he was in a
private meeting with them. And from here on in John, we
have what they call the upper room discourse. And we have private,
personal teaching from Christ to his 12 disciples. And so here,
He knew His hour had come that He would give His life as a ransom
for many. And He knew that He should depart
from this world. He knew that His ministry was
coming to an end, that His time here was very limited. His hour was literally at hand. This would have been Thursday evening before his Friday
crucifixion. And so he was very close to being
apprehended here. The scribes and pharisees, the
council, were soon to arrive and they would arrest him and
interrogate him. And so his time was at hand. He knew this. He knew that he
should depart from this world, and in departing from this world,
he knew that he would arrive at his father, or with his father. That he was leaving, and that
is so true for all of us, isn't
it? That when we depart from this
world, we arrive in the next. We certainly do that. There's not an nihilism where
we just vanish. No, we go from one to the next. And here, our Lord knew that
as He would depart from this world, He would be in the presence
of His Father. He would be leaving His own,
as it says here, He would be departing from his
own and going back to his own in glory. He had those who were
his own here, and he had those who were his own in glory. And
having loved them while in the world, he loved them, as the
Greek says here, to the uttermost. That word and, he loved them
to the end. This is an indication not just
to the extent of his love, but to the nature of his love, that
he loved them to the uttermost. He loved them to the end. That was the extent and the nature
of his love. He loved them with the full knowledge
of the cost of his love. He loved them knowing there was
a traitor in their midst. He knew that. He loved them. Notice what he says in verse
11, for he knew who would betray him. And then, outside of our
text today, but in verse 21, it says here that he
was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly I say
to you, one of you will betray me. And so, As we look at this
context of this foot washing, this example of Christ, we see
what he knew. It's a full declaration to Christ. He knows exactly what's going
on. He knows that there's a traitor in their midst. He knows that
his enemy, that Satan has won among them. He knows that. Supper being ended, the devil
having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's
son, to betray him. Now just because the devil had
put it in his heart does not excuse Judas. He was willing to do this. Remember he had already made
plans with the council to betray Christ. And here it seems like
maybe that there was an added something here that the devil
put into his heart that it was going to be this evening. And
we notice that in verse 27, after Jesus had identified graciously,
I might say, for the sake of his other disciples, had graciously
identified the traitor, after he'd given him the bread that
he had dipped and given it to Judas, it says, now after the
piece of bread, Satan entered him. You know, that is probably, that
is a very unique, I believe, situation where someone is personally
indwelt by Satan. That he is personally possessed
by Satan. It is very unlikely that you
or I have ever personally encountered Satan. We've probably encountered
his ministers. We have, I believe, Satan can
only be in one place at one time. And here he was that evening. We know exactly where he was.
He was in the heart of Judas. So we see here that Christ knew all this. He knew
that there was a schism among them. He knew that there was
not full unity there. and that Satan had a loyal subject
among them. He loved them knowing precisely
who he was, who Jesus Christ was. Notice in verse 3, Jesus
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and
that he had come from God and was going to God. That is a very clear statement
about the deity of Christ. That He had come from His Father,
Jesus knowing this, knowing exactly what His status was. Why is that recounted here in
this passage? Why do we have it here? He knew
exactly where he had come from and where he was going or rather
who he had come from and to where he was going and to who he was
returning to. He knew that the administration
of the kingdom was in his hand. Think about that. He knew that
the Father had given all things into His hands. Complete judgment
was given over to Christ. The administration of the Father's
kingdom was in His hand. That He, Jesus,
was sovereign God. And that the Father had laid
the government on His shoulders. You see, the backdrop of this Christ taking the garment of a slave. We see
that. Here he was, equal with his father
in every way. And he knew his own in this world.
He knew their fallibility, their weakness. He loved them in spite
of it. He knew all of this and he arose
from supper and he laid aside his garments of glory and took
up a slave's attire and served them in the lowest place of all.
I was intending to read an excerpt from Matthew Henry's commentary,
and I forgot my commentary, so I didn't write it word for word.
