1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:03,200 Hey, good morning, Harbor Church West. Great to see you. I want 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,700 to invite you to go ahead and grab your seats. Welcome in. My 3 00:00:06,700 --> 00:00:10,140 name is Mike. I'm one of the pastors here at the church. All 4 00:00:10,140 --> 00:00:14,540 right. Well, we are in our Transform series. And in this 5 00:00:14,540 --> 00:00:17,280 series, we've been going through the Gospel of John and doing 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,620 different stops in the Gospel of John as we see Jesus encountering 7 00:00:21,620 --> 00:00:25,720 various people. And what we've been noticing is that as Jesus 8 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,120 encounters these people, they leave this encounter with Jesus 9 00:00:29,260 --> 00:00:34,240 transformed. They leave changed. And so today we're going to find 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,100 ourselves in John chapter 13. If you're using the Bible under the 11 00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:42,340 chair in front of you, that's going to be on page 956 of John 12 00:00:42,340 --> 00:00:48,640 13. And here in this text, we're going to see how Jesus 13 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:55,060 transforms our idea of power and authority. He takes everything 14 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:59,060 that we know, everything that we understand about power and 15 00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:05,060 authority, and he turns it upside down. Jesus takes power 16 00:01:05,060 --> 00:01:09,200 from something to be used for personal gain, often at the 17 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,500 disadvantage or even oppression of others. And he takes any 18 00:01:13,500 --> 00:01:18,440 transform, transforms power to be used for humble service 19 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:24,440 toward others. What we're going to see is that power in the 20 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:30,360 kingdom is measured not by the height of one's platform, but by 21 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:38,020 the depth of one's love. I think we all experienced someone who 22 00:01:38,020 --> 00:01:41,860 used their power in hurtful ways. That could be a boss or 23 00:01:41,860 --> 00:01:45,900 someone of higher rank or someone like a parent or a 24 00:01:45,900 --> 00:01:49,740 teacher where they're in a position of authority. And that 25 00:01:49,740 --> 00:01:53,640 position of authority was used to cause hurt, maybe to you 26 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:59,240 yourself, others maybe around you. Maybe you're here and 27 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,080 you're saying, "Well, okay, Mike, I hear that we're going to 28 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,780 be talking about how Jesus transforms power, but hey, look, 29 00:02:04,780 --> 00:02:09,060 I'm not somebody who has power. I don't have any power. I don't 30 00:02:09,060 --> 00:02:11,900 have any rank. I don't have any kind of status. I'm just 31 00:02:11,900 --> 00:02:14,460 somebody who kind of shows up and they tell me what to do." 32 00:02:14,460 --> 00:02:19,160 But what we're going to see is that power and authority isn't 33 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,400 just about rank and position. If you're a believer here today, 34 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,440 when we're talking about, as we talk about power and authority, 35 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,740 we're not just talking about a rank and position. Some of you 36 00:02:32,740 --> 00:02:35,880 here are saying, "I don't have any power and authority." Some 37 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,080 of you here, you've been abused and affected by someone who had 38 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,720 power and authority. But when we're talking about power and 39 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:47,420 authority, this isn't something that you gain or you earn or you 40 00:02:47,420 --> 00:02:51,860 climb the ladder to. Power and authority for those who are in 41 00:02:51,860 --> 00:02:57,340 Christ is something that is given to us. It's given to us. 42 00:02:57,340 --> 00:03:03,240 If you look up on screen, the Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 43 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,880 chapter 1 verse 3, he says, "His divine power has been," what? 44 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:12,180 "Given to us and given us everything required for life and 45 00:03:12,180 --> 00:03:17,820 godliness." 