Dirty Jobs
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What would you do if you had all the power in the world?
There was a survery done awhile back asking this question and some of the awnsers were really good
Some people said I would end world hunger
Sickness would be gone
I would end all wars.
But then there were some different awnsers that were not the greatest
One person said I would get rid of the secretary of state (maybe that ones a good awnser)
Another said I would rule the world
Another wanted to get revenge on all the people who have done them wrong (do not get on that persons bad side)
And like I said there were some really good awnsers and some really “not so good answers.”
Some of them are just ending a problem and others are addressing a conflict in their life.
But heres the thing, because today in the passage we are in we see it mention that Jesus has all the power in the world, but we see Him do something really unexpected with it.
And so we will be in John 13:1-17, But before we get into where we are let me catch you up to speed, because we have been in this series called “The Story”
And we have gone through the Old Testament, we have seen Jesus’s ministry begin, we have seen Him gain popularity, but then the last week were were in this series we saw Jesus begin to face oppisition in His ministry.
However today where we are we really see this place where it is the last week of His life and during this week Jesus is betrayed and ultimately crucified, because of His love for humanity (even the people who killed Him.
And so we are going to be starting in John 13:1-5
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
So the disciples and Jesus are getting ready to celebrate this huge meal called Passover, and they are sitting around this table and we do not get a ton of details,
Judas (one of the disciples) had already been prompted to betray Jesus where He would deliver Jesus to the authorities (both Religious and Roman) in exchange for payment.
And Jesus knows this, and you get to verse 3 and it says “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power and that He had come from God”
And if you are like me you read this and go okay Judas is betraying Jesus, and Jesus has all the power in the world and I start thinking “Jesus is getting ready to take Judas down!
Maybe He will humiliate him and call Him out
Maybe He will turn him into a chicken
But on a serious note Here is Jesus all powerful, everything in his control.
And here is a guy pretending to be his friend and getting ready to backstab Him
And are human minds go I would get revenge, I would do this to Him,
But in verse 4 something shocking happens, because it starts with the word “So”
Jesus had all the power in the world and was about to be betrayed, So He got up from the meal.... (here we go)
and he took off his outer garmet and wrapped a towl around His waist and began to wash the disciples feet (including Judas)
He begins to say I have come to serve you even if you reject me
Can I just say this is a really big statement, because you could be sitting in this room and say “I hate Jesus” or “I want nothing to do with Him”
And Jesus would say well “I love you”
I love you more than you will ever know.
I mean I have used this example recently, but if you have a kid they can do a ton wrong, they can hurt you, they can say mean things, but the truth is it would take a lot to stop loving them.
And really we see this with Jesus, but on a such larger stage. He loves you regardless of your beliefs, feelings toward Him or if you even believe he is real.
His heart breaks but He loves you.
And not only this, but since we are supposed to be a reflection of Jesus we need to understand the implications here.
Because this means when we live out our lives and we run into that person that is just rude, we love them.
This means when we run into a person thats view is different then us we are called to love them
When a friend backstabs us we “what?”
And I want to be honest a lot of Christians are bad at this because have a similar view that a lot of people held during this time that Jesus came as a political king, rather than a suffering servant.
If Jesus came to love and serve, shouldn’t the people who follow Him look somewhat like that?
And lets keep going because look at the next part in John 13:6-17. It says:
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
So Jesus begins to wash the disciples feet and this was a nasty Job, in fact in biblical times they only had sandals and did not have cars.
So their feet are disgusting and In fact this was usually the job of a servant to wash everyones feet.
I mean does anyone remember the show dirty jobs? Where the guy goes around and does the disgusting jobs that no one wants to do?
Well this is one of those jobs.
But whats shocking is Jesus begins to wash everyones feet
And this is unheard of because it means that the person they were following was serving, but also making them clean.
And so Jesus is washing feet and He gets to Peter, and Peter actually tells Jesus “you will never wash my feet”
And so you can picture him saying Jesus you are never going to wash my feet!
And you can picture his thought process, I mean you are the Messiah not a servant!
And even if you were a servant this job is nasty, and I don’t want you to wash my filthy feet.
But here is what I want you to get because while this is a nasty job, we serve a God who specializes in dirty jobs.
Because what happens in our lives is each one of us have dirty parts.
And a lot of times we keep those areas away from others because we think this area is to dirty to show anyone
And it might be an addiction
It might be a mistake we made
And we do our best to hide that from others because we think if someone saw that part of our life they would want nothing to do with us.
But the beautiful thing is Jesus does not do that, but he says no, your could never be too dirty for me.
You know we can give Jesus the dirtiest part of our lives and He will love us, and not just that but He is in the business of washing off the dirt that so often makes us different than who He created us to be.
And He cleans us to become the person we are called too.
Its like if you have ever been in my car (it looks like this!) Maybe its not that bad, but its probably close where its filled with trash, It sometimes has weird smells, there are spills in it.
And you kind of end up in a nasty car that can’t hold the amount of people because of the trash and really it probably looks very different then what I thought when I purchased the car.
And sometimes we try to cover it up and throw it in the back or move it places
But usually every few months we clean it out an make it look like when we first bought it (its destroyed the next day, but we try)
But you know on a serius note, there are things in our life that are holding us back from where God is calling us,
And Jesus wants those area and He does not just want to cover those places in your life, but He wants to take them and make them clean.
He wants to help you become the person He created you to be.
And lets just finish by reading John 13:21-26:
Because the scene shifts from the foot washing part of this gathering to the meal.
It says this:
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
So they are now sitting around a table and Jesus tells them one of them will betray Him
In fact He tells them the person who betrays them is the person he gives this bread too.
And He proceeds to give the bread to Judas.
But which showed Judas would be the one who betrays Jesus and is the reason He is crucified
But the insane part of this meal is that Jesus does not just give the bread to Judas, but He gives it to all the disciples, almost implying that each of them would betray Him or turn their backs on Him.
But here is the beautiful thing, because some people would say wow Jesus really used the bread as a judgement tool right?
I mean you do not want to be the person who gets the bread...
But the bread does not represent Judgement, but Grace.
And the beautiful thing is He is extending His grace to everyone.
So much so that where we are ends with Jesus being crucified so we could be made clean.
And this morning as we close we are going to remember the meal that Jesus extended to His disciples, because the truth is we are all have a little bit of filth in our life, but I can promise you that your filth is not to dirty for Jesus.
And so as we close we are going to remember that grace, that Jesus has extended to us through receiving something we call communion.
And its just a way that we remember this meal and the sacrafice that Jesus did on the cross.
And so during this last song I would invite you to reflect.
Maybe there is an area in your life that just feels not great this morning.
Maybe you recognize its an area thats different then where God desires it to be.
Heres the good news this bread and juice does not represent judgement, but Grace.
I am going to pray for us but during this last song when you are ready come forward and bring the elements back to your seat and we will receive them together.
Will you pray with me?