Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 24; The Servant King
Transcript
- Episode 24: Welcome everybody to Finding Jesus again. Today we are going to be looking at John chapter 13. Let's jump right into it. John chapter 13, starting verse one. Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who are in the world, he loved them to the end. First of all, the Passover is a feast that the Jewish people do every year to commemorate the deliverance from Egypt. So way back in early Old Testament in the book of Exodus, the Jewish people had moved down to Egypt and they had lived there for four hundred years. They had grew grew into a great numerous amount of people, but they had also become slaves in Egypt, and God delivered them from Egypt through signs and wonders. And so every year the Jewish people have a feast that's called Passover, and they celebrate the fact that they were delivered from Egypt. Jesus here is preparing to celebrate Passover. with his disciples, those whom he loved, he knows and understands that these are going to be his last moments that he is going to have with them, that he can share with them, that he can impart wisdom into them, and that he can show them how much he loves them. And it says here at the end of this verse that he loved them to the end. And it just goes to show that he really did care about his disciples and he was really close to them. Let's look at verse two. 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 handed all things over to him, and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper and laid his outer garments aside and took a towel and tied it around himself. So this these two verses here really lay a foundation for what's going to happen in the rest of this chapter. First of all, he begins by saying that Judas had already decided what he was going to do. Judas had already made up his mind. So as all this is taking Place. That's an interesting backdrop, is to know that Judas had already put it in his heart that he was going to betray Christ. So everything is taking place, that's in the back of his mind, what his plan is. Also, Jesus, knowing that the Father has handed all things over to him, that he has all the authority in earth and all the authority of heaven, knowing who he is, God, the Son of God, God Himself, the light of the world, the Word, the one who has been there from the beginning. He got up from supper and he laid his outer garment aside, and he took a towel and he tied it around himself. Verse five says, Then he poured water into the basin, and he began washing the disciples' feet and wiping them with the towel which he had tied around himself. So he came to Simon Peter, he said to him, Lord, you are washing my feet. Jesus answered and said to him, What am I doing? You do not realize right now, but you'll understand later. Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no place with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord didn't wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, otherwise he's completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you, for he knew the one who was betraying him, it was for this reason that he said not all of you are clean. Then when he had washed their feet and taken his garment and reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do you know what I've done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you're correct, for so I am. So if I the Lord and the teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I give you an example so that you would do just as I did for 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'm not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen and But this is happening so that the scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats my bread has lifted up his hill against me. From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who receives anyone I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives him who sent me. So Jesus washed their feet. The Son of God, God himself, took a towel and he knelt down and he washed. their feet. He washed all their feet. He washed Judas's feet. Imagine that. Imagine the the things that might have been going through Judas's mind while Jesus is washing his feet. While Judas in his mind knows that he's going to betray Jesus, that he's going to give him over to the Romans to to be killed, the things that might be going through his mind as Jesus is there washing his feet. We can only imagine he might have been thinking Well, this is why I'm giving you to the Romans because you're supposed to be the Messiah and and look what you're doing, you're washing feet. Obviously he didn't understand what Jesus was there to do. Or maybe it was just greed. We know that he was greedy, we know that he loved the money. Maybe he just did it for the money. Well whatever it was, it's it's it's a very interesting dynamic that Judas knows what he is going to do, and Jesus also knows what he is going to do, but he chooses to wash his feet and serve him anyway. It just makes me think of all the people in the world that reject Christ, but Jesus died for them anyway. I think of all the people who will refuse to accept Christ. And Jesus knows that they will refuse to accept him, yet he died for them anyway. Yet he serves them anyway. Yet he washes their feet. Yet he gives all of himself for them because that's how much he loves. And during and during this act, Jesus shows us what true leadership is. He taught us what true love and what true service is, serving people. And he shows us that true greatness isn't how many people serve you, but how many people you serve. Jesus didn't have to wash their feet, but he did it to show them an example of what it means to be in service to God, what it means to be a leader. Because leadership is all about humbling yourself to serve others. And another important aspect of this is that when he got to Peter, Peter said, Jesus, are you gonna wash my feet? And Jesus said, Yes, I'm gonna wash your feet. And Peter said, No, I don't want you to wash my feet. it's it's very humbling to be served. It's very humbling to have your feet washed. I remember one time when I was getting my ordination in the church of God, I went to a camp meeting, and in camp meeting there's probably six, seven, eight hundred people there. And that night we were gonna have the ordination service and present me with my ordination papers. Well, the bishop at that time his name was Daryl Rice before service, he got with me and said, Hey, we're going to do something different tonight. I'm going to bring you up on stage and I'm going to wash your feet. And I said, Excuse me? He said, Yes, that's we're going to, I'm going to wash your feet in the middle of the service in front of everybody. And I was like, I don't know about that. And he said, Well, the proper answer is yes. And so reluctantly, I agreed. But it's humbling to have your feet washed. It's humbling to be served. It's humbling to accept help. It's humbling to receive a gift. But that's what Jesus teaches us here through the demonstration with Peter is that sometimes we have to serve and sometimes we have to be humble enough to be served, to receive. A lot of times I've had to teach people in my churches that I've led is when someone has tried to help them and they reject the help. I say, look, you have to learn To receive, you have to learn to be humble enough to be served. And so Jesus teaches us here two types of humility: the humility to serve and also the humility to be served. It's very two very important parts of being a leader and being a follower of Christ. So Jesus says here, he