The Day Before that Day we call Good
Notes
Transcript
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
The Day Before that Day we call Good
WE ALL KNOW THAT THE FRIDAY WHEN JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED IS CALLED GOOD FRIDAY.
ON GOOD FRIDAY WE REMEMBER THAT JESUS OFFERED HIMSELF AS THE FINAL, COMPLETE SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, FREEING US FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN…… WE COULD NEVER HAVE FREED OURSELVES FROM.
THE DAY BEFORE GOOD FRIDAY IS CALLED MAUNDY THURSDAY. AND ON THAT THURSDAY, JESUS HAD A MEAL WITH HIS DISCIPLES IN AN UPPER ROOM, SOMEWHERE IN JERUSALEM....THAT WE REFER TO AS THE LAST SUPPER.......
FOR MY BIBLE SCHOLARS IN HERE.......WE KNOW BEFORE THAT MEAL, JESUS WASHED HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET.
AND WHILE THEY WERE EATING......JESUS HAD A LOT TO SAY TO HIS DISCIPLES OVER THAT MEAL.
TRUTH BE TOLD....IT OCCUPIES ABOUT FIVE CHAPTERS IN JOHN’S GOSPEL.
BUT IN ALL THAT HE SAID, THERE WAS JUST ONE THING WHICH HE ACTUALLY COMMANDED. HE SAID, [READER]: ‘A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER: JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, YOU ALSO ARE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER’ [JOHN 13:34, ESV].
A LONG TIME AGO, PEOPLE READ THE BIBLE IN LATIN. IN LATIN, ‘A NEW COMMANDMENT’ IS ‘MANDATUM NOVUM’. ‘MANDATUM’ MEANS COMMANDMENT. IT’S WHERE WE GET THE WORD ‘MANDATE’ FROM AND WHERE WE GET THE ‘MAUNDY’ IN MAUNDY THURSDAY FROM.
SO MAUNDY THURSDAY IS THE THURSDAY WHEN JESUS GAVE US A NEW MANDATE, A NEW COMMANDMENT, TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
JESUS’ COMMANDMENT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER IS AN IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT.
I BELIEVE THAT THE DAY BEFORE HE DIED, JESUS WOULD REMIND HIS DISCIPLES OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS.
JESUS HAD ALREADY MADE IT CLEAR THAT THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT IS TO LOVE: TO LOVE GOD, FIRST, AND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOURS AS OURSELVES.
BUT JESUS ISN’T REMINDING HIS DISCIPLES OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION.
HE’S GIVING THEM A NEW ONE! HE SAYS, ‘A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU’!
I BELIEVE JESUS WANTED HIS DISCIPLES TO KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS NEW COMMANDMENT!
WHAT WE MUST UNDERSTAND MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS…….THIS COMMANDMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS THE OLD COMMANDMENT, TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOURS AS OURSELVES? WHAT’S DIFFERENT?
LISTEN CAREFULLY! JESUS SAID, [READER]: ‘A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE TO YOU, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER: JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, YOU ALSO ARE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.’
THAT’S WHAT’S NEW. THE QUALITY OF LOVE WHICH JESUS IS ASKING US TO SHOW IS NEW.
JESUS COMMANDED HIS DISCIPLES, NOT SIMPLY TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, BUT TO LOVE EACH OTHER AS HE HAD LOVED THEM.
AND TRUTH BE TOLD MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS…..IT’S HARD TO LOVE SOMEONE LIKE JESUS WHEN THEY HAVE DONE YOU WRONG…..TALKED ABOUT YOU……STABBED YOU IN YOUR BACK……CAME OUT THEIR MOUTHS WITH SOME CHOICE WORDS……COULD ANYTHING BE MORE CHALLENGING!
BEFORE JESUS GAVE THIS INSTRUCTION, HE WASHED HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET. THEN HE SAID, [READER]: ‘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 … NOW THAT YOU KNOW THESE THINGS, YOU WILL BE BLESSED IF YOU DO THEM’ [JOHN 13:14-15, 17].
JESUS SAID THAT BY WASHING HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET, HE WAS GIVING THEM AN EXAMPLE.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS THE EXAMPLE?
WAS JESUS SAYING THAT LOVE MUST BE INTIMATE AND PHYSICAL?
