1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,740 In John 13, with the cross on his immediate horizon, 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,840 Jesus gathered with his disciples for one last meal. 3 00:00:09,180 --> 00:00:12,120 And at that time, Jesus did the unthinkable. 4 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:14,760 He began to wash his disciples' feet. 5 00:00:15,220 --> 00:00:18,180 So, what was the significance of this action? 6 00:00:18,580 --> 00:00:21,680 And why were the disciples so shocked that he did it? 7 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,400 That will be the focus of today's study. 8 00:00:26,220 --> 00:00:32,480 When you picture a CEO of, say, a Fortune 500 company, what do you picture him doing? 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,860 When you think of a titan of industry, when you think of a CEO, something really important, 10 00:00:36,980 --> 00:00:39,880 someone really powerful, what do you picture them doing? 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,540 Perhaps they're sitting in a boardroom. 12 00:00:41,820 --> 00:00:45,160 Perhaps they're dressed to the nine, and they're ordering people around, and they're making 13 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:46,400 the big decisions and the like. 14 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:48,100 Perhaps that's what you picture. 15 00:00:48,540 --> 00:00:52,400 With that said, what if you were to encounter a CEO, but you encounter him in the most unlikely 16 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:52,960 place? 17 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:54,360 You don't encounter him in the boardroom. 18 00:00:54,460 --> 00:00:59,000 either you encounter him in the bathroom and he's got a plunger in his hand and the CEO of a massive 19 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,380 business is there plunging the restrooms. Now, if you were to see such a thing, you would say, boy, 20 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,600 this is odd. I don't see this every day. It might seem slightly degrading, frankly, to the individual 21 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,400 or at least to the position they hold. I mean, CEOs shouldn't be doing this sort of thing, should 22 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,980 they? Well, in today's text, we're going to see, I guess, the first century equivalent. Specifically 23 00:01:18,980 --> 00:01:23,740 in this text, someone with what you would say is the highest social standing that you could have, 24 00:01:23,740 --> 00:01:29,440 the rabbi someone with the highest social standing is going to undertake not just the lowest work but 25 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:35,320 the lowest of the lowest work in the midst of the people the most menial and degrading act you could 26 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:41,220 do in jewish society was to wash someone's feet now why why is that well a because feet are just 27 00:01:41,220 --> 00:01:45,180 gross there's that doesn't matter what century you're in but b because in the first century feet 28 00:01:45,180 --> 00:01:49,320 were especially gross why were they especially gross well they didn't have nike they didn't have 29 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,740 Adidas. They didn't have socks. They went on these dusty trails with essentially, you know, their 30 00:01:53,740 --> 00:01:57,860 leathery sandals and their bare feet. And they went from one place to another. And when they got to 31 00:01:57,860 --> 00:02:02,160 the other place, their feet were gross and stinky and sweaty and dirty and the like. And if they 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,900 came in to have a meal, which meant often they were reclining. Remember, they're not just all 33 00:02:05,900 --> 00:02:09,560 sitting at a table where all the feet are hidden. They're reclining at a meal where they're all 34 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,080 visible. So they got these gross feet. What are they going to do? You have people over the last 35 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:18,080 supper. You have people sitting, dining together. What needs to happen? Well, somebody's got to wash 36 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:23,420 them feet. So who? Who should wash the feet in that culture? I mean, you would think everyone 37 00:02:23,420 --> 00:02:27,200 washed their own feet, but that's not what they did. What would happen is that, especially if 38 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,240 you were the host, that you had to make some sort of provision of people in your house that their 39 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,180 feet would be washed clean. But as a host, you wouldn't do it. Oh, dear heavens, no. You wouldn't 40 00:02:36,180 --> 00:02:40,840 do that if you were the host. So who'd you look to? Well, if you're a Jewish individual, and let's 41 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:45,180 say you had servants, you might look to them. But here's the thing. There was a rabbinical law that 42 00:02:45,180 --> 00:02:50,000 said you could not compel a fellow Jew, even if he was your slave, to wash somebody's feet. It was 43 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:55,060 that gross. It was that low. So what were your options then? If the servant wouldn't do it, 44 00:02:55,100 --> 00:02:59,480 if he says, nope, not for me, what do you have left? Well, the one person you could compel, 45 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,600 the lowest person in any house in Israel, the lowest of the lowest of the low, was not necessarily 46 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,780 the slaves and the servants, but rather it was what you might call the slaves of the slaves, 47 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:14,200 the servants of the servants. What it was was Gentiles. If you had a Gentile servant