But he made the point that many commentators take this occasion
as a symbol of Christ's whole work, where he arose from the
tables of his glory, and he laid aside his divine garments, his
divine glory. He took upon him the form of
his servant, closed himself with the servant's towel, and he poured
out his blood, so to speak, so that we could be brought to him. He rose from supper, and as it
were, he laid aside his garments of glory, and girded himself
with the attire of a slave because he loved his own, because he
did love his own. And so we see that what we have
here in this evening, this last evening that he had with his
disciples, he truly sought to serve them. In this second portion, as we
look at verses six through 11, we consider that Christ loved them by teaching
them about their spiritual cleansing. Notice here that Of course, Peter was in the thick
of it, wasn't he? He was right in the thick of
it. Peter, as Christ was ministering to his
disciples in love serving them, and by the way, This was a very
practical need of the hour. A lot of times in Palestine and
in the Middle Eastern environment, they were going up and down the
dusty roads in open footwear, and the need for a foot washing
was often accomplished. That need was often met by a
slave in the host's household. And it was a very practical need
as they didn't have air-conditioned cars to drive around. And even
we don't even, we rarely stir up dust anymore when we drive
up and down the roads. And so this is a somewhat foreign
concept to us that if you would have invited someone to your
house, And you as a host would have provided a basin, a towel,
and your servant would have washed the feet of the guests. Well, here we see divinity. Divinity, none other than Christ
who had created all things. who bowed down in front of them,
who humbled himself to this point of service where he was washing
the grime off of these men's feet. Can we bear with Peter just a
little bit and say, What would our reaction have been if you
would have followed someone that you truly admired and respected
for three years, up and down the streets of Jerusalem, the
shores of the Sea of Galilee, wherever, throughout Judea, and
you had a great respect, and you seen his works, his miracles,
the marvels that came forth from it, his wonderful teaching, and
you understood that he was, as has already been, I believe Peter
had already, not in this text, but he had
already identified Christ. For Christ to come and wash his
feet, to humble himself to this place of service, would it not
have been in our hearts to say, As John the Baptist said, Lord,
it would be more fitting for you to baptize me than me to
baptize you. You see, Peter had not It was his nature, I believe.
And he, it seems like he had started washing, in verse five,
he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the
towel with which he was girded, and then he came to Peter. It
says, then he came to Simon Peter. I do not believe that Peter was
the first. I think he was wherever in the lineup. And when
Christ came to him, Peter could not keep his mouth shut. He said,
Lord, and notice that's how he addressed him, Lord, are you
washing my feet? And this is an emphatic statement.
Are you washing me? You know, see, it's the you versus
me concept here. This emphatic statement, how
can this be? Lord, are you washing my feet? And so, it seems that Peter was
horrified, or at the very least embarrassed, that their leader
should be washing their feet. You see, Peter had to learn,
as all of us must, that God's ways are not our ways. They are
not our ways. Peter's perception about what
was right in an authority figure, Peter's
concept was, Peter's perception was influenced by the fallen
culture around him. And his view of leadership was
corrupted by sin. And Christ gently cleansed them
by meeting a practical need in their lives. Now, I want to point
out the setting here. If you would, flip back to Luke
22. I want to just point out something
that really helped me as I worked through this passage many years
ago. It's coming out from a culture
that literally made a sacrament out of an example. And for me
to understand this passage, it was very helpful to me to understand
the setting. I mean, what do you do with this verse 14? If I then your Lord
and teacher have washed your feet, you ought also to wash
one another's feet. Is that literally or figuratively? What is being taught here? And
as I was working through this, I came to great rest in understanding
the setting that was going on. What was happening prior to this? And if you go to Luke 22 and
verse 24, notice how it says here, and they were en route.
