A Picture of Christ's Love

Turn in your Bibles this morning to John 13.

We are stepping into a new phase of the gospel of John 13.

! Chapter 1-12 in some sense would give you a kind of an opening picture and then would expand it more.

Giving you a little statement or a little event that took place in Christ's ministry

and then kind of opening it up to help you understand more about the heart and character of Christ.

What's going to happen from 13 to 19 is that that order of starting small and getting bigger

is going to be reversed in that from 13 to 19 the focus of the gospel is going to keep on coming back

towards Christ and the cross.

I think sometimes we miss how central the cross is.

How important it is for us to get our head around the reality of Christ dying for us and in our place.

John doesn't want us to miss that.

And so if you would begin with me in John chapter 13,

John 13 · chapter mention

let me begin reading at least to kind of frame your thinking there in verse 1.

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.

During the supper,

when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray Him,

Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands

and that He had come from God and was going to God, 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.

Let me point out to you this morning

that one of the key pieces of information that we need to hold on to

in our lives on a regular basis

is the love of Christ.

I think about the passage just for a moment back in Ephesians chapter 3

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

and if you were to ask me

what would be one of the more important passages

that I can hold on to

and rely on to be a comfort,

an encouragement,

an instruction,

a guide to me,

I would say it's this passage in Ephesians chapter 3

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

where the apostle says,

listen, here's my prayer.

Here's the thing that I'm interested in

that you might be able to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and height and width and depth of the love of Christ

so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Well, I have to tell you that understanding the love of Christ

is not something that you can do without information.

Does that make sense?

You can't love Him if you don't know Him

and you can't love Him

if you don't understand the heart that He has.

And so as you look at this passage,

I want you to realize that

it drives home the point

that we find there

in verse 1.

Now, do you like the fact that John kind of tells us up ahead

what's going to happen?

How many of you remember going to class

and the first thing that happened in the class

after the professor or the teacher

introduced himself and wrote his name on the chalkboard?

Well, those are the good old days, right?

They don't do it that way anymore.

But the teacher said,

I am Bubba and I am here

to see that you get smarter

and I'm going to tell you up front

how this class is going to go.

Here are the homework assignments.

Here are the days that the test is going to happen.

And when it's all done,

you've got this information packed in, right?

Here's the apostle that says,

here's what I want you to understand.

Here's what I want you to understand.

Jesus, having loved His own who were in the world,

He loved them to the end.

And so as we open up this passage

and begin to appreciate it in our own hearts and lives,

here's the thing I want you to comprehend

and plead with the Holy Spirit

that you will not be distracted

from the discipline of thinking carefully

and deeply about the love of Christ for you.

Well, let's get into the text and understand,

first of all, what we see is that

this is a love that is faithful and tender.

John sets the stage in our lesson

by explaining that here we are dealing

with the setting of the Last Supper.

Without overplaying the details of this,

I want you to understand that

we are actually talking about the Last Supper

prior to His crucifixion.

It's not a Last Supper.

It is the Last Supper.

And it is the Last Supper

that He is going to partake with His disciples.

And in that context,

we're going to find not only that

it was a supper that really celebrated

the fact of His coming sacrifice for us,

but it was also a supper

that was profoundly instructive.

I want you to imagine that here is Jesus

that is caught up in teaching His disciples

critically important things.

And in this context of talking about His death

and reminding them of the fact

that He was going to be sacrificed for them,

that there was a new covenant

that was in the frame,

He also does something that is very,

very surprising in that He washes the feet

of His disciples.

I think these facts come together

and are well understood under the frame

of the fact that He loved His own

and He loved them to the end.

It's against this backdrop of the cross

that we really see this picture of love

that we may be tempted to kind of skip over

and get caught on the big details

and not really see the overarching truth.

As we take up the theme of the love of Christ,

one of the things that I want you to understand here

is that Christ's love lasts forever.

Look at what it says there again in verse 1.

It says,

Having loved His own who were in the world,

He loved them to the end.

You know, truth of the matter is,

we're okay at loving people who love us.

Isn't that right?

Really?

I remember talking with one young man

that was quite interested in finding a future wife.

And there's nothing better than coming to a pastor,

you know, a marriage broker that I am.

Ha!

He wanted my advice on this process.

And I actually,

I had the lack of wisdom

to suggest an individual to him.

It was one of my only mistakes

that I've made in the last ha.

But I remember suggesting

that he contact such and such an individual.

And I thought this person

was an entirely credible candidate.

