John 13 He Loved them to the End

Intro

Next week the 29th I am having a little baptism class for those interested after church. If you have never been baptized before we are having baptisms on Easter Sunday. Even if you don’t know and your just interested come to that class so you can find out more

We are just a few weeks away from celebrating Easter Services here at REC. And as you know we have been in the book of John…But now we are slightly skipping around so that we can catch all of the really impotrant parts before the cross…

In the gospel of John, John records something that no one else records…

John 13:1 NIV

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

I’ve been making a big deal about this…It was just before the passover…And for jesus. His hour had come…

You can trace this phrase “the hour” all though the bible.

The hour is the time that Jesus would be on the cross giving his life in pace of our lives.

The hour is when Jesus pays the penalty for human sin

The hour is the time and the act that we do not deserve!

what the hour is, in a cosmic sense is Jesus stepping into our place in line for judgment.

My sin condemns me. But at the hour that it came time for me to pay for my own sin, Jesus came and Jesus stepped into that place for me

At the coming of the hour, Jesus would leave the world and return to the father.

Now if we remember back to the first week of John

John 1:14 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Remember: Jesus came from the father….He is here doing the father’s will and he will now return to the father

And lets put John 13:1 back on the screen…

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them till the end!

This is such a profound statement

Because we all know John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life…We know this

So clearly Jesus loves the world but there is also this newly forming community around Jesus that is represented by the disciples

Jesus has talked about this community before

John 10:14 NIV

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

The community of the ones who know the voice of Jesus

The community of those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus

That’s his own. He loves his own and he loves them till the end

The phrase in the Greek: he loved them till the end is really special…

I want you to get this because you need to know that if you trust Jesus you are his and he loves you till the end

Look when you put your trust in Jesus, when you accept him as savior, when you repent and say I no longer want a life of sin, I want to live with you Jesus and honor you, then you become his. You are legally his possession…

You get baptized and there is a claim on your life that you are God’s child!

He loves you, till the end

This phrase the end is doing quite a bit of heavy lifting. In the greek it has a double meaning…You need your chopsticks here…

It both anticipates the end, or the cross of Jesus….AND the word is the greek word “telos”

So it both means end and it means other things like perfectly or completely

and all of it is true. He loved his disciples all the way to the cross and he loves those sheep who hear his voice in a complete way….In the realest way imaginable…We will see when we get to chapter 15 that Jesus will absolutely live out what he says

I think one of the amazing things about being married…is I look at my wife and say you know all of me…the good and the bad…And you still love me completely!

And even more so with God…Who knows your inner monologue…he know’s your thoughts and he loves you completely…

There is this great verse we haven’t read yet:

John 15:13 NIV

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

The point I want you to see is that

Jesus loves his church completely

Ok this is verse 1 and we are going to get though all chapter 13

John 13:2–3 NIV

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

This is a bit of foreshadowing

There is an enemy…The devil and the devil wants Jesus to fail at his plan…So we are going to see an agent of the devil at the table here…let’s keep reading

John 13:4–12 NIV

so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.

First there is symbolism in what is happening here:

And I am just convinced that John loves the book of Genesis and he is taking all kinds of themes from Genesis. Believe it or not, Clothes are symbolic in the bible

After Adam and Eve royally blow it in the garden…And sin enters into the world

God does something really dramatic

Genesis 3:21 NIV

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Now why is this so dramatic?

Because before their sin, Adam and Eve’s job was to tend a garden and steward over all creation. Their job was caring for the animals…No one lived at the expense of one another

So Adam and Eve cover their nakedness with fig leaves but God comes in

and the only way to make garments from skin is to kill an animal…

So Adam and Eve now how to see one of these animals that they had to care for die in front of them, and God made skins for them and he covered their sin

It was the first sacrifice in the bible. The first time that an animal died on behalf of a human and out of it clothing was made

And now Jesus is at the passover meal

And he removes his outer garment: It is symbolic for laying lis life down

He washes the feet of the disciples: It is symbolic for washing the disciples in his blood

and then he takes his garment back up again: It is symbolic for taking his life back up again

But it doesn’t stop there…On Good Friday we will read about Jesus going to the cross and gambling for the clothes of Jesus

Look the cross is Genesis 3:21 all over again….Jesus cleanses and covers humanity with his garment!

The earliest disciples of Jesus got this metaphor

This happens in a bunch of spots but lets just look at Galatians 3:27

Galatians 3:27 NIV

for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

The point is that jesus is doing some deeply symbolic foreshadowing on the cross

Reminding his disciples that he loves them so much

His clothes are symbolic for his life. 

Jesus willfully lays down his life so that you can be cleansed and then he takes back his life again!

His disciples don't get this right away… in fact they don't get it until much later…

Before the cross ever happens, Jesus is showing them what it means…

He is not just serving them… he loves them

Because you have to understand…This isn’t just about serving others…You can serve people unwillingly or even while your angry…

You can serve others and fake that you like them…

What Jesus is doing them is giving them an example of what his love looks like…

Serving in this case is an expression of how much he loves his disciples! 