I believe it is here that they were en route That may be the
mark account on this, that they were en route to Jerusalem. But
here it says, Isn't that interesting? And he said to them, the kings
of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise
authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among
you. On the contrary, he who is greatest
among you, let him be as the younger and he who governs as
he who serves for who is greater, he who sits at the table or he
who serves. Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I, he
says, am among you as the one who serves." And then you have
it in Mark 10. If you would flip back to Mark
10, we even have the sons of Zebedee's mother getting in on
it in Mark 10. Just finding this this setting,
and here it is that they were, in verse 32 it says, they were
on the road going up to Jerusalem. This would have been like a day
or so before the triumphal entry, if you remember that happened
in the previous text in John 12. Now here he says in Mark
10, 35, Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to
him, saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us what we ask."
Now, I'm mistaken. This Mark 10 is not where their
mother came. Well, Mark 10 doesn't recount
it. I think it's the Matthew or the Luke account that does
speak how their mother came and said, we would like for you to
do this for my two sons. But here it's them coming, shows
it as them coming, but in another account of this, it was their
mother. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for
you? They said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your
right hand and the other on your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do
not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup
that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with? They said to him, we are able. So Jesus said to them,
you will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism
I am baptized with, you will be baptized. But to sit on my
right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for
those to whom it is prepared. And notice verse 41, and when
the ten heard it, the ten other disciples heard it, they began
to be greatly displeased with James and John. And see, what
seems like is happening here, is that James and John were looking
for an advantage in this coming kingdom. And they wanted to be
seated on the right hand and on the left of Christ when Christ
ascended to his throne. But he said to them, but Jesus
called them to himself and said to them, you know that those
who are considered rulers over the Gentiles, lord it over them. And the great ones exercised
authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among
you. But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your
servant, and whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of
all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And so time
and again, in all these different accounts, you have Christ falling
back on his own example of how the Son of Man came and how this
teacher and Lord in John 13 related to them and how he served them,
how he came to serve them. The setting is one of a dispute. We want to know, Lord, who is
the greatest among us. And we may not think that we
would do such a thing. But listen, it is in our fallen
nature to to glorify ourselves in whatever,
in so many different ways. We tend to do that. God forbid,
it's a possibility that we even preach for that purpose. And it's always something that
we have to deal with. But brothers and sisters, that
is the setting that they were dealing with. Who is the greatest among us? Notice how Christ gently washed
them, how he dealt with them. Now I want to just get into the
text a little bit here. specifically the Greek word that
is translated here for wash. And I don't want to bore you
with, but it is important for us to get the details here, that
the Greek word translated wash here, washed and washing, is
the word nipto. That is used in verses 5, where
he began to wash the disciples' feet. Verse 6, Lord, are you
washing my feet? In verse 8, you shall never wash
my feet. You shall never do that. And
then in verse 12, he had washed their feet. That's the word Nipto,
the Greek word, and it refers to a partial washing, as in the
hands or feet or maybe even the face. Now, when it comes to verse
10, have you noticed here in verse 10, Jesus said to them,
he who is, old King James, washed. The new King James says, he who
is bathed. That's a different Greek word.
It is the word lao. which means a complete bathing. There's a complete different
Greek word used in verse 10, and it's the only place here
in this account that that word lao is used. The other times
it's always nepto, where it's referring to a partial washing,
as in Exodus, I think it's Exodus, 28 or 30 where the the the command
for the priest was if you came into the temple Courtyard you
had to wash your hands and your feet before you began to serve
the Lord in in the capacity that the high priest was used to you
had to wash a Ceremonial washing washing your hands and your feet.
That's the that's the idea there. I But verse 10, there's a complete
bathing going on. Jesus said, but he said to him,
he who is bathed needs only to nip toe his feet. He needs only
to wash his feet. I believe this is a very helpful
understanding of this for us. And I have a, there's something
that occurred in our family many years ago. And actually, in 2002,
Joanne and I took our four boys at that time on an extended Western
trip. And we did a lot of tent camping. And so we came to Yellowstone
National Park And it was a super dry time of the year. And there
was like an inch and a half to two inches of dust everywhere
that we were wanting to tent camp. And we had four little
boys at that time, 2002. And we tried every evening to
take them to the bathhouse, you know. Well, the idea here is
bathing. We took them to the bathhouse,
but we literally drove the car up to the bathhouse, loaded them
in the car, drove them back to the campground, packed them all
into the tent, so that if they walked through the inch and a
half, two inches of dust, they would have soiled all their bedclothes.
