Well, this morning, if you've got your Bible, go ahead and open it to John chapter 13. John chapter 13, we're continuing our series in John. It's called Believe and Live. And what we're doing is we're going through John, we're surveying some of the things that Jesus is called, some of the things that he claims, and what that really says about him, and what that then means to us. Today in John chapter 13, we're going to see Jesus as the servant. as the servant. And so we're going to look at the first 20 verses. And you might know, might be familiar with the fact that the Lord Jesus commands his disciples in the Gospels to follow me. And the question sometimes comes, well, in what way? Does he give more details about what that notion means? Does he show us particular examples? Does he say to what extent to follow him? Because he did a lot of things, and many of them are clearly only for him to do. Many of the things the Lord Jesus did we cannot expect, nor should we endeavor to attempt. And so those things are left for him. So what things that he did are we to follow him in? And did he give us any real clear example of what to do? Well, John 13 does give us a clear example that Jesus tells us to follow. And taken with his other teachings, then it begins to really illuminate the path of believers, calls us to a life of blessing. Blessing by serving one another in the body of Christ. So, today's point is very simply this, and we're going to see Jesus wash the feet of the disciples, and we're going to see this, by washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus really showed us two things. He gave an illustration of his washing away of sins, and he gave a command for his people to serve one another. Let's take a look at these verses together, and we will endeavor to understand them as we go along. Okay, here's what we find there in John 13. It says, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew 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 supper, when the devil had already put it 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 back 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand, but afterward you will understand. 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. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean. 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? You call me teacher and lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I, then, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I'm not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I am telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for this scripture. We thank you, Lord, for the teaching of Jesus on this issue. Now let us see what you have for us here. Help us to understand the text and help us to rightly live according to it. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, here we have an interesting occurrence. It's an occurrence that has caused a little bit of controversy, not a tremendous amount, as some other things have in the Scriptures. But this particular one comes with a couple of important points. First, I want to point out this, that Jesus really did a two-fold teaching here. He taught us the nature of our service for one another, And he taught us about his washing away of sins. So the first thing I want to address is the first and most obvious thing that he does, and that is that he presents us with an example to follow. And so as we look at this example to follow, we're going to take a look at a couple particular things. First of all, in verse 16, we'll go back to the Scripture in a moment, there is a word translated as servant. And that word in the Greek is doulos, something everyone can say. Go ahead and say doulos. Great, you've learned a Greek word today. You're well on your way to mastery. So this word doulos is a strong word. They had another word for servant, which was the word diakonos, which we'll see in another verse later. This word doulos was someone that was a bondservant or slave. This was someone that was legally obligated to serve, someone that was serving under some kind of ownership or obligation. And so he uses the stronger word to describe how it is that we ought to interact with one another, and we see that in verse 16. I'll take you back to the scriptures here and show that to you. And so he says, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant that is a doulos, or a slave, is not greater than his master. And this is important because he is speaking both of himself and what he just did, and he is speaking of his example to follow and what he expects the disciples, including us, to do. Now Peter has a real interesting objection here, and his objection is understandable, because in verse 6 it shows he comes to Simon Peter, and Simon Peter says, Lord, do you wash my feet? It's like, this can't be happening. To understand this entire scene, we need to understand a little bit of background. See, washing the feet in those days was something you very often did yourself in your humble household. You would probably do it for yourself. But if you went to someone's household that had household servants, they would wash your feet as you visited. And they would wash the feet of the people of the household as they came in. Because in those days, people wore sandals. They walked virtually everywhere they went. They came in with dirty feet all the time. And rather than track them around the household, they would have them washed at the door. And in fact, you can find one instance where Jesus is eating at the house of a Pharisee, and that's the occasion when a woman is washing his feet with her tears, and he somewhat rebukes a Pharisee, who criticizes the woman doing this and Jesus allowing it, and he says, you didn't even provide water for me to wash my feet. In other words, there was some expectation that that would be done. Well, who gets to wash the feet in the household? One, two, three, not it, right? In our household, we always did nose goes. The last one to touch their nose was the one who had to do the task no one else wanted to do. Well, in those days, it was