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Love’s Greatest Virtue
It’s the nature of love to be self-less and self-seeking.
Christ gives the great lesson to His disciples and the lesson is this:
Love’s greatest virtue is humility.
Love’s greatest virtue is humility, for it is the humility of love that proves it and makes it visible.
True love is inseparable from humility.
Christ’s love was inseparable from His humility.
He could not have been so consumed with a passion for serving others if He had been primarily concerned with Himself.
Staying in Bethany and had to travel the dirt roads to Jerusalem.
The entrance always had a large basin of water to wash visitor’s feet.
It was the lowest-ranking servant on site who washed their feet.
There is no mention of such a servant to wash their feet.
Was it by accident there was no servant to wash their feet?
Luke 22:9-
Jesus had previously taught them.
But they apparently didn’t understand that this would be an inestimable privilege rather than a moment of indignity for them.
Apparently, everything necessary was within easy reach of all of them, but not one of the twelve stepped up to the task.
In Luke’s account we’re told that
How appalling the scene was!
Probably not much worse than some moments in our own lives.
This was a long running feud.
But listen to Jesus’ response to it all in .
If anyone had a right to be thinking about the glory that would be His in the kingdom, it was Jesus!
Yet, as we saw last week: “He loved them to the end.”
He loved them with a love that was uttermost, perfect, in total fullness, complete.
It was His innate nature to love them — even in His death!
How self-less love He has!
This is love displayed in humility.
Philippians
Let’s look at Love’s Greatest Virtue — Humility.
I. Love in deed and in truth
Can there be any greater contrast of love and hate?
The Holy Spirit included verse 2 to deeply contrast the love of Christ for even expressed to Judas while Judas responded in hate.
Let this sink in.
Jesus washed Judas’ feet.
John 13:
What a wonderful picture of the humility of love as He manifested loving-kindness to Judas.
Jesus waited until everyone was seated and supper was served.
Then in an unforgettable act of humility expressing His love for them, Jesus
Look at the economy of words with which John paints the picture!
Can you imagine the shame, regret, and sorrow they must have had.
Some lessons are painful and profound.
And we need this lesson, don’t we?
When you are tempted to think of your rights, or dignity, or importance, open your Bible to .
To go from being God in Glory, Creator of the universe to humble slave kneeling at the feet of sinful creatures, mere men.
Sometimes we find it hard to imagine the immense glory of our God.
We come off of statements that God made to Job and now to this!
What may be more indescribable than His speaking His creation into existence is His self-abasement.
But that is the pulse of the heart beat of the eternal.
And He wasn’t nearly finished, for He would humble Himself to the death on the cross.
Though silent at times, humility is always active.
II.
If I do not was you, You have no part with Me.
John 13:6-
Peter perhaps pulling back in his usual, outspoken manner —
“Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”
You can just hear the shock and embarrassment of Peter.
Peter’s response was the strongest negation he could muster — a compound negative.
You shall never wash my feet!
But notice that Peter’s response.
He may have imagined himself acting in great humility by declining to have Jesus wash his feet — but this was by no means a praiseworthy expression of humility.
Though He refers to Jesus as Lord, he does not submit to Christ’s Lordship.
So, many in churches today, maybe so many of us — think we are so humble, so spiritual, but we don’t defer to Christ’s Lordship.
So, when Jesus responds
John 13;9
There is profound meaning here.
A foot washing slave did not fit the typical notion of the Jewish Messiah.
On the contrary, the Messiah would be a conquering ruler.
Jesus had taken up this issue earlier.
But deeper in meaning than that is that Jesus had moved from the physical illustration of washing the dirt off of someone’s feet to the spiritual truth of cleansing guilt from the soul of a sinner.
He’s speaking of spiritual cleansing — the forgiveness of sins — the great transaction of our sin for His righteousness.
In other words, no one has any relationship with Jesus Christ unless that person has come to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing from sin.
No one comes into the presence of Jesus with first submitting to His cleansing.
To the Savior the sinner comes to be truly clean.
III.
He who is bathed…is completely clean.
John 13:
Peter still is acting in a self-perceived humility, not simply bowing to the Lordship of Christ.
He still is not getting it.
So, Jesus answers him.
There’s a difference in a bath and a footwashing.
In the culture of that day, a person would take a bath in the morning to get completely clean.
As he went through the day he might need to wash his feet frequently — especially if he were going into someone’s home.
But he didn’t have to keep bathing.
What Jesus was saying is this:
Once your inner person has been bathed in redemption, you are clean.
You need to be continually confessing sin and trusting Christ to keep your conscience clean and your communion with God unhindered.
That’s an ongoing process of sanctification demonstrated in this footwashing.
But as far as eternal life and your justification before God — you don’t need to seek “the washing of regeneration” repeatedly.
It’s a one-time, irreversible work of the Holy Spirit.
If you’re a believer, you are clean.
Proof of this is the statement he makes concerning Judas — “You are clean, but not all of you.”
And then John gives us commentary on this in verse 11.
This should have convicted Judas to his heart, but he had no spiritual sensitivity because he was not born of God.
IV.
You also ought to wash one another’s feet.
In His lesson on the doctrine of salvation, Christ inserts a parenthetical lesson.
He argues from the greater to the lesser.
If the Lord of Glory humbly bows before men to take the position of a slave and wash dirt sinful feet, then it’s clear that you should be willing to wash each other’s feet.
What a visual lesson!
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