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John 13:1-17 Key Verse: 13:15 JESUS’ EXAMPLE “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13 through 17 is called “The upper room dialogue.” In this upper room dialogue, Jesus sat face to face with his disciples, teaching them very intimately. Jesus words' in the dialogue are actually his will because he was crucified and died very soon. He repeated two things in the dialogue. One is to love one another, the other is to pray earnestly in Jesus' name. In today's passage, Jesus teaches his disciples to love one another by showing an example. So we will learn one of his two wills. May God help us to understand Jesus' words and action today. May God help us to practice the will of Jesus in our daily life. I. Jesus serves by washing feet It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus and his disciples were in a private upper room all by themselves. It would be the last supper for Jesus to have in this world. Less than a few hours later, Jesus would be arrested, condemned and tortured by the religious leaders; less than 12 hours later, he would be hung on a cross and die for the sin of the world. At the table, there was already an uninvited guest present. It was the devil. The devil came in with Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples. He had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus. Jesus was well aware of all this. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him and that the time of suffering had come. But he was never worried or feared. He did not try to find an exit. Nor did he lie on the bed helplessly. Jesus was so in peace because he knew two more things : he had authority of God and his mission would be completed in the end. The Father had put all things under Jesus' power. So even if people were wicked and the devil tried to manipulate everything, he had all the power over all things. Though his ministry seemed to be falling apart, his final goal would be reached in the end. He would accomplish his mission and return to the Father, though he had to go through suffering and death. Then what did Jesus do in this time of crisis? Jesus was just concerned about his disciples. For the last three years, Jesus had taught them the truth of heaven. However, they were still children spiritually. They expected Jesus to rule over Israel as a political king. They competed to be in a higher position in Jesus' country. Nevertheless, Jesus did not give up on them. He still wanted them to succeed the salvation work after his death. So he performed a dramatic act that planted in their minds and hearts a vivid image of love. Look at verses 4-5. “...so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” To our great surprise, Jesus washed his disciples' feet. It was so shocking that the disciples must have said nothing. Actually, this job was usually given to the lowest servant in the house. But Jesus humbled himself to the lowest place and served his disciples. In this world, higher position means higher authority; higher authority means more respect from others. But this was not true of Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God in his nature. But he did not claim his right. He gave up his right and took the form of a servant and washed the smelly feet of his disciples one by one. The disciples were fighting to be served. They wanted to be a master over other people. They were waiting for someone to wash their feet. But Jesus, their master and Son of God, came down from the highest position and did the lowest job in the world. At home, I am a husband and father. At the church, I am a fellowship leader. At work, I am a homeroom teacher of 45 students. Wherever I go, I have the ones who I have to serve. I have to listen them and try to help them as their shepherd. However, very often I find myself expecting them to listen to me and respect me. If someone does not listen to me, I feel hurt and rebuke him or her. I use a little authority given me to demand obedience and respect. But in today's words, Jesus is saying that my position is given to me to serve others, not to enjoy my authority. Jesus is God who has the authority over all things. But he was not reluctant to wash the smelly feet as a servant. This time, I pray I may follow this example of Jesus. I pray I may humble myself to serve the ones around me as Jesus did for his disciples. II. Jesus serves by washing sins. Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet. But washing feet did not mean just washing a part of body. Jesus' washing feet implied a spiritual truth. This truth was revealed in the talk between Jesus and Peter. When Jesus was washing their feet, Peter could not believe his eyes. So when Jesus approached him, he said with unbelieving voice, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet? No. You shall never wash my feet.” I am sure every one feels the same way as Peter did. But only Peter had courage to say it as he felt. Then, what was Jesus' answer to Peter's refusal? Did he praise Peter that he was polite? Jesus' answer was surprising and puzzling. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Jesus' answer means Peter had no relationship with Jesus if he was not washed by Jesus. Peter was shocked to hear Jesus' answer, even if he did not understand it fully. So this time, Peter asked Jesus to wash not only his feet, but also his hands and head as well. Jesus' response to this request was more puzzling. He said Peter was clean already, just like a person coming out of his full bath. He needed only to wash his feet. Now, what was the meaning of Jesus' answer to Peter? Why does Peter have no relationship with Jesus if Jesus does not wash his feet? Why doesn't Peter have to wash his whole body but only his feet? In the talk between Jesus and Peter, washing body or feet implies washing sins. Jesus shed blood on the cross to redeem the sinners. With this blood of Jesus, sins are washed and we are saved from eternal death. We are clean as if we take a bath. However, in spite of taking a bath, the feet gets dirt quickly and smells bad, when we walk outside the house. Likewise, even if we are saved, we can commit sins, while living in this sinful world. This is the reason we still need Jesus' blood. We have to wash our daily sins with Jesus' blood, just as we get rid of dirts on our feet. By doing so, we can maintain the relationship with Jesus. While serving the disciple, Jesus implied he would serve sinners. Just as he served his disciples by washing their feet, Jesus would serve sinners by washing their sins with his blood. Jesus humbled himself to wash the smelly feet. Likewise, Jesus denies himself and sacrifices his life to wash the dirty sins of us. Jesus is God who deserves our total worship. But he came down to the lowest place to serve sinners by giving his life. Truly, this is the full extent of love. This is the true example of service. This time, thank Jesus for serving us with full extent of love. Praise God for giving us Jesus who served us by giving his life. III. Do as I have done for you. When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Now he explained the meaning of his action so they could understand. Look at verses 14-15. “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” As a christian, we know we should serve others. But in fact, it is not easy to serve arrogant, disobedient, or lustful people. When we see their sins and weaknesses, the first response is we don’t like them. When the same weakness is repeated, we keep our hearts closed toward them, carry resentment in our hearts, and blame them for everything. We pray that God may change them, but we don’t have joy in our hearts. However, we must remember serving is not based on our emotion. We do not serve others according to our favor. The one and only reason for our service is the example of Jesus shown to us. In the past, we were not different from the ones we don't like. We were so selfish, so arrogant, and so disobedient. But Jesus did not reject us. He washed our dirty sins with his blood. He is God but humbled himself to die and pay for our sins. When we think over this full extent of love, we can and must serve weak people. When we receive Jesus' love for the sinners like us, we can and must love other sinners to the full extent. At the summer Bible camp last week, a shepherd and I was waiting for a medical student to finish his testimony to Jesus' cross. We would share our testimonies together after he finished. The student knew we were waiting for him. But he never hurried. Rather, he chatted on the phone with his sister many times. He rolled around on the mat, telling jokes and idle talk. His shepherd struggled with him to get him to finish his testimony. But he did not show any sincere response to him. Finally, after about two hour waiting, we could hear him shout he had finished. However, his testimony was not an honest confession but a kind of joke. It contains only two sentences: I have not met Jesus yet. I expect next lecture. I was very angry with him. I felt he was disregarding his shepherd and me. He was not a novice at the Bible study and testimony writing. He had studied the Bible with us for 4 years. He had enjoyed a lot of grace and love from many shepherds. However, when he was ask to do something by faith, he did not show any sincere interest. I had been told he was so obstinate and idle. But when I saw it myself, I had difficulty controlling my temper. I really wanted to ask him why he attended our church. I wanted to tell him to get out of UBF. To serve sounds very nice and gentle, but in fact, it is not so romantic. To serve requires patience, sacrifice, and sometimes life-giving spirit. In order to serve, we must be willing to do the most menial and even dirty jobs. We must be willing to do the things that no one else wants to do. We must be willing to serve without receiving any kind of honor or position. Truly, to serve must be the heavy cross for sinners like us. However, we do know this is the way Jesus went along. He washed the disciples' dirty feet. He willingly sacrificed his life for us. When we think over this example of Jesus, we cannot make any excuse for not serving others. This time I pray we may depend on Jesus to serve others humbly. I pray we may serve sinners to the full extent as Jesus served us so. I pray I may give the medical student in my fellowship the full extent of love that Jesus showed to me.. In today’s passage we learned that Jesus loves us. He humbled himself to the lowest place to serve us. Ultimately, he bore our sins in his body on the cross. Now he wants us to love and serve others, following his example. May God help us to go on the way Jesus went. May God help us to bear our own cross by serving weak people with the full extent of love. |
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