He is showing them the fullest extent of his love, so that when he does get to the cross…

they get it…They go…wow!  I am putting this all together and wow!

Jesus is telling his disciples and anyone else who will ever follow him…If you want life in me, you have to let me wash your sins away! 

You have to allow me to cleanse you! 

But Peter raised an objection… actually 2 objections…

John 13:6–7 NIV

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Now if you are a person full of pride, or someone who has to know everything…

Being told, you do not realize what I am doing..

That doesn't sit well…

Try telling someone who thinks they have everything figured out…You don't understand now…but one day you will! 

What do you think their reaction will be?

What do you mean that I cannot understand!? 

See our pride doesn't like that statement from Jesus very much! 

And then Peter tells Jesus

“No” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

We have to understand how culturally unacceptable it was…This was so beneath Jesus culturally

Remember last week when the woman anointed Jesus with the Pure nard and used her hair to mop it all up? And everyone was shocked? It was a scandal…>Washing feet was reserved for the lowest of the low in society

Remember how John the Baptist sees Jesus and says, “He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

See a disciple was supposed to do anything for their rabbi, but the one thing that was even beneath a disciple was to untie their rabbi’s sandals…

So for a rabbi to take the place of a servant…to take the lowest position in society would have been unthinkable for Peter! 

Jesus is setting the example: There is nothing beneath you.

So then Jesus tells Peter

John 13:8b NIV

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Peter is like this…he doesn’t always understand Jesus so he is like Jesus you can not do this!

And Jesus says Unless I wash you, you have no part with me”

And look this is always true and its in your notes

Unless the lamb of God washes away my sin, I can have no part with Him.

Jesus is like…This is what it means to have relationship with me!

You have to allow me to take away your sin…Its so uncomfortable!

Why? Because you have to expose your sin to the light

You have to say it to Jesus…Jesus my life is full of sin and I need you to take it away from me

Because if you want to hold on to your sin then you can have no life with Jesus

So Peter…Because he doesn’t always get it says, fine then wash all of me…

And Jesus was like hey, Ankles down buddy!

I think there are a couple of principles at play here that I want to pull out about this scene that is unfolding

You cannot do for someone else what they refuse to allow

“You’ll never wash my feet”

You try and encourage and help people…”IM FINE!”  Can I pray for you?  NOPE! 

And they obviously need it…But they won’t allow you in! 

You can just see that these people have some messy feet and if we just talked, if you just confessed…if you just…and their answer was NOPE!

As a pastor I have seen this a ton…People come into my office and just drop their life’s story and man…There are some messy feet there

And I get to be the one to say….Look you have to let Jesus wash your feet…You have to surrender to it…I know its uncomfortable…But you have to let Jesus do it

And when the answer is…”No I am good, I can take care of it”

I am always like…NO YOU CAN’T this is why you are in my office…Let me help you to repent and believe and they are like…Its okay…I’ll take it from here

Now I am not saying to give up on this person…But I can’t help them if they refuse to allow it

And if they refuse to allow Jesus to wash their feet then the reality is that Jesus does not go where he is not wanted

See This is the next principle

Coming to Jesus for life means we have to expose our dirty feet

And its uncomfortable…We don’t want to Jesus to see that

I was telling the staff this week that I am actually not a fan of foot washing services…I don’t want people touching my feet

And I think Jesus intentionally does something uncomfortable because he wants to show them what real service looks like…

But there is one more thing wrapped up in all of this.

Once Jesus says this to Peter…Unless I wash you you can have no part in me! Peter does allow Jesus to wash his feet. But he wants to go all in…Ok Jesus wash all of me…..My head and my hands too!

So once Peter gets it he is all in

And presumably, the text tells us that Jesus washed all of the disciples feet….

There are two hearts on display….

The one who goes all in…And is like ok if this is what Jesus says then wash it all Jesus!

There is another disciple there who will go through the motions…His name is Judas…He will expose his own dirty feet…He will allow Jesus to wash the outside ….But inwardly he had his mind made up…He was going to do what he waned!

And yet he will refuse to let Jesus in and just hours later will betray Jesus

My point is that there are two types of hearts on display here…And Look as a pastor for many years I have seen it all…The heart of Peter comes to church hears about Jesus paying for sin….and goes all in…

And the heart of Judas….The one who goes though all the religious motions but at the end of the day you are still in control of your own life and you are going to do what you want….

What kind of heart do you have? All in…or Thanks Jesus but I’ll take it from here?

The one who says I’ll take it from here Jesus will never do what Jesus says next

John 13:13–17 NIV

“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. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Now why don’t we do foot washings instead of communion?

because its about the example of humility…

We need to serve one another in the same way that Jesus serves us.

keep in mind…jesus washed all of the disciples feet

Keep in mind that in this group of disciples was one whom the devil had already twisted!

