SERMON TITLE: The Way of Jesus
TEXT: John 13:1-17, 31-35 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Robert Tansill
DATE: 4-1-21
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
Good evening, Gateway family! I'm Robert Tansill. And as always, it is a joy to be worshiping with you. Every week we are reminded that God loves us. But tonight, we are going to see just how much he loves us, as well as how that love should impact our lives as we seek to impact the lives of those around us.
Tonight we will be looking at John 13:1-17 and then verses 31-35 of the same chapter. And the question that I want to answer is this, “As followers of Jesus, what should our lives look like as we model before a lost and dying world the way of Jesus?” That is to say, as those who trust in Jesus for their salvation alone, who have been given his Spirit, and who desire to live primarily for his glory rather than their own, how do we live in such a way that people see Jesus in us, rather than us?
Recently, I was reminded of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian politician and social activist in the 1940s, who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India, when he said this, “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” That is a shocking statement and one we need to take to heart. As I talk to folks who are not Christians, one of the main reasons they give for not accepting Christ is because of the hypocrisy they see in the lives of those who say they are followers of Jesus, especially in how Christians treat other Christians. So, to avoid this from happening, how are we supposed to live? John tells us.
Listen to his words in John 13:1-17, followed by verses 31-35. John writes...
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 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, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 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.
John 13:6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 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.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
John 13:12 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? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 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. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
And then jumping down to verses 31-35...
John 13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:1-17, 31-35 ESV)
As we think together about what it means to live in a way that reflects our trust in Jesus, the first thing John wants us to see is that…
What do I mean by that? Well, if you look at verse 1, there are a couple of things that I want you to notice. First, John begins our section with these words, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.” By using the words “before the Feast of Passover”, John is reminding his readers of God’s grand plan of redemption to bring salvation to the world by pointing back to this Feast of Passover, which the Jews celebrated to commemorate God’s rescue of Israel from Egyptian captivity. In Exodus 12:21-28, God tells his people through Moses to kill a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes to protect them from the judgment that would fall upon all of Egypt’s firstborn. By applying that blood, God’s people were rescued from judgment. And as Jesus prepares for his death on the cross, as the true Passover Lamb, he too will shed his blood for his people. And in doing so, he will rescue them from the judgment of God for sins that they have committed against him by offering forgiveness once and for all through this act. Why would he do that? That’s the second thing I want you to notice.
In the second half of verse 1, John adds these words, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” By using this phase, “his own,” John is pointing to the “exclusive relationship” Jesus has with his followers. That’s what the phrase, “his own”, actually means; “an exclusive relationship” (John 5:18; 10:3-4; 15:19). What makes it exclusive?
Because they trust in Christ alone for their salvation, and by doing so they are also committed to obeying him in whatever he asks them to do. As followers of Jesus, they are laying down their rights to serve the one they now call Lord and Master. And what motivates them to do this is the incredible love that their Master has shown them, a love that will endure to the very end. This is the way of Jesus! He is a God of love, a love that lasts forever for those he calls “his own”. And because of this love, as followers of Jesus, the disciples and us are motivated to respond in obedience. As John would say in another of his letters in 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.”
But we have to ask the question, “If we are motivated to love because Jesus first loved us, what does that look like? That is, how do we show our love to others the way Jesus would?”
That’s the second thing that John wants us to see in verses 2-17, which could be summed up this way...
In verse 2, John adds an important detail that should grab our attention because it is such an important contrast to what Jesus is about to say and do. Here’s how the New English Translation describes it, “The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus.” Why does John put this detail in here? I believe it’s to show the contrast between those who are followers of Jesus, and those who are not. Judas, representing one who is not a follower of Jesus, is focused only on himself and what he wants as he seeks to betray Jesus. Not only that, but he is also at the mercy of Satan even though he’s been walking with Jesus for three years. And for the person who is not a follower of Jesus, this is the norm. They live only for themselves, and they are constantly at the mercy of Satan who tempts them, again and again, to pursue their own selfish goals, and not caring who they hurt in the process. But that’s not the way of Jesus.
Instead, the way of Jesus primarily focuses on glorifying God the Father. And as Jesus shows us in these verses, that happens best through serving. But what is so amazing to me is that, because of who Jesus is, he should not be the one serving. Rather, he should be the one being served! Jesus is God in the flesh. That’s what John is pointing to when he says in verse 3, “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…” Yet, in what John is about to share, the character of God is going to be displayed in such a way that should take our breath away. God incarnate is serving us! And as he does, there are three things that we need to notice about what it means to serve in the way of Jesus.
