The King Who Serves
Notes
Transcript
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it 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 had come from God and was going back to God,
4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Introduction: Jesus is a different kind of king
The kings, rulers, presidents, governors, and other authorities in this world are very different from the kind of king we see in this passage.
Jesus is the king. Not just an ordinary king - but the King of kings, the King of the universe. All the other kings must bow to him.
Sadly, most of the authorities in our country, and most kings and authorities throughout history, have been people who are in their position of authority for their own benefit - for the money, power, fame, or other personal benefits that come from being in authority over others. They get special treatment, eat expensive food, live in expensive houses, drive fancy cars, and have many people at their command who will do whatever they ask. We see this with our president and the vast majority of politicians in our country today - people who enjoy a rich and comfortable lifestyle at the expense of the people around them and all the people under them. Most of our politicians are building up their personal bank accounts and gaining power and popularity for themselves while doing little or no good for the people under them.
It has been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And that has been shown to be true of sinful humans in a broken world.
But there is a different kind of king.
Jesus, the King of kings, did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life for us. He did not come demanding special treatment. He did not live in a palace or eat expensive food. He came to serve, because that’s the kind of king he is.
1. The Divine Mission of King Jesus (v. 1-3)
“His hour had come” - the time was here, the very time for which he came.
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
A. His perfect knowledge of his mission (v. 1, 3)
Jesus knew that it was time for him to accomplish the purpose for which he came - to die on the cross, be buried, rise from the dead, appear to his disciples and commission them, and then return to God in heaven.
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
B. His perfect love for his followers (v. 1)
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
He had perfectly loved his disciples throughout his ministry, and even now at the end of his life, he is still showing them love. What he does for them here by washing their feet and teaching them is an act of love toward them.
Have you accepted his love for yourself? 1 John 4:16 reminds us that we need to experience and trust his love for ourselves. His love is most clearly demonstrated in the gift of his Son for us.
1 John 4:16 (ESV)
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
C. His perfect sovereignty over all (v. 3)
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
Jesus is the King of everything, and God the Father has placed all things into his hands, that is, under his authority.
2. The Humble Service of King Jesus (v. 4-12)
We come to expect very different attitudes and actions from a king because of the way kings and authorities in this world usually act. Jesus is very different.
A. His humble service (v. 4-5, 12)
4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
What Jesus does for his disciples here is typically the work of a servant or slave, a nobody.
It’s the kind of work most people don’t like to do. Do you like to touch other people’s dirty, smelly feet?
This was necessary because people wore sandals and walked everywhere on dirt roads, so people’s feet got very dirty and smelly.
Jesus may have been doing this in response to the disciples’ argument about who was the greatest. He wanted to show them what true greatness looks like - using power and authority to serve, so different from the way the world acts.
B. His instruction of Peter (v. 6-11)
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Peter seems offended that Jesus would stoop so low when he is so important.
But when he refuses, Jesus teaches him something important. V. 8, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
Jesus is telling Peter, and us, that if we want to belong to him, we have to let him serve us.
It is a very humbling thing to need others to serve us. We want to be independent and be able to do things on our own. But the fact is that we are always dependent on God, and we have to be willing to admit that if we will be saved.
It is through the service of Jesus that we have anything at all — physical life, health, family, house, job, and everything else. All that we have comes to us because of him, whether we recognize it or not. He is serving us every moment of our life by sustaining our lives and giving us the food and water we need and everything else.
And if we want to have eternal life, it is not something we can do for ourselves. If we are to be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with God, it can’t be our own work. He must do it. He must serve us if we are to be saved.
So we must humble ourselves to receive his service to us - specifically his service of giving his life in our place on the cross, accepting this gift from him which is free to us but cost him everything.
But you cannot be saved unless you receive this humble service from Jesus.
Peter responds by going a little overboard in v. 9
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
And Jesus has another lesson for Peter and us in v. 10
10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
When we come to Jesus and receive his humble service for us, we are completely clean — cleansed, forgiven of our sins, and restored to a right relationship with God.
