The Humble King

This morning we are going to begin the new section of John.

John 13-17 is what many call either the Upper Room discourse or the Farewell discourse.

The second half of John’s gospel is like a whole different sermon series.

In chapters 1-12, John is building the case for Jesus’ Divinity.

He is building the case for Jesus as the Savior of the world.

He is focused on proving to the world that Jesus is who he says he is.

He does this through the focus on signs.

Water to wine, healing the officials son, walking on water, feeding the 5000,healing the lame man, healing the blind man, and raising Lazarus from the Dead.

John was laying out the case for people to believe in Jesus.

To trust that he is the Messiah, the son of God and through believing in him we may have eternal life.

chapters 1-12 cover Jesus’ earthly ministry.

3 years of Jesus proving and proclaiming to be the Son of God.

And then there is a shift, there is a change in the gospel.

And this shift is from the public ministry of Jesus to the private ministry of Jesus.

The rest of John encompasses the last hours of Jesus’ life.

In fact, the story we are going to look at this morning I am convinced happens on Thursday Evening, and Jesus is going to be crucified that next Friday.

So Jesus turns his attention away from the world.

He turns his attention away from the crowds.

He turns his attention away from the distractions of the world and focuses in on his disciples.

John as he is writing this gospel does this brilliantly.

For the first part of John’s gospel, he focuses in on Jesus being the light of the world.

Jesus being the only one in whom life is found.

In fact, Light and life are key words and themes in John 1-12.

And in the last half of the gospel, the focus turns to Jesus’ love for the disciples.

And that’s a big part of what we are going to look at this morning.

Love.

And to tell you how big a deal love is to this section, the word love is used some 61 times in total in John’s Gospel.

And here in these 5 chapters, 34 times the word love is used 34 times.

More than half of the uses of Love in John’s gospel is found in these five chapters.

Love is a big deal to Jesus.

Both his love for us and our love for others.

And we are going to see that played out in detail over the next several weeks.

This mornings scripture is familiar to many, if not most of us.

We are going to read about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.

This is an interesting account that only takes place in John’s Gospel.

The other three gospel accounts don’t discuss or even hint at this event, but John uses this event to tell a similar story to those found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Specifically, John wants us to see Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and the disciples struggle with God’s kingdom economics.

That the first will be last and the last will be first.

The story of the foot washing is one about Humility and service.

Jesus sets the example for his disciples.

He lays out what it means to be great in the Kingdom of God.

He demonstrates the depths that he will travel to show his love for his people.

And he expects the same thing from us.

And we can read and study this story and twist it into how we need to do better.

That in order to please God we need to be more humble

That we need to do more things.

We can turn it into a morality issue.

But what we need to see is that the reason Jesus challenges us to be humble like him is so that we operate from a position of gratitude.

We don’t serve for acceptance, but from acceptance.

We don’t serve to earn God’s grace, but b/c we are grateful for the grace we have recieved.

And as we will see in this scripture we can only serve God once we have been cleansed by Jesus.

And this cleansing only happens b/c of his great love for us.

A true understanding of the gospel leads to humble service.

It is a natural outflow from our heart to serve God b/c of what he has done.

So, as we read through and study God’s Word this morning we are going to look at 3 points.

Jesus’ Love v.1

Our need for Cleansing v. 2-11

Our Perfect Example v. 12-17

John 13:1 CSB

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.

Jesus’ Love

These are some beautiful words from John about Jesus’ love for his disciples.

Remember these next 5 chapters are all about Jesus preparing his disciples for his departure.

That’s a very loving thing to do.

They had spent the last 3 years of their lives devoted to Jesus.

Following him around and listening to his teaching.

They gave up everything to follow Jesus and they are about to lose the one they had devoted their life to.

So Jesus sees fit to equip them for his departure.

The hour had come.

The alarm had sounded.

The bell had tolled.

This act of preparing them for his death is an amazing act of love.

We read in John 3:16, that Jesus loved the world.

We know that Jesus loves his creation.

But I want you to see something here.

The love Jesus demonstrated before his death wasn’t a love for the world, but a love for his own.

Jesus has a general love for his creation, but he has a specific love for those that belong to him.

Think about it this way.

My calling as a follower of Jesus is to love my neighbor as myself.

I am to love everyone I come into contact with.

However, I have a specific and particular love for my wife.

I love people, but my wife is my own.

So if you love Jesus, and belong to Jesus he has a particular love for you.

He died so that you could experience that love.

He sacrificed so that you could know love.

