We open the scriptures this evening to John 13. John 13. Our text is going to be found in verses 12 through 17 of this chapter. And we'll read the first 17 verses as well. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of the world unto the Father, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put 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 was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every wit, and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him, therefore said he, ye are not all clean. And now here starts our text tonight. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have done to you? ye call me master and Lord, and ye say, well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. This far we read God's Word tonight. As I mentioned, our text is found in verses 12 through 17 of this chapter. It was Thursday of the Passion Week. Two days had passed since Jesus had heard the reassuring voice of God that spoke to him from heaven. It was now Thursday evening before Christ's death on the cross. The events of this night began a long, painful series of events that would ultimately lead to Christ's crucifixion. Jesus had now assembled with his disciples in the upper room of a particular house in the city of Jerusalem. The occasion of this meeting was to celebrate the Passover feast, where they ate of the slaughtered lamb and the bitter herbs and spices. The disciples had already seen to it that the meal was prepared. Now Jesus sat down with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. The Passover feast was kept every year by the nation of Israel ever since the nation had left the land of Egypt and had been delivered from its bondage. The purpose of that feast was twofold. First of all, it served as a reminder to God's people in the Old Testament of what had taken place at the time of Israel's deliverance from the land of Egypt. On the eve of the nation's deliverance, God had sent forth an angel, and that angel had entered into the houses of the Egyptians and had slain the firstborn. God had commanded His people at that time to take a lamb, kill it, and then spread its blood on the doorposts of their houses. When that angel of death therefore came and saw the blood on their door posts, we find that the angel of death passed over those houses, entering into the houses of those who were not covered in the blood to slay their firstborn. The second purpose of the Passover was to remind the people of Israel that their Messiah was coming. And that when their Messiah came, He would deliver them from bondage too, just as they had been delivered from the bondage of Egypt. But that He would deliver them from the bondage of sin, and He would accomplish that by means of the shedding of His blood. When he would shed his blood, then he would cover God's people so that the angel of death would not or would pass over us as it did the children of Israel. So it was important now that Jesus and his disciples celebrated together that Passover feast, because by celebrating that together, Christ indeed fulfilled now the ceremonies of that Old Testament feast. So, we find Jesus dining together now with his disciples in this upper room. In that room, several events worthy of note took place. The first of them probably was that of this foot washing. The second event that took place was that Jesus dismissed Judas Iscariot from the meeting and he rather quickly now went to the Sanhedrin in order to betray Jesus to them. And then the third event was that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper for the benefit of his New Testament church, a sacrament which now took the place also of that Old Testament Passover feast. John alone is the one that calls our attention to this foot washing. And for that reason we ought to see the importance of this particular event being listed among the other events. We've already noted that John in his Gospel account is out to prove that Jesus Christ is in fact the Messiah who is the Son of God. And we certainly may not overlook that in the event that we consider tonight. because in it really rests the gospel that we speak of this evening. Christ is our Lord and our master who leaves us an example to follow as his servants. And we contemplate now that valuable example that Jesus Christ has left for you and me. We do so under the theme, washing one another's feet. In the first place, we want to consider our master. and what He did. Secondly, we want to consider the servant and what we as servants are called upon to do. And then finally, the blessing, the fact that we are happy when we do these things. In verse 12 of our text tonight, we find the occasion now for the instruction that Jesus gives in this washing of His disciples' feet. We read there, in verse 12, so after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Now, that, of course, has reference to the washing of his disciples' feet that we learn of in verses four and five of this chapter. We read there, he rises from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. After that, he pours water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Evidently the supper had already begun, and Jesus stood up and removed his garments. That simply means that he removed his girdle and his outward robe, rather flowy robe that would get in the way of this particular act, and he set those garments aside. He took a linen apron, tied it around himself, He filled a large basin with water and then proceeded to go to each one of his disciples and wash their feet. That was possible, of course, because, as we mentioned in another sermon, those disciples