Series: Upper Room Discourse Text: John 13 Message #1 (Jan. 1, 2006) Introduction Imagine if you will, looking in on thirteen people gathered in a small upstairs room. The time is about 30 A.D. It is Jewish Passover. It is dark outside. The flickering oil lamps accent the somber atmosphere inside. Things do not begin well. Generally a servant would be present to wash the feet of the guests as they entered the room, but no servant was present, at least none the disciples recognized. They each reclined on individual pallets around the low table awaiting the meal. Jesus offered the traditional prayer of thanksgiving and then pushed Himself away from the table. Removing His outer garment, He began to wash the disciples’ feet. Equals, much less teachers, should not be washing feet. That was the job of a servant. Too surprised and too embarrassed to protest, the disciples participate in eerie quiet. Being able to endure no longer, Peter shattered the silence. “Do you wash my feet?” Jesus matter-of-factly explains that though the disciples do not now understand, they will later, and he proceeded. Peter further protested, “You shall never wash my feet!” “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” was Jesus reply. Reactionary Peter predictably requested a bath, only to be reminded that just his feet need cleansing – though not everyone present in the room was clean. The tension tightened. After He finished, Jesus asked His disciples if they have understood what had just happened. Jesus continued to speak, suggesting that they had no answer for Him. He argued from the greater to the lesser – if the teacher has washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet. This was not just about a willingness to wash dirty feet before dinner. There was much more here. Here is the contrast of humility to arrogance. It is introduced with Jesus and the disciples and heightened with the exchange of the bread and the bold response of Judas. Would the disciples follow Jesus’ example, or would they sell Him out like Judas? It is intriguing to me that before Jesus shares the most intimate details of things that should soon take place, the betrayer is exposed and departs, though the disciples remain clueless as to what had just happened. It was the demonstration of humility that seemed to force the issue and expose the impostor. My objective this first Lord’s Day of 2006 is to consider our individual relationship to Christ. There is the response of Judas – willing to sell out Jesus because He was not what Judas expected Him to be. There was the call of Jesus to follow Him without reservation, depending on Him to cleanse us and to keep us clean. And then there is the response of Peter (and the rest of the disciples). When the pressure was on, he distanced himself from Jesus. Where are we in all of this? Let’s consider the passage together.
I. THE MESSAGE OF JESUS – FOLLOW ME A. Follow Jesus – He knows … (Just for a moment, consider what our text says that Jesus knows. Verse 1 – He knew the time; His hour had come. Verse 3 – He knew the Father had given all things into His hands. Verse 11 – He knew who was going to betray Him). Granted, Jesus is God, and therefore He knows everything, but there is something unique and special about this. He knows and He wants His disciples to know as well (v. 12). Jesus knew the time and what was about to happen. It is not like the disciples had not heard of this before. For some time Jesus had told them of this day. I refer to Matthew 16:21 ff. Jesus saw Himself as the “Lamb of God.” That could only mean one thing. The very reason for His coming in the flesh was now before them. He knew that and He had taught His disciples the same – but they had failed to get the message. Jesus knew the plan of the Father and the plan of the enemy. The prophets had declared the plan of the Father – “It was the Father’s will to crush him…” From the entrance of sin into the human race, the enemy had been busy trying to derail the plan of God. The responses of Peter and Judas were simply further examples of a long line of Satanic attempts to alter God’s purpose. Jesus knew that all of this was part of His glorification and return to the Father, Knowing that, He endured to the end. Jesus knew the hearts of the disciples – Jesus knew Peter’s heart when He prophesied the denial. He was well aware of the dastardly work of Judas when He told him to do what he had to do quickly. He was aware of those who were clean and those who were not. After all, this was based on His choosing (verse 17). He knew all of this and He knows everything. Since He knows, we ought to follow Him without question. But Jesus did not just stop with telling us what He knew. He showed us by example.
B. Follow Jesus – He shows … Jesus shows the example of humility – a matter of service. This was not a lesson in foot-washing, but a example and a command to serve one another. We cannot really serve unless we humble ourselves. As long as we think ourselves to be above such behavior, we are not able to receive His grace. The Pauline commentary on this section of Scripture is found in Philippians 2:5-11. We would do well to meditate on that for a while. (Also see Peter’s commentary – 1 Peter 5). Jesus shows the essence of the new covenant – a matter of love. Christ commanded His disciples to love each other as He had loved them. Think of that for a bit. Consider the enormity of Christ’s love. Now love one another like that. No matter what level of understanding we might have concerning this command, surely we must realize that we are not even close to being obedient in our responses toward one another. But that is the standard. That is what we are called to know and do.