And if he loves you in this specific and particular way, notice what John says.

“He loved them to the end.”

There are no off ramps when it comes to Jesus’ love for his own.

He loves them to the end.

That is the end of his life he loved his disciples.

He loves us to the end of our lives.

And he will love us for all eternity.

If we belong to him.

If we are his own.

1 John 4.10 “10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

And I don’t know where each of you are when it comes to understanding this love of Jesus.

But I want you to know that Jesus loves you.

He cares about you.

He wants to be in a relationship with you.

He wants you to experience his particular love for you

Jesus shows us what love is and how he loves us by laying his life down.

By sacrificing his life on the cross.

That’s the culmination of his love.

His death for our sins.

His death so that we can be reconciled to God.

His death on our behalf.

And through his death we can be cleansed.

We can be washed.

We can be made clean.

And we have an advantage the disciples didn’t have.

We know the end of the story, they didn’t.

They were living it out in real time.

So Jesus paints them a picture of his love.

He shows them his love and devotion to them by humbling himself and cleaning their feet.

But before we get there John gives us a note about Judas

John 13:2 CSB

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.

Beginning of Betrayal

John wants us to see that all the disciples were present.

Even the one that would betray Jesus.

The one that was an enemy of God.

John uses an interesting phrase here, “the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas…to betray him.

So was this betrayal Judas’ own doing or was it the devil’s?

That’s a good question.

One of the things we have to remember is that human responsibility for what we do with Jesus is a reality.

We are responsible.

Judas is responsible for what he did.

He was prompted by the devil, not propelled by him.

We have already learned that he was greedy.

That he was a thief.

That he was simply using Jesus for his own gain.

He had already hardened his heart toward Jesus.

He was already serving a God that wasn’t the creator of the universe.

He was more interested in lining his pockets than he was in serving God.

Jesus was a means to an end.

Judas had opened the doorway to betrayal and the devil pushed him across the threshold.

Judas was used by the devil, but he was also a willing participant.

John 13:3 CSB

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.

Who Cleanses

The first thing we need to see in this story is that there is more to the footwashing than meets the eye.

Much like John has done throughout his gospel, he writes and teaches on multiple levels.

He wants us to continue to come back to his gospel to see the complexity and the simplicity.

The foot washing as we will see shortly is not about washing feet, but about Jesus’ death and resurrection.

So here, John wants us to look at who does the cleansing.

He begins with telling us that Jesus knows that the Father has given everything into his hands and that he is from God, and going back to God.

This refrain is used multiple times in John’s Gospel.

Jesus is the only one that has the authority to cleanse.

The authority to forgive.

The authority to accomplish what he set out to do.

Why?

Because he is from God and he is going back to God.

He is the creator of the universe who came to fix what humanity had broken.

And b/c of his obedience and submission to the Father he will accomplish what he set out to do.

John 13:4–5 CSB

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.

How Does Jesus Cleanse

The simple answer to this question is through the incarnation, that is Jesus’ putting on flesh, his death, and his resurrection.

But how do we see that in this scripture?

Earlier in the service we read through Phil 2:5-11.

Now that specific scripture was one of the first hymns that the church sang together about Jesus.

And I want you to notice the parallels between that hymn and what John tells us here.

You may think that this is far fetched, but I want you to remember that the true author of Scripture is God himself.

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, man wrote what God had declared.

The First thing John tells us is that Jesus got up from supper.

The picture painted here is that Jesus is sitting in his rightful place at the dinner table.

Then he gets up and moves from his rightful place and begins to move toward the disciples.

This mirrors Jesus at the right hand of the father ready to done on human flesh to move towards his creation.

John then tells us that he laid aside his outer clothing.

Painting the picture of Jesus while still in heaven emptying himself to come to earth.

Phil 2:7 “7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,”

Jesus before he came to earth laid aside his glory to become a servant.

The removal of a robe was only something that a servant would do in order to accomplish the task set before him.

So the God of the universe, makes himself a servant.

Stripping himself of the glory he had with the Father to come and serve people who would reject him.

Jesus took on the form of a servant.

And ultimately through this form he was exalted above every name on heaven and earth.

It is through service and love that Jesus cleanses us.

Let’s not over look what’s happening here.

Jesus the one who created feet is now washing them.

And they had some nasty feet.

Do you know anyone with nasty and stinky feet?

I do. And their feet would be clean compared to what Jesus was facing.

During Jesus’ time they didn’t have paved roads.

They didn’t have socks and shoes.

They wore sandals.

And for the the most part they walked everywhere.