reclined on couches and those couches were rather short and their feet conveniently extended off the end of those couches so he could put the basin under their feet, wash them and let the water drip into the basin, and then dry them with that apron. One wonders why none of the disciples jumped up and said, Lord, let me assist you in this particular work that you're doing. And that they would have done that long before Peter, when Jesus came to Peter, said what he said concerning Jesus. They simply lay on their couches, perhaps a little bit befuddled, watching Jesus' actions without saying a word. Perhaps they thought Jesus had a purpose in all of this, which He did. And they were waiting at this point to hear the instruction that Jesus was going to teach them. We ought to take note, people of God, that this task of washing the feet of another was certainly not a task that the householder would perform when he had guests over. It was a menial task. And he would usually appoint a servant of his household to perform that task. would one who was superior wash the feet of one who was inferior to him. As was typical, Peter said something immediately when Jesus came to his feet. He withdrew his feet and he told Jesus that Jesus would never wash his feet. Jesus had to remind Peter that it was necessary for him to wash his feet or he had no part with Jesus. And impetuously, Peter responded, okay, Lord, then don't just wash my feet, but wash my hands and my head too. And Peter or Jesus explains in the words that he said back to Peter, the significance of this, that is that all I need to do is wash your feet because this is a sign of me washing you in my blood." And he could explain, then, the whole idea of being washed in his blood. We're not going to get into that, obviously, tonight, because it doesn't have anything to do with the words that we're considering. After his discourse with Peter, we read what we do in verse 12 of our text. Took off the apron, probably laid that to the side, put his outer garments back on again, went and sat down, and said the important words to them. Know ye what I have done unto you? Take a look now. Take note of what I have done to you. Now let me teach you about that. After asking that question, Jesus proceeds then to the important instruction that He gives in the discourse that we have before us with His disciples. Jesus points to the fact that His disciples commonly addressed Him as Lord and Master, and that they confessed that to others as well. Jesus was their Lord and Master. Although these were common terms that other disciples, because there were other bands of disciples who followed their teachers around in Israel too, although these were common terms that other disciples probably used to address their own particular leaders, Jesus is quick to point out to his disciples the significance of these titles. Is that what you call me? Ye say, well, for so I am. I am master and teacher. And Jesus points out when he says that, that the disciples addressed him as such because he was truly, in all respects, the Lord and the master. As the divine Son of God, first of all, Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord. As God's Son, Christ rules and he governs, not just this little band of disciples, but he rules and governs over all of the world. He's God after all. By his grace, by his spirit, Christ rules in the hearts of his people. those whom he has saved. And he rules in them in such a way that they walk in obedience to his word and to his commandments. So Christ is Lord. He's our Lord. He rules over our hearts as our Lord. And he had to point that out to his disciples as well. Equally, as that Son of God, he rules over all the world. Doesn't rule over all the world now in His grace and in His love, but now He rules over all the world in His power, in His might, so that none can thwart the will of Jesus Christ. He's God after all, and He is Lord over all to the glory of the Father. Now that in the first place. But Jesus' disciples were also correct when they called Him by the title of Master. That, too, refers to Christ's title as the Messiah. We find, first of all, that Christ is indeed Lord, that is, He belongs to the office of King. But Christ also belongs to the office of Prophet. Christ is our Chief Prophet. And literally, that term master here in our text means teacher. I'm reminded of what the Heidelberg Catechism teaches us with regards to this particular office that Christ held. He is ordained of God, the Catechism says, to be our chief prophet and teacher. who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption. While on earth, Christ taught His people of sin and salvation. He condemned the errors of the Pharisees, the work righteousness of the Pharisees. He taught of a righteousness that was freely imputed to God's people in God's grace. And he taught, therefore, of his own impending death and resurrection. He taught the people concerning his glorious heavenly kingdom, what it was, who belonged to it, what governed that kingdom. So he taught that while he was our prophet or teacher or master here on earth. But while in heaven, Jesus remains our eternal prophet, who yet reveals to you and to me today, his church today, that full counsel of God regarding our salvation. He gives to us his word. He sends forth the Spirit that dwells now in the hearts of His people. And that Spirit and that Word teach you and me regarding our salvation. We learn there of Christ's Kingdom, what it is. who belongs to it, what laws govern that kingdom. We learn there concerning our sin and our need of salvation. We learn there of justification