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John 13
What makes certain groups of people
stand out from the crowd? They say you can spot tourists on the tube because
as they get to the top of the escalators they stop. Frozen like rabbits
in headlights. Of course you can spot the Londoners, they’re the ones
trampling over the tourists in their mad dash. You can spot an Australian
in London, they’re the one complaining about the weather, making excuses
for the rugby and serving you your pint.
How do you spot a Christian? Is it
because they look more pious? Do they project a sense of moral
superiority? Is it because they are generally less fun than everyone
else? Are Christians known because of the things they don’t do? Are they
known because of the various ethical and theological stances they take?
None of these things, says Jesus, are fundamentally what should mark out
His followers. At the end of the day, Jesus does not want His followers
to be known for these things peculiarly. But there is one thing He has
expressly commanded to be the mark of all who claim to follow Him. It’s
there in v34:
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved
you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are
my disciples, if you love one another."
Here in John 13 we are present on the
eve of Christ’s crucifixion. Jesus is making a last request of His
followers. Except that Jesus doesn’t call it a last request - He calls it
a new command. Jesus doesn’t see this as a hopeless appeal from his
death-bed. This is not a dying wish - this is a new and living command.
Because Jesus knows that His death is not the end, in fact His death will
establish and exemplify a new life for all who follow Him. So here on the
eve of His death, Jesus is not looking back nostalgically at the time He
used to be in charge. Here He looks through and beyond the cross to the
life of His people. Jesus makes an ever-new command for His followers, to
be picked up by every new generation of Christians down through the ages:
Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love
one another."
What is to mark out the Christian as
different? Love. Easy, right? Are you a loving person? Maybe you’d say
“I’m not unloving”. Is this really such a big command - it comes
naturally to most people doesn’t it? Love?
Well the killer word in the whole
command is a little two letter word in v34. You want to know the hardest
aspect of this command? It’s that little word “as”. AS Jesus has loved
us, SO we must love one another. In the SAME WAY that Christ has loved
us, SO, IN THAT WAY, we must love others. As we study the standard of
love which Jesus sets for us, we’ll see that this order to love is a
confronting and profound command.
What is the standard Jesus sets us?
[SLIDE – The Standard]
Well v1 helps us:
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had
come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his
own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his
love.
The standard of Jesus’ love is shown
just before Passover - on the eve of His crucifixion. And this sacrificial
love is exemplified in the foot-washing. Jesus, washing His disciples
feet is a hands on demonstration of Christ’s fully extended love. So
let’s see what He does.
Verse 4: Jesus got up from the meal -
He left His place of honour - took off His outer clothing (literally ‘He
laid aside His robe’!) - and wrapped a towel round His waist. He set
aside His robe - the clothing of a King - and He took up a towel - the
clothing of a slave.
Then, one by one, He knelt down before
each of His followers and lovingly washed and dried their feet. Then,
verse 12, when He had finished washing their feet, He put on His robe
again - took back the clothing of a king, and He returned to His place of
honour. He asks (v12) “Do you understand what I have done for you?”
[SLIDE - glory graph!]
The king becomes a slave and, after an
act of exceptional humility and service which makes His followers clean -
He takes back His royal robe and resumes His rightful place of honour.
Jesus is here enacting a hands-on parable of His history as God’s beloved
Son who was eternally at the right hand of the Father and then, for a
time - came and served us. He made Himself nothing, taking on the very
nature of a servant. He humbled Himself to death - even death on a cross.
And in this act of incredible love and sacrifice and submission - He has
made His followers clean for all time. And then, in His resurrection and
ascension, He has returned to His rightful place of honour - enthroned as
King over all creation.
Do you see the pattern? In verse 3 -
John gives us exactly this picture:
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and
that He had come from God and was returning to God.
Jesus had come from God, was returning
to God - and the route which He trod in the meantime took Him to the
utter depths of despair at Calvary. We must never forget that these hands
which lovingly washed His friends’ feet would, in a matter of hours, be
nailed to a Roman cross. We cannot forget it because this event is
intended to give us a picture of Christ’s love shown at the cross.
And what a picture! The ruler of the
universe, stooping and serving His followers.
John writes about it recalling every
last detail. Verse 5:
He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples'
feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
As John writes about it, he is carried
back to the moment it happened. John was there, he’d had his own feet
personally washed and padded dry by the LORD of all creation.
How would you feel as Jesus came
around the table to you?
Well Simon Peter is scandalised! Verse
6:
"Lord, are You going to wash my feet?"
Then v8: “You shall never wash my
feet.”
Peter is adamant - this is not right.
It should be the other way around. The followers ought to serve the
Master - not the Master serving the followers. This is really so
counter-cultural.