that was 48 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:20,900 the only person in Israel you could compel to wash the feet of others. With that said, given how far 49 00:03:20,900 --> 00:03:26,860 a field you had to go to find someone to designate as the foot washer, how astonishing would it be in 50 00:03:26,860 --> 00:03:33,460 this context in John chapter 13 for the rabbi, the one with the highest social standing at the meal 51 00:03:33,460 --> 00:03:39,040 that day, to say, I'll do it. I'll be the one. And to gird himself with a towel and to take on the 52 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:46,940 clothing of a servant in order to wash the feet of his disciples. In that context, as the disciples 53 00:03:46,940 --> 00:03:51,960 looked on, their whole world was thrown upside down once again by Jesus. He was good at that. 54 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,780 He was good at turning topsy-turvy the priorities of the world on its head in order to demonstrate 55 00:03:57,780 --> 00:04:03,080 the principles and the priorities of the kingdom. Much more important. So today's text, that's what 56 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,620 he's doing. Jesus is teaching, he's demonstrating, and he's showing the greatest humility this world 57 00:04:07,620 --> 00:04:13,620 has ever seen coming from a throne on high in order to wash the feet of that which he has created. 58 00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:17,780 The creator washing the feet of the created, that's what we're seeing in today's text. So let's return 59 00:04:17,780 --> 00:04:22,520 to the first portion of this and then work our way through. Let's start with verses 1 through 4. 60 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,400 Now verses 1 through 4 deal with the Last Supper. In fact, there's going to be about four or five 61 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,500 chapters in John that deal with the Last Supper more than any of the other Gospels. Look in verse 1. 62 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:36,980 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart 63 00:04:36,980 --> 00:04:43,980 from the world to the father having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end 64 00:04:43,980 --> 00:04:48,780 and supper being ended the devil having already put in the heart of judas iscariot simon's son 65 00:04:48,780 --> 00:04:54,880 to betray him jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and he had come 66 00:04:54,880 --> 00:05:00,400 from god was going to god he arose from supper he laid aside his garments he took on a towel 67 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:07,720 and he girded himself. All right, verses one through four, they ring with finality. They ring 68 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:12,220 with finality. The supper had ended, the text says. The supper had ended, and furthermore, it says that 69 00:05:12,220 --> 00:05:19,940 the hour had come. Jesus was entering the last lap, so to speak, of his earthly ministry. But as 70 00:05:19,940 --> 00:05:24,980 we said, as he looks at this last lap, he didn't say to himself, boy, there's a lot of things I want 71 00:05:24,980 --> 00:05:30,100 to go experience. You know, I want to scuba, I want to snorkel, I want to ski, I want to do stuff like 72 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:37,080 that no as he faced down his last hour he says i'm going to glorify god but in this context he 73 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:43,200 says i'm going to do it in the most unusual way i'm going to do it by demonstrating to god's 74 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:48,260 children what true servanthood looks like so that in the future they'll glorify god all the more 75 00:05:48,260 --> 00:05:53,440 so verse 4 says that after supper he changed into the servant's wardrobe which had to look a little 76 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,920 odd i mean everyone's kind of watching him do this and you know thinking boy this is unusual what's 77 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,740 Jesus doing over here? But he changes into the servant's wardroom, and he begins to wash their 78 00:06:02,740 --> 00:06:09,600 feet. Now, there's a detail that's not in John's gospel, but you do find it in the gospel of Luke 79 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:17,500 that adds context to what's going on in this reading. In Luke chapter 22, Christ's disciples, 80 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,700 they're talking here at this meal. They're talking. Now, what are they talking about? 81 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:25,040 They're talking about the news, weather, sports. Are they talking about all the good ministry they 82 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,480 hope to do? All this service, all the acts of service they want to engage in, are they talking 83 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:35,040 about these sort of things? Not so much. They're talking about what? They're talking about in the 84 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:41,240 kingdom of God, in the kingdom of heaven, which one of them is greatest? Which one of us is most 85 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,280 important? You know, we got 11, 12 of these guys running around, and they're all probably vying 86 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:49,880 for certain positions, status with the rabbi, status with fellow men, status in the kingdom to 87 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,300 come. They had to think about this at times. Which one is most valuable to this whole expedition? 