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of 46 00:03:17,820 --> 00:03:23,520 fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment." And then 47 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,060 Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 verse 11, in light of Easter, 48 00:03:27,060 --> 00:03:30,160 resurrection Sunday that's coming next week, he says, "The 49 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,100 spirit of him who raised Jesus, the power of the spirit that 50 00:03:34,100 --> 00:03:39,740 raised Jesus from the dead is living in you." Friends, if 51 00:03:39,740 --> 00:03:45,180 you're a believer, power has been given to you. So the 52 00:03:45,180 --> 00:03:48,880 question before us then is not, do we have power or do I have 53 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:53,020 any power? The question is then, what will you do with this 54 00:03:53,020 --> 00:04:00,560 power? Will you deny it? Will you tuck it away? Or will you 55 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,540 surrender to Jesus? Will you surrender to Jesus and his 56 00:04:04,540 --> 00:04:08,640 transforming work that he's doing inside of your life to use 57 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:14,380 you as a conduit of his power? So today from our text, we're 58 00:04:14,380 --> 00:04:17,220 gonna be looking at transformed power and we're gonna notice 59 00:04:17,220 --> 00:04:20,580 three things about transformed power. We're gonna see that 60 00:04:20,580 --> 00:04:24,720 transformed power stoops. And then we're gonna see that 61 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,860 transformed power endures. And then we're gonna see thirdly 62 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:34,360 that transformed power glories in weakness. And then we're 63 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,340 gonna ask ourselves, so how do we get this power? How do we 64 00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:40,940 get this power? So with that said, we go to our text. We're 65 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:43,340 gonna be in John chapter 13 looking at the first nine 66 00:04:43,340 --> 00:04:48,240 verses to start. And so we're gonna see how transformed power 67 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:53,480 stoops. John chapter 13 beginning at verse 1. "Before 68 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,060 the Passover festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to 69 00:04:57,060 --> 00:05:01,000 depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who 70 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,060 were in the world, he loved them to the end. And now when it was 71 00:05:05,060 --> 00:05:08,160 time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of 72 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:13,740 Judas, Simon Iscariot's son, to betray him. Jesus knew that the 73 00:05:13,740 --> 00:05:17,640 Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from 74 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,940 God, and that he was going back to God. So he got up from 75 00:05:21,940 --> 00:05:25,780 supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel and tied 76 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:28,980 it around himself. Next he poured water into a basin and 77 00:05:28,980 --> 00:05:31,720 began to wash his disciples' feet and dry them with the towel 78 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:36,120 tied around him. He came to Simon Peter who asked him, 'Lord, 79 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,960 are you going to wash my feet?' And Jesus answered him, 'What I'm 80 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:44,440 doing you don't realize now, but afterward you will understand.' 81 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,240 Verse 8, 'You will never wash my feet,' Peter said. But then 82 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,640 Jesus replied, 'If I don't wash you, you have no part with me.' 83 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,920 So Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not only my feet, but 84 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:03,560 also my hands and my head.'" So here we see Jesus washing the 85 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,060 feet of his disciples. And for the Jews and for the Gentiles, 86 00:06:08,060 --> 00:06:12,600 there was no lower activity. There is no more of a menial 87 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:17,800 task than to wash someone's feet. The task of washing feet 88 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,380 was reserved for those who are the lowest of the low because it 89 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:26,120 was dirty business. You're washing dust. You're interacting 90 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,120 with mud. And a lot of times you're interacting with poop on 91 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:37,020 people's feet. But here we see Jesus washing his disciples' 92 00:06:37,020 --> 00:06:40,560 feet. And then Peter's reaction in verse 8 seems appropriate. 