chapter 13 and the 15th verse. I have given you an example. Jesus is in the upper room. He will be celebrating the Passover and washing the disciples' feet in this chapter. The centerpiece of this chapter is the Lord kneeling down girding himself with a towel after laying aside his outer garments, pouring water into a basin, and washing his disciples' feet. As we move into Communion this afternoon and then towards Resurrection Sunday next Sunday, we start with here at the Gospel of John. For centuries, many Christians have seen this as a literal practice to follow, and many have done it over the centuries, and others see it as a lesson to be learned. Regardless, it is a lesson that we must learn. It is meaningless to go through The practice if we don't convey and learn the lessons that Jesus is teaching in what He did. So an example means something to follow, a pattern to model your life after. So this morning we want to look at the first three verses As we see in verse 4, the posture of Jesus bodily, John is going to unveil the posture of Jesus in his thinking and in his heart. What was he thinking when he kneeled down? Well, verses 1 through 3 give us a window to some degree of what was going on. And then we'll connect that with verses in this chapter as to how we're to follow his example and what he did physically, literally, but also in his thinking and in our thinking and what that means as it's played out in the life of the church. An example, the first example we look at is in verse one of chapter 13. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew he's knowing this, He's aware of this, he's comprehending this. He knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of the world unto the Father, rising from supper, laying aside his garments, girded himself with a towel, poured water in a basin, and washed the disciples' feet. John chapter 12 verse 27, Jesus says, now is my soul troubled, but what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Throughout the Gospels, there were times when the Pharisees and others tried to take him, tried to apprehend him, but they could not. And the writers of the Gospels would say, because his hour was not yet come, but now, The shadow that is cast over chapter 13 is the shadow of the crucifix. He, hours from now, from this writing, will be crucified, and he knows that his hour is come. Now, if he came to earth for this cause, then he came from God, from a very exalted position to a very low position. So our first example obviously as you see Jesus get very low before the disciples is his humility or his humiliation. There's one man in the Bible who is but a mere mortal man that suffered perhaps the greatest humiliation of any human being and his name was Nebuchadnezzar. He was a man that ruled over all kingdoms of the earth, but he became very low, to the point where he was eating grass like an ox. That's not figurative, that's what he did. His hair grew as feathers of an eagle, and his claws were like that, or his nails were like the bird's claws. Now his humiliation was so great because of his exaltation, which was so high. Now think about Christ. How much greater was his humiliation? the one whom Paul writes in Colossians. For by Him were all things created, both visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or powers, or principalities, or dominions. All things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. The exalted God came down to this hour by means of His humiliation. The humiliation of Christ speaks of his low condition, from his birth, to his occupation, to his parents, to where he slept, to suffering the wrath of God, and to being under the power of death for a short period of time. All of this speaks of his humiliation made under a woman, made under a law, the law, and he knew. He was aware. that he came for that hour, and yet he rises and washes the disciples' feet. Nebuchadnezzar was humiliated against his will. Jesus was willing. Nebuchadnezzar was humiliated so that he would know that God rules among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. that God is glorious, but Jesus was humiliated so that you would know the glory of God in Jesus Christ. And how can we talk about His humility in this example without talking about Philippians chapter two, which tells us what is humility and how it expressed itself, not only here in getting very low before the disciples and washing their creaturely created feet, but in His whole life was one of humility. Philippians 2, Paul would say, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but let each esteem others better than themselves. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now what was the mindset of Christ? Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God? Robbery means to seize something or grasp something like a robber would and clutch it and not let it go. So the meaning there is although he being God thought his equality with God, which he was and is equal with God, he didn't think it's something to be grasped, seized upon, and not let go. So what did he do? He made himself of no reputation. That word reputation means to empty oneself. How did the Son of God empty himself, not of his deity, Well, Paul tells us in the next phrase, and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. He emptied himself not by becoming other than God, but by taking on your likeness in every way except for sin. He took upon the form of a servant and he gave up the privilege of not being like you. He was not like you in any way. He's the uncreated God, but God came down and became like you. That is astounding. That is humiliation. That is as low as God could possibly go to be like me and to be like you. And then what did he do? He humbled himself. And that's Paul's point, that's the mindset that Paul says we should have. That is the example that Jesus wants these leaders, these foundational gifts of the church to learn or things will not go well in the churches they're associated with and in the church that you're associated with if we don't learn this lesson. He humbled himself and became obedient. Humility expresses itself in a humble submission and obedience to God, Jesus to His Father, and we to the Lordship of Christ. Notice, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Now, your obedience and mine is Probably not quite like that, is it? I mean, I'll be obedient when it's convenient and when it's in my pathway and when it's not on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, that's kind of my time, or when it doesn't get in the way of my family, or when I'm going to work and I can kind of do it in the pathway, but don't ask me to sacrifice in any way. Don't ask me to really give up something. Don't make obedience to be really costly. Sadly, that's my obedience and probably it's yours some of the time too, isn't it? He humbled himself unto death. When the cost was great, when the stakes were high, it cost him his life and he'll be obeyed unto death. And then Paul adds this, even the death of the cross. What great humility. for you and for me. The death of the cross means torture and shame. There was no greater torture on the planet, and probably since that time, that could be meted out. The whole point of crucifixion was excruciating torture. That was the point. You know, you could just kill somebody. No, they wanted to torture them. and they perfected it. And then the shame and the scoffing rue that endured, all part of His humiliation. Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient and now as part of His humiliation, this exalted great Savior, the One who rules all things by the Word of His power, gets down. on the dirt that he created, to the feet that he created and was sustaining, to the hearts that were pumping because of him and the breath they were breathing because of his agency and his supremacy and his deity. He gets down, girds himself, and gives them an example of his humility. For what purpose? We are to model the humility of Christ, not for redemptive purposes, but out of his redemption, we are to be humble servants. Now, the point of this chapter is, as you know, the apostles are not so humble, just like we're not sometimes. So as Peter begins, he comes, Jesus, he comes to Peter rather than verse six, and Peter says those words, this I'll wash my feet. Jesus answered and said, what I do now, thou knowest not, but hereafter you'll know. Maybe hereafter because he's going to explain it right after as he does, or hereafter, after the spirit comes at Pentecost. The point is, you lack understanding here, I'm going to give you this example and you will come to know it. So Peter says, in great humility, You're never gonna wash my feet. Jesus answered, if I don't, you have no part with me. Then Peter says, when you put it that way, not my feet only, but my head, my hands. Now here's the question, did Peter so quickly move from pride to humility? No, he did not. And I'm gonna show you why. And furthermore, what did Peter think when Jesus said, You have no part with me. And what did Jesus mean when he said, you have no part with me if I don't wash your feet? Now, niptoe is the word wash, so he just means literally washing your feet. That's exactly what he means. How is that to have no part with Jesus just because he doesn't wash his feet? All right. The first question, did Peter really move from pride, you're not gonna do that, to humility? Okay, I yield. He did not. And we know that from Mark 8.31, Mark 9.31, and Mark 10.33. There, in all three accounts of the Gospels, and you can find it in Matthew 2, Jesus clearly says to his apostles, we're going to Jerusalem. When I get there, I'm going to be mocked. They're going to spit on me. I'm going to suffer. And then I'm going to die and rise again the third day. In Mark 8, Peter takes Jesus and he rebukes him. Now the word rebuke means to admonish, and that's when you correct somebody. Peter's trying to correct the Lord of glory. Matthew says that he says these words, this shall not be unto you. This is not gonna happen. Jesus says, you get behind me, Satan, because you do not savor the things of God, but the things which be of men. Now, the word savor is an interesting word. It means to seek one's interest and one's advantage. What interest does Peter have here? What is the advantage? What is the part that Peter's after? The word part, incidentally, means this, a part assigned to someone, a lot, and a