88 00:06:54,780 --> 00:06:59,080 you know, if one of us had to depart, who would we miss the least? If one of us had to depart, 89 00:06:59,140 --> 00:07:02,720 who would we miss the most? Maybe it's me. So they talked about these sort of things. And if you're 90 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:07,920 Jesus, you're going just, aye, aye, aye. What is going on here? You listen to them talking at the 91 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:12,560 Last Supper. You're about to die. Your Passion Week has begun. The end is coming. You've been 92 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:17,400 laboring over these knuckleheads for three years, teaching them what humility looks like. And now, 93 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,240 at the Last Supper, they're sitting there talking about which one of them is going to be greatest, 94 00:07:21,780 --> 00:07:23,280 Which one of them is most important? 95 00:07:23,780 --> 00:07:27,720 At some level, if you're Jesus, you have to be saying, did they not learn anything? 96 00:07:28,580 --> 00:07:35,940 How ironic this was, that these individuals were desirous of such worldly esteem, 97 00:07:36,180 --> 00:07:40,620 worldly greatness, in the presence of a king who washed feet. 98 00:07:40,980 --> 00:07:45,260 They were arguing about status in the presence of one who set aside his status 99 00:07:45,260 --> 00:07:46,980 in order just to sit there with them. 100 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:49,460 That was their grand plan. 101 00:07:50,060 --> 00:07:53,620 But you know, something encouraging, although they were knuckleheads, so to speak, 102 00:07:54,020 --> 00:07:59,180 verse 1 says, you know what? Jesus loved these knuckleheads. He loved them to the end, it says. 103 00:07:59,180 --> 00:08:02,900 Even though he knew the end was coming, he knew his own death was approaching. What did we read 104 00:08:02,900 --> 00:08:06,680 in verse 1? Jesus knew his hour had come that he should depart from the world to the Father, 105 00:08:07,100 --> 00:08:13,700 having loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them to the end. He didn't love them 106 00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:17,720 because they were so lovable. Oftentimes, he loved them in spite of who they were, 107 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:23,460 not because of who they were. And yet he loved them still. There's hope for knuckleheads. Jesus 108 00:08:23,460 --> 00:08:29,360 came to save and love and disciple men and women who just get a whole lot of stuff wrong and whose 109 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,900 priorities sometimes are topsy-turvy, as yours and mine may be at times. Now, he does want to correct 110 00:08:34,900 --> 00:08:39,120 and he does want to teach and he does want to help us to stand to right and follow the path that he 111 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,940 has trod, but he does it with grace and kindness. He does it with patience, long-suffering. So here 112 00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:48,300 in this text, he hears them arguing about this, who's going to be the greatest. And somewhere in 113 00:08:48,300 --> 00:08:51,980 the divine mind of God, somewhere in the divine mind of Jesus, he says, you know what I'm going 114 00:08:51,980 --> 00:08:56,800 to do? I'm going to show them. I'm going to do something right now to teach them and to show them 115 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,240 what greatness looks like. And it's going to be the exact opposite of what they think and what 116 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:06,320 they expect. Let's look at our next verses. Let's look at verses 5 through 11. So after that, he 117 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:12,660 poured water into a basin and he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with a towel 118 00:09:12,660 --> 00:09:17,940 with which he himself was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, Lord, 119 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:24,940 are you washing my feet? And Jesus answered and said to him, what I'm doing now, you don't 120 00:09:24,940 --> 00:09:30,800 understand now, but you will know after this. And Peter said to him, you shall never, you shall 121 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:37,020 never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him and said, if I do not wash you, then you have no part 122 00:09:37,020 --> 00:09:41,940 with me. And so Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. 123 00:09:41,940 --> 00:09:46,500 he turns that around there verse 10 then jesus said to him he was bathed and he's only to wash 124 00:09:46,500 --> 00:09:53,000 his feet but it's completely clean you are clean but but not all of you for he knew who would betray 125 00:09:53,000 --> 00:10:00,320 him and therefore he said you are not all clean all right what are these verses about at face 126 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,720 value you stand back from that and go all right i know what that's about that's servanthood humility 127 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,940 right that's all about servanthood what jesus is doing here this context these verses in particular 128 00:10:07,940 --> 00:10:12,700 verses 5-11 are about servanthood. It's about how, you know, God came from a throne to wash 129 00:10:12,700 --> 00:10:18,680 stinky feet, and if he did something like that, then surely we could do the 21st century equivalent, 130 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:23,880 whatever that is, to our peers and those in our own midst. Surely that's what this teaches. It's 131 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:28,960 about servanthood, right? Well, yes and no. Is it about our servanthood? Yeah, but we're going to 132 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:34,020 see that more in the verses to follow. We're going to see that more in verses 12-17. But verses 5-11 133 00:10:34,020 --> 00:10:37,840 I just read. They're less about the servanthood and more about what it means to be clean. 