Serving Like Jesus

Well, thank you very much, Alistair, for reading that passage for us.

We are going to be spending the next 20 minutes or so looking at this passage in John 13.

! I should introduce myself. I'm Craig. I'm a pastor in training here at Brunsfield.

And I want to extend Graham's welcome, especially if this is your first time here,

or maybe you've not come here too many times before. You're very welcome here.

As Graham said, this is Good Friday. This is one of the most important events.

In the Christian calendar. And Graham stole my thunder already. In my introduction,

I was going to ask ourselves, why is this day called Good Friday? Now, you may have seen this

cartoon. It's maybe a little bit far away. I'll read it out for you. You may have seen it before.

I hate the term Good Friday. Why? My Lord was hanged on a tree that day.

If you were going to be hanged on that day and he volunteered to take your place,

how would you feel? Good. Have a nice day.

Now, the reason Good Friday is called Good is because our Lord Jesus chose to die in our place on the cross so that we wouldn't have to.

That is what Good Friday is all about.

And we know that Easter Sunday is coming. We know that Jesus has risen.

But we pause on Friday to reflect on the love and the humility of Jesus and the depths that he went to to save sinners like us.

So that's what we're going to do this evening.

But you may be asking, why are we spending our evening thinking about John 13?

A passage all about feet.

Now, that's a very good question.

John 13 may seem like an odd place to go on Good Friday,

but it is full of reflections of the cross.

John 13 is great because we see Jesus in action and his actions, his love and his humility all point towards the cross

where his love, grace and humble service was ultimately displayed.

So it's my intention this evening to keep pointing forwards from John 13 to the cross

to show how Jesus's love was fully displayed.

So our big idea tonight is that Jesus lovingly and humbly invites all people to come to him

to be washed clean from their sins and to follow in his example of love and service.

That is the big idea that we're thinking about tonight.

So do come along with me as we track through this story.

Keep your Bibles open in front of you.

We're going to make lots of references to the verses in the chapter.

And we're going to start in verses 1 to 5.

So just a run through of what we're going to look at.

We're going to start in 1 to 5 and see that Jesus serves his followers because he loves them.

Then in verses 6 to 11, we'll focus on the humility of Jesus

and see how he humbly invites everyone to come to him and be washed from sin.

And then finally, we're going to look at verses 12 to 17

and we'll see that Jesus gives his followers an example to follow.

So that's where we're going tonight.

So let's start in verses 1 to 5.

Jesus serves his followers because he loves them.

Now, this story features Jesus and his disciples

and they are spending time in Jerusalem.

And we see in verse 1 that they are on the cusp of a really important festival.

That is the festival of Passover.

Now, Passover was a celebration of God's rescue of his people,

the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt.

And so they meet every year to celebrate and to remember that time.

So the disciples and Jesus, they're gathered together for this festival.

And the next thing we're told is that an evening meal is in progress.

They are enjoying the Passover supper together.

Now, this is the meal that is famously known as the Last Supper.

You may have heard of that.

It's depicted in a very famous piece of art.

And it is the last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples

before he went to his death and before he was resurrected.

And in John's Gospel, there are five chapters devoted to the events

and the discourse which takes place at this meal.

So it is a very important scene, the Last Supper.

Now, looking at our passage in verse 1,

we're told that Jesus knew that the time had come

for him to leave the world and go back to the Father.

We see that in verse 1.

Now, this means that he has entered the last and most important scene

of his life, of his earthly ministry.

He knows what is coming in the next 24 hours.

His death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead,

and finally, his ascension to heaven.

That's all to come very soon.

And Jesus' imminent suffering on the cross

for the sins of the world,

it's fully on his mind at this moment during this meal.

Now, it's probably not something that you've ever thought about before,

but how would you prepare if you knew you were about to suffer a horrible death?

That's a bit of a grim thought, isn't it?

How would you prepare yourself if you knew that was coming?

I think I would give up.

I think I would curl up in a ball.

I want it to pass quickly.

Or maybe I would try and run away and delay the inevitable.

What would you do?

Well, despite heading towards a horrible death,

Jesus wasn't concerned about saving himself.

He wasn't concerned about running away.

His greatest concern was for his followers, his disciples.

