The Loving Servant
Notes
Transcript
The Loving Servant
The Loving Servant
Close your eyes with me for a moment, if you will.
It’s Thursday night, you’re in a room with your closest and most trusted friends. It’s a holiday, and most years you would be having a big meal, laughing, carrying on, telling stories, and enjoying family, but this year is different. you aren’t able to celebrate the way that you normally do, because there’s a warrant out for your arrest.
This is the scene that we find ourselves in in John 13. It’s the Thursday night of the Last Supper. We call this Maundy Thursday. Jesus and all of the Apostles are observing the Passover in a private place, because Jesus is aware of what is happening in the shadows. The Jews have already plotted to arrest Jesus, and unfairly sentence him to death.
In our time together this morning, my Prayer is that we will look into the Mirror of our lives, and ask ourselves the question,
“What is Love?”
“What is Love?”
“Do I Love?”
“Do I Love?”
1 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray him.
3 Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God.
4 So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself.
5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”
11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you?
13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am.
14 So if I, 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 for you.
16 “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
John MacArthur preached a message from this passage back in 2015. He titled that Message “the Humble Love of Christ”
In His introduction, he shares a few quotes about the true nature of Love for the Christian that i believe are valuable for us this morning as we dive into this familiar passage of scripture.
“Selfless humility is the Soul of Love”
“Only Humble people love”
“Your Capacity to love is Directly related to your Capacity to Humble yourself”
“The less interested you are in yourself, the greater your capacity to invest yourself in somebody else.”
Love is the “Full devotion of the one who loves to the needs, and wellbeing , and blessing, and joy of the one loved. “
“But every book, person, and resource out there tells us that we should Love ourselves, and that in that self love we will find purpose, Joy, and fulfillment.”
We, as Christians, understand that purpose, Joy, and Fulfillment can only come to us by Jesus thru the scriptures, so let’s see if the scriptures give the same explanation as the world.
Remember our original Questions:
“What is Love?”
“Do I Love?”
1 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
It is here, that we see the first of 4 Servant Mindsets that Christ uses to live out the definition of Love!
We see Christ as the:
Selfless Servant
Selfless Servant
Webster’s Defines Selflessness as: having no concern for self : UNSELFISH
Even in non christian homes, our society teaches that being selfish is a less than desirable trait for a “decent” person. But how far are we willing to go? To what end are we willing to disregard our own well being, in order that others may be provided for? That’s a tough question to answer.
David Brown commented on the meaning of vs. 1. He said:
The meaning is, that on the very edge of His last sufferings, when it might have been supposed that He would be absorbed in His own awful prospects, He was so far from forgetting “His own,” who were to be left struggling “in the world” after He had “departed out of it to the Father” (Jn 17:11), that in His care for them He seemed scarce to think of Himself
The scripture’s give us a unique look into the mind of Jesus, and we shouldn’t take that for granted!
We get to see His motivations,
We get to see His Heart,
We get to see His Commitment to us!
We see all of that before He ever says a word! Let that Sink in for just a second.
So we see that Selflessness is absolutely necessary to show love.
Let’s dive deeper into the Scripture to see what else we can learn this morning!
3 Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God.
4 So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself.
5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.
Jesus is really shaking the room with how he’s handling Himself here! First, He’s placed more value on the Apostles here than His own safety, and now we see Him take on the role that i call the:
Condescending Servant
Condescending Servant
Typically we use the word condescending in reference to someone being rude, or hateful, but that’s not what is happening here at all!
Jesus knows who He is, Knows the power that He commands, and ultimately knows that He has a throne waiting for Him next to the Father!
Yet In this moment, Jesus is lowering himself in status to a place that made everyone in the room uncomfortable. The Apostles have been a part of Jesus’ ministry for 3 years, they have seen Him do miraculous things that defy all understanding, but this was something that they had a hard time processing.
In this moment, Jesus is living out the old saying, “I’ll never ask you to do something that I’m not willing to do myself.”
The Text continues in vs. 6:
6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”
11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
I call this mindset the:
Persistent Servant
Persistent Servant
There is so much theology in these few verses that we really don’t have time to look at it all, but it is important to see the urgency and persistence that Jesus is demonstrating here!
As Jesus makes His way around the room, of course it’s peter who speaks up. At first, Peter is ASTONISHED that Jesus would lower himself to such a level, but His astonishment quickly turns to what seems awfully close to rebuking Jesus…
It would have been completely justified for Jesus to have just passed over peter due to his ignorance of what was truly happening, but His Love didn’t extend only to the borders of Peter’s understanding, and He definitely didn’t allow the uncomfortable, awkward, difficult nature of the conversation to stop him from doing what He was doing.
You see, Jesus isn’t just talking about hygiene here! He’s breaking down the Christian Life for all of us to see and understand!
Of course, “foot in mouth Peter” over here doesn’t listen, and misunderstands what Jesus is showing them.
The Bathing that Jesus mentions, is what we call Justification. It’s one of the first steps of Salvation. It’s when we experience the forgiveness of Sins through Jesus!
The washing of feet represents another big churchy word, Regeneration. Basically, the daily cleansing, the daily charging, the daily pick me up that can only come from our time in God’s word, in prayer, and in service!!
Jesus knows how important it is for us to know that His love has no limits! and in this moment, He is not going to allow someone to miss that! Even though they may feel offended, may not be interested, or may not be comfortable.
He is persistent!
And finally, We see the:
Submissive Servant
Submissive Servant
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you?
13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am.
14 So if I, 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 for you.
16 “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Today, The scriptures have put the servant heart of Jesus on display!
We’ve seen His Selflessness, in that while He could have been dwelling and mourning His own situation, He chose to prioritize Us over Himself!
We’ve seen Him Condescend to a place that many of the Apostles were not willing to go, and let’s be honest, there are area’s of need in which we are unwilling to go as well.
We’ve seen His Persistence, even in the face of opposition.
and Now, we see Him call us to submit Just as He did.
Are you living This Christian Life?
It’s easy for life to get in the way, and get us off track from where we were originally trying to go! Get back on track this morning! I am available, Bro. John is available if you would like to talk with someone about what it looks like to surrender your life to Jesus! Or maybe, you just need to get your life back on track. Maybe this morning, you’ve realized that your life doesn’t look like the example that Jesus displayed here in John 13. You can come here to the Altar, or Pray wherever you are, asking the Lord to forgive you, and repenting of your sin. The Decision is yours. I leave you once again with the words of Jesus
17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.