simple. They didn't have those games to play. It was simply the lowest servant. The lowest one on the rankings of all the servants was the guy who got stuck washing feet. And so now you understand Peter's objection to this. He says, Lord, do you wash my feet? Like, this is ridiculous, this should be the other way around. And Jesus acknowledges this. He acknowledges that this is a reversal of things. Because in verse 15 he says, I've given you examples, servants not greater than his messenger. And he also says very clearly, yes, he acknowledges, you call me teacher and Lord, and you're right, for so I am. So Jesus acknowledges this, reversely acknowledges his position, and now we understand why Peter has this objection to it, but Jesus talks him down from it very quickly. So without denying his position over the disciples as Lord Teacher, he takes the position of the lowest servant, the doulos, the bondservant, the slave, to wash their feet. And this is especially interesting if you understand that Judas was still in the room at this time. He washed the feet of the man who would betray him to the authorities. So it turns out in the kingdom of God, servitude is how rank is measured. It's completely backwards from the world. He who serves most is greatest. Look what Jesus says. There's an occasion in Mark, that's recorded by Mark there, where the disciples were, you know, James and John in particular, were talking about who would be greater, and then one of the other Gospel accounts shows that their mother was even involved in this, asking for the significance of James and John to be at the right and left hand of Jesus in the kingdom. While this calls no small dispute among the other disciples, as you can imagine, they're trying to get something over on us, they say they're the best or whatever, Jesus calls them together in the midst of this controversy and says to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles, that is the non-Jews, lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you. And then pay attention to the words here. It says, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant. That's diakonos. And whoever would be first among you must be slave, doulos, of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. There's a couple very important things there. He shows the ranking of those two words right there in the context that, hey, you want to be great in the kingdom, you be a servant. You want to be first in the kingdom, you be the slave. And then he says, even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. And in serving, he's speaking of his death being given as a ransom. It's going to be important later when we're trying to understand what does he mean by this cleansing, because he clearly means more than just physical cleansing here. So in this, Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example. Look in verse 15, back in the passage we looked at, he said, I've given you an example that you should do just as I have done to you. Now this is when there's kind of a divergence of opinions on the passage here. There are many who say that he initiated another ordinance, that this is a command that we should literally wash each other's feet. The difficulty in that is that he is giving an example of something that's very, very culturally bound, that this is something that does not bridge all cultures of the time, it does not bridge all cultures throughout time. And this idea of washing feet, he's clearly setting an example of doing the lowest service for one another. Despite our position, despite our gifts and abilities and everything else that we ought to serve in every possible way, those around us. Now, if you want to do foot-washing service, you may do so. That's the beauty of being in the body of Christ, is this liberty to worship in a variety of ways. And many churches do that, and some here have been to that kind of a service and found it very edifying and convicting to be in such a service. But what Jesus was saying was something much more broad. He's giving himself as an example. He's not saying, this is what you ought to do each and every time. And I say there has never been a greater condensation in the history of the world. That is, for something high to come low. Jesus, being preeminent in all of creation, lowered himself to come and showed how low he came by coming to the disciples and washing their feet. And then he says, this is an example for you to follow. Now later in the passage, he's actually going to broaden this out, and he's going to make this more general, rather less specific in what he is ministering to the disciples, because this all takes place in one evening. And chapters 13 all the way through chapter 17 happens in the evening of the Passover, and it ends with him being arrested at the beginning of chapter 18. So this is all the discourse of one evening happening here in the Book of John. And as he's saying these things, he's preparing them for his departure in two ways. He's preparing them for him being gone a few days in the grave, because he's going to be resurrected. But he's also preparing them for when he's going to be gone after his ascension. So he's preparing them, and by means of the Word of God, us, for this period of time in which we live, in which he is not physically here. And here's what he says in John 13, verses 34 and 35. He says, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Now this is important because the scribes tried to corner him on what the greatest commandment was. What's the greatest commandment? What's he going to say? you know, let's get him on something. And they were trying to get him and he said, well the greatest commandment is this, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then without even asking him, he gives the second, he says, the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself. Well it seems like at first notice you would get here to John 13, 34, and you would say, well he's already covered this because he told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. But he says, a new commandment I give to you. He