in the blood of Jesus Christ alone and by faith alone. He teaches us today by his word and through his spirit in our hearts what manner of persons we ought to be in all righteousness and holiness. Further, we may not overlook that Jesus speaks to his disciples in a very personal way in verse 14. I am your Lord and Master. Christ is our Lord and Master, saints of God. Now I know he was speaking of this in the first instance to his disciples, telling them that he was their Lord and Master. But after all, we're disciples of Christ too, aren't we? We're followers of Christ too. We're servants to do the will of our Lord and Master as well. And when he says to them, I am your Lord and Master, that's what he says to you. and to me today too, and everything that I teach you, my disciples, regarding sin and salvation and my kingdom includes you today, together with all of my church of all ages." What a reassuring word that Christ teaches us, simply, mind you, by saying to us, I'm your Lord and I'm your Master. Now, we've established that truth. Christ has established that truth. The exalted Lord, who reigns over all in his majesty and teaches us by his spirit, now says to us as disciples, it's time that you learn to follow my example. Jesus says in verses 14 and 15 now of our text tonight, If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. This highly exalted King and teacher stooped to men of low degree, the superior stooped to the inferior, and with his own hands he washed the feet of each one of his disciples, his students. That was an act, beloved saints, of condescension on the part of Jesus Christ. But consider more. The divine Son of God who has come now in our human flesh One who knew no sin, who was perfectly holy and righteous God humbled himself so low that he washed the feet of sinners. That's condescension. That's humility. And this humility belongs to the very mind of Jesus Christ. This is Christ's mind. And we say that because the Apostle Paul points that out to us in Philippians 2. We had reason to refer to this a couple of weeks ago. We do so again tonight. There he writes in verses 5 through 8, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." What Paul writes here in Philippians, we see the ultimate act of humility, of which this part was but just an example. Christ, who was God, stooped so low that he was born into our human flesh. The sinless one came to dwell among sinners. Can you imagine once Can you imagine once what it must have been like for Jesus, who had no sin, the divine Son of God, actually coming down into the midst of this wicked world and dwelling with a bunch of filthy sinners. Can you imagine what that must have been like for Jesus? The divine Son of God came to this earth and suffered willingly under the reproach of puny man. And likewise, He suffered under the wrath of God against sins that He did not even commit. You talk about humility. You talk about stooping low. and condescending to men of low degree. Unfair, we would say, if that happened to us. Not fair at all. But Christ came to do the will of his Father, and he humbled himself low in order to accomplish our salvation. I say that's humility. And we ought not to overlook the fact that that was done, people of God, out of a profound love for His brothers. Christ died for us when we were yet enemies. He died for sinners who in our own sin would nail Him to the tree. He died for us who'd nail Him to the tree. He died because no greater love has any man than that he lay down his life for his brothers. And that minor act of washing the disciples' feet was nothing in comparison to what Christ has done for you and for me in our lives. Now Christ says to us, I've given you an example that you should follow. Do as I've done to you. I've washed your feet. Wash one another's feet. There's our master. Jesus adds to this instruction that he gives to his disciples also what he says now for us in verse 16. Verily, verily, I say unto you, and that, when he says verily, verily, or amen, amen, I say unto you, then that means I have now a particular truth that I'm going to teach you that is very important. And I want you to take note of this. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. We, you and I, are Christ's servants. Again, I know Jesus was addressing His disciples here in the first instance. They were His servants. He was their Lord. But once again, does not that same relationship exist between you and me and our Savior? We are those disciples of Jesus Christ. We therefore are the servants to do His will. Christ is the Lord of His church and you and I are members of that church. But let's consider once what it means to be servants of Jesus Christ. See, by means of our very salvation, you and I have become members of that body of Christ. We've been grafted into that body of Christ and we are his members. But let's not forget something, beloved saints. Christ isn't just a member of that body together with us, that's true too, but Christ is the head of that body. And just as our brain sends out the orders that control the rest of our body, so also Christ, as the head, is the Lord of His church, and He reigns over us. That's what it means to be servants of Jesus Christ. We've become partakers of His salvation. And how we rejoice in that. Certainly we rejoice in that. We've been delivered. We've been set free from the slavery of sin and Satan and have been grafted into that body of Jesus Christ, His church in this world. But that means this. We have been given the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is in us. And that means that what we read there in Philippians