Heart of God Revealed

Well, good morning, everyone.

It's a privilege to be here and to be able to open up God's Word this morning.

Thank you, Tofell, for reading that passage.

And what an amazing passage we have this morning.

It's been a real privilege to be able to read it these last couple of weeks

and to really get into it and to see what it means.

You know, we've been in John, John's Gospel, written by John.

And just a reminder, at the end it says that chapter 20, verse 31,

John wrote this Gospel, this account of Jesus' life,

so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,

and that by believing you might have life in his name.

That was why John wrote this.

Now we're in chapter 13.

A bit of context.

We had a break last week when we had the church weekend.

So it's been a whole two weeks and our minds are weak

and sometimes we need reminders, don't we, of where we've been.

So in chapters 11 and 12, we had the raising of Lazarus.

This was really the pinnacle of Jesus' public ministry.

He raised Lazarus back from the dead, his friend.

And you know, this really sealed his fate.

This was the last straw and the Jews said,

that's it, we will kill him.

And yet despite this, Jesus travels to Jerusalem,

the home of the Jews, and he has his triumphal entry.

And two weeks ago, it was Wayne from Corrobbers,

he was speaking to us, and he was saying

that Jesus' last public words

cause people to believe or to not believe.

That is the two choices.

And in chapter 12, verse 44, you might see it there.

Jesus cries out.

His last public words, he cries out.

And essentially what he is saying is believe.

So this marks the start of a new section

that will run pretty much until the end of John.

So chapter 13, and really here,

this is the heart of God revealed to us.

Where are we?

Well, we are in the upper room.

That is where this takes place.

Jesus is with his disciples, the 12.

So the 13 of them are there.

And it is only, well, less than 24 hours

before Jesus will be hanging on the cross

as we have sung about already this morning.

So this is the start of a section

where we have his farewell teaching.

He is telling his disciples

how to live in the world after he goes.

They don't realize that,

but that is what he is teaching them about.

And this particular passage that we have read

is only in John's gospel.

So it is unique to that.

So our outline for today,

I left my clicker down there,

so could you put one on?

There we go.

So John 13, 1 to 20.

And we're looking at it in humbleness,

and we're going to see holiness,

and we're going to see happiness.

So let's start with humbleness.

So what is the best thing

that someone has ever done for you?

I imagine there'd probably be varying responses.

There might be, you know,

some quite amazing stories

of what people have done for you in your life.

Well, this is quite an amazing thing

that Jesus does here,

and it's pretty unique.

So let's go through it.

We see that it was just before the Passover festival,

and we have this phrase

that Jesus knew that the hour had come

for him to leave this world

and go to the Father.

Now this hour that it speaks of,

it's a bit of a theme in John,

and it tracks the way through the gospel.

Now most of the time it says,

his hour has not yet come.

His hour has not yet come.

His hour has not yet come.

And yet here, his hour had come.

It was his appointed time.

It's an interesting study

if you want to go away

and look at these hours in John's gospel.

So his hour had come,

and it says that having loved his own

who were in the world,

he loved them to the end.

Now really what that's saying

is he loved them to the full.

He loved his disciples.

That is who he is speaking to here.

So we're in the upper room.

In verse 2,

the evening meal was in progress.

It was the end of the day.

And we see that Judas

has already been prompted by the devil,

and he's going to betray Jesus.

Judas knew at this point

what he was going to do.

And Jesus knew at this point

what Judas was going to do.

And finally, verse 3,

to sort of set the scene here,

we have this amazing verse

that Jesus knew that the Father

had put all things under his power,

and that he had come from God

and was returning to God.

You know, just last week at the weekend,

we were looking at being made

in the image of God,

the identity crisis

that faces so many in the world.

And yet Jesus,

he had no doubts about his identity.

He knew that all authority

was given to him.

Everything was under his power.

We know that.

We've seen this.

The storm was calmed.

He rebuked the fever.

He raised Lazarus.

All things were under his control.

And we also see the relationship

that he has with God the Father.

He had come from him,

and he was returning to him.

What a high position he came from.