93 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,440 Seems appropriate that he would--he wouldn't allow Jesus 94 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:51,600 to degrade himself with such a lowly task. And I think some of 95 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,740 us might respond to Jesus as Peter did. If Jesus walked in 96 00:06:54,740 --> 00:06:57,480 here and he started washing some of your feet and he got to you, 97 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:02,220 would you tell him, "Jesus, no, no, no. I wash your feet. You 98 00:07:02,220 --> 00:07:08,920 don't wash my feet." Peter was almost embarrassed to have Jesus 99 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,020 washing his feet. In fact, he was embarrassed. He was 100 00:07:11,020 --> 00:07:15,760 probably embarrassed for Jesus himself. But here we see how 101 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:22,200 Jesus transforms power and position by stooping down. 102 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:28,580 Often we see power as rising up. That power is something to be 103 00:07:28,580 --> 00:07:35,420 elevated. But here Jesus, the King of kings, he stoops. You 104 00:07:35,420 --> 00:07:38,860 know, in the ancient world, if you had to go see the king, you 105 00:07:38,860 --> 00:07:42,960 had to go up. You had to go up the mountain. You had to go up 106 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:48,100 to the throne room. You had to rise up to go see the person of 107 00:07:48,100 --> 00:07:55,540 power. Even today, you have to go up to see those in power. The 108 00:07:55,540 --> 00:08:00,640 CEOs of great companies, their offices aren't in the basement. 109 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:06,680 It's on the top floor. You have to go up. Even in religion, to 110 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,160 get to the higher power or to get to the God, you have to 111 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,620 ascend. You have to climb up through your performance and 112 00:08:14,620 --> 00:08:18,300 good work. You have to earn your way up and you have to earn your 113 00:08:18,300 --> 00:08:25,500 way in. That's what religion says. But not Christianity. The 114 00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:33,140 God of Christianity stoops down and he comes down to you. The 115 00:08:33,140 --> 00:08:37,380 God of Christianity, Jesus comes down to this earth. He comes 116 00:08:37,380 --> 00:08:41,720 down to the basement of our lives and he meets you right 117 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,120 there. He meets you...meets us right there in our messiness, in 118 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:52,960 our brokenness. And the reason Jesus is able to stoop is 119 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,240 because he knows to whom he belongs. We read it in verse 120 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,940 three, kind of scan back there in your Bibles. In verse three, 121 00:09:00,940 --> 00:09:04,480 it says, "Jesus knew he had come from God and that he was going 122 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:10,120 back to God." And Jesus could suffer the indignity and 123 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,360 humiliation of washing feet because he was so secure in his 124 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,420 relationship with God. Jesus knew to whom he belonged. He 125 00:09:18,420 --> 00:09:21,860 belonged to God. He came from God and he was going back to 126 00:09:21,860 --> 00:09:28,000 him. He was so secure that he didn't need to grab onto power 127 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:34,440 and position. Jesus is so secure in who he is and to whom he 128 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:40,520 belongs that he transforms power by trading a throne for a towel. 129 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:48,020 Transformed power stoops. The second thing that we see is that 130 00:09:48,020 --> 00:09:54,160 transformed power endures. It endures. I don't know if you 131 00:09:54,160 --> 00:10:00,300 guys realize this but the year 2014 was a glorious year in the 132 00:10:00,300 --> 00:10:05,640 land of social media. You know why? It's because that's when 133 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,640 Facebook gave its followers the ability to or its subscribers 134 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:14,080 to the ability to unfollow people. And man, I took 135 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:19,560 advantage of that so hard it wasn't even funny. But Jesus, he 136 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:25,320 was unfollowed by many, many people. And even in our text, we 137 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:33,040 see that Judas unfollows Jesus. In verse 10, as Jesus is 138 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,840 expounding on bathing, he says, in verse 10, he says, "One who 139 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:42,180 has bathed doesn't need to wash anything except his feet but he 140 00:10:42,180 --> 00:10:46,940 is completely clean. You are clean but not all of you. For he 141 00:10:46,940 --> 00:10:50,980 knew who would betray him." And this is why he said, "Not all of 142 00:10:50,980 --> 00:10:58,020 you are clean." Jesus foreknew Judas would betray him. And then 143 00:10:58,020 --> 00:11:01,120 look at verse 21. Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, one of you 144 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:05,600 will betray me." And the rest of the verses around that section, 145 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,860 the disciples start looking around at each other. And like, 146 00:11:08,860 --> 00:11:13,440 "Is it you? Maybe it's you. Maybe it's me." Right? They're 147 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,780 a little confused. And so I love what Peter does. Peter motions 148 00:11:16,780 --> 00:11:21,380 to John, the other disciple, and says, "John, try to ask Jesus 149 00:11:21,380 --> 00:11:26,220 who is going to be. Go. Go. Ask him. Ask him." And so John, you 150 00:11:26,220 --> 00:11:29,320 know, he's the beloved disciple. So he snuggles up against Jesus 151 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,260 as they're reclining at the dinner table. And they ask him, 152 00:11:32,260 --> 00:11:37,000 "Lord, who is it? Who will betray you?" And in verse 26, 153 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:42,540 it says, "Jesus replied and he's the one that I give the piece of 154 00:11:42,540 --> 00:11:46,000 bread to after I dipped it. And when he dipped the bread, he 155 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:50,580 gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot's son. And after Judas 156 00:11:50,580 --> 00:11:53,680 ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, 157 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:56,780 'What you're doing, do it quickly.'" And then verse 30, 158 00:11:56,780 --> 00:12:00,460 "After receiving the piece of bread, Judas immediately left 159 00:12:00,460 --> 00:12:06,120 and it was night." And many of us know that later on, Judas 160 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:11,260 betrays Jesus and Jesus gets arrested. But you know what's 161 00:12:11,260 --> 00:12:16,000 crazy about this? What's crazy is that Jesus still washed 162 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,800 Judas' feet. I don't know. If that was me, I would have skipped 163 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:25,880 Judas. Peter, I washed your feet. Andrew, yep. James, John. 164 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:31,040 Oh, not Judas. No, I know what you're doing, Matthew. It's 165 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:36,480 crazy. He still washed his feet. He knew what Judas was gonna do 166 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:43,420 and yet he still got down in between the toes. Here's what's 167 00:12:43,420 --> 00:12:47,260 even crazier though. It's obvious that Jesus has the power 168 00:12:47,260 --> 00:12:53,000 to foreknow the future but he doesn't use that power to escape 169 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,500 arrest or mount some kind of defense. No, he transforms his 170 00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:03,880 power to endure. To endure the betrayal. To endure the 171 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:08,980 rejection. Later on in this chapter, Jesus predicts that 172 00:13:08,980 --> 00:13:14,480 Peter's gonna betray him and reject him. And we know later on 173 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,120 that Peter does and yet Jesus, he doesn't use his power to 174 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:24,200 crush Peter. He uses his power to endure and then later on to 175 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:31,000 forgive and then restore Peter. So, Jesus shows us that 176 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,140 transform power endures and the only way that Jesus can endure 177 00:13:35,140 --> 00:13:39,640 is because he knows that the betrayal and rejection that he 178 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:44,680 suffers is part of God's plan. It's actually part of God's 179 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:48,280 plans and sometimes that's surprising to us. How can that 180 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,560 be part of God's plan if it means that there's pain and 181 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:55,260 suffering and rejection and betrayal? But Jesus says in 182 00:13:55,260 --> 00:13:59,460 verse eighteen, I'll put it up on screen. Jesus says, but the 183 00:13:59,460 --> 00:14:02,100 Scripture must be fulfilled. In other words, what he's saying 184 00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:06,840 is that is that God's plan must happen. And then he quotes 185 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,880 Psalm chapter forty-one verse nine where he says, the one who 186 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:14,040 eats my bread, keep Judas in mind, the one who eats my bread 187 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:19,580 has raised his heel against me. You ever have somebody raise 188 00:14:19,580 --> 00:14:26,320 their heel against you? It's kinda like a MMA front kick. You 189 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,560 jab somebody with the the ball of your heel and you know what 190 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,400 you're doing? You're either trying to push them away or 191 