must be true of us. Humility ought to characterize you and me just as it does our head. Obedience to the will of our Lord, just as Christ willingly as the servant of God obeyed the will of his heavenly Father. We've become slaves. Oh, willing slaves, no doubt about it, but slaves of Christ to do His will. Well, now Christ says to you and to me this, if I wash the feet of others, so ought you also to wash one another's feet. A servant, after all, is not greater than his Lord. If I've done it, you have to do it. If I've set you forth, into this world to walk as witnesses of my name and to walk in holiness and obedience unto me, then you should be ready and willing to wash the feet of your fellow saints. The one sent is not greater than the one who has sent him into this world. So the question is, people of God, are you humble enough to wash the feet of your fellow saints?" No, no, no, children. The question is not really all that funny. I mean, when we start to visualize having to wash everybody else's feet in church, and it kind of goes through as gross. Kind of funny, isn't it, when you visualize that? But Christ wasn't joking. when he said this. He wasn't joking when he gave this particular commandment to his disciples. Perfectly serious are we willing to wash the feet of our fellow saints. Now quite obviously There's more that lies behind this command of Jesus than getting out a bowl of water and literally washing one another's feet. I mean, the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church maybe think that they're fulfilling this command when during the Lent season they have this big ceremony where they wash one another's feet. That's not what Jesus is talking about here. What Jesus requires of you and me goes far beyond a mere literal washing of someone's feet. Here's what Christ demands of you and me. Romans 12, verse 10. Be ye kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another. That's what Christ means. Our attitude toward our fellow saints must be that of humility, and our relationship with our fellow saints must be that of humility, but also a profound love, same as Christ has towards us. And in that we must be ready to esteem others more highly than ourselves. We are willing to put their name above our own name. In brotherly love, we must hold the brother and sister in the Lord in the highest honor, preferring them even above our own wants and desires. Now the question, are we ready to do that, beloved saints? Oh, sure. Sure, I can do that. But there's a... a few individuals in the church that I really wouldn't care to wash their feet. Because after all, I know them and they would surely not be willing to wash my feet either. Humility, meekness, kindness, If every member of the church practiced that toward the other members of the church, every one of them, no exceptions, every one of them, then washing another's feet wouldn't be all that hard to do, really wouldn't. But there is more, there's more, because we must also be willing to serve one another, not just to love each other with a profound love, and to regard our fellow saints in deepest humility. But we must be ready to serve the church and to serve one another as well. Look at the example of our Lord and our Master. He laid down His life for His sheep. And believe me, there were a lot of sheep that kick against the pricks. Every one of us, in fact, as His sheep would go astray. Christ laid down His life for sinners. We, who are so undeserving of what Christ has done for us. Christ gave of Himself to serve His people. And we certainly are not greater than our Lord. We ought to be willing to serve the Church. and to serve the fellow members and saints in the church. We can't become so caught up in our own individual lives and families. After all, it's true. We know that. We all have our own set of problems that we have to deal with in life. We have our own inadequacies that we know of that we have to deal with. At times we become We've become so busy and caught up in our own lives that we fail to spend any precious time serving the church, serving others in the church. At times there are families that need the help of other families. Plain and simple. It doesn't take a whole lot. Maybe bringing them a meal. maybe sending them a card or a little note, maybe going to speak to them personally and give them words of encouragement. We serve the church in the offices of the church. We also serve the church by laboring in the spread of the gospel. There are other tasks that can be done in the church as well. I look at our old building, right? There's all kinds of things that need to be fixed up on the church. And we're busy fixing up our own houses to make sure that our own houses are livable. And we're very, very busy in our lives so that we can earn enough to be able to make a living in this world. And first thing that gets neglected oftentimes is the church building. And you know what? The work of the church building doesn't really sit on the shoulders of one man or two or one woman or two. It's our task together in the church. Are we willing to serve the church? Are we willing to serve one another in our own individual needs? Those are just a number of practical examples, of course, that we can come up with at the time. But the point is, we're called to serve one another. We're called to do that cheerfully, not of a profound love for the church, profound love for one another. And again, I know, beloved, I know that that's easier said than done. I know that. I know we are all very busy in our own personal lives and it's not easy to serve everybody. It's not. But, here's a command