Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet
Notes
Transcript
What do I want them to know? We are to servants, like Jesus is a servant
Why? It is in serving that the world is reached with the love of Jesus
What do I want them to do? Receive the washing and serve
Why? It brings us salvation and leads others to Jesus
ME/WE
Have you ever had a conversation, discussion, or maybe an argument about “who’s the greatest?”
Maybe it the question is revolving around “who’s the greatest basketball player of all time?”
Is the greatest basketball player Michael Jordan or is it Lebron James?
Maybe for some of us growing or maybe even currently we are wondering who is the greatest child in the family
Of course it’s me, I am dad’s favorite
Why wouldn’t it be me???
Then your sister pipes up, are you kidding me, it is me, everyone knows I am mom and dad’s favorite!
For some of us it is not the family or sports or music, but it is the question comes into the classroom or workplace.
In those environments it is more clearly defined
Employee of the month, student of the month
Employee of the year, valedictorian, #1 in the class
We live in a WORLD, where the WORLD wants to know who is the GREATEST
Who’s the smartest?
Who’s #1 in the music and movies
Who’s the best employee
We see this mentality amongst the disciples during PASSOVER
They are STUDENTS who follow Jesus who want to know who’s the greatest amongst them
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
They are having a dispute about who is the greatest
You can imagine
Peter saying I am the greatest I walked on water
Andrew saying no it is me, I found the boy who had 5 fish and 2 loaves that Jesus turned into a multitude of loaves and fish
James said no it is me I have healed the most people
Judas say no it is me, I am the treasurer, Jesus trusts me with the money
You can imagine this conversation happening “who’s the greatest? I am the greatest”
TENSION
How does Jesus respond?
Peter yes it is you, you are the greatest
Or no it is John who wrote in his the Gospel of John that he is the one Jesus loved
One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side,
Is this how Jesus responses???
No, Jesus does something so astonishing, so unbelievable, eye opening, so revealing and so amazing
What does Jesus do when this question is raised?
Let’s read
John sets the scene
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.
Where are we at? Feast of the Passover
What’s the Feast of Passover?
It is pilgrimage Feast (one of 3 pilgrimage feast) where Israel celebrates God delivering the nation of Israel from slavery from Egypt
God is our deliver!!
God delivered us from slavery!!
He’s our redeemer
He redeemed us from the hand of Pharaoh
SHOW PICTURES
They are at Passover celebrating, while they are celebrating Passover John says “Jesus’ hour had come”
What is so interesting and what the disciples did not know that the hour had come
- Jesus hour had come?
What hour was that?
That hour had come where Jesus is going to be the GREATER Passover Lamb that delivers and redeems us from our GREATEST bondage of SIN, DEATH and SHAME
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
They are celebrating their nations deliverance that happened in Egypt all the while Jesus is HOURS away from DELIVERING THE WHOLE WORLD from the GREATEST EXODUS OF power sin, death, and shame.
One party is going on and a new one was just about to BEGAN and it was not for the nation of Israel but the whole world. Jesus was going to DELIVER the whole world to be the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sin of the world
The disciples had no idea
No one had a clue
That in a matter of hours the whole world is going to be forever changed
Have we not all been there our lives are going here....and in a couple of hours everything changes.
We have no idea what hour God is at in our life.
During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
John wanted us to know Judas was there, and it was already onto the devils schemes.
Why does John mention that Judas was there and that the devil had already put the evil thought of betraying Jesus to the authorities, the authorities who are trying to get rid of Jesus.
John is showing Jesus’ heart
Jesus knows the heart of Judas still welcomes Judas to the table and in those days and now eatings with someone was a symbolic act of acceptance.
We are seeing the heart and love for God, that God welcomes those who are against Him.
Jesus was called a friend to sinners.
Jesus’ table is open to all people, all are welcome, but not all will dine, fellowship, and ACCEPT HIM
Jesus wants us to know how big the heart God has for people
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,
John is setting the scene Jesus is about to be crucified and resurrected. The sacrificial Lamb that takes away the sins of the world.
It is at this moment that Jesus does something so unbelievable (we are at an unbelievable moment where all of life and history is about to change) and during the unbelievable moment Jesus does something unbelievable, so astonishing, so eye opening, so amazing that Peter couldn’t take it.
What was thing Jesus does?
rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
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.
What happened? A couple of things
Jesus took off his outer garments (he had an under garment), this was interesting, he didn’t need to take it off to clean feet, this not something you did in public and nor at supper not during the celebration of Passover
Why would Jesus do such a thing???
- why is He taking off his outer garment?
It was a symbolic act
To understand the symbolic act let’s remember who Jesus
Who is Jesus? What is one of the descriptions of Jesus He is Messiah (bring the greatest deliverance for the whole world), PRIEST
Jesus is the GREAT HIGH PRIEST
Show high priest
Priest in that day would look like this
Jesus didn’t have that, but Jesus had an outer garment
The priest of that day would never take off their outer garments, except 1 day of year, 1 day a year they shed their garments
What day did priest take off the outer garment?