destiny. What role and part was Peter after? that was in his best interest, to his best advantage, that he would say to Jesus, you can't die, you're not gonna die. Well, Mark 9 will answer it. Jesus, they're passing through Galilee, they come to Capernaum, Jesus announces again on the way through Galilee, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna be killed, I'll raise again the third day. They didn't understand, and they didn't ask him. So when they get to Capernaum, Jesus says, what were you disputing about on the way? They held their peace because they were disputing on who would be the greatest in the kingdom. What is the part that Peter wants? What is his destiny? What does he think his destiny is gonna be? Greatness as a leader in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew chapter 10. Jesus again announces with no uncertain terms. I don't know how you could misunderstand that, right? Somebody says to you, I'm going to Jerusalem and I'm gonna die there. You may think they're crazy. You may think, what are you talking about? But the words are clear to understand. So right after he says that, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, these burly fishermen, come to Jesus. We would have something from you. What is it you want? We want one of us to sit on your right hand and your left hand when you come into your glory. Now question, what do you think James and John meant when they said, when you come into your glory? Do you think they meant death, burial, resurrection? No, they meant the glory of Israel under King David. Power, wealth, greatness. Greatness. What is the destiny that they're after? What is the part they want assigned to them? What is the lot that they want cast toward them? They want to be great. And when you want to be great, what do you do in Luke 22 when you're in this very upper room? You're having contention over who will be the greatest in the kingdom. No, the part that Peter wants, the destiny that he's after at this moment is a destiny of greatness. And Jesus in that context in Mark 10, He reverses and overturns the idea of greatness because Peter and the apostles have been witnessing the greatness of Roman occupation and rule and power and strength for years and now they can taste it. And Jesus says, you are going to be great, but it won't be like that. Peter is not yet humble like he should be. He loves Jesus. He's a follower of Jesus, but he has the mistaken idea that service means in the kingdom, service as an apostle means a kind of greatness. where you're sitting at the right and left hand of Jesus, the monarch, the king, who they think is gonna rule on earth with an over-realized eschatology. And beloved, we need to remember that. How is Jesus gonna rule on earth today? Through a band of crucified followers called the church. People that are not so special and not so great. but their greatness is reflected in the greatness of Jesus Christ. In other words, he's the great one. Now let's look again at what Peter says. Did Peter then move from a rebellious, self-centered kind of pride, you're not gonna do that, to a humility? No, he moves from a self-centered pride to a self-centered humility. Something like this. In a moment of confusion, a teenage son or daughter announces to the parents, I'll never make my bed again. Not doing it again. The parents, in their wisdom, announce, then you will have no part with us in the summer vacation. Furthermore, you will have no part in any activities for the summer. Furthermore, you will have no part in baseball or whatever sport you want to do for the summer. For which immediately, the son or the daughter says what? In that case, not my bed only, but my dresser, my closet, my bathroom. What just happened? Self-centered pride to a self-centered, self-serving kind of submission that's still pride. And that's where Peter is. What kind of humility do we have? this morning, a kind that's convenient, a kind of submission that serves our best interests, or a kind like Jesus that is sacrificial, one that comes low before His Lordship. And that's the point of what Jesus means by no part with me. What does Jesus mean? If I don't wash your feet, you'll have no part with me. He means you'll have no fellowship with me, you will have no relationship with me. How could that be the point with one instance of washing feet? Because Peter's proud. It's not about a particular instance. It's about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Look at what he says in verse 13. You call me Master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. But Peter is not in humble submission to Jesus as master and as his Lord, because humility works itself out in obedience. Not a self-serving kind of obedience, not rebuking the Lord, not saying to the Lord, you won't wash my feet, but a humble, glad submission under his Lordship, relationally, that works itself out in obedience. Relationally, horizontally. See, without humility, obedience is just when it serves my purpose, it's in my pathway, it's going to be to my advantage, rather than whatever the cost. I'm under the lordship of Christ, and he calls me to obey, and I willingly, lovingly submit to his obedience and his power. actually do what