I knew the person's character

and I was without hesitation

ready to recommend this individual.

Went out with the individual one time

and after that I said,

So how'd it go?

And he said this,

on to the next interview.

And I thought,

What?

We're not bad

at kind of loving those who love us

and loving those who kind of meet our criteria

and our frame.

I want you to understand

that the depth of Christ's love

is seen not only in this matter

of a lasting love,

but also a love that really cared about

the details and the depth of the needs

of his disciples.

Here we are at the Lord's Supper.

And I want you to understand

that in that frame,

he takes the time to explain

several very, very important truths

for us to hold on to.

You see, here is Jesus making it clear

that his love never changes.

It never changes.

It never changes.

Knowing what he did about Judas

and what was coming,

I want you to recognize the fact

that it was not the kind of environment

or circumstance in which you would follow through

and really, truly love that kind of person.

You may be a little vindictive towards him,

or at the very least,

you just kind of cut him off and say,

On to the next interview, right?

We've got another one.

It's all done.

Judas is gone.

And here is Jesus tenderly loving

the chief of sinners.

I want you to think with me just for a moment

of what all Jesus knew about Judas' heart.

If you were to work your way back into John,

you'll remember one of the things

that says about Jesus is that

he knew what was in men's hearts.

On occasion,

he knew what people were arguing among themselves about

even when he was removed from their presence.

He knew what the Pharisees were thinking.

And so it is safe to assume,

accurately, I believe,

that he knew exactly what Judas was involved in

and what his heart was like.

And so here is that dishonest,

wicked heart of Judas

that could claim no ignorance

in his determination to deny

and to betray Christ.

And here in the middle of the flow

of the last hours that Jesus has,

we find him doing something

that strikes us as unusual.

You see, here is Jesus

who is faithful in his love for Judas

and he can be trusted to love you as well.

Does that make sense?

If Jesus would love Judas

as vile and as wicked

as what he was going to be engaged in

and knowing all about Judas' heart,

if Jesus was willing to love him,

he's going to love me

and he's going to love you.

Tender.

Faithful.

There's something else

that I want you to mark here

in John chapter 13, verse 3 and 4.

John 13:3

We find that Jesus' ministry

was one that was saving and sanctifying.

Look, let me read it.

Jesus, knowing that the Father

had given all things into his hand

and that he'd come from God

and was going to God,

rose from supper.

He laid aside his outer garments

and taking a towel,

he tied it around his waist.

Now, the meals in ancient Palestine

were, particularly when you're talking

about a formal meal,

they were arranged around a low-lying table

and they had couches that people laid on

and were rather reclined and comfortable.

By the way, how many of you know

that the average meal today in America

takes about 18 minutes on the high side?

Now, you know,

how many of you have been anxious

about what's going to happen

after the supper

and you find out that it's done bang?

Now, dishes is a different story.

In the ancient world,

meals were social events

and they talked

and they went about it slowly

and there was one course after another

and just a very slow pedestrian approach

and here is the meal going on

and Jesus gets up.

By the way, when Jesus got up,

guess what every eye did?

What's up?

And then he takes a towel

and ties it around his waist.

Now, that was curious.

I mean, I bet you some of the disciples

were beginning to feel just a little nervous

because towels and saviors,

I mean, you know,

hard to fit together.

But then look what happens.

Then he poured water into a basin

and began to wash the disciples' feet

and wiped them with the towel

that was wrapped around him.

By washing feet,

Jesus taught several lessons.

In order to understand these lessons,

there are several things

I want you to pick up on.

For one, washing feet

was an expected part of a dinner like this.

Guests didn't arrive in a limo

or get red carpet treatment.

The vast majority of people

in the ancient world

traveled by foot.

And they didn't wear high boots

coming up their calf.

They kind of stomped,

in many cases,

barefooted through the streets

or maybe they had some leather sandals

that,

and by the way,

how many of you know

that sandals are really not good

for keeping all the crud of life out?

And so when people would come

to a dinner

or people would come

to be a guest in your home,

the standard thing was

for you to assign

someone to wash the feet.

By the way,

the streets in the ancient world

were shared

by all.

And not only shared with all,

but also shared

with all the animals

that were part of the ancient world.

You had donkeys,

you had cows,

you had horses,

you had sheep,

and you had goats.

And they contributed

to the biomass

in the path.

I'll never forget

a Christmas program

that Judith and I attended

a number of years ago

in a church

that large church

put on just a slam bang

Christmas program.

And on top of the normal music,

they actually had sheep

that were, you know,

shepherds herded the sheep in.

