So not too long ago, we looked at the Sermon on the Plain in Luke, and we noticed that Jesus had made great demands of his people. Things like loving your enemy and being happy in difficult situations and not trusting in your riches and treating folks like you wanted to be treated yourself. And in this text that we're looking at today, not in Luke, we changed route a little bit today for the sake of the holiday, which today is being Palm Sunday or the day of the triumphal entering into Jerusalem. We're looking at that. But I often look at the Triumphal Entry, but, you know, not having a lot of meetings. Some churches will have a meeting, you know, Thursday and a meeting Friday and, you know, besides Sunday, on this week. And, you know, Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion, and Thursday, especially thought is given to Things that occurred before the crucifixion. Okay, and they call it Maundy Thursday. Okay, and What is this? Is it a Monday or Thursday? I was wondering Monday Thursday knows Maundy Thursday and What does that mean? Right? So maybe you There are a lot of English words, actually a few, that came from this Latin term. So, if you know that something's mandatory, it's required, right? Mandatory? Well, that comes from this mandi, mandatory, okay? Also, mandate. A mandate is an order or a command or a law. You've heard of unfunded mandates. The federal government, people complain that the federal government tells the states, well, you have to do this and this and this. And the states are like, where's the money going to come from for that? That's an unfunded mandate, okay? When the federal government tells the states they have to do something. I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, but just deferring to the terms, okay? So Maundy Thursday is a day of recalling to our minds the command, the mandate, the command that Jesus gave around this time of the week, okay? And it's in bold in your bulletin. So if you look at the first reading, page eight, which is the only reading, at the very bottom of page eight, it says, I'm giving you a new commandment, a mandate, okay? Look at that, it says manned in that word too, I never noticed that. Commandment, mandate, right? Monday, Thursday, okay? Monday, okay. Commandment, a new commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. So that's one of the purposes of the Thursday holiday, okay? So I thought we would just think about this part of scripture today since we don't really celebrate that and have a service on that day. So just looking at these scriptures here. So the title is Maundy Thursday. The title of the sermon is Maundy Thursday. And the scripture is John 13, 21 to 38, which we read. And just looking through here, through this text, starting in John 13, verse 21. Well, let's look at John 13. Okay. So, previously in this chapter, I love the verse, 13 verse 1, it says, Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And footnote in here says, or to the uttermost or eternally, you could translate it to the end zone. He loved them all the way to the, to the goal. Okay. Right. To the end, the carry the ball into the end zone. He didn't love them a little ways and then drop the ball. Okay. He loved them to the end. And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper. And then we see the record of the washing of the feet of the disciples. And Jesus washed their feet. There they are. in this upper room to take the Passover. And there was no servant there to wash their feet. This was a lowly job. People walked around in sandals. The roads were not paved like we have. I mean, there were some obviously cobblestone roads that the Romans built. and probably the Jews had built some and some of these are 2,000 years old still there amazingly but they still were dusty and no matter where you were and that's the main roads by the way most of the roads were not like that and so you get dirty and uh now your whole body might not be but surely your feet are and you come in and a servant is going to wash your feet for you well they didn't have a servant there so they didn't think Well, you know, I'll wash your feet and you can wash mine. They just went around with dirty feet. So Jesus said, I'm going to wash your feet. He poured water into the base and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with a towel with which he was girded. So he came to Simon Peter and he said to him, verse six, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter. Peter said to him, never shall you wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, he who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew the one who was betraying him. For this reason, he said, not all of you are clean. Well, so when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, because they, they would lie down to eat. They didn't sit up at a table with a chair. Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I, then the Lord and the teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I give you an example that you also should do as I did to you. And some say, well, therefore, we should wash each other's feet. And you can wash each other's feet if you like, but this isn't really a command to make that a ceremony that we observe, OK? But he's saying that we should do what it symbolizes, okay? For I give you an example that you should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen, but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me. Quoting from the Old Testament, Psalm 41.9 and verse 19, from now on I am telling you before it comes to pass so that when it does occur you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly I say to you, He who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. Jesus is alluding to the fact that he's leaving, because he said later on, let's see, where did he say that? He said, verse seven, What I do you do not realize now, but you'll understand hereafter." Okay, so he's alluding to this idea that he's not going to be there. Pretty soon, they will either understand after he leaves what he did. So now he's being troubled in spirit, okay, because of these ideas in his mind. So when Jesus had said this, he became troubled in spirit. Okay, verse 21. So we're in our text now. Truly, truly, I say to you. And by the way, when it says truly, truly, that's just the Greek words, amen, amen. It says, if you look in the Greek, it says, amen, amen. That's what it says. So when you say amen, you're saying truth, truth, truth. I say to you that one of you will betray me. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know which one he was speaking. Lying back on Jesus's chest was one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Who's that? John, very good. And we're reading from the book of John. And in the book of John, instead of John calling himself me, or I, or John, he calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. Isn't that nice? I'm the disciple whom Jesus loved. And he was, they were all around this table taking the Lord's, taking the Passover, eating a meal, and John was leaning back on Jesus' chest. So he's the disciple whom Jesus loves. So Simon Peter nodded to John, to this disciple. Hey John, John, tell us who it is of whom he is speaking. You're the one lying on Jesus's chest. Who's he talking about? Who is going to betray Jesus? He then simply leaned back on Jesus' chest and said to him, Lord, who is it? So John does that. Jesus then answers. By the way, if you notice in the bulletin, there's an asterisk near a lot of words, okay? And you probably wonder, why is that asterisk there? Do you all remember what that means? It just means that they put in the past tense But actually, it's the present tense. Okay? So it actually says, Jesus then answers, not answered. In proper English, we would say answered. So one of the rules of translating into English is they put it in proper English. But in incorrect English, we commonly use the same thing they do in the Greek. In common English, we'll say, so I say to her, You don't say, so I said to her, we say, so I say to her, and she says to me, da, da, da, da, da. And so she said to me, we say, so she says to me, da, da, da, da. See we use the present tense even when we're speaking of the past. just like they do in the Greek. The Greek's the same, but they want to put it in proper English, so they put the past tense in there. But this version of the Bible is so precise, they want to let you know that they changed it, okay? So that's why they put the asterisk there. And when there's a italicized word, they want to let you know, that's for you understanding it better, they've added that word, okay? when it's italics. OK, so just so you know, that's why some are italics and some have an asterisk. So sometimes I read it in the present tense. Jesus then answers, that man is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread and give it to him. So when he dipped the piece of bread, he takes and gives it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. So we have to recognize. that, and later we see even more vividly, that Jesus is not trying to thwart this plan and plot against him. He's part and parcel of it in a way, and he knows who's doing it, and he gives Judas, the traitor, this piece of bread. And he says, that's the one who's going to betray me. And after this, Satan entered him, Judas. Therefore, Jesus says to him, what are you doing? I'm sorry, what you are doing, do it quickly. Now none of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose he had said this to him. For some were assuming, since Judas kept the money box, he's the treasurer, that Jesus was saying to him, buy the things we need for the feast, or else that he was to give some to the poor. So after receiving the piece of bread, he left immediately and it was night. You have to wonder, is it saying it was night merely because it was night or just because of the darkness of the events, you know? But at the same time, we call the crucifixion Good Friday because of all the good that came from it. But that doesn't change the fact that it was suffering and darkness, right? Therefore, when he had left, Jesus says, now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him immediately. Anyway, the bottom line is, as I've said many times, the greatest glory of God is his sovereign grace. And this is the day of the implementation of it, when God is glorifying himself in his sovereign grace. The Son is really, as I said, part and parcel of this plot to have Jesus crucified. He's sending out Judas. to go turn Jesus in. And so now God will be glorified as the one who's responsible for implementing the plan of his sovereign grace and getting it done. As Piper keeps saying in his book, seeing to it Seeing to it that it is accomplished. This word of see, Piper likes to mention that seeing is actually guaranteeing that it happens, seeing to it. And so he sees our path. God knows our path and sees our path. Well, he determines our path. He sees to it. He doesn't just see it. And so see to it, go do it. Do it quickly. And so in verse 31 and 32, God will be glorified as he has said to Moses, Moses said, show me your glory. Moses wanted to see God's glory way back in the Old Testament, way back when God was leading the people away from Egypt. And they were in the wilderness, and they were about to receive the Ten Commandments. And Moses was a little unsure about things, I guess, but he said, show me your glory. And God said, I will show you my hind parts, and after I pass by you, you will see my hind parts, and I will declare my glory before you. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. That's God's glory. When Moses says, show me your glory, God said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. God's glory is His sovereign grace. God's glory is that His grace isn't earned. His grace is freely given. God's grace is freely given. That's God's glory. That He loves people who don't deserve it. The people who were rejecting Him. The people who were running away. The people who were dead in sin. Me. The people who were in rebellion against Him. God Bringing to life dead sinners is God's glory. And this is the critical step when Jesus is crucified for our sin so that we may be forgiven and then saved. So God is glorifying himself in this act. Little children, verse 33, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for me just as I said to the Jews. Now I also say to you, Where I'm going, you cannot come. He's going to be crucified. They will not be at this time. And then the main text, verse 34, I'm giving you a new commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. And then Peter says, where are you going? And Peter's like, I can lay down my life for you." And he says, no, you'll deny me. Judas may be turning me in, traitor that he is, but you, will be a traitor too and deny that you even knew me. Let's go back to the verse, verse 34. I'm giving you a new commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. You know, the command to love isn't a new commandment, but the commandment to love as I have loved you, that's a new commandment. And he says, you're my disciples. You're learning of me. You're my disciple, my follower. You're in the group of people that say, oh, we want to do what you say. We worship you. We bow to you to do what you tell us to do. These people, you're my disciple if you have love for one another, like I have loved you. Like we read earlier in the chapter, or the previous chapter here, where he said he loved them to the end zone, all the way to the end. And he loved them when they were stupid, and he loved them when they were rebellious, and when they were sinful. He loved them. And as he had said in the Sermon on the Plain, he said, love your enemies, and love your neighbor as yourself, he said. What high standards did Jesus give us in this command, this mandate? This mandate. Well, you know, it's just something for us to consider. Are we loving the way Jesus loved us? We're not earning anything by doing it, but we're responding and saying, yes, I'm following you, Jesus. I see how you have loved. Now I am to love this way. Let's have a word of prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, thanks Lord for all that you've done in Jesus for us. May we love in the way he has loved. I hate to even ask it because it is a great command, high to attain, but something that you have commanded, you have mandated it. Lord, may we implement it. Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.