First, like Jesus, we are called to serve in humility. In verses 4-5, as he rises from the table during supper, laying his outer garments to the side, John writes that Jesus, “taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 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.” Why is this significant? Because this act of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples was viewed in that culture as the ultimate act of humility. By doing this, Jesus is adopting the stance of a menial slave, a position looked down on by both Jews and Gentiles. In fact, in his book, “The Jesus I Never Knew,” Philip Yancey adds that, “In those days, foot washing was considered so degrading that a master could not require it of a Jewish slave.”
And as those who profess to be followers of Jesus and who want to live the way of Jesus, we are called to do likewise. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:3-8, “Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 4 Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. 5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross!” (NET) Folks, this is the way of Jesus. And if we are going to follow him, this is the way that we must go; having an attitude of humility.
Yet, not only are we to serve with an attitude of humility, but John also tells us that we are called to serve sacrificially. In verse 6, as Jesus washes the disciple’s feet, he comes to Peter, and an interesting verbal interaction occurs. Listen to what John writes in verses 6-8, “He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ 7 Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’ 8 Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’”
If you are like me, your first thought is that Peter doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet because he knows who Jesus is as Lord and believes that Jesus is the last person in the world who should be washing anybody’s feet. Instead, like most of us, Peter believes he should be washing Jesus’ feet. That’s why Peter says in verse 8, “You shall never wash my feet.” But, once again, that’s not the way of Jesus. So, what’s really going on here?
Listen to how scholar Robert Mounce explains Peter’s response. He writes, “By objecting, Peter typified all those who are confident of their ability to cleanse themselves. His refusal illustrates the human tendency to trust one’s own sense of what is right rather than to accept with humility the gift of God” (Robert H. Mounce, Expositor’s Bible Commentary On John’s Gospel). What is this “gift of God” that Mounce is talking about?
Once again, it’s Jesus sacrificing himself on the cross, which the Father initiated for our benefit. That is what Jesus had in mind when he said in verse 7, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” For Peter, he thinks that Jesus is just referring to washing feet. But what Jesus is really referring to is the humble sacrifice he is making to not only be willing to wash the feet of others, but even more importantly, to die on the cross. And the only reason Peter is even willing to let Jesus wash his feet is because Jesus said to him in verse 8, “If I do not wash you, you have no share of me.”
What is Jesus saying here? Listen to how the New Living Translation puts verse 8, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” Jesus is saying that unless you accept the sacrifice that he made for you on the cross, then you are not clean, and you are still in your sin. And it’s so much more than just external. It actually has to do with a change of your heart.
As I studied this word “clean” in the New Testament, one of the things I discovered was that not only does it also mean “pure”, but it is often said in relation to the heart (Matt. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 1:22). And to my surprise, Peter himself addresses this in his first letter when he writes in 1 Peter 1:22-23, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God (ESV).”
So, the question we have to ask ourselves is this? How do we get a “pure heart”? And the answer is only by being “born again.” I know to many this phrase, “born again,” seems archaic and outdated. But unless that change in our hearts takes place, we are still “unclean” and left in our sin. And only Jesus can cause that change to occur in your life. For Peter and some of the disciples, that change has already occurred, as Jesus tells him in verse 10 that he is clean. But it does raise a question.
For those of us who are “born again”, does the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross move us to sacrifice for others? Or do we take for granted what Jesus did on the cross by continuing to live only for ourselves? How should Jesus’ death, and the change in our hearts as a result of it, impact us? Let me give you two verses to think about. In Romans 12:1, the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God —which is your reasonable service.” (NET) And then in Hebrews 13:15, it says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (ESV)”
Can you see it? Can you see how the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross for you, and the change that occurs in your heart when you truly accept that gift, leads you to sacrifice for others in humility? This is what it means to be “clean”. This is the way of Jesus.
But there is a third thing that I want you to see in this section which is that we are also called to serve as an example to others. In verses 12-17, Jesus puts his outer garments back on, resumes his spot at the table, and then says this, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (ESV) What has Jesus done to them?