134 00:10:38,180 --> 00:10:43,400 More about what it means to be washed. See, Jesus goes around. He girds himself up. He gets to the 135 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,260 basin, gets to the water, starts to wash the feet, comes across Peter. Peter's been washing them, 136 00:10:47,380 --> 00:10:53,600 washed the feet of other people, and just says, nope, not for me. Not for me. Now, it's not because 137 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:58,920 he had a high view of himself so much as he had a view of God that said, Jesus, the rabbi, the 138 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,800 messiah the christ he would never do such a thing remember how often they misunderstood jesus even 139 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,840 his own disciples really truly never got him until after he descended and to heaven so peter says nope 140 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:15,860 no no no you shall never wash me never never never take it to the bank jesus and jesus 141 00:11:15,860 --> 00:11:20,840 once again you know he just has to exercise that patience remember that we talked about 142 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:27,080 that patience he says peter come on man if i don't do this and you don't submit to it you have no part 143 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:34,220 with me. If you aren't washed by Jesus, which has a bigger meaning than just feet washing, 144 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:41,120 if you aren't washed by Jesus, you have no part with Jesus. Now, Peter didn't get the symbolism 145 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,220 initially. He didn't fully understand that. All he looked at was the menial task at hand, 146 00:11:45,220 --> 00:11:50,380 but Jesus was doing something much bigger than the menial task. You see, you never want to turn 147 00:11:50,380 --> 00:11:54,160 down being washed by Jesus. You never want to turn down being washed by Jesus because being 148 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,960 washed by Jesus is about something more than just literally having dirt rubbed off your skin. 149 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:02,800 You and I, when we understand what it means to be saved, when we understand the gospel, 150 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,360 when we understand the washing of the blood of Christ, when we understand baptism and these 151 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,140 sort of things, how do we understand them? We understand them spiritually. We understand that 152 00:12:10,140 --> 00:12:14,500 we are dirty, wretched, scarlet-stained individuals, and because of that, we need to be 153 00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:19,840 made clean if we're to dwell with him, right? We're dirty. He's not. We need to be cleaned up 154 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:24,840 if we're going to dwell with him in the time yet to come we understand that washing is essential 155 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:31,120 to our hope and to our salvation and jesus taught that across his ministry but here he gives an 156 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:36,000 example a very specific example this menial task he attempts to wash feet and peter misses the 157 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:41,620 symbolic point well jesus brings him back to it says hey peter peter come on if you are not washed 158 00:12:41,620 --> 00:12:46,240 by me you have no part with me and it's almost like that trick to switch in peter's mind it's 159 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:52,480 like oh wait okay uh then not only my feet but all of me just the head the hands all of me it's like 160 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:58,340 he understood something at the moment that he didn't previously get with that said interestingly 161 00:12:58,340 --> 00:13:03,460 towards the end of those verses in verse 10 11 jesus said he was bathed he's only washed his 162 00:13:03,460 --> 00:13:07,760 feet and is completely clean and you are clean he's speaking to the disciples you are clean you 163 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:13,320 have been washed in the blood and the faith and all that you are clean but not all of you for he 164 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:20,440 knew who would betray him therefore he said you are not all clean one of them no matter how often 165 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,440 jesus washed his feet and it's probable in fact it's likely jesus washed the feet of judas here 166 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,200 challenge though was that washing judas's feet accomplished nothing for judas because the 167 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:33,480 washing judas really needed was in here and jesus understood that he understood the heart of judas 168 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:38,880 even as he washed judas's feet now as an aside note in about two wednesdays three wednesdays 169 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:43,440 from now, I'm going to teach a Wednesday night study just on Judas Iscariot so we can understand 170 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,720 this character, understand this individual, the son of perdition. If you ever had questions about 171 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,640 Judas Iscariot and what was really going on with this guy, what his history was, what his backstory 172 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,560 was, and what ultimately happened to him, we'll talk about that on a Wednesday night. All right, 173 00:13:56,580 --> 00:14:01,680 let's though look at our last verses for this morning. Let's now look at verses 12 through 17. 174 00:14:02,540 --> 00:14:06,720 So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and sat back down again, 175 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,460 He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? 