Somehow or another,

the sheep got nervous.

And they came down,

I don't know,

I would imagine

there should have been

better planning,

but the sheep came down

the center aisle

and they were spitting

all these little pellets

out the back end

of every one of the sheep.

Okay?

And the shepherds

were walking,

they're barefooted,

I mean,

the shepherds are barefooted.

And I,

I mean,

this was a sober moment,

I mean,

you know,

it's a Christmas program

and I am up there

just,

I'll go to my grave

remembering that program.

I don't know

what the gospel

was like that night,

but I'll never forget

the sheep

who left behind

these little tiny

little landmines

and everybody

was really nervous

about what it felt like.

How many of you ever,

no,

I won't go there.

Okay.

No garbage trucks

in the ancient world.

And so,

the pathway

was a cruddy place

to walk.

And washing sheep,

washing feet,

was expected.

I want you to understand

that whoever had organized

that dinner

had a bowl

and pitcher

on site.

Jesus didn't leave the room,

it was there.

And so,

I want you to understand

that as the disciples

came in,

every one of them

saw the pitcher

and the bowl there

and they knew

what normally happened

at a meal.

Jesus had already

repeatedly made

the point to them

that the one

who would be first

would be servant.

The one who would be

servant

was the one

that was important.

And so,

here were the disciples.

I can only imagine,

I don't have any

textual basis

to premise my argument,

but you can kind of imagine

knowing the disciples

were always about

who was first,

they were probably thinking,

well,

somebody ought to wash feet.

I mean,

and it's not me

because the truth of the matter

is I'm going to be number one.

Hey, Peter,

what do you think?

No.

I'm hoping somebody else

will do that.

And so,

here's the bowl

and here's the pitcher.

Peter ought to be doing this,

really.

Do you know how many times

he's put his foot in his mouth?

He at least ought to do something

for other people's feet.

And the bowl

and the pitcher

just sat there

and nobody moved.

It's interesting,

actually,

to recognize

that in the synoptic gospels,

they had been arguing

over and over again

about this issue

of who was number one.

In fact,

keep your finger there

in John.

We're going to come back,

but I just want you to turn

just for a second

to Luke chapter 22,

Luke 22:24–27

verse 24 through 27.

Hey, have you ever found yourself

just a little discouraged

with your spiritual progress

and development

over the years?

Raise your hand

and wave at me

just so I know

you're with me here, okay?

Don't despair

because if Jesus loved

and kept on working

on the disciples,

he's all over you too.

And here they are.

They're at the Last Supper

and they end up

having a dispute,

verse 24,

among them

as to which of them

was going to be regarded

the greatest.

Bowl and pitcher

right there in front of them.

They're arguing about it.

Beyond that,

going back now to John,

we find here is Jesus

who didn't give up on the 12

and he will not give up on us

as he makes the point to us

You look there in the passage

going back to John 12,

John 12:13

verse 13.

He starts to wash

the disciples' feet

and as he is washing them,

he comes now to Peter.

And by the way,

if there's anything

you know about Peter,

it's that he was one

who didn't have any hesitation

to say what he was thinking.

Sometimes that really

got him in trouble.

Isn't that right?

Classic illustration today.

Jesus had already washed

several of the disciples' feet

and here we come to Peter

in verse 6.

He came to Simon Peter

who said to him,

Lord, do you wash my feet?

Now, I don't want you

to understand.

It was like,

hey, are you really

going to do mine too?

It was like,

you doing mine?

No.

The underlying implication is

Peter was not interested

in having Christ wash his feet.

Why?

Peter understood

that the responsibility

of washing feet

belonged to the lowest

of the low.

I have a wonderful bride

and I remember

at one point

I had worked pretty hard

and my feet were really hurting.

How many of you

have ever had feet

that hurt bad?

And I asked her

if she would rub my feet.

Okay, she's in the nursery

so she's free

of this conversation.

Don't need to share it

with her.

She said,

there are a lot of things

I'll do for you, honey,

but rubbing feet

is not one of them.

That was earlier

in our marriage.

Now,

I rub her feet

and she rubs my feet

but you know what?

I see it on your faces.

You know,

rubbing feet is kind of

like over the edge,

isn't it?

Try washing them.

When the guy's been

stepping in donkey poop

and, you know,

sheep stuff,

you know,

it's like,

you're kidding.

me.

And here is Jesus

washing feet.

Well, Peter,

when he pushes back,

has Jesus respond

this way in verse 7.