Now, we're told in verse 1 that having loved his disciples up till now,

Jesus chose to love them to the end.

Literally, Jesus chose to love them to the uttermost.

Everything Jesus was about to do,

from the foot washing to his suffering and death on the cross,

he did it because of his immense love for his followers.

Now, we have a very low view of love in our society, in our world.

What are some of the things that we say that we love?

What do you love?

Well, I love pizza.

I love dogs.

I love the Star Wars franchise.

That's a bit of a controversial one.

Not everybody does.

And I love the Scottish Islands.

I love getting out and about.

Now, maybe some of you might say that you love your family.

You love your children or your parents or your spouse or your siblings.

What do you love?

Who are the people that you love?

How far does your love go?

How much do you love the things that you love and the people that you love?

Can you quantify it?

Or to ask a slightly different question.

How much does God love us?

Now, because of our fallen view of love, because we're sinners,

we fail to appreciate the magnitude of Jesus' love for us.

The love that we experience for others is only a shadow of the immense love that Jesus has for us.

And I don't think we'll fully grasp how great Jesus' love is for us in this life.

But Jesus loved his followers, and he demonstrated that by stooping low and washing their feet.

What a strange thing to do.

We're going to think a little bit more about that in a minute.

But this was just a reflection of the ultimate expression of his love.

As I said before, in less than 24 hours' time, Jesus would die for the ones that he loves.

For his disciples, for his followers, but also for you and I.

He died for us, too, on that cross.

But apart from dying, what was Jesus doing on the cross?

Well, he was willingly enduring the punishment of God that we deserve for our sins.

Every wrong thought, every wrong word or deed that we have done,

that judgmental thought that we've had for somebody else,

that impatient word that we said that we snapped,

or that selfish action that we performed.

Jesus hung on the cross and suffered for that action,

and for that thought and for that word and every other sin that we have committed in our lives,

so that we wouldn't have to bear the punishment for it.

So what was he doing?

He was willingly suffering the punishment that we deserve for everything that we've done.

And why did he endure it for us?

Because he loves us to the uttermost.

So in the last days and hours of Jesus' life,

he sets his sights on the cross.

He knows what it will cost him,

but he goes towards it,

because he loves undeserving sinners like you and I,

and he loves us to the uttermost.

Now the other thing that we see in these first few verses

is that Jesus knows certain things.

Now I wondered, as we went through the passage,

and you can look at it again now,

I wondered if you noticed all the kind of knowing

or understanding language that we see.

I counted seven instances of the words knowing or knew or understanding.

But what does Jesus know?

And what is the significance of him knowing these particular things?

Well, in verse 1,

Jesus knows that his death was imminent.

Now, maybe if you saw it in verse 2,

Jesus knows that his death is imminent,

but there is a certain trouble brewing in the background.

Satan is at work.

He wishes to unsettle Jesus,

to distract him.

He wishes to swerve Jesus from his path of salvation.

We're told that Satan had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus.

Satan uses someone who is close to Jesus,

someone who Jesus loves with that great love

that we thought about a minute ago.

But Jesus is not unaware.

The next thing that we see that Jesus knew,

it's all the way in verse 11, halfway through.

Jesus knew who was going to betray him.

What else does Jesus know?

Verse 3,

In other words,

Jesus knows that he had true power and control in this situation.

And we're told that Jesus knew where he had come from.

And we're told that Jesus knew where he was going.

Jesus had come from the throne room in heaven.

Then he stepped down into earth.

And Jesus was going back to that throne very soon

after his death and resurrection.

And as Jesus later hung on the cross,

it looked like he had lost.

It looked like the forces of evil had won.

But even then,

as Jesus gasped and struggled for breath,

he knew in that moment

that the whole of the created order was under his control.

Even in that moment,

Jesus was holding the universe together

by the power of his word.

What an amazing thing.

And as those mockers taunted him

and told him to come down from the cross,

if you are indeed the Son of God,

why don't you bring yourself down?

Why don't you come off that cross?

It doesn't look like you're so great after all.

Jesus knew that he could come down,

didn't he?

But he chose to remain there

to keep suffering until his last breath

because of his tremendous love for us.