I’M NOT SURE ABOUT THAT.
SOME KINDS OF LOVE AREN’T INTIMATE AND PHYSICAL.
WAS HE SAYING THAT LOVE IS A FORM OF SERVICE? WELL I BELIEVE THERE IS TRUTH IN THAT. WAS HE SAYING THAT LOVE CAN BE HUMILIATING, DEMEANING, MESSY? THAT’S TRUE TOO.
SOME CHURCHES HAVE A PRACTICE OF FOOT-WASHING. BUT THE REAL POINT ISN’T TO WASH SOMEONE’S FEET IN A SERVICE. IT’S AN ILLUSTRATION!
AS FAR AS WE KNOW THIS IS THE ONLY OCCASION WHEN JESUS WASHED HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET.
IF THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF LOVE WAS LITERALLY WASHING PEOPLE’S FEET JESUS WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT THE WHOLE TIME.
THE PRIMARY MEANING CAN’T BE LITERALLY WASHING FEET.
AND IT’S CLEAR THAT THIS WAS NOT WHAT JESUS HAD IN MIND.
JESUS TELLS PETER, ‘UNLESS I WASH YOU, YOU HAVE NO PART WITH ME’.
THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PETER’S FEET BEING LITERALLY CLEAN OR DIRTY.
THE WAY THAT JESUS REALLY SHOWED HIS LOVE FOR PETER WAS BY GOING TO THE CROSS FOR HIM AND TAKING HIS SIN.
SO, THE GOAL ISN’T TO WASH PEOPLE’S FEET ONCE A YEAR IN CHURCH.
THE GOAL IS TO UNDERSTAND JESUS’ CALL TO DEMONSTRATE THE KIND OF LOVE THAT HE HAS SHOWN US, LOVE THAT MIGHT BE HUMILIATING, DEMEANING AND CONSISTENT, ALL THROUGH THE YEAR.
THIS MAY NOT BE THE KIND OF LOVE WE’D LIKE TO GIVE.
BUT JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO DO THE SAME AS HE HAD JUST DONE – AND WE TAKE THAT TO INCLUDE US.
AND HE SAYS THAT WE’LL BE BLESSED IF WE DO.
I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU…..BUT I WANT MY BLESSINGS…….AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF BLESSING WE’LL GET.
BUT I THINK GOD’S BLESSINGS ARE WORTH HAVING!
AT A DEEPER LEVEL, JESUS’ WASHING HIS DISCIPLES’ FEET IS A PICTURE OF THE ULTIMATE LOVE HE SHOWED US IN GOING TO THE CROSS FOR OUR SAKES.
YES, JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES TO DO AS HE HAD DONE; TO WASH EACH OTHER’S FEET.
BUT WASHING THEIR FEET WAS A METAPHOR FOR A GREATER WASHING THAT HE DID, BY SHOWING THE MOST HUMILIATING, DEMEANING AND MESSY LOVE IMAGINABLE.
AND HE TELLS US, [READER]: ‘JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, YOU ALSO ARE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.’
TRUTH BE TOLD MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS…..WE HAVE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOW THE LOVE OF JESUS. THERE’S A WORLD ALL AROUND US THAT NEEDS THE LOVE OF JESUS…….AND WE AS CHILDREN OF GOD……ARE THE ARMS…..THE MOUTHPIECE…..THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LOVE THAT JESUS WANTS US TO SHARE.
WE CAN ALL FIND WAYS TO SHOW THE LOVE OF JESUS. SO, I ENCOURAGE YOU MY BROTHER….I ENCOURAGE YOU MY SISTER…….LOVE ONE ANOTHER….IT MAY BE HUMILIATING, DEMEANING AND MESSY. BUT THAT’S THE LOVE JESUS HAS SHOWN US.
AND THERE’S BLESSINGS WHEN WE DO!
PRAYER
LORD JESUS, WE THANK YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU WERE WILLING TO BE A SERVANT TO US, TO TAKE OUR DIRT, OUR SIN, ONTO YOURSELF. YOU TOLD US TO FOLLOW YOUR EXAMPLE OF SERVICE. WE WANT TO DO THAT. WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL STRENGTHEN US IN THAT DESIRE, AND OPEN DOORS FOR SERVICE TO US. IN YOUR NAME, AMEN.