has only his disciples with him. He's not speaking publicly. He's not even speaking to his disciples in a crowd, as he often did. He is speaking to just his disciples. In other words, this is for you, you disciples, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, having just washed your feet even. You are also to love one another. And he says, by this, people will know that you're my disciples, if you have love for one another. So this, in essence, is the third greatest commandment. He gave us the top two commandments, and he turns to his disciples in a very purposeful kind of way. And John's going to reiterate this in his first letter, too, that there is a new commandment, a specific commandment, that disciples would be loving one another. And this word for love is this strong word for love that always initiates ideas of some kind of a self-sacrifice. There's always a cost associated with the kind of love that he's saying. It's not mere affection. It's not how they feel about one another. But it is service. It is true, tangible love acts that meet the needs of another human being. Now this, effectively, if we really think about this, this chapter should turn upside down our entire notion of what church is and how we approach church. And this is when this study this week really began to step on my toes because I began to realize there's so much more I can do to serve the body of Christ. And I'm not talking about just a mere investment of time, oh, I should do more, or I should endeavor to spend more hours at it, or anything like that. It's like, no, there's many more things that I ought to be doing to serve and to love the body of Christ, the people of Christ. Because there's some of those things that I don't do because I feel like, oh, someone else ought to do that. and to avoid doing something that needs done just hoping or expecting someone else will do it. But when we understand what this chapter has presented to us, we understand serving in the church has become easier because seeing something that needs done is the invitation to do it. or at least organize it, getting done, or at least be the one who initiates it, getting done. And if we broaden out the implications of servant leadership model that some people call it, that Jesus gives, suddenly looking for a church becomes a search for a place to love and serve, rather than a place to be loved and be served. You see the difference? We've been raised in a culture and in an age of consumerism where we approach everything as to whether that is something we want to take off the shelf. Is that something we want to subscribe to? Is that something that can benefit my life? And we look at everything as if they're products on a shelf and decide what they can do for us and whether or not they're worth the investment. when what church life is, described by Jesus here in John chapter 13, is we don't look at the church as to what it can provide and the people of God as to what they can do for us. We look at the church as, what can I do for it? And what can I do for them? And how can I show the love of Christ to other people? And so that turns kind of upside down the whole idea of ambition. Because let's face it, we live in a culture that admires ambition. Somebody who's willing to go after the prize, who's willing to sacrifice and do what it takes to get the promotion, to establish their business, to grow their impact, to grow their viewership, to get more likes, whatever it is. But ambition in the church is measured differently. Ambition becomes finding out what needs to be done and doing it. rather than seeking some kind of a position or an office. As I began to reflect about these things, most uncomfortably, and now I'm sharing that discomfort, you're welcome. I began to reflect on my experience in the Church and the people I've known and everything else, and it has occurred to me, and it has become obvious to me, that the most content in a congregation are those who are looking to serve, who are anxious to contribute. And the most discontent are those whose only desire is to be served, or those who are looking for some kind of a status or position. Jesus gave us an example. Despite being the Son of God, the head of the church, he assumed the lowest position as servant among us. And this servitude is not that he washed the feet of the 12, but that he went to the cross and died for us. This is also taught in the passage here. And look at John 13, 7. Jesus answered him, what I'm doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. In other words, there's something Jesus has packed in here, an enigma, something that wasn't going to be readily seen by the disciples at that time. And what is it that he has put in there? Jesus said it would be understood later. What it is, I declare to you, is this, that Jesus cleanses the church. Let's go back to their conversation, starting in verse 6 there, and take a look at this interchange here. It comes to Simon Peter, and Simon says, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answers him, what I'm doing you do not understand now, but after you've heard, you will understand. Peter says, you shall never wash my feet. He gets emphatic about it. And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Now Jesus has dragged these guys through a lot of stuff. There's been a lot of crazy things that they have seen. There's been a lot of crazy things he's asked them to do. He sent them out doing some of this work, and the preaching, and the casting out of demons, and things like that. And so they've seen these things, and now you're telling me the deal killer for Peter is going to be this, that he doesn't let Jesus wash his feet? That seems kind of disproportionate, seems like a small thing, seems kind of random. I mean, after all, Peter tried to deny Jesus going to the cross, and Jesus called him Satan. So this seems like a minor thing compared to that, but Jesus says very clearly right there, you know, he says, if I do not watch you, you have no share with me. He must be speaking more generally. What do we know about the washing that Jesus provides? We