He chose to remain on the cross

knowing that he was suffering

and dying to buy back the people that he loved

from the curse of sin.

And he chose to remain on the cross

knowing that his destiny

with the Father on the throne of heaven

was sure.

Can you imagine a greater expression of love?

Do you know of a greater expression of love?

Often when we watch movies

and we see great examples of sacrifice,

Hollywood is just copying this idea of Jesus.

I don't think we know of a greater expression of love.

Now, on the cross,

Jesus was fulfilling the very words

that he would go on to say

a few minutes later to his friends

in chapter 15.

Jesus says that

greater love has no one than this,

that someone laid down his life for his friends.

You are my friends

if you do what I command you.

Jesus lays down his life for his friends.

That is you and I today.

So with these things in his mind,

what's in his mind?

So his imminent death is in his mind,

the forefront of his mind.

In his mind is his tremendous love for his disciples

and also in his mind,

that knowledge of his power and his destiny.

And with these things in his mind,

he rises up from the table.

He takes off his outer garment.

He wraps a towel around his waist.

He prepares a bowl of water

and he begins to wash and dry

the feet of his disciples.

Did you see the meticulous description

of Jesus' actions in these verses?

The writer uses six verbs.

When he could have just used one or two,

he could have just said,

Jesus got up and started washing the disciples' feet.

This is a very visual scene.

You can almost picture Jesus doing these things.

Getting up,

taking his outer garment off,

wrapping a towel around his waist,

filling the bowl with water,

and then bending down.

And you can imagine the disciples

looking on,

slightly stunned.

Okay, so let's look at our next part.

So verses six to 11,

Jesus humbly invites everyone

to come and be washed from sin.

So let's get back into the action

in chapter 13.

Jesus comes over to Peter

with a bowl of water

and he expects to watch Peter's feet.

Now, that might seem like a strange thing to do,

but at that time in the first century

in Jerusalem,

this was a perfectly normal thing to do.

It was a hot country

and these folks likely went around wearing sandals.

And by the end of the day,

their feet would have been filthy.

Their feet would have been covered in sweat

and dust and dirt and dung

that lay all over the streets in Jerusalem.

So it was normal

on entering someone's home

to have your feet cleaned.

maybe by a servant

if you entered a house

of someone who was rich.

So,

what is unusual

in this instance

is that Jesus performs his action

in the middle of the meal.

I don't know if you noticed that

in verse two,

that the meal has already begun.

It's in progress.

You've got to ask yourself the question,

why had this not been done already?

Why didn't someone else

stoop to wash their feet?

Wasn't there a servant in attendance

to do this?

Why didn't one of the disciples do it?

These are questions

that we don't have answers to,

but I'm sure the disciples

must have felt super awkward

when Jesus got up

and started to do it.

Now,

the reason that Peter

objects

so strongly

to Jesus washing

his feet

in verse six

is because he recognizes

that as their master

and teacher,

it is completely

inappropriate

for Jesus

to stoop

and serve his followers

in this slowly manner.

Peter literally says

in verse six,

would you,

such a one

as you are,

wash the feet

of such a one

as I am?

Peter recognizes

that Jesus

is far greater

than him.

This was not the job

for the master.

We're supposed to be struck

by Jesus'

humility here.

Jesus isn't just doing

a weird thing.

He's choosing

to bend

low.

Now,

just like Jesus' love,

sometimes Christians

can be prone

to over-familiarity

with the idea

of Jesus

having humility.

But when we grasp

who Jesus is

and where he had

come from,

the heights of glory,

then we can better

understand how this

was a lowly task

for him.

Think of the dirt,

the sweat,

and the dung

that Jesus had

to come into contact

with as he washed

their feet.

Now,

as we point forward

to the cross again,

this foot-washing scene

points to an even

greater example

of Jesus' humility.

It is at the cross

where Jesus goes

as low

as it's possible

to go

to cleanse us

from the dirt

and dung

of sin

in our lives.

So,

Jesus stepped down

from the glory

of heaven

and to use

the words

of Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

Paul describes

Jesus' humility

really well.

Jesus steps down

from the glory

of heaven.

He made himself

nothing

by taking

the nature

of a servant

and being made

in human likeness.