And he knew where he was going.

There was no doubt.

And so that sets our scene

for what Jesus does next.

Verse 4,

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.

What?

We shouldn't read that

and just nod along

as if that's a normal thing to do.

The Son of God,

the one who had all things under his power,

he had that authority,

that relationship with the Father

that was so unique,

was on his knees,

semi-naked,

washing the disciples' feet.

Even Judas.

Imagine the silence in the room.

What's going on?

What is he doing?

You know,

this is the heart of God revealed to us.

This is the servant king.

Humbleness and service.

How would you spend your last few hours on earth

if you knew what they were?

We have quite the phenomenon, don't we?

The bucket list.

What are we going to do before we kick the bucket?

I want to skydive.

I want to see K2.

I want to do this, do that.

You know, it's a kind of nice thing,

some things we might want to tick off,

the things we want to do in our lives.

But you know,

I bet not many people have this on their bucket list.

I want to wash my friend's feet.

Now, there is cultural context to this,

so it does seem more strange to us

than it would to the disciples.

You know, in that day and age,

they would wear the open sandals.

In my head,

I go back to when we used to learn

about the Romans at school,

and you kind of see those open leather things.

You know, they would get dirty feet.

It was dusty.

It was dry.

It was a muddy land.

They would, during the day,

they would get dirty feet.

And this was the evening.

We've read that already.

And we saw just,

it was just a few days ago,

a couple of chapters ago,

that Mary,

she washed Jesus' feet

with that expensive ointment.

This was a common practice.

But you know,

it was the lowest of the low

of the servants that did it.

If you went to someone's house,

the most junior of servant,

that would be their job.

They would wash your feet

so that you could go to the table

and you would have your feet cleaned

for the evening meal.

And we don't know,

it doesn't say whether someone

had already washed the feet

of everyone that was there.

I think not.

I think it was just 13 of them

in this room.

But you know,

what I think for sure

is that the disciples,

they hadn't thought to do it.

They hadn't crossed their minds.

Maybe I should wash Jesus' feet.

What a day he's had.

That would be a good thing to do.

Do you want to know

where the disciples' heads were at?

Well, we see it in Luke 22, verse 24.

Luke 22:24

It says,

a dispute also arose among them

as to which of them

was going to be regarded

as the greatest.

That was the discussion

they were having in the upper room

before the meal started.

What a contrast

to where Jesus' heart was at.

Jesus here,

he's setting them an example

as we will see in the next section

and at the end,

while he was also speaking to them

about their position before God

and what that means.

Jesus,

before he goes on

at the end of chapter 13

and then through chapters 14 to 17

to teach them wonderfully

about how to be without him.

First of all,

he sets them a physical example

of how to conduct themselves,

how they should be.

humbleness.

So that brings us nicely

to our second section of holiness.

Now I wonder if you have a friend

that maybe speaks before they think.

It just comes out.

A few wry smiles,

you've maybe thought of someone.

And you know there is.

We all do it at times.

We just say something

and then,

oh,

can't get that back,

can we?

You know,

that's a bit like Peter.

At first we have this,

you know,

first glance,

we have this slightly odd section

between Peter and Jesus.

And it,

you know,

it is at first glance,

it is a bit strange,

but as we get into it,

it is really wonderful.

So Simon Peter,

he's going around

washing the disciples' feet,

Jesus is.

And Simon Peter goes to him,

Lord,

are you going to wash my feet?

He's incredulous.

You can't be doing that.

You're Jesus.

You're the Lord.

You know,

I think there's a wee bit

of human embarrassment here,

isn't there?

We sometimes don't like people

doing things for us.

We're sort of a,

it's a false humility,

isn't it?

And he disobeys.

Jesus says,

you don't realize now

what I'm doing,

but later you will understand.

And Peter says,

no,

you shall never wash my feet.

He says no to the Lord,

the ruler of all things.

And you know,

just as a wee aside,

and it is just a side note,

verse seven,

I think it's wonderful

that it's so true.

Jesus says,

so graciously,

you do not realize now

what I am doing,

but later you will understand.