and all their bedding so we packed him literally into the tent because
he who is washed is altogether clean but when we go out here
and walk through the dust you see Now his feet need washing. That's the different kind of
washing. If you go to the public bathing
house and you get bathed, you're completely clean. But when you
arrive back at your house, you have just defiled your feet again. Now you need to have your feet
washed. That's the difference here. The
one is a complete bathing, the other is a partial bathing. Bathed in verse 10 is Titus 3.5. That's the idea of, and I'll
read that for you. Titus 3.5 is this washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Notice what
he says, breaking into here. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, in other words, It says, verse 3, For
we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. But when the kindness and love
of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by Washing our
feet, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us through what? The washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Spirit. That is that complete washing
that Christ is talking about here in verse 10. Listen, notice
what this beautiful verse says in verse 10, this beautiful truth.
Jesus said to them, he who is bathed needs only to wash his
feet, but is completely clean. Hey, did you catch that when
we read this at first? Do you know that in the eyes
of the Lord, we are completely clean. That is a glorious truth
for us. We are completely clean brothers
and sisters. He who is bathed, or he who has
been washed, has this renewing of the Holy Spirit, this washing
of regeneration. That is what it means to be regenerated,
is to be made new, to be regenerated. Generated again. As we were when we were first
created. So, bathed in verse 10 is that
passage in Titus 3, 5. Justification and positional
sanctification. That's what we're talking about
in verse 10. A one time to be instantly, instantly separated
from the penalty of sin. That's the reality, brothers
and sisters, of being cleaned. You're clean. It's a instantaneous
separation from the penalty of our sin. That is justification
and positional sanctification. The washing of feet in verse
10 now, when it says here, He only needs to wash his feet. The washing of feet in verse
10 is Ephesians 5, 25 through 27. If you would flip back to
that. I want to show you this, Ephesians
5, 25 through 27. Husbands, love your wives just
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Verse 26, that he might sanctify
That word sanctify is to set apart. That he might set it apart,
that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she
should be holy and without blemish. That is the washing of feet. This is now a personal or practical
sanctification. We have it in John 17, 17. Sanctify
them through thy word. Sanctify them by your truth,
rather. Your word is truth. John 17,
17. Sanctification by the washing
of water by the word. Now listen in John 1, the same
writer in John 1, I'm sorry, 1 John 1, in verse 7, it says
this way, But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ's Son cleanses us from all sin. A cleansing
as we walk in the light. You see, There is this concept
here of needing to be refreshed, to keep our feet clean. If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Now, I believe He is teaching
us here in 1 John how that our fellowship is maintained as believers. How that we relate to one another. We have fellowship, how? One
with another, you see. This concept of foot washing,
what Jesus is teaching in John 13, is how do we live together? How do we fellowship together? How do we maintain our fellowship
with Christ? Even in a corporate setting together,
you see. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My little children,
these things I write to you so that you may not sin. You see,
there's this concept of we are his children, but we still do
sin, don't we? Sadly, we do. But he writes this so that we
may not sin, yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with
the Father Jesus Christ to righteous. And so, Personal holiness is one of the
reasons that you're still here Why doesn't he just convert us
and take us To glory Well, he's preparing us for glory
That's what he's doing. He's getting us ready for that
and so that is one of the reasons why we are still in this world
believer and personal holiness, to be gradually separated from
the pollution of sin, not the penalty, because you will never
be delivered from the penalty of sin through sanctification,
through your exercising your works. That's not what we're
talking about. But here, To be gradually separated
from the pollution of sin, that is practical sanctification. That is personal holiness. That
is personal sanctification. Because you have a positional
sanctification where you've been set apart by Christ. You are
His. But your life is not very salvaged
yet, is it? Not always. Especially not as
young believers. Our lives need a lot of salvaging. We need our headlights changed.