says, If I, the Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, then you should wash one another's feet. And he's not just talking about. washing the feet and serving the people of the community or or the people who are poor or the people who are need help. But really he's talking to his disciples here. He's saying, You disciples, you twelve, are to serve and love one another. And we know that there's been a lot of conflict in the twelve disciples of who's going to be first and who was going to be the leader and who was going to be in charge. And Jesus is very aware of that conflict. He's very aware of the the ambition or the competition That's going on between them. And he tells them, Look, here's the example that I want to leave you. And again, I want to emphasize that Jesus is about to give his life. These are some of the last things that he is going to be able to say to them. I have done this for you. I want you to do this for each other. I want you to love each other. I want you to serve each other. I want you to encourage each other and lift each other up. And this is why being involved in a community of believers is. Is so important because we need each other's encouragement. We need each other's service. And we also need to serve each other. A slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. Just a very powerful statement that Jesus is telling us about service and what it means to be a leader. Well let's read on verse twenty one. When Jesus had said these things, he became troubled in his spirit and testified and said, Truly, truly I say to you. That one of you will betray me. Just imagine the intensity that must have charged through the air at that. You can imagine the atmosphere, and he he's washing their feet, he's teaching them about love. And then he gets troubled in the spirit, and then all of a sudden he says, One of you are going to betray me. And you could imagine how the you could imagine how the atmosphere must have changed. Verse twenty two. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know which one he was speaking. Lying back on Jesus' chest was one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter nodded to this disciple and said to him, Tell us who it is of whom he is speaking. He then simply leaned back on Jesus' chest and said to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus then answered, That man is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread in and give it to him. So when he had dipped the piece of bread he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After this, Satan then entered him. Therefore Jesus said to him, What are you doing? Do it quickly. Jesus said to him, 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, that Jesus was saying to him, Buy the things we need for the feast, or else that he was to give something to the poor. So after receiving the piece of bread, he left immediately, and it was night. So he exposed Judas as the betrayer, but the rest of the disciples didn't quite understand what was going on. And I can only imagine what Judas was feeling at that moment when Jesus gave him that bread, and Judas knew that Jesus knew. I believe it was a final moment that Judas could have abandoned what he had decided to do. God was giving him a choice. Jesus was giving him a choice. Judas was not predestined to do this. He was not made to do this. Even though Jesus knew he was going to do it, it doesn't mean that God made him do it, but Judas chose. And in that moment when Jesus gave him that bread and said, I know what you're going to do, Judas had a choice. And in his heart, Judas chose that he was going to betray Christ. And in that moment, in that refusal of Christ, Satan entered him. I think it's very interesting. When you push Jesus away, you open yourself up for the enemy. And Judas pushed him away, refused him, and he opened himself up to receive Satan. Satan entered. entered him at that moment. Look at verse thirty one. Therefore when he had left, Jesus said, 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. Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, where am going, you cannot come. I am giving you a new commandment that you love one another and 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 one for another. Jesus said, I'm giving you a new commandment. One of the ten commandments says love your neighbor as yourself. The difficult part of that is we don't always love ourselves, or we don't always have a great respect for ourselves. But Jesus is saying here, I'm giving you a new commandment. Don't love your neighbor as you love yourself, but love your neighbor as I have loved you. And what a powerful statement that is. Because how did Jesus love us? He loves us by washing our feet. He loves us by serving us. He loves us by sacrificing for us. He loves us by remaining faithful to us even in the face of rejection. He loves us even when we're unlovable. He loves us even when we push him away. He loves us even when we sin, even when we reject him. He loves us through all these things. And he says, I want you to love your neighbor in the same way. That I am loving you. This is how people are going to be able to tell that you are my disciples because of how you love. This is going to be the defining characteristic of who you are, is how you love. So people can look at your life and they can tell you, tell if you're a believer or not by how you love. They can look at your life and look at how you treat people and they can tell if you're really a follower of Jesus or not by how you love. And if there is an absence of love in your life. Then they can also tell that. It doesn't matter what you say, it doesn't matter what you confess. You might call yourself a Christian, but if you don't love people the way Jesus loves, and all people, even the people who who reject you, even the people who push you away, even the people that you don't like, even the people that you're upset with, you have to love them the way Jesus loved you. And that defining characteristic is going to show the world that you are a follower of Christ. Let's finish it out in verse thirty. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, Where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus replied, Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny me three times. So here in these final, the final verse of this chapter, Peter says, Look, I will lay down my life for you. And Jesus says, I know you have good intentions, but you're gonna deny me three times. And that's exactly what happens. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes we mess up. But it's important to note the difference between the end of Peter's story and the end of Judas's story. We won't dive into that too much, but Judas we know ends up hanging himself after what he does. But Peter, he repents of what he does. So we all make mistakes and we're not defined by our mistakes. We're not defined by our failures. I just want to emphasize here at the Closing of today's podcast, that this last night that Jesus spent with his disciples, Jesus knows he's going to die. And before he leaves them, he's going to say the most important things that he wants to impart to them. And that is serve one another and love one another. So that's what we need to receive from today's podcast is to serve one another and to love one another. That we're not better than anyone. That we're not greater than anyone, that God loves every single one of us the same, and that we're to love and serve everyone the way God has loved and served us. So thank you for watching today. Join us tomorrow as we enter into John chapter fourteen.