Then he humbled

himself

by becoming

obedient

to death.

We see in these

verses

this sort of

double humbling

of Jesus.

he humbled

himself

as he stepped

down

to the earth

and took

on a human

body.

Then he humbled

himself again

as he went

willingly

to the cross

and suffered

a cruel

and unjust

and torturous

and deeply

humiliating death.

Jesus' death,

it wasn't just

painful for him.

It was deeply

shocking

and it was

completely shameful

for him.

The whole point

of crucifixion

was to make

an example

of the victim.

Look how

terrible they are.

Look how

shameful a death

that they are

experiencing.

The cross

of Christ

is a total

scandal.

Never

was there

one so

undeserving

of that sentence.

The creator

of the universe

was put

to death

on a cross

made of

the very

wood

that he

thought up

that he

designed

and created.

As we

consider the

shame

and lowly

nature

of Jesus'

death,

let us be

filled

again

with awe,

with thankfulness

that Jesus

chose to tread

this path

to save us.

So,

we thought

about the love

and the humility

of Jesus.

But what does

Jesus want to

teach his

disciples in

this scene?

Well, after

a further

objection from

Peter in

verse 8,

Jesus says

more firmly

this time,

unless I

wash you,

you have no

part with

me.

Unless you

accept my

washing,

you will

have no

part with

me.

Unless you

accept what

I'm doing,

you can't

join me in

my kingdom.

With the

cross looming,

this act of

foot washing

is a picture

of the

washing of

souls that

Jesus is

soon to

offer to

all people.

Jesus

insisted that

he washed

everyone's feet

in that room.

Judas

hasn't departed

the scene

yet.

Jesus

insists on

washing all

of their

feet,

not because

the action

itself cleansed

their souls,

it certainly

did not.

Jesus

washes their

feet because

it is a

clear picture

of the soul

cleansing that

Jesus was

about to

offer to

all people

through the

cross,

even to

people like

Judas,

even to

people who

would ultimately

reject him.

Jesus

explains to

Peter,

unless I

wash away

your sins,

Peter,

you have

no

part with

me.

And Jesus

speaks the

same word

to us

today.

Unless you

come to

Jesus and

accept the

soul cleansing

that he

offers you,

then the

filth and

stains of

sin will

forever

remain in

your heart.

There is

nothing else

that we can

do to make

ourselves clean

before a

holy God.

Before a

holy God.

Only Jesus

can offer

the soul

cleansing

that we

need from

sin.

Because he

himself was

without sin.

He was a

perfect,

spotless

lamb.

And he was

offered up as

a sinless

sacrifice.

And his

blood was

poured out

at the

cross,

purifying

sinners from

their uncleanness.

And this is

very sacrificial,

ritualistic language.

It pictures

the sin

cleansing that

the Israelites

went through

in the Old

Testament.

And if you

want to read

a bit more

about how

Jesus fulfills

these kind

of ritual

cleansing

requirements,

then Hebrews

is a really

good book

to go to.

But without

going too

much further

into that,

I want to

say that these

are the most

important claims

of the

Christian faith.

All of

humanity has

been defiled

by sin,

but Jesus

offers salvation

to all

people,

even to

those who

continually

reject him,

and he

alone is

able to

wash us

clean and

make us

acceptable

before a

holy God.

These are

exclusive claims

of Christianity.

Jesus asked

everyone today,

come and

accept my

offer of

cleansing.

Come to

me and

be made

clean.

Okay,

finally and

briefly,

in verses

12 to

17,

Jesus gives

his followers

an example

to follow.

In verse

12,

Jesus puts

back on

his outer

cloak.

He returns

to his place

at the

table,

and he

asks his

disciples,

do you

understand

what I've

just done

for you?

Now,

you rightly

call me

teacher and

Lord,

for that

is who

I am.

So now,

as I,

your teacher

and your

Lord,

have washed

your feet,

then you

also ought

to do

the same

for one

another.

Now,

Jesus isn't

expecting all

of his

followers and

for Christians

throughout the

ages to come

to wash

each other's

feet.

Rather,

this is a

picture of

what he

was going

to do.

So,

Jesus wants

us to

follow his

example of

stooping really

low and

serving others

out of love.

