Jesus Our Example
Notes
Transcript
· If you recall from last week, we began looking at the time that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples…
· And what we saw was that there were 2 different lessons in the foot washing…
· On the one hand there was a SPIRITUAL lesson, which we walked through last week…
· And on the other hand there was a PRACTICAL lesson…that we’ll dive into this week…
Jesus had begun washing the disciples’ feet, and He makes his way to Peter…and says…
· “What I’m about to do you will not understand, but afterward you will”
· Peter looks at Jesus and says, “Wait…you’re gonna wash MY feet? You will never wash MY feet Jesus”
· How did Jesus respond? - If I don’t wash you, you will have no share with Me”
· So Peter replies – “OH…well then – wash ALL of me”
· And so we walked through last week the REASON that Peter didn’t understand what Jesus was doing…the SPIRITUAL lesson Jesus was trying to teach…
· And NOW – this week, we come to our text…
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.
· SO Jesus here is explaining to the disciples the 2nd LESSON He was trying to teach in washing their feet…
· The more practical lesson…
· And He speaks to this in v13-15
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.
SLIDE: Jesus As Teacher: Provides Us An Example
Jesus As Teacher
Jesus As Teacher
· Jesus confirms for us here that PART of His lesson in washing the disciples’ feet – was that He was SHOWING the disciples (US) how to live life…
And it coincides with what we read in Galatians 6:10
10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
· The practicality of what Jesus is telling the disciples in telling them to “DO WHAT HE DID”…
· Has a REAL ASPECT to it that it LITERALLY – Physical.
· Jesus is teaching us – to GET OFF THE COUCH and LOVE EACH OTHER
To LITERALLY – put pen to paper and write the note of encouragement
To LITERALLY – turn off the tv and pray for each other
To LITERALLY – get off the couch, get in the car, and deliver a meal
To get in the car, and get to Bible Study
To literally give money away
To literally give your time to help a friend move/paint their house
As Francis Chan has said…
“We all know the game Simon-Says, and we know how to play Simon-Says. If Simon says to do something, we – DO IT. But when it comes to “Jesus-says”….we change the rules. We don’t LITERALLY do what Jesus says – we like to say – “Oh, I’m doing it – in my heart.”
He says – “you know, when I tell my daughter to go clean her room, she knows better than to come back to me and say – You know dad, I thought about what you said, and my friends are going to come over, and we’re going to have a study on what it would look like to clean my room, not actually gonna clean it, but we’re gonna study what it would look like if I did.”
*Does this describe us?? You??
Jesus here – make no mistake – He IS pushing the physical…
DO THIS! He says…
Here are some MINDSETS that I think lead to NOT DOING the DOING we should be DOING…
“The [DOING] of the church is meant for the elders – that’s their job…
TO that mindset we read this:
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
· The work of the ministry is meant for – the saints…you – LEAD by – the edlers, the leaders…
ANOTHER mindset that leads to NOT DOING….
“I’m saved, I don’t need to DO anything”
This mindset completely flies in the face of Christianity…what it MEANS to be a Christian...
Listen to these BIBLICAL phrases describing Christianity...
Let your light shine
DO good and SHARE what you have
PRESS on
STRIVING side by side
WALK in good works
WORK heartily
BE doers of the Word
SHOW faith by works
be generous, ready to share
be rich in good works
Stir up one another
serve the saints
DEVOTE yourselves to good works
VISIT orphans and widows
Present your body as a living sacrifice
Be PREPARED to make a defense of your faith
TURN from evil, and DO good
WALK by the spirit
…and this list doesn’t end with ....UNLESS YOU’RE SAVED
In fact - it’s the EXACT opposite...
Paul says - WORK Christian....FOR GOD IS AT WORK IN YOU!
BECAUSE you’re a Christian - work out your Christianity
BECAUSE you’re SAVED - work our your SALVATION
BECAUSE you’re a BELIEVER - pursue BELIEF
BECAUSE you’re HELD by Jesus - PURSUE Jesus
And this idea finds itself in the very NAME of THIS CHURCH...
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
The call here by JESUS - is that we - ABIDE IN HIM...
And we see that this is something that ISN’T OPTIONAL!
Abiding in the vine means receiving and believing and trusting in the words of Jesus. It means receiving the love of Jesus for the Father and for his people and the joy that Jesus has in the Father and in us. It means sharing the joy, the love, the words of Jesus.
And it’s the ABIDING - the FRUIT - that PROVES whether our faith is GENUINE or PHONY
a few verses later we read...
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
And so TRUE believers - in the end - will have a collection of God-Honoring FRUIT...
Which makes the call of Christ in our text today - make sense...
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
SLIDE: QUESTION:
Did Jesus come out of character when He washed the disciples’ feet, in order to simply show them what they needed to do for each other?
· In other words, did the ALL-POWERFUL, ALL-KNOWING God – come out of character in order to show us how WE should live out our lives?
The answer is NO
· The ALL-POWERFUL – ALL-KNOWING God we serve…
· Is ALSO – ALL-LOVING….ALL-MERCIFUL
· When Jesus washed the feet of the Disciples…His “PERFECT LOVE” was fulfilling its purpose…
· His perfect MERCY was fulfilling its purpose…
· Don’t forget –
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
LOVE is what God is…Jesus did NOT come out of character when He washed the Disciples’ feet…
- He was DISPLAYING His character…His nature…
- WHICH is WHY – we must DO the same and in DOING the same – WE PROVE ourselves to be CHILDREN of GOD!