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:38,140 you're trying to do damage. And Jesus says, he knows that this 192 00:14:38,140 --> 00:14:42,800 is part of God's plan. The betrayal and rejection so he 193 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:48,140 will endure. But to be clear, Jesus doesn't just endure 194 00:14:48,140 --> 00:14:55,560 unfollowers but Jesus, he endures death on a cross. Jesus 195 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:00,360 goes to the cross that week, later that week and he endures 196 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,200 death on the cross. For sure, it should have been rejecters and 197 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:11,740 betrayers on that cross like you and me. But it wasn't. Jesus 198 00:15:11,740 --> 00:15:16,040 goes to the cross in our place. And then when Jesus was 199 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,880 arrested in the garden, you remember when Jesus was 200 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,620 arrested, he could have, he says, I can call on the father 201 00:15:23,620 --> 00:15:28,960 and he would send thousands of angels to rescue me. Jesus is 202 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,060 telling the Roman guards and the chief priests and the Pharisees, 203 00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:37,160 I can call my boys and they're gonna come down and they're 204 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:43,540 gonna get me out of this. But he doesn't. Jesus had the power of 205 00:15:43,540 --> 00:15:46,540 God at his disposal but instead of using his power to escape, 206 00:15:46,540 --> 00:15:52,180 Jesus trusts God's plan and uses his power to endure. 207 00:15:52,180 --> 00:15:59,620 Transform power endures. And then thirdly, what we see from 208 00:15:59,620 --> 00:16:05,160 this text is that transform power glorifies in weakness. It 209 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:10,500 glories in weakness. In verse 31, Jesus says, now the son of 210 00:16:10,500 --> 00:16:15,400 man is glorified and God is glorified in him. The son of 211 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,100 man, he's referring to himself. Jesus is referring to himself. 212 00:16:18,100 --> 00:16:22,040 The son of man is glorified but you know what's strange is that 213 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,180 this whole foot washing scene is part of the beginning of the 214 00:16:27,180 --> 00:16:31,020 week as Jesus marches to his death later on that week on the 215 00:16:31,020 --> 00:16:37,320 cross. The chapter before, Jesus entered into Jerusalem. That's 216 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,660 why we call it Palm Sunday. Today is Palm Sunday as they 217 00:16:39,660 --> 00:16:43,300 were waving the palms, signs of victory, shouting out Hosanna, 218 00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:49,100 Hosanna in the highest. God saves. But little did they know 219 00:16:49,100 --> 00:16:53,740 that as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, he's actually on a 220 00:16:53,740 --> 00:16:59,420 death march. He's actually going to the cross. And so, this 221 00:16:59,420 --> 00:17:03,860 foot washing scene foreshadows the cross that's coming later 222 00:17:03,860 --> 00:17:09,820 that week. The stooping of Jesus, the enduring of Jesus is 223 00:17:09,820 --> 00:17:14,900 pointing to the coming crucifixion. Jesus knows it's 224 00:17:14,900 --> 00:17:18,300 coming yet he says that he is glorified. That's so strange. 225 00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:23,180 It's so strange that he is glorified on as on the last week 226 00:17:23,180 --> 00:17:29,340 of his life. It's strange to our ears maybe because there was no 227 00:17:29,340 --> 00:17:34,620 glory and power in the cross. The cross represented shame and 228 00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:39,420 defeat. At the cross, all power is stripped away. Not just your 229 00:17:39,420 --> 00:17:45,600 clothes stripped away but all power is stripped away. The 230 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,040 Jews, I think we know expected the Messiah to ascend to the 231 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:55,640 throne not descend to the grave. To their eyes and maybe to some 232 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:03,020 of our eyes, the cross isn't winning. It's losing. But Paul, 233 00:18:03,020 --> 00:18:08,620 he helps us, right? Paul helps explain Jesus and in First 234 00:18:08,620 --> 00:18:10,920 Corinthians chapter one verse eighteen, Paul says, the 235 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,320 message of the cross is foolishness to those who are 236 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,600 perishing. It's absolute foolishness. It doesn't make 237 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:21,140 sense. It's moronic. But to those who are being saved, it 238 00:18:21,140 --> 00:18:28,300 is what? The power of God. In Colossians chapter two, again, 239 00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:31,680 the apostle Paul says, Jesus has taken our sins away, nailing 240 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,840 it to the cross, and having disarmed the powers and 241 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,980 authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing 242 00:18:38,980 --> 00:18:45,520 over them by the cross. He's triumphant. How? By the cross. 