So in christian community…you might go…I’ve got problems with that guy…I’m not washing his feet!

But look…what Jesus does is genus

It starts with exposing your nasty old feet to the father and admitting that you need them cleaned and then once you have the humility to do that…Serving one another becomes easy and natural

Let’s keep reading

John 13:18–23 NIV

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.

Jesus is reminding us! The devil doesn’t want this to happen…I am telling you now so you won’t be shocked when Judas betrays me!

But another point I really want to get to here

One of the sad things about reading the Bible in English is that we miss so much of what was actually being said…

What the Greek actually says in verse 23 is this: the disciple who Jesus loved was reclining on Jesus Bosom…

The picture we have here is Jesus essentially hugging his disciple…John’s head on Jesus’ Chest

And this is the very point that I want to get at today!

In the English we read that they reclined next to each other but the Greek paints a different picture..

John, the Disciple who wrote the book of John, had his head on Jesus’ Chest! 

I mean we miss the very picture that is being painted when we read this in English!  God wants to have intimacy with humanity!

And again…Everything in this passage should be compared to Judas….Judas wanted to be near Jesus but was fine with keeping him at an arms reach!

When we live in a 21st century world, we read a verse like this and think of it as a sexual reference, but it is not at all…

I think there is something so astonishing about this picture of John reclining on Jesus’ chest

So many times we forsake intimacy for knowledge…We fool ourselves into believing knowledge is intimacy! 

They go after knowledge…And knowledge is a great thing…Knowing the Bible is such a worthy pursuit but there is a difference in knowing the text and exposing your dirty feet in front of the messiah!

There is a difference in knowing systematic theology from Biblical theology …you can know all of the great discussions between Barth and Bonhoeffer….you can know hermeneutics and dogmatics…But if you don’t expose those dirty feet before Jesus then you will never get to intimacy with God!

I preach this because honestly knowing the Bible is my life! This is a constant challenge in my life….Knowledge matters but without the intimacy of a relationship with Jesus, Knowledge just “puffs up!  it has the potential to make us prideful people…

knowledge can also become your God! 

Guys, this is Genesis 3…They went after the tree of knowledge vs the tree of life! Instead of intimacy with God they chose the wrong tree

You know what the one thing is that doesn't matter at all in heaven? 

Your knowledge!  It’s precious on earth but irrelevant in heaven your theories are all useless! because you will be before the God of all knowledge

You know what does matter in heaven, Your intimacy with Jesus! 

Maybe this is why Jesus calls the little children to him?  because kids actually get that before us!

Your theories are fine, your theology is fun to discuss…but all of that vanishes in the throne room of a Holy God! What you believe about God or think of him doesn't change who he is….

One of my great passions in life is studying the Bible…Its this book that just keeps on giving…But its when I lose intimacy with Jesus that study becomes a chore…

But what lasts to eternity?  INTIMACY WITH JESUS! 

Take those nasty feet out before Jesus!

This is discipleship…

We are all willing to take a class about God…to read a book about Jesus…To even study the depth of the book of John…but come on…Some of us…our pride will never allow us to lay our heads on the chest of Jesus!

knowledge without intimacy with Jesus leads to arrogance

a real disciple will rest secure with his head on the chest of his messiah!  A true disciple will go after intimacy with jesus first and knowledge second.

Lets look at the rest of the story!

John 13:24–38 NIV

Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

There is this constant drama with Judas…But really it is the one who Judas has allowed to animate his life

The devil had made its way into Judas’s life

We found out last week it was because Judas loved money and helped himself to the money bag

But then there is this whole interaction where Jesus talks about this disciples…

The culmination of the footwashing and the intimacy with Jesus is actually love for one another

Because God is willing to love us in all of our Junk!

Because God is willing to care for us

We must now be willing to love one another

Guys all of chapter 13 is about intimacy with Jesus and each other

When Jesus gives his new command to love one another as Jesus has loved his disciples he ends with this

Your love for others reveals where your faith is at

Everyone will know based on how you love!

Maybe your here today and

you need to expose those dirty feet

Maybe your here today and you need to lay your head on Jesus’ chest

realize that knowledge comes second

I actually want you all to close your eyes for a second

imagine that you are at that table with Jesus he is washing everyone’s feet and you are next

And this is the last thing you want to do….

Jesus says to you…he calls you by name and says…Unless I was you…You can have no part with me

Instantly you realize what is happening…

The King of the universe. The only one who is truly holy is there washing your feet…

and everything comes flooding out of you!

What do you have to tell Jesus in this moment?

What do you need to confess to him?

Jesus is there with your feet in his hands….Are you all in or are you sitting there staring at Jesus knowing that your heart is hard…just going though the motions

Where might you need to confess?

Jesus I go after knowledge rather than intimacy

Jesus I have been trying to do this all on my own

Jesus my intimacy with you has been non- existent

Lord I need you!