Do as I

have done,

he says.

Now,

it's like a

football coach

demonstrating a

drill out in

the practice

field and

expecting the

players to

go about

the same

drill.

I've just

shown you how

to do it.

now you

can do it

like me.

Or like a

master tradesman

showing his

apprentice how

to perform a

particular skill.

Now that

you've seen

me do it,

now I expect

you to do

it too.

It's not

easy and

it will

require us

to swallow

our pride

and stoop

low,

but Jesus

says himself

in verse

17,

there is

great blessing

when we

choose to

love and

humbly serve

one another

in this

way.

Now,

we've spent

a lot of

time this

evening

reflecting on

the amazing

love,

the amazing

humility that

Jesus displayed

on the cross

in order to

offer us a

full and

final deep

clean for

our souls.

And we will

have a moment

very soon to

quietly reflect

and express our

thanks to

Jesus in

our hearts

as we

spend time

during

communion.

But I

just want to

say before

we get

there,

for those

here tonight

who have

not accepted

Jesus'

offer of

cleansing

and forgiveness

for your

sins,

he offers

you now

to come

and be

clean.

You can

see that in

these verses.

You can

pray to him

in your heart

tonight and

ask him to

forgive you

and clean

you and

you can

say to

him,

I commit

to follow

you with

my life.

I commit

to follow

you as

my Lord

and my

master.

And we

can do

that tonight

if that

is you.

See the

tremendous

love that

he has for

you.

See how

low he

stooped to

save you.

Come to

him and

be made

clean.

And for

those of

us who

are

followers of

Jesus,

who have

been

following

him and

have been

washed

by him.

Now the

right response

to him

now after

being forgiven,

after having

our debt

of sin

erased,

after being

loved by

him so

much,

the only

appropriate

response

now is

to worship

him with

praise and

thankfulness

and to do

as he

says,

to swallow

our pride

and seek

ways to

serve one

another

humbly

and lovingly.

Are there

ways that

you could

practically

love and

serve somebody

this week?

Maybe there's

someone that's

been on your

mind.

Maybe you

could check

in and pray

for someone

that you've

not seen

for a

while.

Or maybe

you could go

towards somebody

that you

know has

been struggling

even if you

don't know

what to

say.

I'll let you

fill in the

blanks in

your mind.

Who and

how can

you love

this week

and humbly

and lovingly

serve

in the same

way that

Jesus has

lovingly

and served

us?

Let's ask

him to help

us.

Let's pray.

Our Lord

Jesus,

we thank

you for

this scene

in John

13.

We thank

you that

your life

was so

clearly set

out in the

Gospels

that we can

read it

today and

see how

you love

us.

See how

you stooped

so low

for your

disciples

in this

particular

scene but

that we

can see

how at

the cross

you went

so low

the creator

of the

universe

and you

willingly

gave your

life up

on the

cross.

You

didn't

just suffer

pain but

you endured

the wrath

and the

punishment

of God

that we

deserve

Lord.

And we

confess

Lord

Jesus

that we

have

messed

up so

many times

we've

sinned,

we've

rejected

you,

we've

told you

we don't

want anything

to do

with you

and Lord

we are

sorry for

that but

we thank

you so

much that

you have

gone to

the cross

on Good

Friday and

that you

have suffered

and died

in our

place and

that you

hold out

to us

today this

offer of

forgiveness

and washing

of our

sins and

that you

can make

us perfectly

clean and

perfectly

acceptable

before a

holy God

we thank

you that

you have

done that

for us

Lord I

just pray

for those

here tonight

who have

not grasped

what you

have done

for us

I just

pray that

you would

be speaking

to them

this evening

and that

they would

know that

tonight in

their hearts

that they

can commit

their lives

to you

they can

say sorry

for what

they've done

the sins

that they

have done

and that

know that

you will

forgive them

and Lord

for those

of us

that have

maybe been

following you

for a while

Lord I

just pray

that you'd

help us

to grasp

your

tremendous

love

and humility

to an

even greater

level than

we maybe

have before

please help

us to see

you in an

even greater

light Lord

Jesus our

Lord and

our Saviour

and our

God and

so we pray

all these

things in

your amazing

and blessed

name

Amen