And you know,

maybe there's people here

and they're going through things

and you don't know,

you just don't get it.

What is going on,

God?

What is going on?

And you know,

God knows what he's doing

and later we will understand.

And I think as we go through life,

we look back

and we go,

of course,

of course.

It's a little bit like

Santa at the moment.

You've probably seen her,

blonde,

running around,

winding up all the other children.

But you know,

she's at that stage,

she wants to try things.

The other day,

she stood on her little,

it's a little mouse

that she can ride around on.

It's got wheels.

So she stood on it

and she went to jump off it.

I said to her,

no,

you can't do that

because it might slip.

You will fall

and you will hurt yourself.

And she looks at me

and she goes,

that's not going to happen.

Come on.

And I say to her,

no,

you don't get it,

but one day you'll see

that that's not the right thing to do.

It's a wee bit like that.

So anyway,

that was just an aside.

But in verse nine,

well,

at the end of verse eight,

Jesus answered,

unless I wash you,

you have no part with me.

You have no sharing

of what I have to offer.

And so Peter,

he's overzealous.

He just doesn't quite get it.

And he goes,

well then Lord,

wash not just my feet,

but my hands and my head as well.

Cover me.

So once again,

Jesus,

he's just so patient with him.

He says in verse 10,

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 everyone was clean.

Now,

what is this saying?

Now,

it is physically true,

isn't it?

If we'd have a bath

and we're walking around

with bare feet,

yeah,

we just need to wash our feet.

But you know,

it's speaking of our salvation.

Stick with me here.

It's quite heavy going,

but,

you know,

it's really good

to look at these things.

And we have to remember

that he is speaking

specifically to the disciples

in this moment of time,

that we can certainly apply it

to our own lives.

So what he is saying

is that those who are saved,

those who have had a bath,

those who are saved

by the redemptive work

of Jesus on the cross

have had their sins forgiven.

They have been made clean.

Jesus,

just the next day,

he goes to the cross.

He takes the punishment

for us on the cross.

He dies.

He rises again

and he goes back,

ascends to the Father on high.

He did that work,

that redemptive work.

And so if we trust in that,

and I implore you,

if you don't,

then please look into these things.

It is the most important thing.

But once we have done that,

once we accept Jesus

for what he has done,

then our position

is secure in Christ.

There's no changing that.

We are secure in him.

We have been cleaned.

Makes me think of the hymn,

Have you been to Jesus

for the cleansing power?

Are you washed in the blood

of the Lamb?

But you know,

despite this,

we live in a world

that is still not right.

We heard Graham's prayer.

You know,

we look at the news.

The news is sometimes

a terrible thing to turn on,

isn't it?

As we live in the world,

we are defiled by sin.

Our feet get dirty,

don't they?

You know,

I didn't actually mean this at all,

but this morning I looked at my shoes

and they were covered.

So I got out a baby wipe

and I cleaned them

to try and look a little bit

more presentable this morning.

But that's it, isn't it?

As we walk through life

and we are defiled by sin,

we mess up.

I mess up.

I don't need to tell you

that you mess up.

We are not perfect.

We live in this fallen world.

Now that doesn't change

our position.

We are positionally saved,

but conditionally

we still have sin.

So what do we do about this?

Do we go home?

Right, I'm skipping lunch.

I need to go back

and wash my feet

as soon as possible.

But what that means

is we need to be washed

with the word of God.

It cleanses us.

It sets us right again

so that we can have that

right and proper relationship.

Let me stress,

our position is secure,

but we need to maintain

that relationship

that we have.

We need to be cleansed

of daily sin

which hinders our relationship.

You know,

there's a great example

of this found

in the Old Testament.

The priests,

they would be fully washed

before they became a priest.

And there was this bowl,

I suppose a bit like

what Jesus took,

called a laver.

And before they went

into the tabernacle,

they would have to

wash their hands

and wash their feet

before they could go in

and do service for God.

To serve God well first,

we must be right ourselves.

So to finish this section in 11,

we see that Judas

will betray him.

