He Loved Them Unto the End - Oct. 2nd, 2022

Formal Elements / Descriptive Data

Text: John 13:1-11

John 13:1–11 KJV 1900

1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; 3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

Central Idea of the Text (CIT): details of text summarized in a complete, past tense sentence

John described how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples demonstrating His sacrificial love for them and preparing them for His looming departure.

Proposition: major idea of sermon summarized in a complete sentence using present, active, future indicative or imperative mood; in direct relationship to the CIT

Experience Jesus’ sacrificial love and all-sufficiency for your soul’s deepest needs; be not unbelieving, because by faith in Him alone, you are promised an incorruptible inheritance with Him in His Coming Kingdom.

Statement of Purpose:

(1) Major Objective (MO) – only ONE of six possible (doctrinal, devotional ethical, evangelistic, consecrative, or supportive)

Doctrinal/Devotional

(2) Specific Objective (SO) – focuses on only one; calls for specific action (“I want my hearer to . . . “)

Understand how much Jesus loves them, what His cross affords them by faith, and trust Jesus to follow through with His promises.

Title (Topic/Name): 2 to 4 words with a key or arrow word usually common to all major ideas; innovative, interesting, contemporary; indicative of general sermon content; not sensational or cute

“He Loved Them to the End”

Informal Elements / Rhetorical Data

Introduction:

Get Attention/Raise Need/Orient Theme/State Purpose

- strong, attractive, and interesting opening sentence

1001 Quotations that Connect: Timeless Wisdom for Preaching, Teaching, and Writing William Wordsworth

Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar.

Citation: William Wordsworth, “The Excursion”

- personal and social material; personal bridge; social bridge

I remember a trip I made once where I was grossly mistaken about how I would be received. I’ll not mention any specifics, as I’m sure those whom I reference probably would be horrified to know that I even felt the way I did. Nonetheless, upon arrival, I was offered a rather shallow welcome and cordial greeting. However, upon commencement of the meeting, I was nothing but ridiculed for being from a State that had just legalized Marijuana usage and was made the butt of many jokes. I proceeded to stay in the meeting, and shrugged it off. After the meeting, in brief conversations, no further hospitality was extended to me, and so with a cordial salutation, I left.

There was another meeting I remember where the hosts bent over backwards to make sure every need I had was met, and then some. They took me in and treated me like family. Part of my heart remains with their church family to this day.

Hospitality is of utmost importance in both the Old and New Testaments. These Scriptural foundations have shaped so many aspects of my ministry approaches, especially when it comes to taking care of God’s servants when they travel through our church.

- textual material (CIT); textual bridge

We come to a powerful passage where John described how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples demonstrating His sacrificial love for them and preparing them for His looming departure. John 13:1-5

John 13:1–5 KJV 1900

1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; 3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

- focus the sermon’s intent (Proposition)

I want to discuss with you some point from this passage to help you contemplate and experience Jesus’ sacrificial love and all-sufficiency for your soul’s deepest needs; be not unbelieving, because by faith in Him alone, you are promised an incorruptible inheritance with Him in His Coming Kingdom.

- relational and transitional material; structural bridge

I’ll seek to develop this with you in two ways, by first considering how Jesus loved His own unto the end, and then how He helped their imperfect understanding that they might accept what He did with a heart of unwavering belief. Consider first how our text shows us that,

Body – Development – Outline:

I. State major idea drawn directly from the text, in a brief, complete sentence using present active, future indicative or imperative mood, strong verbs (avoid “to be” and its forms); (vs ?)

I. Jesus Loved His Own Unto the End (John 13:1)

Explanation (EXP): from only the selected text; 3rd person pronouns; past tense; express the “then-ness” aspect of the text itself in its historical context

“Now before the feast of the passover,” - describe how John sets a powerful opening and transition from the “Book of Signs” to the “Book of Glory” with a view to Mary’s anointing of Jesus in John 12.

A. The Knowledge of “His Hour”

John 13:1 KJV 1900

1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Explain the purpose of Jesus’ “departure” and the “horizontal” nature of John’s description.

B. The Importance of “His Own”

Explain “having loved” and who were “His own.”

C. The Hastening of “the End”

Note the double entendre (end, goal, completion, perfection, maturity, crucifixion).

