The Servant King
Notes
Transcript
Welcome to Palm Sunday of Holy Week. This is a week that we take to prepare ourselves for the miracle of Easter—the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior Jesus.
This week, we’ll be looking through the account of Jesus in the Gospel of John and every day, we’re going to see how our lives as disciples of Jesus are changed when Jesus is Lord. We’ll begin our week by looking into chapter 13 of John’s narrative and we’ll see that when Jesus is Lord, God Himself becomes the example for the disciples to follow.
Let’s read John 13:1-17
In chapter 13 of John’s Gospel, we get to peek into the moment before passover feast and we see Jesus with his disciples and John notes that Jesus loved his own to the very end. The very end that was drawing near for Jesus’ time on earth. That very end that He knew was approaching later that very week. Jesus loved His own.
As Jesus’ time is coming to an end, He brings his disciples close to give them the final push and instruction on how then they shall live because of who He is savior God. And what does he do to begin this? He gets up from the table, takes off his jacket, grabs a towel and a bucket of water, and begins to wash his disciples feet.
Imagine the scene. This man who they had followed for three years now, who they had witnessed multiple bread and fish, heal the blind and lame, cast out demons and raise the dead, walk on water and calm storms, was now sitting on the ground in front of them taking their dirty, calloused, and broken feet, and washing them clean. This is shocking.
It is no wonder that Simon Peter emphatically declines, saying to Jesus that there is no way that he would ever have Jesus wash his feet. And yet Jesus, in illustrating his patience and love for his own, simple tells Simon Peter that in order to have a share in what Jesus offers, he must wash his feet. Simon Peter, again not really understanding what is going on, replies, “Lord not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus uses this to clarify that those who have been washed clean by Jesus are clean and there is no need for further cleansing, nevertheless, through the process of sanctification, one still may struggle with sin and need to be cleaned regularly, to repent regularly. Yet ultimately, the one who is cleaned by God is cleaned once and for all. D.A. Carson in his commentary in The Gospel According to John, writes, “The initial and fundamental cleansing that Christ provides is a once-for-all act. Individuals who have been cleansed by Christ’s atoning work will doubtless need to have subsequent sins washed away, but the fundamental cleansing can never be repeated.” Jesus here is hinting at the fact that the process of sanctification, the process of being made even more into the image of the Son, the process of dying to oneself daily, will be the lifelong process for a Disciple of Jesus. And yet, we have this hope that the work of the cross that, at this point in the narrative, Christ is going to do, is total and complete.
And then, once he was done and back in his place at the table, Jesus asks his disciples if they understood what he had done? And I think that same question is posed for us today. Do you understand what Jesus has done? Jesus goes on to say in verse 14 and 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.”
Jesus was giving this deep and beautiful example to His 12 disciples as an example for how they should serve others as leaders. Going with the Gospel and bringing the good news of what was about to happen to those who have not yet heard and through the proclaiming of God’s word, there would be a spiritual washing and cleansing that would ultimately lead to life. Jesus’ explanation of this act should remind those of us who have been called by God into leadership that our role is not to be served by others, rather role is to serve, is to humble ourselves, is to bend down to those in our care and wash their feet. It is to die to ourselves and live for Christ.
If you have a relationship with Jesus, if you have accepted the good news of the Gospel, then I hope you know that you have already been washed clean. This act is symbolic of the fact that Jesus continues to work in our lives through sanctification. I hope that this act of foot washing would remind you of Jesus’ faithfulness to walk with you through that.
And for some of you, perhaps you haven’t first accepted and believed in that initial cleansing that He offers. And for you, I think tonight would be a great night to reflect and meditate on what it would mean for you to believe in Christ and believe in His washing that takes place and is once and for all of your life.
As we approach Easter this week, remember that Jesus has given us an example. And that in order to live according to his example, we must daily die to ourselves and embrace the cleansing that He offers. It is through dying to yourself that you might live to Christ and follow His example to wash one another’s feet. Because Jesus is Lord, we as disciples are now a friend of God. Praise be to God!
Tonight, after the service, I hope that you’ll spend time reading the rest of chapter 13 of John’s Gospel.