In the heat.

Not only that, but there was livestock everywhere.

And with livestock comes the byproduct of livestock.

So the streets were nasty.

Covered in dirt. Littered with Feces.

and traveled on foot.

What happens when you walk in the heat.

Your feet sweat.

The dirt starts to adhere to them.

They become disgusting.

Maybe you’re not paying attention and you step in a present left behind by Joseph’s Donkey.

Regardless of the circumstances your feet would be nasty.

And during the first century, they didn’t use tables like we have.

To eat dinner they would actually recline next to one another by leaning on their left arms and using their right arms to pick up food.

Their feet would be on the same level as they are.

So it was customary for these people to have their feet cleaned before eating so that it would be a pleasant experience.

Now the only people who would clean feet would be the slaves.

You wouldn’t clean the feet of a peer.

And certainly your superior wouldn’t clean your feet.

The foot washing would always be done by someone in a lesser position than you.

In fact, Jewish people wouldn’t even let Jewish servants clean their feet.

It had to be done by someone else.

So a first century Jewish person reading this story for the first time would sense the scandalous event that is happening.

John has shown us that Jesus is the God who spoke the world into existence.

He is the one who was sent by God to save people.

He is the Messiah, The Promised Son of God who can heal the lame, make the blind see, and raise the dead.

And here he is taking on the form of a Servant.

He is not asserting his power, prestige, or position.

Rather he is laying them aside to serve his disciples.

Jesus is compelled by his love for the disciples to serve them in this humble display of grace and love.

Jesus is washing their dirty feet and taking their filthiness upon himself.

This is a beautiful picture of the gospel.

Jesus came to take our sin and shame.

To clean us up so that we would be made right with God.

But not everyone at the table is ready to accept Jesus’ gift of foot washing.

In fact, I’m sure that many of the men there were uncomfortable, but we all know that if there is going to be one man to speak up, it’s going to be Peter.

And of course, Peter does.

John 13:6–11 CSB

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.”

Need for Cleansing

John doesn’t tell us which person Peter was in line when it came to the foot washing, but Jesus gets to him and Peter isn’t having any of this.

He has a high view of Jesus.

He knows and believes that Jesus is the Messiah.

He knows and believes that Jesus is more important than a servant.

Peter looks Jesus in the Eyes bewildered by what he is seeing.

“Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

To which Jesus responds, that Peter doesn’t understand what he’s doing, but he soon will.

This is a further allusion to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Jesus wants Peter to see that Jesus came to serve.

He came to lead by example.

Jesus is doing something far greater than simply washing feet.

He is demonstrating what the Kingdom of God is going to look like.

That there is no one in the kingdom that is above serving.

Not Even the King.

But Peter refuses Jesus’ offer to wash his feet.

John 13:8 “8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.

In the original language, this is a more forceful rebuke from Peter.

He says “you will never, not forever, not in all of eternity, wash my feet.”

Peter believed that Jesus washing his feet was dishonorable.

That it was below Jesus’ stature and station.

Peter was unable to see what Jesus was doing.

Peter wasn’t thinking theologically or spiritually he was seeing Jesus through the eyes of the world.

And this act of washing someone’s feet is not fitting for a Rabbi, Teacher, or Lord.

How does Jesus respond?

Jn 13:8 Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.””

Jesus is telling Peter that if he isn’t allowed to wash Peter’s feet then Peter will not share in the inheritance with Jesus.

He will not be able to inherit eternal life.

If Peter can not and will not be served by Jesus in this way, he cannot be served by Jesus in salvation.

Peter believed that he is preserving Jesus’ honor by telling him not to wash his feet, but really Peter is asserting his own Pride.

Having your feet washed by someone else takes its own form of humility.

It’s humbling to wash someone’s feet, but it’s equally humbling to allow someone to wash yours.

Peter was not disillusioned to the amount of filth and stench coming from his feet.

So he wanted to protect his own pride.

There’s no way he would allow his Rabbi to stoop that low.

But Peter had to realize that if he couldn’t accept his feet being washed by Jesus, then how could he accept Jesus’ death as the way to salvation.

If he wouldn’t allow Jesus to wash his feet then he couldn’t allow Jesus to save his soul.

So in typical Peter fashion he over reacts.

And says if that’s the case, wash all my body.

Completely cleanse me.

From top to bottom wash me.

John 13.10-11 “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.””

Jesus tells Peter that he has already been cleansed.

He has already believed.

He has bathed in trust and is cleaned.

so only his feet are dirty.