he says. Now I'm going to give you two examples of that in the Bible. Jesus, in Matthew 18.1, the apostles came and they say, Lord, who will be the grace in the kingdom? I mean, just come out and say it. We're no different than the apostles, are we? Jesus took a child. He called a child, set him in the midst, and said, except you be converted and come as this little child, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, will what? Humble themselves and become like little children shall be what? The greatest in the kingdom. So Jesus defines what he means by this little child by saying humility. So unless we're turning and converting, that's a present tense word, unless we're turning and becoming like little children, we don't get into the kingdom. Now typically we think of kingdom as castles, kings, soldiers, knights, and expanding the geography of the borders of the kingdom. Most of the time we should not think about expansion that way. We should think about the kingdom of God relationally. You should think of it as kingship. See? What is the basis of relation with the king of the kingdom? It's becoming like a little child. It's relational, it's dynamic, it's with him. So if you don't become like a little child, you don't have a relationship or a part with the king. Why? Because you're not submitting to the lordship of the king of the kingdom. And what did he say to the Jews? You yourself are thrust out of the kingdom. Why? They had no part with Christ because they would not yield to his lordship. So of all the things that Jesus wanted to teach about becoming a little child, we could say a submission, a dependence, two things in that text that really point to it. One, he called a child to come here. I don't know what he did, his voice, maybe he said, come here. Child walked right up to him. He set him in the midst. I don't know if he picked him up and put him there. The word set literally means to designate a place to occupy. And what did the child do? Occupied the place and didn't move as far as we can tell. What's Jesus saying? If he is Lord and master of your life, then your humility in relation to him who's so great will be like his humility. And he says, come, you come. And he says, occupy here and don't leave, you stay. And he says, go there, you go. That is just the simplicity of being under the lordship of Jesus Christ. It just means humble, submission, obedience. Not in order that we might become the children of God, but it lets everyone know we are in fact the children of God because we're under the loving care of a Lord and Master who loves us and gave Himself for us. And what would be the display in that little child's life of being under the care of such a great, mighty Master? When the child is well cared for, when they're content, we might even say when that child's happy. Why are you so happy? Just my parents, you know, they provide what I need, they take care of me. Your humble submission expresses that you're satisfied with your Master and Savior and all of His love to you, all of His care for you, and His rule over your life. A disobedient person expresses what? I'm proud, I'm not being humble. And of course, if Peter were to stay that way, then he has no part with Jesus. No part with Jesus. Do you have a part with Jesus? Do you have a relationship under His Lordship? He says, the servant's not greater than his Lord, neither is he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. He uses the plural. If we do what He says, He's the master, he's the Lord. John 15, you are my friends, if what? You do what I tell you. I'm a friend of Jesus. Are you doing what he says? That affirms your friendship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Secondly, we see an example of course of his love. Verse one again. When Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world into the Father, having loved His own, which were in the world, He loved them, His own, to the end. Idios is the Greek word for own. It means belonging to oneself. Who belongs to Jesus and how do you come to belong to Jesus? Because they're His own personal belonging, possession. John 15, Jesus says He chose them. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain. So that whatever you ask the Father in my name, it'll be given to you. Jesus chooses, they're His. The Father gives. to the Son. John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth to me shall come to me. That is not unclear language. It's hard language sometimes. I've had my time, but it is not unclear. It's very clear. John 10, my sheep hear my voice, my personal possess it. They're mine. How did you get them? My Father. My sheep, which they hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, I give them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, neither shall anybody pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one, united. What he gave me, I receive, and I will have them. John 17, 2, 6, 9, 11. I'm not gonna say them all. Write those down. Four times. They're mine. They're my own. I pray not for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given me, because they are thine. Possessive, possessive, possessive. So what does Jesus do to those that are his? rising from supper, lays aside his garments, took a towel, gird himself, pours water into a basin, and washes their feet. He loves, and a demonstration of his love is to give this lesson in a moment when the darkness was hovering. As He said in Luke 22, this is your hour and the power of darkness. Darkness was encroaching. But out of His great love, with the love of these disciples and those that are His, He gives us a great example of humility and out of that humility flows His love to us today. And Jesus says, we ought to wash one another's feet. We ought to follow His example of love. And you see this more clearly in verse 34 of John 13. Look at that verse. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, because you have love one to another, if you have love one to another. What is the badge of discipleship? You have a Bible. You got that fish on your license plate, maybe in your rear view mirror. There's a cross out there on our sign. That tells everybody, oh, those people are disciples of Jesus. No, it doesn't. If you have love to each other, then and only then, carry a Bible all you want, put crosses all over your body, It's when you have love one to another. And Jesus gives us the model, the example to follow, right? In fact, that's what makes it a new commandment. This is not a new commandment. It's very old. It's as old as Leviticus 19, 15. Thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. What's new about an old commandment? Well, there's a new power associated with it because by and large, the covenant community did not have the power to love. Only the remnant, because God had not given them a heart to perceive, eyes to see, or ears to hear, and to this day, He had not circumcised their heart to love Him. They could not love, no power. There's a new power, because all the members of the new covenant community have the power now. All of them will have it. But the main thing, there's a new aspect or a new feature to this love, and what is it? As I have loved you. Now you can see it in action. And when you see the love of Jesus in action, what's the shape that it takes? It takes the shape of a crucifix, of a cross. Now what does a cross mean to you when you see it around someone's neck or you see it on the sign out front? There's only one thing it means. You can't make it mean anything else. It means death, death. Jesus died to himself, he humbled himself to love others. You and I must do the same. It's going to cost us, beloved. We can't love. Look what he says in John 12 and verse 23, when the Greeks came and said, we would see Jesus, they told Philip, Philip tells Jesus, apparently they come and Jesus answered them with these words in verse 23, the hour is come that the son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground, and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Now Jesus is clearly talking about himself. He's the seed that will fall into the ground, and he will die, and out of his death and resurrection there will be a bountiful harvest of fruit, for which some of that is right here this morning, gloriously. But now Jesus says, you're a seed too. without even a transition in verse 25. Put your eyes on it. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto what? Life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall my servant be also. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. What's Jesus saying? You have to die also. No, your death is not redemptive. But you must fall into the ground, as it were, and die like Jesus did, if you're to love like Jesus did. And what is the principle at work? He that loves his life shall lose it. In Matthew it says, he that saves his life shall lose it. He that loses his life for my sake, the shame shall keep it. So Jesus uses the term love and hate here. To love one's life is to save it, to hang on it. It's to live life as one pleases. That characterizes our Western culture, doesn't it? I will live life as I please, as I want, as I see it. Because I love to live life on my terms. That's what I love. Well, you're gonna lose it. and you're going to lose it forever. Because Jesus says, if the keeping is unto eternal life, then what is the losing? Unto eternal life. I can't twist those words and try to make us feel good about them. It's just reality. If I live my life in total submission to myself, living life as I love it and as I see it, I'll perish forever. That's just reality. I need to die to something that I love. Now notice the qualification here. He that hates his life in this world. That is so key to what Jesus is saying. Because if you only hate your life in this world, you must love something in another world. You love the hope of where you're going. And you have, like Jesus, joy set before you. So you can endure the crosses and despise the shame and love like Jesus loved only by His power, imperfect as we are, and with many, many sinful ways attached to it. We understand that. But nevertheless, we're on a pathway of love. What has to happen? I've got to die, go into the ground and die to something that I love because I found something that is superior than what I was once living for. To hate your life doesn't mean to have the emotion of hatred toward yourself and your life. It