I’m afraid that we tend to be like the fellow in the old story who showed up for a court hearing concerning an accident in which he had been involved. His arm was in a cast, there were bandages all over him, & the exposed parts of his body were clearly bruised, scratched & cut. He was a real mess.
Looking rather surprised, the judge asked about his injuries. He replied, "Judge, I’m in a terrible condition. I have cuts & stitches all over me, & I’m feeling awful."
The judge said, "I don’t understand this. The accident report filed by the Officer says that at the time of the accident you told him you were just fine."
"Well Judge," the man replied, "let me explain. I was driving my pickup & pulling a trailer. In the back of the pickup was my old dog Shep, & my mule was in the trailer. All of a sudden an 18-wheeler sideswiped me, knocking me off the road."
"My pickup & trailer rolled over & over, & we ended up at the bottom of a big embankment. The next thing I remember, a police officer was picking his way through the wreckage. I saw him stop & examine my mule, then he pulled out his pistol & shot the mule between the eyes."
"Next, he got to where Shep was lying, & after examining him, he shot old Shep, too. Then he walked over to me & asked, "How are you?" And I said, "I’m just fine."
We many times
John chapters 1 through 12 is commonly known as the book of signs
John 13-21 is called the book of glory - This Is the part of John that Jesus really starts to reveal His true identity.
Chapter 2: 18 What sign do you perform?
Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up- this sets the trajectory for the book – destroy this temple – Verse 21 – his body – when He was raised from the dead His disciples remembered what He had said.
John – preparing his readers.
Theological implications for this great sign
6 signs are looking forward to the greatest sign of all
Lazarus’ being raised was the last of the six signs before Jesus is raised.
The greatest sign of all will be Jesus resurrection – He will be the new Temple – all worship will move from the Temple to the resurrected body of Jesus.
All worship as was known before in Israel will be transferred to Jesus – Jesus will receive all the glory, honor, and adoration.
Chapter 13-17 is the longest discourse or teaching of Jesus in the entire Bible – this is called the Farewell Discourse
In John 6 we see that there will be a new covenant and in John 15 to go with that new covenant we get a new command – To love one another
Genesis 49 Jacob gives his farewell discourse - Jacob who is Israel – blesses his sons but he gives them instructions. He even tells their future – Lion of the tribe of Judah – messiah will come from Judah.
Jacob gathers his 12 sons and gives them the farewell discourse
1) Blessing
2) Instruction
3) Prediction – prophecy about their future
Deuteronomy 31-33 we see Moses farewell discourse
He addresses the 12 tribes – blessings upon the 12 tribes, moral instructions, and then predicts the future both positive and negative- he announces a successor in Joshua
Joshua 21-24 Joshua’s farewell discourse – the 12 tribes –
This is where we have the famous “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord”
Joshua – blessing, instruction, prediction, and then leaves the judges in charge after his death.
Joshua gives blessing
I Samuel 8-12 – Samuel the prophet gives his farewell discourse – he is the last Judge
Gathers the 12, blessing, instruction, prediction s- leaves the King Saul in charge.
All of these are testaments given by men who are blessing children of God
John 13 falls right in line with this tradition from the OT. Jesus is the new Moses, Jesus is the new Joshua, He is the true King, he is the true High priest. It is only natural that Jesus would give his last will and testament – so to speak.
Now Jesus will give His instruction – we know that Jesus would institute His new covenant in the other three gospels at the Lord’s Supper.
This chapter of John is at the same last supper.
Jesus is blessing His followers in this discourse but He is also revealing his instructions as to how we should behave once He departs.
1) Heart Transformation-
One of the main instructions of the New covenant is to have a heart transformation – to internalize God’s law.
No longer would it be okay to go through the motions of religiousity but god wants truly changed people.
God wants people that as John told us earlier in his Gospel – worship in Spirit and Truth.
The internal condition of the heart and the truth of how we do things are combined in Jesus.
This was a prediction that went back many years before Jesus. The prophets taught that there would be a day when God would bring about a heart transformation.
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Jeremiah differentiates this new covenant from the covenant made with Moses. It will be a new work of God.