176 00:14:11,220 --> 00:14:15,360 You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. 177 00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:21,120 But if I then, if I am the Lord, if I am your teacher, and I have washed your feet, 178 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,060 then you also should wash the feet of one another. 179 00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:28,600 For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. 180 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,280 Most assuredly, it's like truly, truly, take it to the bank. 181 00:14:32,380 --> 00:14:36,080 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant's not greater than his master, 182 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,500 nor is he who sent greater than he who sent him. 183 00:14:38,820 --> 00:14:39,980 If you know these things, 184 00:14:40,140 --> 00:14:42,280 blessed are you who do them. 185 00:14:42,940 --> 00:14:43,840 There's an old story. 186 00:14:43,860 --> 00:14:45,200 I forget where I picked it up. 187 00:14:45,420 --> 00:14:47,960 It's a story about a Russian king 188 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:49,740 from years and years and years past, 189 00:14:49,820 --> 00:14:50,380 the Middle Ages. 190 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:51,520 You have this Russian king, 191 00:14:51,580 --> 00:14:52,640 and he's going through the forest, 192 00:14:52,740 --> 00:14:54,440 and with the Russian king in this chariot 193 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:55,700 that they're riding is a servant. 194 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:56,740 So you have the Russian king, 195 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:57,780 you have a servant, they're in a chariot, 196 00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:58,960 they're going through a dark forest, 197 00:14:59,220 --> 00:15:01,700 and behind them, lo and behold, wolves. 198 00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:02,840 Wolves start approaching. 199 00:15:03,180 --> 00:15:03,800 So you have this chariot, 200 00:15:03,900 --> 00:15:05,180 it's going through the forest, it's dark, 201 00:15:05,260 --> 00:15:08,500 of the king, of the servant, the wolves are coming, they're getting closer, they're getting closer, 202 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:14,320 and it's clear they're going to overtake the chariot. What to do? What to do? These two men 203 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,580 must have thought. Well, what do you think should have happened in this regard? The wolves were 204 00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:24,760 clearly not going to be satisfied until they got someone. What to do? What to do? Well, we would 205 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,740 think at face value that what should happen is that in order to sustain the life of the king, 206 00:15:28,820 --> 00:15:32,360 that the servant should throw himself to the wolves 207 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,400 with the idea that that would satisfy the wolves 208 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,020 and that the king, therefore, can escape their assault, 209 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:40,080 escape their harm. 210 00:15:40,140 --> 00:15:42,380 We would understand that to be what should happen. 211 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,120 The love of the servant for the king should be sacrificial 212 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,500 and the servant should lay down his life for the king. 213 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:49,420 Here's the thing. 214 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:52,540 The gospel is the exact opposite of that. 215 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,800 In the gospel, it is not the servant 216 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,100 who lays down their life to save the king. 217 00:15:58,820 --> 00:16:03,400 It's the king who lays down his life to save the servant. 218 00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:06,840 In these verses, we see this. 219 00:16:07,340 --> 00:16:09,500 It's a different anecdote, it's a different story, it's a different example. 220 00:16:09,620 --> 00:16:11,480 This is about bushwashing, but it's the same principle. 221 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,540 If God is willing to send his own son to lay down his life to buy you back from sin and death, 222 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,920 then what are you too good to do for your fellow man? 223 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,600 If the creator was willing to give up his life, go to Calvary, go to the cross, 224 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,440 breathe out his last in order to purchase you back from sin and death, 225 00:16:27,700 --> 00:16:29,500 If the Creator did that for you, the created, 226 00:16:30,540 --> 00:16:33,880 then why would we withhold grace and help and assistance 227 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,280 and care and foot washing or what have you 228 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,740 from fellow individuals in the created realm? 229 00:16:40,420 --> 00:16:42,340 Well, Jesus, in effect, asked that question. 