want to add to that what he says down here in verse 10. In verse 10, when he says, the one who is bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. Is he still talking literally about washing their feet? I don't think so. There's no mention of when they bathed. There's no mention of which one of them bathed. But then there's something very clear here that unlocks it for us. In verse 10, he's clearly talking about Judas. Verse 11 tells us so. He knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean. Now he's talking about something more general. He's speaking that Judas is not clean. And Judas, as we know, is the one who eventually betrays. And we all know the story. We've read the Gospels before. But look at the commentary about him in John chapter 6. There are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. So he knows generally, in the plural, those who didn't believe. But he knows specifically the one who would betray him. And that's Judas Iscariot. Why was Judas called by Jesus unclean in John 13? Because he didn't believe according to John 6. It's very clear. Back that up with what he says later in John 13, verse 18. He says, I'm not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. And he quotes the scripture that's fulfilled there. He knew who he had chosen. Jesus was not biting his nails wondering if Judas would do it or not. What he was doing was on a schedule and was far too important. He knew what he was doing, and he knew some of you are clean. Well, what's the difference between the clean and the unclean? Well, it's faith. The 11 believed him. Judas did not believe him. And Jesus is the difference. He is the one who makes clean. He's going to say this later, and this helps us out, too. Later that same evening, in John chapter 15, he talks about himself as a true vine, and he says, already you are clean. Now, Judas is left between that point in John 13 and this point in John 15. Judas leaves, and then he says to the disciples later on, they seem to have left the town at this point, and he says, already you, the eleven, are clean because of the word I've spoken to you. And remember what Jesus' message was. Believe the words I've spoken. If not, believe the works. But it's all about believing. It's all about faith in Him. So it wasn't a magic word that he spoke to them. It was the gospel message. And all along, Jesus said that it is those who believe who come into the kingdom. He said, repent and believe the good news. Cleansing provided by Jesus comes by faith in Jesus. This is what we see here. This is also something that adds to that. which we'll talk more about later, is in his prayer for us, for the disciples and for us, later in that same evening, John 17, 17, he says, sanctify them in the truth your word is truth. Well, they're cleansed by the word. Initially, he says, you're already clean because of the word I've spoken, and they believe that word. But then an ongoing act of sanctification is also going to depend upon the word of God. So it shows clearly here that this cleansing is the rebirth given by the blood of Jesus. And it's stated quite plainly in other places. When he tells Nicodemus, you must be born again, what is this about? Well, it's about being born of the Spirit. The Spirit is going to do work in somebody that's going to cause regeneration or cause them to be born again. Titus Paul says it this way, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. The book of Hebrews. It says, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, that is, draw near to God, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Speaking figuratively of the cleansing that is done by Christ in those that believe. In the book of Revelation, we have a beautiful image of the saints in heaven that are gathered around, that are worshiping, that are there. And he says, these are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation. They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So he presents a great paradox for us. We know that blood stains incredibly. And yet they've washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. And that qualifies them to be there in the presence of God. And that image is given to us twice in the book of Revelation. The cleansing that Jesus is speaking of is the rebirth granted by the blood of Christ. And that is an initial act, but it is also an ongoing act. Look how John himself describes this in his first letter, 1 John 1. He says this, if we walk in the light, and obviously he's talking about being a believer, following the Lord, as he is in light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sins. He puts that in the present tense. He doesn't say it just cleansed us. He says it's cleansing us. from all sin." And this is the famous passage. It goes on to say, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Present tense. Believers have sins. Ongoing. But the cleansing is also ongoing. Look what he says in verse 9, which is something we've probably all heard. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The subsequent repentance and confession to God, particularly in the company of God's people, is this continued cleansing that goes on by the blood of Christ. And cleansing by His word, as we saw in John chapter 17. We're cleansed by the blood of Jesus and further set apart by the word of God and the blood of Jesus Christ in the fellowship of believers. Now in this, is incredible encouragement. And hopefully we can summarize this in a helpful way. The first thing I encourage is this. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ for cleansing. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Be made clean. I want to show you some very important verses concerning this issue. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. verses 9 through 11. Paul's writing to a church is having a lot of problems, and a lot of those problems are moral problems. And there's sexual immorality in the congregation, along with other things, and factions, and disunity, and all kinds of problems. But look at these verses. He says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." Well, that's a tough list. If you do not see yourself in that list, I can help you. We all should see ourselves in at least a couple of these. But here's the good news. Are you ready for this? He says, and such were some of you. He's writing to the church. And he makes this list of things. And the good thing about this list of things that he's saying is such were some of you. In other words, that used to be your identity. And it doesn't mean that you don't absolutely do none of those things anymore. But it means that it is no longer your identity. Such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sorry, I'll get that up there for you. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Such were some of you. So believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent of your sins. You will be saved. You will not instantly become sinless, but the washing of Jesus will put sin in the past tense for you. And let me ask a question. If you're still debating about this Jesus thing and this church thing, and you're not 100% on board with it yet, what if you could actually desire to do the right thing. Now think about this, when you were a kid and your parents asked you to do some chore, and you didn't want to do it, and you fought against it, and you procrastinated, maybe fibbed about it a little bit, maybe instead of cleaning the room you just shoved all the stuff under the bed, something like that. What if instead your parents came and they told you to do exactly what it is you wanted to do that hour anyway? Well, that would be no kind of punishment. That would be joy. That'd be like, wow, I'm actually doing what my parents want me to do, and I actually want to do it. That's the deal that's set forth in the gospel. What if you could desire to serve and then fulfill that desire? And that be your standard of contentment, your standard of fulfillment. See, much of our difficulty, I believe, is in our feeling that we're not being properly served, that we're not being treated as we ought to be treated. We look around at the people around us, and we look at them as they fall short for what they could be and do for us. We have wants and needs that go unmet, and we ache because of it. But the ethic of the Bible is not to seek and to find what we need from people. If we try to seek fulfillment from the people around us, it's to draw deeply from the well of disappointment and drink it as if it's salt water that will only make us more thirsty. The teaching of the scripture is to seek and to find all that we need in Jesus Christ, who's called the living water. He's the life-giving, living water of Jesus Christ that will fill us, that will satisfy us, that will energize us to go and serve others. that those who are in Christ are no longer being conformed to the pattern of this world, but are being transformed by the renewing of their mind and the changing of their internal desires to actually want what God wants, to actually find fulfillment in their mission for God. And that's what he offers in the gospel. New desires, and then he wants to fulfill those desires. That's gonna be gradual. There'll be some difficulties and there'll always be some desires in there that are in conflict. But by and large, we will find joy, contentment, purpose in the body of Christ. The second encouragement is simply this, to follow the Lord's example by serving the people of God. And this was best illustrated in that love one another. A new commandment I give you, that you love for one another. This is how people are going to know that you're mine, that you love one another. And this is primarily among believers. People ask at this point, well, aren't we also supposed to serve our community and non-believers? Yes. But the preeminence and the priority is the people of God. And it's in the loving and serving of one another that brings the notice from the world that indeed we are the people of God. Now, should we serve our communities and give things like to the food pantry and stuff that's going to go to many people who are not believers? Yeah, absolutely we should do that, because we don't know who Jesus' sheep are. And some of them are going to see that act, and some of them are going to recognize that's from God. And they're going to have the gospel presented to them, and it may encourage them to believe in the gospel, prayerfully and with open eyes. Look at the body of Christ and ask, how can I serve? There's a place among the people of God. There's work for you to do. And I dare say, there's some work that only you can do. And do not measure yourself by worldly measures. You have value and a purpose and good works prepared beforehand from the foundation of the world. for you to walk in, and you to enjoy, and you to serve others. The ultimate service of Jesus is His death on the cross. And did you know He was motivated partially by the joy that it was going to bring Him? For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. And what is the joy set before Him? It's me and you. and the service that we will give to one another and the glory we will bring to God through that service. Let us take up our cross, join Him in His service, to join Him in the sacrifice and all the coming joy. Let's pray. Father God, we praise You. We thank You for bringing us together. We thank You for this great privilege of knowing You. We thank you, Lord, for your service to us, that you offered yourself in our place. You took upon yourself the wrath that was due us for our sins, and you grant to us eternal life. Lord, we thank you, and we praise you. And we ask you now to continue your cleansing work of us, to set us apart for the work of your ministry. Put it in our hearts to serve. And Lord, let us see around us what needs to be done and what our hands might be put to. Lord, we thank you for the glory of Jesus Christ, for though he was preeminent above all things, he put himself into subjection and served in the greatest possible way. We praise you, Lord, and we ask you to help us as we go this week to really meditate upon this great truth. In Jesus' name, amen.