We need a new hood. We need a new set of tires, you
see. That doesn't change the fact
that he has the title. He owns us. But personal and
practical sanctification is what Jesus is teaching here in John
13. Here in relation to having your feet washed. I am leaving,
Jesus says, my love for you is of such a nature that I will
tell you, I will show you how you can maintain our fellowship. Not just with me, but with each
other as well. Sanctification is the process
by which the pollution of our sin is gradually washed out of
our lives. Justification is the process
or is the happening of delivering us from the penalty of our sin. This is speaking more about the
pollution of our sin. Sin pollutes us. And so this
sanctification is that daily washing, that cleansing that
must go on in our lives. It's that practical sanctification. And Peter literally had to learn
what this humility is. Humility is not condemning what
we don't understand. Isn't that what Peter did here?
He said, wait a minute, you're not washing my feet. But as soon
as Jesus said, oh, if I don't, You can't have part with me.
He said, well, let's just go all in then. Let's just go ahead
and let's get a bath. And then Christ taught him what
was needed here. And notice, if you remember,
Peter writes later, be clothed with humility. You see, Jesus had said in verse
seven, You will understand this later,
Peter. Trust me. But Peter thought he knew better
than Jesus. Now, there were a few different
thoughts on verse eight, where Peter said to him, you shall
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not
wash you, you have no part with me. Now that is still the word
nepto, I believe. If I do not wash you, you have
no part with me. I believe what this is teaching
is not that Peter didn't believe or didn't belong to Christ, it's
that there's not going to be fellowship if you don't let me
wash your feet. And I think this is an application
for us, brothers and sisters, is that What contacts the earth or the
world that we live in? In a spiritual sense here, if
you are walking through dust, it is your feet that are making
the contact. You are making contact with the
world or with the earth and your feet need to be washed. And it's
the same way with us spiritually, brothers. As we walk through
this world, our feet come in contact with its defilement.
We know this to be true. We underestimate what gathering
together in a corporate environment... Okay, can you wash your own feet?
Not in this sense. I do not believe you can wash
your own feet in this sense. There is a sanctifying effect
of brothers and sisters coming together and corporately we are
worshiping. Time and time again, this has
been our experience, has it not? We come to a Sunday morning gathering,
a Sunday morning worship, the meeting of God's people, and
we are invigorated. We are cleansed, brothers and
sisters. The same thing happens on Wednesday
evening. We gather together in a corporate
environment and the Word of God is that washing influence. And we as brothers and sisters,
we engage one another and we talk about the things of God
in these corporate settings. And we don't realize that what
we're doing is we're washing away the influence of the world
that we've gathered throughout the week. We're washing one another's
feet. We're blessing one another. We
are literally getting rid of the grime that is coming into
our lives as we live in this world. There's no avoiding it,
brothers and sisters. You can't walk through this world
without getting your feet a little dirty. But once you are clean, you're
clean, you see. We come from this glorious place
of being clean. And we fellowship together in
the glory of our cleanliness. But we know that the grime of
this world is affecting us, and it does pull us down. It does
greatly influence our fellowship. Our fellowship with Christ is
greatly influenced by the worldliness that is in
our lives. I want to ask you, do you recognize
that? Do you recognize that? Do you
recognize the importance of the corporate work of the church
or two brothers talking about the things of God? How that is
literally pushing back on the influence of Satan, of the world,
even of your own flesh and blood, your own flesh that is still
unredeemed, See, this is one of the reasons
why the writer of Hebrews says that we're not to forsake the
assembling of ourselves together, but we're to exhort one another.
As we see the day approaching, we're to exhort one another daily. Let me ask you, do you recognize
What is worldly influence and what is feet washing? Do we recognize the difference?
Do we recognize that as we engage out here in the world, we become
entangled with some things? But listen, we need to be engaged
with one another here. washing one another's feet as
Christ did this for the disciples. Are we keeping our feet clean?