On the day of atonement, the day the priest make atonement for the sins of the people? Where they would sacrifice a lamb for the sins of the people… make atonement for sins....the high holy day
Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.
And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
Jesus is merging the Feast of Israel together
Passover: deliverance
Atonement: priest making atonement for the sins of
Jesus is the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world and delivers us from our greatest enemy of sin, death, and shame
Not only is Jesus signifying I am the great High Priest who’s going to take away the sins of the world, not just delieverence but also payment for sin
One moment He signfies He is the GREAT HIGH PRIEST and the NEXT moment
- Jesus always signifies and shows He is also the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 prophesied about
Then Jesus ties a towel around his waist, this is a symbolic act of being a servant. Servants tied the towel around their waist.
But Jesus doesn’t just tie the towel around His waist, He preformers the lowest task of all the servants which was to wash the peoples feet only the lowest of low did this.
In that day people walked with sandals on, they stepped in dirt and dung and on top of that if you asked a woman what was her least favor part of her body she would say feet.
Jesus in this moment signfies I am the GREAT HIGH PRIEST and SUFFERING SERVANT
We can take the great high priest, bu the suffering servant!?!
Jesus is going around washing the feet of the disciples and he does this they become clean and Jesus towel become dirty and dirty…they become clean, He takes on their dirt
Jesus is going around washing the feet of the disciples and he does this they become clean and Jesus towel become dirty and dirty…they become clean, He takes on their dirt
THE DISCIPLES ARE SHOCKED AND ASTONISHED, what is their LORD and TEACHER doing???
Look at Peter’s reaction
It is at this moment Peter says what we probably would have all said
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
Jesus your my Lord you don’t wash my feet, that is not for you to do....we need the lowest of lowest servant to this task
Peter being Peter tends to think he knows more than Jesus and needs to defend Jesus
He the one who apposed Jesus when Jesus talked about God’s rescue plan on how He would save the World and Peter said no and Jesus said get behind me Satan
He is the one cuts of the ear of the Roman solider in the Garden of Gethsemane
isn’t this so us sometimes, no Jesus you mustn't do that
How does Jesus responds?
Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
Jesus says trust me, you don’t understand, but you will
- is that not what Jesus says to us at times, trust me, I know what I am doing
Peter responds like we would respond
Ok I’ll trust you, NO
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.”
I though about it and it’s not going to happen, no Jesus
At this moment Peter says, wait a minute,
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
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.”
For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Peter says wash all of me get all of me that is expose right now
Is this is not what we would have said
Jesus get these too
Hand and head were thought to be the most dirty outside of feet. Hands from touch and head from thinking
Jesus said you do not need your hands and feet washed you have already been BATHED but your feet need to be washed?
Why would Jesus say you do not need to be your hands and feet washed??? you have been BATHED
What does that mean?
- This is huge and important
You have already been BATHED by believing in ME, that I am the Christ, the Messiah
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Peter you have been BATHED, you have believed in me this once and for all done.
But you still need to be cleaned, you still not to confess your sin,
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
WHAT GOD says to us is we are made clean, ultimate clean by one BATH that unites to Christ, and we are going to need to continually confess our sins not for SALVATION for HEALING and CLEANING
The Christian life is about ONE BATH believing in Jesus and multiple foot washings.
One pastor growing up saying we do not need to CONFESS because we are FORGIVEN....that’s not true
This is huge
Also, interesting is Jesus washing Judas feet, the unclean one though he has not been BATHED, or CLEAN
Many people have done what Judas has done, God I am sorry, but it never leads to CONFESSION INTO believing God as there savior
this is also good for us to know for those who say the church, the Sunday morning gatherings are only for believers
Early church unbelievers were always present
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?
Peter at this point might understand what Jesus has done, but he’s not saying anything, John you say something.
You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
I am Lord, I am the Great High Priest, I am God
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
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.
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
You are to serve one another
When people look at you as Sons and Daugthers of God they will see in you identity SERVANTS
This does not mean we are to literally wash someones feet
But to serve
Jesus says a servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who was sent.
At the foot of the cross
In God’s value system no one less valuable than the other person
This is HUGE because all of life had a value system of who was more important.
This world runs in the system of who has more value than others.....that is not the operating system of the kingdom of God....
In the kingdom of God all people have value
No need to compete because you are competing for something that I have already bestowed upon you.
It is not about being great or “who’s the greatest”
It is about serving others, other valuable people just as I have done for you.
You are the people who are to lay down you life and serve the world, serve in our families, serve in friendships, serve in the church, serve
If you do these things serve and value others, they will be blessed and,
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
If you serve, lay down you life for someone else, you are living like Jesus and they will be blessed and you will be blessed.
Jesus says to use we are child of the SERVANT KING and as SONS and DAUGTHERS one of our names is SERVANT
God and serve others and wash their feet.