243 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:50,500 Friends, the cross seems foolish and weak but it's the power and 244 00:18:50,500 --> 00:18:57,900 glory of God. It's the power over your sin and mine. This is 245 00:18:57,900 --> 00:19:04,480 why this Friday, we celebrate Good Friday. We remember the 246 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,780 cross. Remember Jesus' sacrifice and the power of the cross 247 00:19:08,780 --> 00:19:15,360 to forgive sins. And then next Sunday, the twenty, the 248 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:18,360 twenty, the twentieth, next Sunday is is Easter. 249 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:22,460 Resurrection Sunday. Now, to be honest, every Sunday here is 250 00:19:22,460 --> 00:19:25,100 Resurrection Sunday but that that's the moment in the church 251 00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:28,460 calendar in which we all the Christians around the world 252 00:19:28,460 --> 00:19:33,300 celebrate the beautiful, wonderful, most beautiful thing 253 00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:36,800 to happen in history, Jesus coming out of that grave. And 254 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,840 it's there that we celebrate the power of Christ over the 255 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:44,940 grave. Paul says, second, in 2 Corinthians chapter thirteen, he 256 00:19:44,940 --> 00:19:49,380 says, Jesus was crucified in the weakness yet he lives by God's 257 00:19:49,380 --> 00:19:54,120 power. And friends, now by faith in Jesus, we also have 258 00:19:54,120 --> 00:20:03,660 this new life and power. We also have it. The spirit who raised 259 00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:09,540 Christ from the dead now lives where? In you. So, the question 260 00:20:09,540 --> 00:20:13,540 is then, how do we get this power? How do we get this power 261 00:20:13,540 --> 00:20:16,540 that stoops, that endures, that glories in weakness? How do we 262 00:20:16,540 --> 00:20:21,720 get this? How do we get this power that you won't find in 263 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:26,220 Washington DC or on Wall Street or in any position or in any 264 00:20:26,220 --> 00:20:32,320 rank? Well, it says right here in our text. It says you have to 265 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:38,060 be cleaned. You have to be cleaned. In verse eight, Jesus 266 00:20:38,060 --> 00:20:44,740 says, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. And this 267 00:20:44,740 --> 00:20:47,980 washing and this cleansing wasn't a ritualistic cleansing 268 00:20:47,980 --> 00:20:52,340 of different body parts. Rather, he's talking about the cleansing 269 00:20:52,340 --> 00:20:57,420 of the heart through faith in Jesus. It's an internal 270 00:20:57,420 --> 00:21:00,760 cleansing. It's a cleansing of the heart. And Jesus says, 271 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:06,660 without this cleansing, you can have no part with me. Friends, 272 00:21:06,660 --> 00:21:10,200 it took the gory, grotesque, blood-soaked sacrifice of Jesus 273 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:14,300 for you to be washed of your sin. You don't wash yourself by 274 00:21:14,300 --> 00:21:17,500 your performance or by your good work. You don't earn your way in 275 00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:23,140 or up. Rather, it's through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. 276 00:21:23,140 --> 00:21:26,380 See, without this cleansing, you could wash a thousand pairs of 277 00:21:26,380 --> 00:21:33,820 feet and still have no part in Christ. The cross is the path to 278 00:21:33,820 --> 00:21:37,360 power. And when you put your trust in what Jesus did on the 279 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:43,300 cross, he gives you new life and power. This is how we get this 280 00:21:43,300 --> 00:21:49,400 power. We trust Jesus. We give our lives to Christ. And then 281 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,680 what this means is that now we can live a life of transformed 282 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:57,480 power. And this is why Jesus tells his disciples in verse 15 283 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,920 up on screen, it says, "For I've given you an example that you 284 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:06,560 also should do just as I have done for you." And what this 285 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,400 means is that we now have the power to stoop down and to go 286 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:17,160 low. We have the power to endure even in rejection and betrayal 287 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,880 and the pain that comes with that. We now have the power to 288 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:29,980 glory in weakness because when we are weak, Jesus is strong. 