Are we doing that? Or are we constantly wading through
the muck and the mud of this world? We do that a lot. You know, we have this thing
that we pack with us. It can't be used, I think, to
some extent, to cleanse. But most of the time, that computer
that we pack along with us, it's, on a very personal level, it
is sullying our feet. Maybe not always. Maybe not always. Let me challenge each of us to
consider what are we doing that is getting our feet dirty? What
are we doing to cleanse our feet? To come together and wash one
another's feet? Jesus says in verse 12, in this
last section, so when he had washed their feet, taken his
garments, and sat down again, he said to them, do you know
what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you
say, well, for so I am. For so I am. Notice that he doesn't
make any bones about that, does he? I am that. He says, if I then your Lord and teacher
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
You should be ashamed of yourselves, as he says there, as he implies
in a sense, that you were arguing over who was the greatest. And
you were embarrassed that I needed to be the one to wash your feet
because I am your Lord and teacher. Well, you ought also to wash
one another's feet if I did it. For if I have given you an example
that you should do as I have done to you, most assuredly I
say to you, a servant is not greater than his master. You
should be just as willing, he says, to serve one another as
you are to serve your master, nor is he who is sent greater
than he who sent him. So we have a great lesson here
given to us by Christ. I have given you an example.
I do not believe that we make sacraments out of examples. I
mean, we have people who literally make this a sacrament, that you
must observe this. The spiritual teaching is that
we wash one another's feet, we minister to one another, and
we deliver one another from the world in us that wants to hang
on to each of us. That is how we minister this
principle to one another. If you know these things, this
is the way our text ends, if you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them. You know, it doesn't help to
know them unless you apply them. We sang this hymn this morning,
Blessed Assurance, and the second line goes like this, Perfect submission. Perfect delight. And that's what Jesus is teaching
here. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
There's a happiness. There's a state of happiness.
That's the word here. Happy are you if you do them.
That's the same word that's in the Beatitudes. Blessed. It's
this place of blessing is this place of obedience. Perfect submission,
perfect delight. And so we have this great exhortation
here to serve each other. How can you meet this principle
in the lives of this congregation? Is someone struggling? Do you
know if somebody's struggling with whatever? You come alongside
of them and you encourage them. Maybe you take a meal, maybe
you help somebody out with a job or whatever it is. There's ample
opportunity for us as we know and get to know each other and
are in each other's lives that we can apply this principle to
wash one another's feet. And of course we have a great
lesson here on leadership. Leadership, Christ indeed was
their Lord and their teacher. If I, then your Lord and teacher,
have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet.
You know, a servant leader, that's what we're called to, to lead
by service. to pour out our lives in service,
whatever that is for the good of another. Whatever that is
for the good of another. That doesn't mean that just Chris
and I are supposed to do this. That is how the church relates
to one another. But indeed, this is the kind
of leader that you want, is a servant leader. You know, a servant leader
must not say go, but he must say come. You see, come, that
he would not ask you to do something that he's unwilling to do himself.
Christ showed this to them, didn't he? The meanest, most menial
task of washing the grime off somebody's feet. He did this,
and then he says, you should do likewise. You see, come, come
to this, join me in this. Servant leadership. Happy are you if you do this. You see, most times we trouble our own
spirit. We're troubled because we're
not doing what we're called to do. I want to close quickly here
with a reading out of John 15, and we'll just close with this
passage. John 15, verse nine. Just consider what he says here,
John 15, nine and following. As the father loved me, I also
have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep
my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept
my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things
I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that
your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you
love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one
than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are
my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I
call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master
is doing. But I have called you friends for all things that I've
heard from my father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I
chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father
in my name, he may give you. These things I command you, that
you love one another. Thank you for your kind attention,
and we'll close with those words.
Christ Loves His Own
Series John's Gospel of Jesus Christ
| Sermon ID | 317241713374257 |
| Duration | 57:40 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | John 13:1-17 |
| Language | English |
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