Illustration (ILL): fresh, interesting, believable, clearly shed light on this specific portion of the text and on this particular idea being developed; use different sources (use only 1 personal and 1 biblical ill. per sermon)

Ian Pitt-Watson adapts this portion from A Primer for Preachers:

There is a natural, logical kind of loving that loves lovely things and lovely people. That’s logical. But there is another kind of loving that doesn’t look for value in what it loves, but that “creates” value in what it loves. Like Rosemary’s rag doll.

When Rosemary, my youngest child, was three, she was given a little rag doll, which quickly became an inseparable companion. She had other toys that were intrinsically far more valuable, but none that she loved like she loved the rag doll.

Soon the rag doll became more and more rag and less and less doll. It also became more and more dirty. If you tried to clean the rag doll, it became more ragged still. And if you didn’t try to clean the rag doll, it became dirtier still.

The sensible thing to do was to trash the rag doll. But that was unthinkable for anyone who loved my child. If you loved Rosemary, you loved the rag doll—it was part of the package.

Application (APP): specific; carry out the stated purpose expressed in the major and specific objectives; 1st and 2nd person pronouns; action-centered; relevant; express the “now-ness” aspect

1 John 4:20 KJV 1900

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

“Love me, love my rag dolls,” says God, “including the one you see when you look in the mirror. This is the finest and greatest commandment.”

[Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 320–321.]

Transitional Sentence (TS): sentence indicates change and progression to next major idea; use the unifying word

We’ll continue contemplating Jesus’ great love unto the end as John continues to share what occurred next in how,

II. Jesus Alone Could Wash Them Clean (John 13:2-5)

EXP:

A. Jesus’ Preparation (John 13:2-4)

1. His Impending Betrayal (John 13:2)

John 13:2 KJV 1900

2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;

Explain the order of events (footwashing was typically done before the meal) with which this occurs and other aspects which make it completely unique and unprecedented.

Discuss the importance of Prov. 4:14-27

Proverbs 4:14–27 KJV 1900

14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, And go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, Turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble. 20 My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: Remove thy foot from evil.

Explain the way John describes Judas throughout his Gospel and how here, he is preparing his reader’s for the Garden Scene: This is the beginning of the end for Judas. Also note how both Judas and Peter are portrayed in contrast in this passage: The Betrayer/The Boastful (Denier).

2. His Inheritance: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (John 13:3)

John 13:3 KJV 1900

3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

Discuss the Eternalness of Jesus as described by John throughout the Gospel, and in light of his own stated purpose.

John 20:30–31 KJV 1900

30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

3. His Humility Unmistakable (John 13:4)

John 13:4 KJV 1900

4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

Explain the language (note the Hist. Pres. x2) used by John being the same about Jesus “laying down” His life and “taking” it again. Also consider the forward look to Calvary in that Jesus will there be stripped of His robe, willingly (He could have called 10,000 angels).

B. Jesus’ Purification (John 13:5)

John 13:5 KJV 1900

5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

1. The Word & the Water (v. 5a)

Explain how Jesus completely debases Himself in a historically unprecedented manner. His example is unique in every way, and His lesson unmistakable, a “Sermon in Shoes” or a “Living Sermon”; mealtimes such as this were often used as teaching times. This one was unforgettable for John.

Explain John’s usage of “Water” throughout his Gospel: Water to Wine, Born of Water, Living Water, Healing Water, Blood and Water, etc.

John 15:3 KJV 1900

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

2. The Willing & Suffering Servant (v. 5b)

Compare the importance of “abiding” in Him, and how John is preparing readers for chps. 14-16 here.

Notice the language (Hist. Pres. “poureth”), ingressive, complimentary and periphrastic phrases all connected.

ILL:

Another Old Testament passage which includes a reference to footwashing is found in 1 Samuel. Chapter 25 relates the intriguing account of David, Nabal, and Abigail. After Abigail’s husband dies, David sends his servants to bring her to him as his wife. Abigail greets them by bowing her face to the ground and saying, ‘Here is your maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the feet of my master’s servants’. While the offer of footwashing is a hospitable gesture, the emphasis is upon the fact that Abigail is ready to serve David’s servants. Both the Hebrew text and the lxx underscore the idea that Abigail is placing herself in the position of a servant (אמתך and ἡ δούλη respectively). As Smith observes, ‘She is willing to be the lowest of his servants, a maid to wash the feet of his slaves’.