289 00:22:29,980 --> 00:22:36,620 You know, business people, they're always calculating the 290 00:22:36,620 --> 00:22:44,560 ROI. The ROI is return on investment. That is if I put in 291 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:51,300 this much investment, I expect to get this much return. But 292 00:22:51,300 --> 00:22:55,280 transformed power doesn't calculate the ROI. It doesn't 293 00:22:55,280 --> 00:23:00,720 calculate the return on investment. Transformed power 294 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:05,420 endures even when you get nothing back. We can love and 295 00:23:05,420 --> 00:23:13,060 serve others without calculating the ROI. But here's the warning. 296 00:23:13,060 --> 00:23:16,960 If you calculate the ROI, you will always be expecting some 297 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,460 kind of recognition, some kind of reciprocation, even if it's 298 00:23:21,460 --> 00:23:27,600 just a small thank you. If you're calculating the ROI, you 299 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,380 will always need to feel important. Your acts of love and 300 00:23:31,380 --> 00:23:36,640 service is a way for you to feel needed and maybe even get 301 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:42,160 noticed. If you're calculating the ROI and your love and 302 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,200 service, then there's no way. There's no way that you can 303 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,700 truly stoop. There's no way that you can truly endure or glory 304 00:23:50,700 --> 00:23:54,100 in weakness because what you're doing is that you're leveraging 305 00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:57,400 your acts of service and power to actually to really elevate 306 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:03,480 yourself. Your acts of service and love are there to actually 307 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:11,680 serve you ultimately. If you're calculating the ROI. But friends, 308 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,120 this is why we always have to preach the gospel to ourselves 309 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,960 and remember that by faith you are cleansed by Jesus. That is 310 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,860 you belong to him. You are secure. And because you are 311 00:24:22,860 --> 00:24:26,600 secure in Christ, you don't have to calculate the ROI anymore. 312 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,760 You don't have to do any more math. You don't have to do the 313 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,800 calculations. And if I do this, will I get anything back? You're 314 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:40,580 free. And you're free because we belong to Christ. You belong to 315 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:45,040 Christ. You are secure. And what's secure for you is the 316 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:49,380 inheritance and riches of God's grace that already belong to 317 00:24:49,380 --> 00:24:59,060 you. So you're free. You're free to love and serve others even if 318 00:24:59,060 --> 00:25:04,800 you get nothing because you already have everything. You 319 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,200 already have it all. So we can love and serve others even if 320 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:16,940 that means we lose it all. That's a transformed power. At 321 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:24,020 the end of the passage, Jesus says in John 13, 34 and 35, he 322 00:25:24,020 --> 00:25:27,860 says, "I give you a new command. Love one another. Just as I have 323 00:25:27,860 --> 00:25:31,460 loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone 324 00:25:31,460 --> 00:25:34,500 will know that you are my disciples if you love one 325 00:25:34,500 --> 00:25:37,800 another." It's a new command, Jesus says. Sounds kind of 326 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,000 strange because haven't we heard that, you know, we're to love 327 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,300 God, love others, and other parts of the Bible. But Jesus 328 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:45,300 says it's a new command. And what makes it new is that now 329 00:25:45,300 --> 00:25:51,380 Jesus upholds himself as the model of love in which we are to 330 00:25:51,380 --> 00:26:00,220 follow. Jesus shows us that the way to power is through 331 00:26:00,220 --> 00:26:04,100 sacrificial love. The way to victory, the way to world 332 00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:08,660 transformation is through sacrificial love. And this is a 333 00:26:08,660 --> 00:26:13,700 power and a love that the world has never seen before or since. 