He says,

you are clean, Peter,

but not every one of you.

Because Judas,

he was going to betray him.

Not everyone was clean.

You know,

Judas,

he hadn't had a bath.

He didn't believe.

He didn't trust

in the Lord Jesus.

His feet were washed here,

but it was useless

because he wasn't

in the right position

to start with.

You know,

reading the Bible,

attending church

this morning,

speaking about

Christian things,

having Christian friends,

family,

these things are all

good in themselves,

but it's no replacement

for accepting Jesus

as your own personal Savior.

So that's been holiness.

And so finally,

happiness.

C.S. Lewis says this,

he says,

God cannot give us

a happiness and peace

apart from himself

because it is not there.

There is no such thing.

Jesus,

he finishes washing their feet,

he puts his clothes on

and he goes back

to his place

at the meal

and he asks them

what is certainly

a rhetorical question,

do you understand

what I have done for you?

Now,

I think the stunned silence

probably answers

that question.

No,

they do not.

So he explains,

you call me teacher

and Lord

and rightly so,

for that is what I am.

Jesus,

he is the instructor,

the teacher,

he has been teaching

them all along

and he is also

Lord over them,

he is in charge,

he is the master.

Jesus says,

if that is who I am,

I rightly hold

these positions,

can do this for you,

then you disciples,

you can also act

in this way.

Now that I,

your Lord and teacher,

have washed your feet,

you also should wash

one another's feet.

In verse 15,

he says,

further,

he says,

I have set you an example

that you should do

as I have done for you.

Once again,

he is speaking specifically

to the disciples

but we can apply this

to Edinburgh in 2023.

Now,

we have this two-fold message.

First of all,

as we have already

thought about,

we are to wash

one another in the word.

We are to confess sins,

we are to share the gospel,

we are to speak Jesus

into each other's lives.

This can take many forms,

it could be our growth groups.

They are set up

to have open,

frank discussions

with one another.

Alistair last weekend,

he challenged us

in the time of tea and coffee,

what are we talking about?

Are we chatting about

the latest news

or sport or whatever?

Or are we asking,

you know,

how's your prayer life?

How's your daily devotion?

How's your walk

with the Lord?

Are we praying

with one another?

And you know,

the gospel,

it's wonderful

because it allows us

to be open and frank

with one another

in a totally unique way.

It allows us

to have these chats

with people

that we've just met

as well as those

that we've known

for a long time.

I remember sometimes

going on holidays

as a family

when I was younger

and we'd go to

the local church,

we'd walked in.

But you know,

you still have

that instant bond

with people

because you share

the Savior.

So that's one side

of it.

You know,

we are also

to physically

serve one another.

That may take

many forms

and it'll be different

for each one of us,

but that is the attitude

that we are to have,

to serve one another.

Verse 16,

it emphasizes here

that the disciples

were sent

by the Master,

by the Lord.

You know,

it says at the start,

yours might say

very truly,

depending what you're reading

or the old would say

verily, verily.

And you know,

that's an old phrase

when Microsoft Word

says to delete

the second letter,

the second word

because it's repeated.

But it meant

verily, verily.

It said,

when Jesus said this,

it meant,

pay attention.

If you've switched off,

this is the time

to switch on.

That's what this meant.

You know,

what it's saying

is that they have

to do as he did.

They are not too good.

The disciples

are not too good

to do as Jesus did,

to wash feet.

You know,

they were discussing

who is the greatest

and Jesus here,

he just puts them

in their place.

I loved Mark last week

when,

wasn't exactly

what he said,

but something

along the lines of,

Christians,

well,

they're Jesus people

doing Jesus stuff.

I thought that was great.

And you know what?

What is Jesus stuff?

Is it walking around,

head up,

taking the praise?

No,

this is Jesus stuff.

Servant leadership

shown ultimately

by the servant king.

this is a massive challenge

for leaders,

myself as an elder included.

Servant leadership.

And so verse 17,

now that you know these things,

you will be blessed

if you do them.

That is where we get this

theme of happiness from.

That's what this blessed means.

