Serve Day

Connect:

Read: John 13:31-35

When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Express: Lead by Serving with Love

Ask -

Tell - This era has obliterated the true meaning of Love by replacing its true definition with a romanticized sense of the word.

When we think of the Word love, we might think about Romance. Two people of the opposite sex with the end goal being marriage.

We grow up with this idea of love when we see Disney movies and there’s a prince that falls in love with a princess. Or High School Musical with Troy and Gabby. Y'all singing too much just talk it out!

If all you know love to be is the romantic sense of the word, then you will miss out on what Jesus commands of us when he tells us to love as He has loved us.

Explain : If we want to Serve with a love that leads, we need to start with what Love truly is, not as the world defines it, but as how God defines it.

SHIFT

When we look at John 13:31-35 we have to first know the context of what happened before and also what is going to happen later on.

Context:

John Chapter 1 is an introduction to the gospel, He lets us know that Jesus is God and He is the light of man

John Chapters 2-4 is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry

In Chapters 5-8 Jesus confesses He is the Son of God

In Chapters 8-10 We see controversies of Jesus as the Son of God and the problems it causes with the religious leaders and even his disciples

And Chapters 11-12 Jesus concludes his public ministry of healings, signs, and teachings.

We are reading from John 13 which is a part of an entire teaching specifically for Jesus’ Disciples. This teaching is called the farewell discourse. The purpose of this part of the story is to teach the disciples about their mission, reveal to them that He will ascend to the Father, and comfort them with the coming of the Holy Spirit. This discourse ends with the famous John 17 prayer for his disciples and his church.

So our reading takes place at the last supper on passover. Jesus just finished washing His disciples feet and predicted Judas’ Betrayal.

John 13:31-35

Let’s walk through these verses to gain a greater understanding of what is being said.

Verse 31-32

31 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

- It is important to recognize that Jesus says this as soon as Judas leaves. Now that he’s gone, the glorification of The Son and the Father will be made known. You all recognize that the various uses of the word glory appear 5 times. Bible study tip, if a word is repeated, it’s important. The meaning of glory is to hold in high honor.

This glory is connected to the coming suffering of the cross and the promise of the resurrection. Judas leaving is setting into motion the coming of the great glory. The Son and the Father are connected in receiving glory. Jesus as the Son of God is the perfect representative of the Father. So the Father receives the benefits of any action the Son performs. So then if Jesus is glorified, then the father is glorified. And the coming glorification of the Son is meant to also be established to those who call Jesus Lord and Savior, those who will be His Chosen Children.

And it’s crazy to think that the greatest glory of God is established in the most humiliating way.

But this is the beautiful climax of the Gospel. That God who is forever glorified would come down as a man so that He can take man to be like God and glorified with him.

This is what true love looks like. Let’s continue now:

Verse 33: 33 Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

Imagine the anxiety of being told by your greatest friend and mentor that He is leaving you to go somewhere you can’t go. At this point, the Disciples thought He was leaving them with nothing. They assumed maybe he would commit suicide (8:22) or that he was going to be among greek nations (7:35).

But the truth was that The disciples were not able to join his mission of being the Passover Lamb. Only Jesus was to go on that mission and He is the only one who could fulfill that mission.

The promise for the disciples and for us would be later mentioned when Jesus says that He is going to prepare a place for us when He returns to take us to be with Him in glory forever.

Love led our Lord Jesus to experience the pain and suffering of the gashing and piercing of our sins.

Verse 34-35: 34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

One thing we have to understand is that Jesus is establishing a new community with His disciples in mind.

When a society or community is established, usually laws are established as well as the foundation for how the community should live and behave.

What Jesus was doing wasn’t adding a new command to the 613 that were established by Moses, He was establishing a command for the new community of believers that fulfilled the 613 commandments given by God through Moses.

And Jesus establishes this command with His example: Love as I HAVE LOVED YOU.

People always think that being a Christian is just a religious filled with laws of do this and don't do that:

2 Questions:

- Which came first, God placing Adam and Eve in the Garden to enjoy for eternity, or the command to take care of the Garden?

- Which came first, God saving Israel from the bondage of Egypt or the 10 commandments?

It’s important to recognize how God works even from the beginning.

God does not provide commands without proving that He is Worthy of your obedience.

So a new command is given to the community of believers that is to LOVE as He Has LOVED.

How did He love? He carried a heavy cross on His back filled with splinters that pierced His open flesh, His hands, feet, and side were pierced. He Served with a Love that Led Him to take our place for the penalty we deserved so that we could be forgiven for every time we dishonored our parents, for every time we made a little white lie, for every time we wished we had something that belonged to someone else, for every time you looked at something with lustful intentions or even acted upon it, for every sin that has built up a debt against you Jesus paid it all so you can be set free.

Jesus rose again from the dead and appeared to His disciples to show you what you have the potential of becoming, which is a new creation. As a new creation you are called to live a new life. One where you die to your sins daily, where you reject the natural desires of the flesh, where you carry your cross and chase the life of Jesus Christ.

This is the great example of A Love that Leads by Service.

APPLY

Jesus did this so that we could Love like that. And He gives us the Holy Spirit to put love into action. And not to simply love the lovable, but to love those who are rejected, and those who are hard to love. What reward is there for loving those easy to love? There is none, but there is for when you show sacrificial servant love to those who wish you harm.

The question you have to ask yourself is, what can I do in my life to be more loving like Jesus?

Whose burdens can you bear? Whose life can you interrupt with a simple word of encouragement? Whose house can you show up to asking if they need prayer for anything?

Who’s one person you can just buy a gift for randomly?

You might be thinking well I can’t love anyone because I don’t even know how to love myself. I want to tell you that the reason you don’t know how to love is because you haven’t let God love you enough.

It’s been said before, “You can’t love others until you love yourself,” but Jesus says in the greatest commandment to Love your neighbor AS you love yourself. That implies you already love yourself. You love yourself when you buy yourself a new pair of shoes, you love yourself when you build up your bank account, you love yourself when you put yourself above everyone else.

The problem isn’t loving yourself, it’s you not letting God love you.

Today we’re going to give you space where you let God love you. I’m going to pray then I’m going to ask our leaders to please surround your students and pray over them. But before that I need to let you know that God loves you. Think about your biggest mistake, think of what gives you the most guilt, and know that God died to take that away from you. God desires you, He wants a relationship with you and He wants to change you to make you greater. He wants to use you for a great purpose. He Loves You. He Died to make you one with Him.

Do you believe it?

PRAY