334 00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:20,040 It's a power and a sacrificial love that doesn't make sense 335 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,980 because sacrificial love is a love from a position of 336 00:26:22,980 --> 00:26:27,420 weakness. It's a position of weakness. Yet the power and 337 00:26:27,420 --> 00:26:32,480 glory of God is shown through this love. Jesus says that by 338 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,860 this, meaning this love that you have for one another as you 339 00:26:35,860 --> 00:26:40,860 receive my love and love one another, by this everyone will 340 00:26:40,860 --> 00:26:46,400 know that you are my disciples. Everyone will know. In fact, 341 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:52,780 this kind of sacrificial love that we show one another puts on 342 00:26:52,780 --> 00:26:59,480 display the power, the glory, and grace of God. It shows it to 343 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:04,720 a world. A world that is looking and grabbing on to power and 344 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:09,400 authority and love and in the way it knows how. But the ones 345 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,400 that show the true sacrificial love that can stoop, that can 346 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,700 endure, that can glory in weakness are the ones who have 347 00:27:16,700 --> 00:27:20,700 been loved that way. The ones who have been loved by Jesus 348 00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:27,080 that way. And now through the church, God makes himself known. 349 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,880 It's not through big conferences with smokes light, 350 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,720 smoke light and mirrors. Although those are fun and 351 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:37,960 great. Doesn't come through just big, huge tent meetings. 352 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:43,700 Those are fine. The way God makes himself known and this 353 00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:48,700 sacrificial love known is through the local church. It's 354 00:27:48,700 --> 00:27:50,940 through the local church. All these little local churches 355 00:27:50,940 --> 00:27:56,240 meeting all across this state on this day. It's through that 356 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:01,580 that people see the sacrificial love of Jesus by the way we 357 00:28:01,580 --> 00:28:09,860 love one another. You know, over the last, you know, over the 358 00:28:09,860 --> 00:28:19,100 past history of all believers, the majority of believers or 359 00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:21,600 I'll say it this way. There's millions of believers that have 360 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:26,440 come and gone in this world. They enter this world, they 361 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,540 live, and then they die. Millions. And of the millions 362 00:28:30,540 --> 00:28:34,720 that have come into this world, only a tiny, tiny fraction of 363 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:39,820 those people are we aware of. Very tiny fraction, right? We're 364 00:28:39,820 --> 00:28:44,960 aware of like the great apostles, Paul, Peter, John. 365 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,560 We're aware of those guys. Maybe we're aware of some great 366 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,900 missionaries, some amazing work of God in foreign lands. Or 367 00:28:52,900 --> 00:28:56,540 maybe we're aware of, you know, great leaders like a Billy 368 00:28:56,540 --> 00:29:02,140 Graham. But those are very, very, a very, very small 369 00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:06,180 minuscule percentage of all the other, of all the believers 370 00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:11,560 that have come and gone. The majority of believers, the 371 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:17,900 majority, which I think probably includes all of us in here, we 372 00:29:17,900 --> 00:29:23,500 will enter this earth, we will live, and then we will die in 373 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:33,880 anonymity. People most likely will not remember our names. No 374 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:44,720 speaking gigs, no book deals, no podcasts. Just a life marked 375 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:53,700 with a long, steady, consistent obedience to love others as 376 00:29:53,700 --> 00:30:02,640 Jesus has loved them. That's it. A life that has a long, steady 377 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:10,920 obedience to love others as Jesus has loved them, as Jesus 378 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,880 has stooped, endured, and glorified in weakness. Now we 379 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:20,700 can turn around and do the same for others, whomever that is, 380 00:30:20,700 --> 00:30:27,760 and however that looks like. That's power transformed. So, 381 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:32,540 Harbor West, in Christ, we have the power to do the same, to 382 00:30:32,540 --> 00:30:36,800 love others sacrificially because transformed power isn't 383 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:44,740 a throne. It's a towel. It's a towel. Amen? Let's pray.