It's not prosperity,

it's not wealth,

it's not fame,

popularity,

it's joy.

It's joy.

You know,

this position of service

that the Lord Jesus shows,

it comes from a place of love.

We saw that in verse 1,

having loved his own to the full.

You know,

that makes it easy for Jesus

because of the love

he had for his disciples.

We are to have love

for our brothers and sisters

in Christ.

And if we do truly have that,

then to serve one another

will just come naturally.

It will not be a grind,

it will not be something

that we don't actually

want to do.

Once again,

last week,

Mark was speaking on

deny yourself,

deny self,

take up your cross

and follow me.

Last week in embassy,

we were discussing

after the sermon a wee bit,

you know,

about those who have

everything in this world.

They tend to be,

you know,

older,

rich men

living in big mansions,

anything they could ever want,

but they're on their own

and they've got broken relationships

and they aren't happy.

And once again,

C.S. Lewis,

he says this,

don't let your happiness

depend on something

that you may lose.

the Bible picture of happiness

is so radically different

to what the world would say.

So to finish,

we have Judas excluded.

I am not,

this is verse 18,

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.

This is only for those

who follow him.

That is the position

we must start

by following him.

It's speaking of Judas' betrayal

which we will go into next week.

And this bit that is quoted,

it might be in quotation marks,

is Psalm 41 verse 9

Psalms 41:9

where David is speaking

about betrayal

by his own family.

And it's a fulfillment

of that prophecy.

Jesus likewise says,

I'm telling you now

before it happens

so that when it does happen,

you'll believe that I am

who I am.

Now this I am,

if you like homework,

this is another great study.

The I am's of John's gospel.

You know,

that's speaking of his deity.

This is Jehovah

of the Old Testament.

It's speaking of the Trinity

and that relationship

that they have.

You know,

I must think,

I've been thinking about this

this week,

that the disciples,

they must have looked back.

You must have looked back

once Jesus was gone

and thought,

ah,

obviously.

Why didn't we get it?

Why didn't we get

what he was saying?

What was going on?

And verse 20,

another verily,

verily,

whoever accepts anyone

I send

accepts me

and whoever accepts me

accepts the one

who sent me.

That's the relationship

between the Father,

the Son,

and the disciples here.

Jesus is saying,

I am going.

I am away.

But the work will continue

through you,

the disciples.

And likewise,

it's still ongoing now

through us

if we are followers

of the Lord.

So,

that's us this morning.

Let me just sum up

where we've been.

So,

we've seen humbleness,

we've seen holiness,

and we've seen happiness.

We must serve,

but we must also

allow others

to serve us.

That is part of it.

Peter,

he was too proud.

You can't serve me.

You know,

Jesus,

as we talked about,

he was anointed by Mary.

His feet were washed,

but he also washed

the disciples' feet.

We are to wash

one another

with the word.

Get involved

with your growth groups.

the general chat

that will go on

just in a minute.

Pizza and prayer tonight,

what a great opportunity

to speak to one another,

pray with one another,

be concerned

for one another.

And we need to be

cleansed daily

to maintain

that right relationship

so that we can serve.

So,

action stations,

covet humble work,

thankless tasks

behind the scenes,

and a special challenge

for leadership

to be examples.

You know,

Jesus' life purpose,

it was to reveal

God's nature

as a being

of self-giving love.

We saw that last week.

God didn't need us.

He's self-sufficient.

And yet,

look how Jesus

served us.

He died,

allowing our sins

to be forgiven.

Therefore,

as disciples of him,

acts of loving generosity

are to be the hallmark

of Jesus' followers.

Acts of loving generosity.

Let me just pray

before Graham comes up

and takes us

through communion.

God and Father,

just thank you so much

for your word.

We thank you for

the truth

that we can see in it,

that it cleanses us

and that it sorts us out

when we have messed up.

We pray that as we

move into a time

of communion,

remembering what the Lord

Jesus did on the cross,

that these things

will just really

hit home with us

and that it will change

how we live

and our attitude

in everything.

So we just thank you

so much for the Lord Jesus

and for the cross.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.