means you are going to look like a fool to the world if you live like Jesus. I knew a man one time that was going to become a preacher. He had a great job. He was going to leave that job and go pastor church. And it was very clear he was going from a great salary to something wasn't so good. And he told me about this guy he talked to that said every word he could think of except saying, you are a fool. You are a complete and utter fool for doing that. He said he didn't use that word, but everything is like, why are you doing this? What's going on? Are you crazy? Was he a fool? Are you a fool? Reminds me of the words of Jim Elliot, he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he will never lose. Are you a fool to give up something that you're gonna give up? You're gonna give it up, friend. Not if you're giving it up, because you gain what you can never lose. And that's the love of Jesus Christ. How is your sacrificial love? See, if we looked at Jesus' love, we'd say it's a willing love. No one takes my life. I take it, I lay it down, I raise it up again. That's why my father loves me. You know, a love that's forced, that doesn't work, you know? Ephesians 5, so ought men to love their wives. You ought to love them. You go home and tell your wife, God says I ought to love you. I'm gonna do that. Something not right about that. Jesus was willing. He didn't expect anything in return. In fact, he says, you can't serve me, you can't pay, you can't give me anything back. And he says in Luke chapter six, if you love those who love you, what grace do you have? If you're just expecting something in return, that's not really love. So we love willingly, we love without expecting any return, and we love the undeserving because we're undeserving, right? Right here when he's loving, what are the apostles gonna do? They're proud, and in just a moment, They're going to scatter from Jesus like sheep scattered from a shepherd. And Peter is going to say, I tell you, I don't even know the man. And he curses. Yet Jesus kept loving the undeserving. Do you only love those that deserve it? Would you be the good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10 and find this man and say, well, he's probably on drugs. That's the problem here. He ought to know better than that. He doesn't even have a job, I bet. I'm not gonna help this guy. Is that what you reason with when somebody needs help? I'm not suggesting there's not swindlers and no questions, took him up, bound him, took him to the inn, paid the fare. See, if he has anything more that needs to be paid, I'll pay it when I come. He doesn't know the man from Adam. Sacrificial love is the example. The apostles need to be Living sacrificially. We need to be living sacrificially. The only way I can do that is I have to die to myself daily. I have to have a cruciform kind of love that remembers I have to die to something. Jesus calls me to die to something only because I'm living to something that is far better than a created thing. Really? I have to talk to myself sometimes, yeah. Michael Allen, you love this more than Jesus? Clay, it's nothing. You know, we have to wake ourselves up, right? See, beloved, we're crucified with Christ. We're in Christ. The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Or as Colossians 3.1 says, If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth, for you are dead to sin. And your life is hid with Christ and God. Your life is hid. with Christ and God. What that means is when Christ who is our life shall appear, you will appear with Him in glory, where there'll be joy and pleasure forever. Therefore, die to yourself. Or more specifically, kill sin. What's the basis of self-denial and killing sin? You're risen with Christ. You're in Him. You're hid in Him. And one day, gloriously, I don't know how it'll happen, the sky'll split, the trumpet shall sound, literal, figured out, I don't have it all figured out, I just know He's coming. And when He does, Psalm 16 says that there's joy and pleasure forever. You are no fool for sacrificial love because you're gaining a pleasure that'll go on forever and ever and ever. Jesus gives us an example through the washing of the saints' feet of his love for them, even when they didn't deserve it, even when they were full of pride, even when we don't deserve it. And that means you have to love me sometimes and I don't ever deserve it and vice versa, right? That's love. And that's what we're called to. Number three, it's obviously an example of service. We see this in verse three, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God, he rising from supper. What's the connection there? That's the most baffling to me. Why did John want us to know what Jesus was knowing in these three specifics and then rising? So I take that to mean he was cognizant and aware of this as he was going. to do this. This is the service that he calls us to. And it's the service that flows out of identity. Think about it. Identity is your sense of self and your sense of well-being. So here are the questions of identity. Who is Jesus? What is Jesus? And where's Jesus going? What is Jesus? He's sovereign ruler because the Father has given all things into his hands. That's what