Once again, so much more than just wash their feet. Jesus died for their sins, restored their broken relationship with the Father, and changed their hearts by giving them new and holy desires. And most of this the disciples won’t understand until afterward; after Jesus’ bloody corpse is hanging on a cross, and then as they are sitting in his presence once again after his resurrection. Then they will understand!
But by washing the disciple’s feet, Jesus has also given them an example to not only follow, but to live out before a lost and dying world. Here’s how one commentator explains it, “Jesus’ intent was to set forth a lifestyle that emulates the example he set by this humble act of service.” (Richard Phillips, Reformed Expository Commentary on John) And if we claim to be followers of Jesus, then it can’t just be in word only. We must also seek to follow his example, making it a part of our lifestyle. A lifestyle that serves others in humility, is driven by Christ’s sacrifice that has changed our hearts, and where we seek to be an example for others. This is the way of Jesus.
But there is one final thing I want you to see tonight from our passage that we have to keep in mind. If you would, jump down to verse 31 where I believe the last thing John wants us to see is that…
Beginning in verse 31, the New Living Translation says this, “As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, ‘The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. 32 And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. 33 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going.” In this closing section, Judas the Betrayer has gone out, prompted by Satan’s scheme to put an end to any hope of redemption that God might have planned. With Jesus’ death about to occur, it would seem that the hope for humanity will be lost, with Satan getting the victory.
But Satan underestimated God’s plan. Not only would he be glorified through his Son’s death and resurrection on the cross as the sins of the world are paid in full, and those who put their trust in this finished work find eternal life in him. In this process, God will leave an indelible mark after his Son departs to return to be by his side. And what is that indelible mark?
Look again at verses 34-35 from the New Living Translation. Jesus says this, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” As Jesus prepares for what awaits him, he instructs his disciples and those who would come after them to do the one thing that will prove to the world that they are followers of his. And that one thing is to love one another.
Even though Jesus calls this a new commandment, is it new? After all, this is hardly the first time that the Bible commands God’s people to love. In Leviticus 19:18, wasn’t it through Moses that God said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”? Yes! But just as the “new” covenant Christ brings does not replace but rather makes perfect the old covenant that came before it, the new commandment to love makes tangible the obligation that believers always have to be a people of love. But with a difference.
Here is how one commentator explains it, “When a sinner is born again and believes in Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives birth to the life of Jesus and also to the love of Jesus in his or her heart. This is what makes possible the new kind of love that Christians are to display: the power of the God of love in our newly born hearts.” (Richard Phillips, Reformed Expository Commentary on John)
Folks, for the disciples and us as well, God has given us the power to love in a way the Old Testament saints didn’t have. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, and the change that has occurred in our hearts because of it by his Spirit, we are given not only the command to love another, but more importantly the power to do so.
And as Jesus departs to be with the Father, this is the indelible mark we are left with that we are meant to show to the world. In spite of all our differences, in spite of all our various opinions, and in spite of all the other things that could possibly separate us, do we still continue to love each other?
In his book, “The Mark of the Christian”, Francis Schaeffer writes this, “The church is to be a loving church in a dying culture. How, then, is the dying culture going to consider us? Jesus says, ‘By this, all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’ In the midst of the world, in the midst of our present dying culture, Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon his authority, he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born-again Christians on the basis of our observable love toward all Christians. This is the whole point: The world is going to judge whether Jesus has been sent by the Father on the basis of something that is open to observation. Our love must have a form that the world may observe; it must be seeable.” (Francis Schaeffer, “The Mark of The Christian”)
As those who proclaim Christ as both Savior and Lord, and whose hearts have been changed by the power of his Spirit at work in our lives, take to heart these words to not only serve one another in humility, but to do so grounded in the compelling love of Christ. For this too is the way of Jesus. And the world is watching. To God belongs all the glory.
Let's pray together.
Father, words cannot express how grateful we are for all that you have done for us in Christ, for the salvation that you have given us by faith, and for the love that you show us every day. Forgive us when we take Your love for granted. As we leave this place, may we do so as people who not only love and serve you, but each other as well. Help us to rely on the Spirit that was given to us when you took up residence in our hearts, and make us ever mindful of those times when we are not loving or serving well. And as each day passes, help us to learn to pursue, with greater diligence and reliance on you, the way of Jesus. For to You alone belongs all the glory. Amen.
“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” - Jude 24; NLT
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