Jesus is comparing salvation to a spiritual bath. When we trust in Jesus and accept his service to us, we are washed clean of our sins. We are forever forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future.
But we still continue to sin. We continue to get our feet dirty in this world. Which is why Jesus says that even if we are washed in the blood of the Lamb and completely clean, forgiven of every sin, we still need to keep coming back to him for regular cleansing — we must continue confessing and forsaking our sin and seek to always draw nearer to God.
John tells us this in his first epistle.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In v. 7 it says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, or it is cleansing us (present tense) from all sin. This implies an ongoing cleansing because of continuing sin in our lives. And he says that if we deny our ongoing sin, we are deceiving ourselves, because we will continue to sin until we are with Christ, and we long for that day.
So what should we do when we sin? Since we continue to fail, and fall short of the glory of God
v. 9 tells us that we should confess our sins to him, and he will faithfully forgive us and receive us back to himself every time.
So even though Jesus has already served us by providing the full forgiveness for our sins, we need his ongoing service as well to keep cleansing us and forgiving us and changing us to be more like him until that day when we see him and will be like him.
C. His kindness to the betrayer (v. 2, 11)
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him. John 6:64 even tells us that Jesus knew this from the beginning, and that it was for this reason that he chose Judas to be one of his apostles.
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
And yet it appears that here Jesus washes Judas’s feet too (though the text doesn’t tell us that for certain)
Would you serve someone that you knew was going to get you killed?
Peter also betrayed him by denying him, yet Jesus washed his feet too.
And we have all betrayed Jesus in many ways, and yet he serves us also. This is incredible humility and love.
3. The Radical Teaching of King Jesus (v. 12-17)
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to miss what just happened, so he explains it to them.
A. The Master’s example (v. 13-15)
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
Jesus is God - the Lord of all, the King of kings - and he humbled himself and served them in this way.
If the Highest One would stoop so low to serve us, how low should we go?
He tells his disciples that he is setting an example for them - and us - to follow. That we should act in the same kind of way that he did in the way we treat others, especially others below us - under our authority.
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
Jesus redefines greatness and calls us to follow in his steps and serve like he did, even to the point of humbling ourselves and using our power and authority and resources to serve and help others, since he who is the King of everything gave it all to serve us.
B. The disciple’s debt (v. 14-16)
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Notice the word “ought” in v. 14. This is not quite a command, but it expressed obligation. We are obligated to serve one another because Christ has first served us. This is our duty, our obligation.
This is because of what he says in v. 16. We as his disciples are his servants. We are his messengers, and we are not greater than he is. If the most important being in the universe humbled himself in this way, how much more should we humble ourselves and serve others.
C. The blessing of obedience (v. 17)
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Finally, Jesus gives us another motivation for this life of humble service. He says that whoever will follow Jesus in this kind of humble service will be blessed (makarios) - happy. There is greater happiness in serving than in being served. There is greater joy and blessing in serving others than in having them serve you. There is more joy in giving than in receiving.
So as we seek to follow Jesus in humble service toward others, we do so joyfully, because of this promise of blessing, and because we have personally experienced his service - as he gave his life a ransom for us.
The more we meditate on the gospel and all that God has done for us in Christ, the more we will joyfully serve him and serve others around us.
This is a very practical passage. Here are 4 applications for our lives:
Application
Application
Receive Jesus’s service for you. You cannot save yourself - only Jesus can. Will you trust him? Will you let him serve you and meet your greatest need?
4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
Receive Jesus’s ongoing service of cleansing as you confess and forsake your sin regularly.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Be amazed at the kind of King that Jesus is and always will be.
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.
Find joy in gladly serving others and imitating your King.
35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Philippians 2:5 KJV
King James Version Chapter 2
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus
Who are the people close to you that God wants you to serve like this?
Whether it’s someone under your authority or just someone close to you that you have the ability to serve, this is the way God wants us to treat one another. If our King has served us, we ought to serve one another with the same humble attitude.
And if we do, Jesus promises that we will be blessed.