What I'm doing

you do not understand now

but afterward

you will understand.

For most of us

that should have been like,

okay, I get it.

I may not.

How many times

did the disciples

not understand?

Do you follow that?

I think about Jesus

telling one parable

after another

and they'd all sit there

and nod,

you know,

as he was talking,

oh yeah.

But when they got private,

what would they do?

You know,

there's a point

that John didn't get.

Would you go ahead

and help him with this?

And Jesus would explain.

So here is Jesus saying,

Peter,

relax.

You'll understand later.

Oh,

not good enough

for Peter.

Right?

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.

To put it another way,

the washing work of Jesus

is part of relationship with Jesus.

I've got to tell you something.

There are some of you

sitting here today

that I have reason to believe

you've never come to faith.

You don't know Christ

as your personal Savior.

You know some of the vocabulary.

You've enjoyed being under

the umbrella in a sense.

But you've never come to the place

where by faith

you have come with broken humility

and said,

my life is a mess

and I'm a wreck

and I need Christ

to be my Savior.

And here was Peter pushing back

and Jesus made the point.

Let me tell you something.

Apart from being washed

in the blood of Christ,

you have no hope.

Well, there's another distinction

that Jesus makes here

and they're actually

two different washings.

Look at verse 10.

It says,

the one who has bathed

and that's an accurate translation

of the two different Greek words

that John uses

to describe what's taking place.

The one who has bathed

does not need to wash

except his feet,

but is completely clean

and you are clean

but not every one of you.

Now, the point Jesus is making here

because remember what happened

when Jesus said,

hey, listen,

if I don't give you a,

if I don't wash you,

you're not part of me.

Peter says,

well, do me all.

Jesus said, no.

The one who's been bathed,

the one who's been

covered by the blood of Christ

has been saved

and has a relationship,

but here's what happens

in the daily flow of life.

Mess follows.

So let me kind of push

these two different

washings together

so you can see

salvation is the once for all

bathing in the blood of Christ.

And there are some of you

here today

that can remember

what was it like

before you came

to the Lord Jesus,

your heart was dark

and your condition

was absolutely miserable

and you were under

the curse of the law

and you knew

the judgment of God

and yet there came the day

when by faith

you came to Christ

and he washed away

your sins.

What can wash away

my sins?

Nothing.

What?

But the blood of Jesus.

At the same time,

there is a time,

there is a regular time

where we need

the daily washing

of his grace

to deal with our sin

from day to day.

And so if you are here

and have been bathed

in the grace of Christ

and he has drawn you

to faith,

there's no need

to be plunged in again.

I got to tell you,

salvation is a once

for all event.

It's something that happens

by the grace of God

and you are turned

from darkness to light.

You who are not a son

are now a son.

But you still need

to be bathed

on a regular basis

to have the daily issues

of sin

in your life

cared for.

And so here we

understand that Jesus

is teaching us

both the matter

of salvation

that we need

to be saved

by being immersed

in the blood of Christ

and we need

daily cleansing

from the ongoing

battle of our sin.

Let me come to

one other piece

this morning.

Look there at verse 15.

Actually back up

if you will

just for a moment.

Verse 12,

he says,

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?

Nobody said a word.

You call me teacher

and Lord

and you're right

for so I am.

If then I,

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 should do

just as I have done

to you.

I find in this passage

not only a love

that is tender,

not only a love

that is saving

and sanctifying

but also a love

that is instructing

and blessing.

When Jesus

washed his disciples' feet

he was giving us

an example to follow

and I got to make this point

make it gently.

I don't believe

that what it is teaching here

is foot washing

and that every month

or every three months

that we ought to have

a foot washing service.

I think what is being

given to us

is the overarching

illustration of the fact

that the common

characteristic

of believers

is to be humility

and servanthood.

And here Jesus

is saying

if I'm willing

to be this kind

of servant

you have to be willing

to do the same thing.

What Jesus did

in washing dirty feet

calls us to follow him

and to serve

in lowliness

and humility.

The common

characteristic

of believers

that are walking

with Christ

is to be

a regular

willingness

to be used

for the glory

of the kingdom.

Serving one another.

I appreciate

actually being

in a fellowship

that we enjoy here

where when we ask

for help

we end up

with an abundance

of individuals

engaged in doing it

and we're continuing

to grow at that.

All last week

and for the remaining

four weeks

we will be

serving

Franklin County

Board of Elections

Training Ministry.

Every person

who has interacted

with their staff

from our fellowship

will tell you

the same thing.