Everything our culture associates with
success and greatness is bound up in status and image and power and
influence. Jesus stoops to the feet of the very people who ought to be
doing His bidding, and He performs the most menial task for them. It’s
shocking. How can He really be the LORD? How can Jesus really be great
when He appears so weak and servile?? Our notion of greatness is often
quite different.
In the film American Beauty - Buddy
Kane is the Real Estate King. He considers himself very much a success in
this world. In this scene with Annette Bening, he describes what lies at
the heart of his success:
[VIDEO - American Beauty – “Call me crazy but it is my belief that
in order to be successful one must project an image of success at all
times.]
Success is driven careerism,
achievement and an unwavering image of strength and status.
How very different is Jesus’ model of
success! Jesus is not interested in projecting an image of success - He
is interested in rolling up His sleeves and serving people. Jesus does
not think this detracts from His greatness at all. Rather He thinks that
such service establishes His greatness. Look with me at v13:
"You call me `Teacher' and `Lord,' and rightly so, for that
is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,
you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that
you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is
greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent
him.”
Jesus IS, at the core of His being,
our ultimate Teacher and supreme LORD. And His service does not undermine
His Lordship - instead the fact that our LORD serves so much gives us our
benchmark of greatness. If we want to be successful then we don’t go
around projecting an image of success and status. Rather, for the
follower of Jesus to be great, they MUST serve. Jesus has set an example
that we should do as He has done for us. Remember the new commandment: As
I have loved you, so you must love one another.
[SLIDE (one at a time on the bolded words) - Active, Serving,
Submissive, Costly, Pressured, Unconditional, Self-forgetful]
Jesus loves in action. He loves in
concrete service. He loves in submitting Himself - giving up His rights
and privileges. He loves in a costly way, it is greatly inconvenient. He
loves even under pressure - I’m sure on the eve of His execution Jesus
had other things on His mind - and yet, even in this situation, He
serves. Jesus loves unconditionally - these men would, by the end of the
night, either betray Him, desert Him or deny Him, yet He lovingly washes
all their feet, even Judas’. And He loves in self-forgetfulness–
unconcerned for His own self-image.
Well what do we think now? Is it easy
to follow the new commandment? How many of us consider ourselves loving
until we’re actually called to serve in a way inconvenient to us, or when
it will mean a loss of face, or when the people we’re called to love have
hurt us? How often does our love evaporate when we’re under pressure from
other quarters?
Are you a loving person? I ask this of
myself - am I a loving person… If someone close to you had three
adjectives to use about you, would they say ‘loving’?
Well how on earth are we going to get
this trait into our lives? How are we going to love like Jesus?
Well in the time we have remaining –
let’s look at the models for love that we see in this passage.
[SLIDE – the model]
In John 13 we have two people who get
it wrong and One Person who gets it right. So we’ll look at the two who
get it wrong as cautionary tales and the One who gets it right as our
model.
First - the two who get it wrong -
there’s Judas the betrayer and Peter the denyer. Let’s think about Judas.
He’s there in v2, Judas Iscariot the son of Simon, someone who has been
listening to the promptings of the devil. Judas has been one of the
Twelve disciples who Jesus chose to especially equip and commission in
the spreading of the gospel to the world. He is extraordinarily
privileged. For over three years he has seen first-hand Jesus’ life and
teaching and miracles. He himself has been entrusted by Jesus with
teaching the gospel and he’s been given special care of the finances
(v29). Judas has enjoyed the loving servant-leadership of Jesus. Here in
John 13, Judas has had his feet washed and dried by Jesus. Finally in v26
Judas is shown a final gesture of friendship by Jesus. Jesus shares His
bread with Judas. Yet as Judas receives this kindness from the hand of
Jesus, he moves further along his road to rebellion and betrayal. Verse
27 - the devil had previously only prompted Judas - now Judas is utterly
given over to Satan. Verse 30, he takes the bread, leaves to inform the
authorities. And it was night. Here is blackest darkness. Made all the
more horrible by the fact that this betrayal by Judas is the betrayal of
a close friend.
In v18, Jesus quotes a place in the
Old Testament which predicts that the Christ would be betrayed by a close
friend. The whole verse in Psalm 41 reads:
[SLIDE – Psalm 41]
Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has
lifted his heel against me.
No wonder it says in v21:
Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the
truth, one of you is going to betray me."
A person can encounter the love of
Jesus at very close quarters and still remain unmoved at the deepest
level. They can appear to all the world like a follower, and yet they can
be no friend of Jesus’ at all. What I find so shocking about Judas is
that nobody in the Twelve suspected him.
[SLIDE – Psalm 41 out]
Look at v22:
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of
them he meant.