that expression means. Luke 10. Matthew 11, John 3. Everything has been put into the hands of Jesus to rule and to reign. He knows what he is, he's a king. He knows his identity, he's a king. Who is Jesus? He's God. He came from God. John chapter 3 unmistakably says he's from heaven. He's from above. He came down. He is God. He understands that. He knows that. He knows his identity. Where is he going? He's going back to God. No question. No doubt here. God is going to receive his work, and God is going to sit him at his own right hand. Now, out of this identity, what happens? He stands up. He grabs his robe. He fastens it. He puts on his crown, slides on his ring, and says, you wash your own feet. I'm a king. You see the point? He knows his identity's wrapped up in the Father. It's the Father that gave him all things. It's the Father that sent him, and it's the Father he's going to. Therefore, he rises up and gets down low and serves them. We don't understand that we are in Christ and our identities in Him, it's gonna mess up our service to one another. For example, if your identity and your well-being is being a good parent, you're in trouble. I've been in trouble. You know what that means? If your sense of identity is being a good parent, guess what, you gotta have good children. Where is this going? If your sense of well-being is that I'm a good parent, what happens when the children aren't good? You are angry, you are frustrated, and you're a control freak. You know why? Because your identity is being a good parent, and you can't be one if they're not good. Now what's the flip side? Oh, they are good. Now what? You take credit for their being good. Why? Your identity, your sense of who you are, and your well-being is, I am this, fill in the blank. Let's pick on me just a minute as a preacher. If I get my identity as a good preacher, guess what? You can't teach me anything. I'm supposed to know everything, so don't try to tell me anything. Some of you are thinking, yeah, I've had that experience with you a time or two, right? Or what happens if good preacher identity doesn't have a good sermon? I'm miserable to be with for a week. Don't ask her. Right? What's the problem? I'm trying to get my well-being from an identity that I can't get it from. I get it from Jesus. So if I preach a bad sermon, I go to Him and say, help me. But I'm in Him. You want to be a good husband? Is that your identity? You know that text in Ephesians 5. You're the head. You get a sense of well-being and who you are by being the head. So guess what? You're going to have dominion over your family because you are the head. You're going to squash, you're going to control your wife because you are the head. And we wonder why they're so miserable. Brother, you need to get a towel out, and gurge yourself, and pour water in, and start washing your wife's feet. Maybe you should do it literally, but you get the point, right? If your identity is in looking good, now what? You get one little pimple on your forehead, and you're wiped out. You can't go outside until you get that out. I get it. I hate pimples. Never mind. I just, I don't like them either. But is that how you get your sense of well-being and your looks? Then you spend too much? You dote on yourself? It's all about your faith, or what you drive, or something else. And they all let you down. Where are the apostles getting their identity? We want to be great, good apostles. Now what are they doing with the church if that continues? Angry, frustrated, controlling, strife and contention. It was already happening in this very room Jesus is in. Jesus is able to serve. He is a king. He is God. He was going and did go back to God, but he's able to get down at a very low place and wash their feet because he knows who he is. And it's all wrapped up in the Father. When we know our identity in Christ and we're in Him, it'll help us overcome the fear, the anger, the control, the manipulation, and the taking credit when things go well. And now we'll be able to serve our children, serve our wives, serve our husbands in the ways that God says we need to serve each other because we are washing one another's feet like Jesus and we understand who we are, where we're going, and what we are in Jesus Christ. And then lastly, it's obviously a lesson of forgiveness. Now we have to be careful here because Jesus doesn't have his feet washed. Yes, physically his feet were as dirty as anybody else's because he had sandals on and he had dust on them. The meaning here, he's not forgiven. You don't ever forgive God. He's never done anything wrong. In fact, if somebody ever suggests to you that you should forgive God, you just stop it right there. There is never, ever an occasion where you will forgive God. Beloved, he's done nothing wrong and he never will. But this forgiveness that's going to come from Jesus to the apostles, that then is gonna work out as they wash one another's feet, as they apply the lesson of forgiveness, is worked out in the two words, washed and wash. In verse, chapter 13, Jesus says, to Peter in response in verse 10. He that is washed, lu'o, full body washing, completely total, perfect passive verb. You didn't wash yourself and it's a completed action. You