[John Thomas, Footwashing in John 13 and the Johannine Community (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 37.]

APP:

John 12:1–10 KJV 1900

1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. 9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;

Sermon Illustrations from the Bible Thoughtfulness (4)

Thoughtfulness of others (John 12:1–8).

Break your alabaster boxes while your friend can enjoy them. Better a plain coffin and no flowers or eulogy than a life without broken alabaster boxes.

Conclusion:

- forceful, attractive, interesting

- motivational in reporting God’s action (good news)

- possible recapitulation of major ideas or proposition

We’ve contemplated how Jesus loved His own unto the end, and what that could mean. It was based on His preeminent knowledge, not only of where He was heading (the Cross and beyond the grave), but also who and what are His (everything, blessing for those who believe, torment for those who reject Him), and despite all that Satan might do in his hatred of the holy to stop God’s redemption, Jesus unflinchingly faced the worst, to bring His own the best. We’ve looked closer at the reality that among everyone reclining around that meal, no one could have done what Jesus did in the way in which He did it. Never before, and never since has His moment of deep humility been satisfactorily replicated. He alone, as the Word, taking the water is sufficient to cleanse. His offer of cleansing is to all, to those who place their trust in Him, as well as those who place their trust in Satan or themselves. Though His cleansing is offered to all, it is only efficacious to those who believe in His finished work. Will you now contemplate the great love that Jesus displayed in this unprecedented gesture of grace, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, rising as a Suffering Servant for you, to go to the uttermost, for you, to give of His utmost, for you, to face the forces of hell, for you, to say the greatest words ever heard, without ever even opening His mouth, but by His deeds, He did it for John, He did it for Judas, He did it for Peter, and He did it for you. Are you washed? Are you clean?

Experience Jesus’ sacrificial love and all-sufficiency for your soul’s deepest needs; be not unbelieving, because by faith in Him alone, you are promised an incorruptible inheritance with Him in His Coming Kingdom.

- in harmony with stated purpose in MO, SO, and all APP

- encourage the hearer in his/her response

Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet, when set in the larger context of Scripture, reveals the tenacity of human resistance to the self-giving love of God. Human beings do not naturally respond either to God’s moral commands or to God’s saving initiatives; rather, it is precisely in encounter with God’s activity that human recalcitrance and resistance disclose themselves most fully. Apart from God’s steadfast faithfulness in seeking and shaping a responsive people, human beings will pursue their own ways, resisting the call to align themselves with God’s ways in the world. As this passage so graphically illustrates, human beings instinctively seek to protect their own positions of power and privilege, and they recoil at the thought of power embodied in self-giving and humility. Peter objects to Jesus’ act of service because Jesus, who is rightfully called Teacher and Lord, improperly assumes the role of a slave. But Jesus becomes a model for Peter not because he demonstrates the condescension of power to weakness—for Jesus alone has the status of Lord. Rather, Jesus embodies the virtue of a generous humility, freely chosen, that seeks the good of the other. To be sure, Jesus’ subversion of the human tendency to seek power and domination is open to misinterpretation: some might read the story as a warrant for forcing those with less power or status into a perpetual role of passive response. But passivity is not humility, and enforced service is not the freely chosen self-giving that Jesus gladly renders here. It is precisely those with power and privilege who are challenged most radically by Jesus’ example. Those who interpret the text as exempting them from Jesus’ example and command seriously misread it—perhaps precisely because they embody what it warns against.

Reading this story in the context of Scripture illumines the point that human puzzlement and even dismay at God’s ways in fact permeate Scripture. Repeatedly, Israel learns that to be the elect of God is not to triumph but to suffer; it is not to know defeat of and power over one’s enemies but often to suffer at the hands of one’s foes while simultaneously experiencing God’s presence in the most dire circumstances. Even as Joseph experienced God’s deliverance and providence in a situation that human beings intended for ill, so Peter will experience God’s salvation only through an act that human beings intended for ill but God intended for life. That this is so scarcely baptizes all human suffering as cathartic, full of meaning, or salvific, but it does echo the scriptural insistence that God’s saving and judging presence calls into question all human aspirations to power, domination, and security. Those who share the lot of the One who gave himself up to death find life.

[Marianne Meye Thompson, “‘His Own Received Him Not’: Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples,” in The Art of Reading Scripture, ed. Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), 273.]