And so when we consider this today…for US…
What are some characteristics (mile markers) we can look to in order to test ourselves…about where we’re at…
If you want to know whether you’re on the right path in Christianity…you need to hold yourself up against the Characteristics of a SERVANT…
SLIDE: A Servant is Humble
A Servant is Humble
A Servant is Humble
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
· Have this mind, Paul says, which is yours in Christ Jesus…
· Jesus Himself lived out this humility, taking on the form of a SERVANT…even unto death
SLIDE: A Servant Prepares
A Servant Prepares
A Servant Prepares
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
· *Commercial with Doctor who comes in and asks if patient is nervous for surgery…”
· Anyone ever REQUEST the doctor with the least amount of experience??
Jesus completed the work of salvation on the cross, but He then calls us INTO a TRAINING relationship… Where we then GO ABOUT HIS BUSINESS
SLIDE: A Servant Perseveres
A Servant Perseveres
A Servant Perseveres
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,
36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.
38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!
A Servant perseveres!
The work of the ministry is not for the faint of heart
· BUT – couple of things to consider when it seems like “it’s REALLY hard”…
God gives us others to help in the work
God promises a GLORIOUS future to work toward
God promises our work is not in vain
What else?
SLIDE: A Servant Serves Where Needed
A Servant Serves Where Needed
A Servant Serves Where Needed
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
Think of all the situations that Jesus dealt with…
· Walked everywhere He went
· Slept on the ground
· He got dirty
· People grumbled at Him…bickered at Him….and He washed their feet
· Godly servants are ready to serve WHEREVER…
· And consider NO TASK – beneath them.
It’s ALL ABOUT advancing the gospel!
· It was the Jesus!
SLIDE: A Servant Serves (Or Not) As God Directs
A Servant Serves (Or Not) As God Directs
A Servant Serves (Or Not) As God Directs
2 Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.
3 But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’
5 And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
6 He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
· David desired to build the temple…He made plans to do so…
· But GOD directed Him not to…
· AND David obliged
· Godly servants must WALK BY THE SPIRIT…
· Maybe you FEEL called to serve…but maybe someone else has the gift to do that thing (more qualified)
So maybe we’re not in a position we FEEL LIKE we should be in...
· Sometimes we DON’T KNOW WHY….but we just trust that “God will work all things out for the good for those who love Him”…
And last one we’ll look at…
SLIDE: A Servant Expects to Suffer
A Servant Expects to Suffer
A Servant Expects to Suffer
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
Servants understand that if they are truly living like Jesus…and proclaiming His message…
· Then the world will HATE THEM…
· Will ridicule them…
· Will persecute them!
· It won’t be a surprise
The Call of Jesus today, as our TEACHER, is that we practically SERVE those around us…
Servants:
- Are humble
- Prepare
- Persevere
- Serve Where Needed
- Serve (Or Not) As God Directs
- Expect to Suffer
And so question: Where do we stack up?
Does this sound easy?
No – it’s not…
And that’s WHY Jesus washed the disciples’ feet not only as their teacher but as what….
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
- We just walked through what Jesus as TEACHER showed the disciples…
- He gave them an EXAMPLE…
- SHOWED them what to do…how to SERVE…
But He wasn’t giving this example as JUST THEIR TEACHER….
He says – I am your LORD and teacher…
· What significance was it to the disciples that their LORD was doing this?
SLIDE: Jesus as Lord: Attacks the Pride of Man
Jesus As Lord
Jesus As Lord
AS LORD – Jesus, in washing the disciples feet, was attacking the PRIDE of MAN – and BEING LORD – He had authority to do so…
· If we look to Luke’s account of this foot washing, we see that there’s a background story that plays into this…
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
· The disciples…just prior to getting their feet washed by Jesus – were trying to figure out among themselves who was the GREATEST among them…
· THIS is why we struggle living the SERVANT life…
· OUR NATURE – is to SEEK OUR OWN…
· To CONSIDER OURSELVES more important than OTHERS…
· This CALL of Christ goes against our very nature…
· We’re NO DIFFERENT than the disciples…we pursue fanning the flames of our pride…
It FEELS GOOD!
And we see this heart attitude in scripture!
· The Bible tells us that the Pharisees LOVED the chief seats in the synagogues… PRIDE
· Simon the magician wanted to buy the power of bringing the Spirit by the laying on of hands…PRIDE
· Peter looks Jesus in the eyes and says – I will NEVER fall away! The very same night he would DENY Jesus… PRIDE
· Peter tells Jesus – “you will NEVER DIE Jesus! – PRIDE
· We must FIGHT against our PRIDE…WHY?
· Because it will – without a doubt – TRY to KEEP YOU from OBEYING JESUS in this call…
· The call to SERVANTHOOD!
· The call to consider others more important…!
What have we seen today?
SLIDE:
Jesus As Teacher: Provides Us An Example
Jesus As Lord: Attacks Our Pride
Servants:
- Are humble
- Prepare
- Persevere
- Serve Where Needed
- Serve (Or Not) As God Directs
- Expect to Suffer
Let’s Pray