Judas does not wear a sign saying “bad
guy!” It’s not that his eyes were too close together or that he
inadvertently blurted out prayers to his dark lord every so often. Even
as v27 tells us Satan entered him, still v28, no-one suspected a thing.
To all outward appearances Judas was a follower of Jesus, yet in his
heart he followed Satan. The love of Jesus shown to him in such a
precious way made no impact. Jesus washed the very heel which Judas
raised up in betrayal. Jesus had dried the feet which walked all over
Him. And Judas kept walking out that door and into the night.
If you’re investigating Christian
faith you will be brought face to face with the truth that Christ has
loved you in decisive, costly, active service. He has died for you to
cleanse you and make you right with God. Don’t let that truth simply wash
over you. Think very hard about the sacrificial love which you have been
shown. To walk away from this love is to leave the fellowship of Jesus
and to enter the night.
So that’s cautionary tale number one -
Judas. But if Judas’ problem was in ignoring Jesus’ love - Peter’s
problem is a little more complex.
Peter commits the same error twice in
this passage. It’s in v8 and v37. In verse 8, Jesus is offering cleansing
and Peter says ‘No, don’t You wash my feet.’ Peter thinks it would be far
more appropriate if he washed Jesus’ feet. He can’t cope with Jesus
serving him. Then in v37 we have exactly the same problem. Jesus is
heading for the cross to lay down His life for Peter and yet Peter says
in v37 “How about I die for You, Jesus.”
So Peter says: Don’t wash me, I’ll
wash you. Don’t die for me, I’ll die for You.
Do you see what a mistake this is??
Jesus wants to show His love for Peter - but Peter won’t let Him. Peter
is too concerned to show what an active, committed go-get-em disciple he
is that he doesn’t actually submit to the loving service of Jesus. Jesus
has to pull rank on Peter twice in this chapter and say “you’ve got it
backwards - I have come into the world to serve you, not the other way
around.”
Do you see in v38:
Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for
me?
That has things backwards. Again and
again in John’s gospel, Jesus tells us that His glory is in laying down
His life for us. Beware that you don’t try to switch places with Jesus!
He goes on in v38:
I tell you the truth [Peter], before the rooster crows, you will
disown me three times!
For all Peter’s good intentions, he
will actually deny Christ three times before day-break. That’s a shocking
turn-around for a man who sounds here so spiritual, so committed.
Actually Peter’s rash declarations are full of all the same independent
self-assuredness which leads him to deny Jesus.
Peter’s mistake was that he trusted in
his own love for Jesus rather than Jesus’ love for him. And when the
crunch came Peter denied Him.
Jesus wants us to receive
His love. We are first to bask in Christ’s love and THEN to be channels
of this love to others. That’s the order and if you try to short-circuit
the process, it won’t work.
If you’re burnt out in Christian
service or despondent because you don’t feel up to scratch in God’s eyes
- have you fallen into Peter’s trap? Have you been trusting in your own
love and faithfulness towards Jesus? It’s clear that we need to bask
first and foremost in His love for us. Then and only then do we have the
power to love others.
And that’s my final point as we look
at the One good model of loving service in this chapter. That is of
course Jesus Himself.
Jesus sets us the standard of love,
but He also shows us how to do it.
Look with me at verses 3 and 4:
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and
that He had come from God and was returning to God; SO He got up from the
meal… and washed His disciples’ feet.
Jesus knew who He was, where He had
come from, where He was going - SO, he was able to serve.
Jesus reminds Himself first of all
that He is infinitely loved and infinitely valued by His Father in heaven
and because of this He is able to give away that love to others. Jesus
takes on active, submissive, costly, unconditional, humble love and who
cares what Peter thinks - the Father loves Him - and that’s what counts.
Will we remind ourselves of the love
of God first - that love that took Christ, the LORD of all creation down
down down to the cross in agonising godforsaken death all so that He
could wash me clean? Will we try to get that truth into the core of our
being, through the Bible and prayer, through encouraging one another,
through worship and song. Will we first appreciate the love that Christ
has shown for us - and then, in every circumstance, in every encounter,
in every relationship lay down our rights, our privileges, our money, our
time and our freedom in the service of others?
When we do these things – Jesus
promises us – v17 – we will be blessed. Happiness, joy, contentment,
fulfillment will all flow out of this self-forgetful, self-sacrificial
love. If it’s good enough for the LORD Jesus it will be good for us. Do
we believe that? If we do, then we will joyfully obey the new
commandment.
A new commandment I give to you: Love one another as I have loved
you.
The distinguishing mark of a Christian
is love for one another. The church is not to be known for its
dress-code, even its moral code. Our distinguishing feature is not our
wealth or status or learning. It’s love. Let us all commit to establishing
ourselves in the love of Christ who loved us first, and commit to passing
on this love to one another.
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