230 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:44,180 What did that last verse say? 231 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,040 He says, if you know these things, if you understand this, 232 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,080 if you accept it, if you nod your head and say amen 233 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,800 and believe this is true, if you know these things, 234 00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:54,280 then blessed are you if you do them. 235 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,080 And oftentimes, one of the greatest distinctions, 236 00:16:57,340 --> 00:16:59,280 false distinctions, bad distinctions that existed 237 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,960 in Christendom back in the days of Christ and Paul 238 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:03,760 and in the 21st century in Gulfport 239 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,060 is this idea that we can recognize propositional truth, 240 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:08,540 nod our head to propositional truth, 241 00:17:08,620 --> 00:17:10,240 say amen to propositional truth, 242 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:11,780 and then neglect to do it. 243 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:14,720 Well, Jesus says it's not just so much 244 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,480 whether you recognize that it's good to be humble. 245 00:17:17,100 --> 00:17:18,500 It's not just so much whether you recognize 246 00:17:18,500 --> 00:17:19,340 it's good to be a servant. 247 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,780 It's what are you going to do about it? 248 00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:23,860 I did this as an example to you. 249 00:17:23,900 --> 00:17:27,800 he says to his disciples, I did the one thing you never would expect I would have done, 250 00:17:28,380 --> 00:17:33,360 and you have some inkling who I am, and I have some inkling who you are, and I've done this for 251 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:39,220 you. Why would you withhold this sort of grace from anyone else? You know, one of the things I 252 00:17:39,220 --> 00:17:43,140 love about God's providence, as I've gone through various books of scripture and preaching, is that 253 00:17:43,140 --> 00:17:48,500 oftentimes through the work of God, the text lines up perfect with the day in which it's preached. 254 00:17:49,460 --> 00:17:53,160 What are we going to do after today's worship service? We're going to have a congregational 255 00:17:53,160 --> 00:18:01,260 meeting to elect officers or servants? Servants. In God's province, today's text is perfect for 256 00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:10,000 the day that we elect servants, under shepherds, those called of God to serve God's people with 257 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:17,680 the heart we see here. Church officers, like the disciples, are to lead principally through love 258 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:24,680 and grace and humility and tenderness with care and heart and compassion and empathy, 259 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:30,020 not just by edict and judgment and sitting as the CEO at the table. Something different. 260 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,480 In verses 12 through 17, the king and the high priest of not just the church but the universe 261 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:42,180 stooped down to wash the feet of the people that he had made. The one who whispers galaxies into 262 00:18:42,180 --> 00:18:48,820 existence. Stopped what he was doing to put on a towel and wash people's feet. And he says in 263 00:18:48,820 --> 00:18:53,260 verses 12 through 17, it's meant to be instructive to his disciples there in the upper room in the 264 00:18:53,260 --> 00:18:58,820 first century, but also to us in the 21st century all these years later. As we look to wrap up this 265 00:18:58,820 --> 00:19:06,100 morning, let me suggest this. What we might dismiss as menial work in the kingdom is oftentimes 266 00:19:06,100 --> 00:19:12,560 most valuable and the most important. I had the privilege of visiting with someone this week who 267 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:18,420 had undergone a hardship, a health hardship, and someone else in the congregation had taken time 268 00:19:18,420 --> 00:19:23,220 to write this individual a note, a note of encouragement, an order of prayer, a note I'm 269 00:19:23,220 --> 00:19:28,760 thinking of you. No one knows that this person wrote it, no one but God and the person that 270 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:34,580 received it. You might call that menial work to write cards to people who are hurting. You might 271 00:19:34,580 --> 00:19:39,560 call it menial work to engage in mercy ministry and the like. You might call it menial work 272 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:44,980 to hold someone's hand in hospice. I assure you that the greatest work that we can engage 273 00:19:44,980 --> 00:19:51,500 in, pastors, elders, deacons, congregation, can be caring for those in need, whether anyone 274 00:19:51,500 --> 00:19:56,040 recognizes it or not, and deliberately stooping down to situations that we otherwise wouldn't 275 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:00,040 go. Hospice is one of those. Situations that we otherwise wouldn't go to do things that 276 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:05,880 we otherwise wouldn't do. The eyes and heart of God looks upon that and says, that guy gets it. 277 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:12,460 That woman understands something critical to what kingdom work is all about. This morning, 278 00:20:12,580 --> 00:20:18,200 Christianity is not only about heads and hearts, but hands. It's not only about what we assent to 279 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,080 and recognize as propositional truth, and it's not only that which we believe in in the heart, 280 00:20:22,140 --> 00:20:27,520 but it's also how that which we believe works itself out using these hands, your hands, to be 281 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,780 a blessing to the people to your left, to your right, and outside the community this day, this 282 00:20:31,780 --> 00:20:36,040 week, this year. What we know in the head and believe in the heart should be expressed in our 283 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,840 service, and that's the lasting message from John 13. Let's pray.