This is a Spiritual truth that we need to grab on to.

If we are in Jesus, we have already been bathed.

We have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

Our garments are spotless, white as snow.

Our sin has been washed away.

This is what we call being Justified.

We are in right standing with God almighty, if we believe.

But we also need to participate in daily washing.

Even though we are cleansed we still get dirty.

We still walk in sin.

We still defile our bodies with rebellion and disobedience.

We don’t need to be bathed, but we do need to have our feet washed.

That is if we belong to Jesus.

If we are his, we are clean.

But unfortunately, there are those that want to appear clean.

They want to play the role of believer.

This is exhibited by Judas.

He looked clean.

He knew what to say.

He knew where to go.

He knew how to pretend to belong to Jesus.

He was even trusted by the group.

Trusted enough to be in charge of the money bags.

But the sobering reality is that people can look good.

They can look clean.

They can appear to belong to Jesus without actually belonging to Jesus.

here’s my plea to you this morning, if you’re just playing the game and don’t actually believe in Jesus or trust in Jesus.

Stop playing games.

Stop pretending.

Let go of the games and listen to Jesus.

Follow after him.

Allow him to wash you for good.

So that you can be made new.

So that you can know him as Lord and savior.

You may be fooling those around you, but I can guarantee that you aren’t fooling God.

He knows and loves those that belong to him.

So what does all this foot washing mean?

Well Jesus is going to tell us.

John 13:12–17 CSB

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.

Perfect Example

Jesus is the perfect example of what it means to serve in love and humility.

That was his whole purpose in washing the feet.

He wanted to show his disciples that he loved them enough to become a servant.

That he loved them enough to stoop to do the lowest of tasks in the name of love and grace.

He, the teacher and Lord, took on the form of a servant and washed the feet of his disciples.

Even the disciple that would betray him.

Now some denominations and believers take this to mean that we should regularly practice foot washing in our services, much like we do baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The Problem with that is that we don’t see the disciples doing this again in the NT.

It’s only mentioned one other time in the NT and that’s in 1 Tim 5, when speaking about the good works of a widow.

So what Jesus is really saying and teaching here is that we are called, as followers of Jesus, to exhibit the same form of humility and love that he displayed to his followers.

And notice in v.15 that he said we are specifically and particularly supposed to serve one another.

That is other believers.

The grace, love, and humility Jesus demonstrated should be the same grace, love and humility demonstrated in his followers.

B/c we are not greater than Jesus.

He created the feet that he washed.

WE are to emulate him to others.

He is sending us out as his ambassadors. As his witnesses.

As his followers so that people can see the love, grace, and humility of Jesus in our lives.

We are called to be servants.

We are called to be a blessing.

We are empowered by the God of the universe through the washing of Jesus’ blood to serve others in love and humility.

Here’s the thing, we are called to give humility, love, and grace to fellow believers.

To those who love Jesus.

But it doesn’t stop there.

We are to give love, humility, and grace to all people.

Even the enemies of God.

Jesus didn’t just show love, humility, and grace to those committed to him,

He showed it to Judas too.

Let us not forget that it is a pleasure and a privilege to Serve God.

To love people b/c of what Jesus has done for us.

The last little bit that we are going to cover this morning is in v.17.

John 13:17 “17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

If we know and do the things Jesus demonstrated we are blessed.

It’s not just knowing the stories of Jesus.

It’s not just believing the right things about Jesus.

It’s knowing and doing that brings blessing.

Serving God and others brings a blessing to your life.

The blessing is in the doing.

So the question is “How can you be a blessing?

Who can you show grace, love, and humility to today?

Who has wronged you that you can extend forgiveness and love to.

Who in your life has caused irreparable harm that you can be a blessing to.

How can you be a blessing to those within the church?

How can you follow the example of Jesus in your life today. Right now.

How can you be like the Humble King that isn’t afraid to wash the feet of those he came to serve?

Have you experience the cleansing power of Jesus?

Have you been washed in the Blood?

Have you given your life to Jesus?

In just a moment we are going to do the Lord’s Supper.

The LS is for believers.

If you aren’t a believer, a follower of Jesus I would ask that you let the plates pass by you.

This isn’t to shame you.

But I want to offer you something greater than some bread and juice.

I want you to know that this is the time to give your life to Jesus.

He came to love you.

He came to give his life for you.

Turn towards him.

Acknowledge that you are filthy.

That you are stained with sin.

That you need to be cleansed.

And ask Jesus to cleanse you.

To wash you.

Matthew 26:26–29 CSB

26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”