II. THE MESSAGE OF JUDAS – FALL AWAY (There is significant mystery here – verse 2 speaks of the devil putting into the heart of Judas to betray the Lord, and verse 27, states that “Satan entered into him.” We know what Judas did and probably can speculate fairly accurately why). What we may have failed to see is how this could have been hidden so well. The other disciples not only did not see this coming, but were shocked when it became known to them. Those who would fall away may go undetected (Note the response of the disciples against the words of the Lord) (Note that Judas was also involved in having his feet washed by Jesus. If nothing else, this should remind us that no rite, even if performed by Jesus Himself, ensures spiritual cleansing. Judas was washed, but he was not clean).
1. The Lord’s accusation – “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me” (v. 18). The disciples (parallel account) were all asking, “Is it I?” There were no fingers pointed to Judas. He remained undetected. 2. The Lord’s affliction – Something changes. In verse 21 Jesus is visibly troubled. “One of you will betray me.” He does not give away who that one is, and Peter motions to John to ask Jesus to identify him. But again, there is still no real clue. The Lord’s action - “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” How many heard Jesus say this or understood what He was saying, I don’t know, but again, even with all of these blatant hints, the disciples are unsuspecting. The Lord’s acknowledgement – “What you are going to do, do quickly.” John even makes the point in his account, “Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.”
Those who fall away may remain unsuspected – Judas disappeared into the darkness to carry out his evil deed and still there was no suspicion that he was the guilty one. When Judas appeared with the mob in the garden, the text does not indicate whether or not the disciples knew even then. But eventually, ultimately, the true nature of this counterfeit disciple would become known. It is the Judas-like disciples who will stand before Jesus one day and He will declare that He never knew them and they will depart from Him forever. Throughout the years some at Lakeview Church have been tares and not wheat, pretenders, not the real thing. And we never saw it until sometime after they fell away if we ever saw it at all. One of the greatest pressures on pastors is that many to whom they minister week in and week out, are mere pretenders.
THE MESSAGE OF PETER – FALTERING FAITHFULNESS (Perhaps this is closer to where we actually live. On the one hand, there is the desire to follow Jesus and be obedient to Him, and yet on the other hand, there is so much inconsistency and failure and unfaithfulness toward Him. Let’s consider this for a few minutes. I would suggest to you that there are two significant errors in Peter’s thinking that led to these failures).
A. Theological error – in regard to sin and salvation – It may seem subtle, but when Peter was dealing with the foot washing issue, he was revealing some holes in his understanding of sin and salvation. It is God who washes clean. When He cleanses us, we are clean. Judas was never clean – he was never washed. Peter and the others were. (“If I do not wash you, you have no share with me”). Even when we are clean (and not again in need of a complete spiritual cleansing) there is the need to have our feet washed. We tend to pick up the dirt of the world in our walk through life. It still is the Lord who cleanses us from this as well. But included in all of this is the active participation of fellow believers. This would become increasingly clear through the writings of Peter and Paul and Jude and James and John, regarding confrontation and discipline and restoration. Practical error – in regard to pride, humility, victory and defeat. When we are off theologically, it will affect us practically. It always does. (“Don’t bother me with this theology stuff. I just want to follow Jesus.” What we believe absolutely affects how we behave). Peter’s confusion concerning sin and a need for cleansing led him to regard himself with a degree of confidence and invincibility. In regard to Jesus’ statement about not being able to follow Him now, but later, Peter declares both his intension and his confidence – “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Actually, that would happen. But in the short term, Peter’s arrogance would lead to a terrible embarrassment and spiritual failure. He would in mere hours even deny that he knew the Lord – and he would do this repeatedly!
Conclusion 1. Actually my point in all of this is fairly simple. If we do not follow Jesus (sell out to Jesus, if you will), we may be candidates to sell Him out at some point in our lives if the price is right. Judas was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are many who are mere pretenders. We are repeatedly warned to “make our calling and election sure.” By the way, those words came from Peter. Peter also gives a whole chapter to pretenders in his second letter. I am not suggesting that we are plotting Christ’s murder for a few pieces of silver, but if He doesn’t measure up to my standards for what a God and Savior ought to do for me – walk away and look for another. Many do that. If we are not true followers of Jesus, we will walk away eventually. 2. Peter is a different case. He was genuine, but not very realistic. He assumed himself to be too self-sufficient, too faithful, too mature to ever in any way deny or betray the Lord Jesus. One of the marks of spiritual maturity is to be keenly aware of our vulnerability. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.” Have you heard that before? 3. Today we begin a brand new year. Over the next several weeks we will potentially learn a great deal of what is involved in following Jesus. These are things Jesus wanted His disciples to know just before He left them. The Holy Spirit included them in Scripture because God desired that we know them as well. The question for this hour is, “Are you a disciple of Jesus?” |