never have to take a bath again forever. It's over. except he needs to wash his feet. Nip toe is a partial body washing. You know when you wash that little kid in the bathtub, you just totally get every ounce of dirt off. They stand up, you wipe them off. As soon as you put them on the ground in your bathroom, what happens? They just got their feet dirty. I'm sorry, I don't care how clean your house is. Dust particles, something. Now you're gonna throw them back in the bathtub and give them a full body wash when they just need their feet washed. Jesus is saying something glorious here, beloved. You are clean, but not all. Judas Iscariot is not clean. The other apostles, how are these apostles going to be humble and loving and serving in the church of Jesus Christ? Because Jesus washed them, that's how. That's how you and I will ever, ever grow into being these kind of people in a church is because we've been washed, we've been justified, we've been sanctified by the blood of Christ. Isn't that the point of the Passover in verse one? Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus is not coming to celebrate the Passover, we get that, right? He's coming to be the Passover. Christ is our Passover lamb sacrifice for us. Exodus 12, the plagues have come, nine of them. And Israel has been exempted. It's darkness in the land of Egypt, it's light in Goshen. There's flies in Egypt, they're not in Goshen. There's cattle disease in Egypt, they are not diseased in Goshen until the 10th plague. And what does God say? The angel of death is gonna move through the whole land, including Goshen. Why were they exempted? Well, because the firstborn sons of Israel are far greater and better than the sons of Egypt. No, they are all idolaters. Israel is an idol-loving son. And now judgment's coming, and it's gonna pass through Israel. How can God, the God that said He will not acquit the guilty? You will never get off! You will not be acquitted! How can He acquit them? And be just. Take that lamb on the tenth day. Keep him to the fourteenth day. He's to have no spot and blemish. Maybe it took four days to look and see. Are there any splots? Are there any blemishes? A mature male of one year. Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God. It takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was a mature male. Early 30s. Jesus had no bones broken like the Lamb had no bones broken. Jesus is the blood that's applied figuratively there. How is it that the death angel didn't take the firstborn of the Israelites? Well, they better know. It's because the blood was applied on the doorpost and the lentils. and the lamb was eaten, which is a picture of faith. Beloved, when we take a communion and eat the bread and the wine, it's a symbol of Jesus in us. Now let me ask you, what would have happened if somebody was right, said, oh, we forgot to apply the blood? You know what would have happened? Death forever. The blood must be applied. You must be washed. How is that blood applied? Through faith in the Son of God. Without it, judgment comes. It must be applied. Born again, regenerated, united to Christ by faith, purified. And what do purified apostles do? They're humble. under the blood of Christ. They love because of God's unconditional love, and they are inflamed with a service. to one another. So much to the point that Peter in Acts chapter 5 is now rejoicing that he suffered shame for the cause of Christ. He was beaten. A proud apostle won't do that, but a humble apostle will. And James, the son of Zebedee in Acts chapter 12, lays his head down and gets it chopped off by Herod because he's a humble, loving, serving, forgiving, forgiving apostle. How were they so transformed? You are clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Beloved, are you washed in the blood of the lamb? What are you waiting for? Arise and be baptized and tell the world, I've been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, you're a great God. We are humbled at the humility of Christ. We are humbled by the great depths that you came in humble service at the call of your Father, the will of your Father. And you humbled yourself and obeyed unto death, even the death of the cross. And Lord, your great love that expressed itself through your life and in your death, where you paid the price to own those that were given to you. You will bring them. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. Lord, I pray, give us a stirring in our souls that we would have the kind of love you have, not redemptive love that it saves anybody, but the kind of love that seeks to be part of your salvation, knowing the blood must be applied, the gospel must be spread, and that through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, sinners come to the place of salvation. Lord, make us part of your great work. May we be humble, may we be loving, may we be serving, and may we be forgiving. We partake of this service this afternoon. May we be reminded that as we wash, we're saying we will seek forgiveness and we will ask for forgiveness, and we want to serve and love. as you have, only in the power of the cross, only for the glory of your name. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.