They like

being here.

Do you know why?

Because

when they are here

they are served

without hesitation

and with kindness

and joy.

by the way

servanthood

opens the door

for gospel ministry

do you understand that?

And God

is giving us

one opportunity

after another

to do that.

Here is Jesus

washing dirty feet

and calling you

to be a servant

like He is.

Let me look

at another part

here

just for a moment.

Look down there

at verse 17.

By the way

this is a little verse

that is worth

remembering

memorizing

and etching

on to

your life.

Let me read it

slowly.

If you know

these things

blessed are you

if you do them.

Now

important to understand

this

there are two

different kinds

of blessings.

blessings.

Okay?

Bless you

my child.

I gave you

$100,000.

That's a blessing.

Bless you.

I'm going to

give you something.

I'm going to

do something

for you.

I'm going to

load you up

with something

that's good.

Blessing.

There's a different

kind of blessing.

This word here

that's used

is the word

makarios.

else.

In the English

language

it's actually

the word

happy.

Hey

who here

would like

to be unhappy

in a permanent

funk?

Just

try it

so you can

get a feel

for it.

Here's what

I want you

to do.

Frown.

Just frown

for a second.

You're doing it.

Some of you

are pretty

practiced.

I got it.

Here's what

Jesus says.

You want

to be happy?

Yeah.

I had a

chance

last week

to talk to

a guy

about the

Lord.

So what

do you

want out

of life?

Here's what

he said.

I want

to be

happy.

Well

who

doesn't?

You

want to

be happy?

Here's what

Jesus said.

Look at it.

Verse 17.

If you

know these

things.

By the

way,

what things

is he

talking about

in this

case?

He's

talking about

serving people,

washing feet,

wiping doo-doo

out from

between the

toes.

I mean,

he's talking

about really

getting into

it.

Do you

follow that?

Come on.

I'm not

trying to be

crude.

Just to

help you

understand.

It was

pretty low

life work.

Happiness

comes from

knowing

Jesus

and

obeying

him.

There's

some of

you here

today that

actually spend

a fair

amount of

your time

being pretty

unhappy.

That is

normal for

a person who

doesn't know

Christ.

Do you

follow that?

How many of

you remember

just how

unhappy it

was being

an unrepentant,

unregenerate,

hell-bound

sinner?

Does anybody

remember what

it was like?

Yeah,

it's miserable.

And if you

are here

today and

you do

not know

Christ,

happiness

is a

fantasy and

it will

never have

a permanent

impression or

place in

your life.

Why?

Because one

of the things

it says

repeatedly in

the book

of Isaiah

is there

is no

rest for

the wicked.

There are

some of you

here who

have known

the happiness

and the

freedom that

comes with

forgiveness and

having had

your sins

washed away

by the

blood of

Christ,

but you

have fallen

prey to

the enemy

of your

soul who

has misled

you to

think that

service and

being like

Christ are

not important.

unhappiness

flows down

the channel

of being a

self-focused

person.

Can I say

that slowly

so you

don't miss

it?

Unhappiness

flows down

the channel

of being a

self-focused

person.

Again,

just so you

don't miss

it.

Unhappiness

flows down

the channel

of being a

self-focused

person.

Let me read

the verse

again.

If you

know these

things,

blessed are

you if you

do them.

in summary,

with the

cross right

in front

of him,

in the

flow of

the last

supper,

Jesus

uses

washing

feet

to show

incredible

love for

the greatest

and vilest

of sinner

to confirm

to anyone

who is

here,

if Jesus

could love

Judas,

he can

love you.

And he

used

washing

feet

to teach

us that

happiness

comes

from being

humble

and being

willing to

serve.

Why?

because I

get to be

a little

bit like

Jesus.

Let's

pray.

Father,

you who

abide in

heaven,

who know

the frailty

of our

hearts,

and know

the need

of our

soul,

have

blessed

us beyond

measure

in sending

the Lord

Jesus to

be our

Savior,

to be our

teacher,

to be our

Lord.

And there's

some here

today that

need Jesus

as their

Savior,

and I

would plead

with you

that you

would convict

their heart

and challenge

them to

lay aside

their pride

and confess

their sins

and believe

in Jesus.

There's some

here today

that know

Christ as

their Savior,

but have

allowed

sin to

creep in

and need

the washing

ministry of

your word

and spirit

to be

revived,

to be

restored,

to find

pleasure in

being a

servant of

the living

God.

And our

plea is that

you would be

honored among

your people

this morning.

We ask in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's stand.