of Jesus Christ to us. Here's my example. Follow my example. Here's my command to you. Serve one another in the church. And sometimes our failures to do so are not so much based upon how busy we are, but upon the attitude of our heart toward others in the church. We don't really wish to wash their feet. Not their feet. Not those dirty, grimy, ugly feet. I'm not ready to wash their feet. And we sometimes gain that attitude because, well, We're children of our world and our society. And the world around us is so horribly selfish. People think of themselves, I do this because I'm worth it. I have to take time out for myself. I have to leave my family so that I can take time out and I can do things for myself. I go into marriage not not expecting to serve my husband or serve my wife, I go into marriage and see what I can get out of that marriage. And if I can't get anything out of that marriage, then it ends up in divorce. That's the way our world thinks, you see. They're devoted to me, myself, and I. And, well, that can sometimes rub off, at least to a certain degree, on the Church of Jesus Christ. We think of self before others. We're worried about our own name before the names of others. And we're devoted to our own welfare and have no time to promote the honor and the welfare of our neighbor in the church. We're not quick to forgive others. We do not watch our tongues when speaking of others. It's all in us. It's all in our sinful flesh. And that's why Christ gives us the command that we have before us tonight. And it's for that reason he leaves us also with this example of foot washing. We don't have to follow the ways of the world. We're members of Christ. The mind of Christ is in us. Christ has performed a marvelous work in our hearts, saved us from the evil to which the world has given over, set free from that bondage of selfishness that we find in this world. Through the power of Christ's suffering and death on the cross, you and I have become unselfish. Spirit of our risen Lord dwells within our hearts, and as a result, by the power of Christ, we're able, we're willing to wash the feet of our fellow saints. Christ has made that possible. So we follow the example of our Lord and our Savior, and we serve one another. Here it is again. Verse 17 of the passage that we consider tonight. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. There it is, that word happiness again. Seems like we've confronted that throughout our whole series, hasn't it? On Christ's suffering. Happiness. Happiness. Joy. But Jesus says here, you know, that happiness, that joy is not ours unless we know these things that He has taught us. We have to know them. And the knowledge now of what Jesus speaks here in this passage is not a mere intellectual knowledge so that while we know about these things that Jesus tells us to do in our lives, the knowledge that Jesus means here is a deeply spiritual knowledge. It's the knowledge of faith. There can be no real joy, you know, in just knowing how to do these things, about these things, without really knowing what Jesus is talking about here to us tonight. Joy will be found only when we begin to understand now the point that Jesus is is getting across to you and to me as His people. This isn't some superficial thing that Jesus is talking about. Jesus says, verily, verily, I say unto you, here's something very, very important in the life of God's people. Serve one another in the church. Know what I mean. Appropriate that truth to your heart and to your soul. We joy in the truth that Christ has died for us. We joy in the truth that Christ has bound us to the body of Jesus Christ in this world. We joy in the truth that we are indeed members of one another and that we belong to the body of Christ. Well, Jesus said, if you know those things in your heart, then you ought to joy in this too, that you're ready and willing to serve each other in the church. Love that. Love that. and know these things, then you're going to find happiness. Ah yes, happiness. Not the superficial, frivolous, gaiety that we find in the world today that they like to call happiness. That's not the happiness we're talking about here. Happiness is the joy of salvation. A joy that we can have in our hearts even when we're crying over burdens in life. Because it's a happiness that's rooted in the peace that's in us, belonging to our Lord Jesus Christ. Profound peace in our hearts, contentment with life. That's the happiness that Jesus is talking about here. It's a joy, it's a joy, it's a happiness that's rooted in our salvation. When you know these things that I teach you, you will be happy in that knowledge. Oh, not just happy in that knowledge, but you will truly be happy in your life when you carry out that calling to serve one another in the church. Amen. Gracious and eternal Father again, we come before Thee, our God. We confess our own failures, our own sins in this regard. And we ask that Thou wilt forgive us in the blood of Christ, but that Thou wilt so work within us too that we might be Christ-like, that we might follow after the example that our Lord and our Master has left us to serve one another in the church, to love one another profoundly, to walk in all humility toward the brother and sister in the Lord. Wilt Thou grant to us Thy Spirit in our hearts, that we might indeed do that. And in this week to come too, may that word carry us through. Bless us now in thy grace. Be near unto us in our homeward way. Be near unto those who must travel long distances once again in this week to come to reach their homes and their destinations. We ask this for Jesus' sake, amen.