Also it would be made with all of Israel both the 10 tribes that had gone missing from the north but also the 2 tribes from the south.
Just as before we saw that the farewell discourses of the OT were always centered around the 12 tribes, this new covenant will include the 12 tribes.
Now this idea of the 12 tribes will no longer be determined by your ethnic background and if you could trace your ancestery back to one of Jacob’s sons, but now it centered on being with Jesus.
Those that were with Jesus were now the new 12 tribes of Israel. It was no accident that Jesus chose 12 disciples.
So as we look at today’s text we need to understand that God’s new Covenant will be something different and will be a shift from the normal way of human thinking and dealing with one another. This will be a covenant that comes from the heart and only deals with people that have their hearts committed to God.
2) This covenant will be marked by God’s transforming Love.
Jesus says in John 13: 33-34 later in this chapter:
33 "Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
The law of this new covenant will be marked by loving others more than ourselves.
This will be a radical community of love for one another.
This transforming love is a self sacrificial love. It is not something that seeks its own but seeks the needs of others first.
William Gladstone, in announcing the death of Princess Alice to the House of Commons, told a touching story. The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria.
The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her life by breathing the child's breath. Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death.
Rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, "Momma, kiss me!" Without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter.
She got diphtheria and some days thereafter she went to be forever with the Lord. Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger.
Real love doesn't count the cost.
How many mothers in here could identify with Princess Alice, I would say all of you would do the same for your own children.
Now let us take that love that we have for our own and love each other that way. Imagine what type of churches we would have if we lived like that.
It is tough and the world is telling us the opposite.
The best evangelism the world could ever see would be for Christians to truly love like that. I believe if the lost world witnessed that it would be compelling. They would break in the doors of the church house to get a taste of that type of love.
3) God wants to transform us into the image of His Son.
John 13: 1-20
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments ; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet ?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter ." 8 Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet !" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." 9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." 10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean ; and you are clean, but not all of you." 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know 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, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 "Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 "I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen ; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.' 19 "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. 20 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."
His hour had come – This is in John’s Gospel – is the time of His crucifixion and eventual glorification through the Resurrection.
The Passover Is Here – The Departure – this is not leaving Egypt but this is the departure through death, resurrection and the ascension.
Jesus Passover through death will lead to a human body entering the glory of Heaven. When Jesus goes into this departure He is opening the way for us.
OT foot washing was more common.
Exodus 30:19 – washing of the feet was the preparation for the candidates of priestly ordination. This would be part of their priestly ordination. Whenever they would enter into the holiest sites of the Temple they would have to wash their feet.
With this being the farewell discourse their may be some validity that Jesus is actually preparing them for a new priesthood – it will no longer be at the Temple but will be in the priesthood of believers.
Many of you know this story already- The washing of the feet was something a slave would do before dinner.
Most people would have a servant in charge of this nasty task. This was not something that you would really want to do.
Jesus is telling us something. This is what ministry is like in the new covenant.
The word for Servant is the same word for Minister – or ministry – this is a calling to ministry.
We are all called to some type of ministry whether we realize it or not and it is marked out by the example of Jesus.
We are to be conformed to the Image of Jesus:
What is your purpose in Life? If you came here looking for that singular purpose in you life, this reading this morning answers that single question.
Here it is : 16 "Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
What if Jesus walked up to you this morning and said I want to give you a blessing?
Would you not think in the last discourse that our savior had he would definetly lay down what is most important.
Here it is – your purpose- is to Serve – to be a servant as Christ was a servant.
To understand this story today we have to put it in perspective.
If you don’t do this you will never grow as a Christian- we sometimes fret over spiritual growth and only look at prayer life and Bible study – that is important and don’t hear me wrong but just as important is servant hood and serving others.
The great violinist, Niccolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to city of Genoa on condition that it must never be played.
The wood of such an instrument, while used and handled, wears only slightly, but set aside, it begins to decay. Paganini's lovely violin has today become worm-eaten and useless except as a relic.
A Christian's unwillingness to serve may soon destroy his capacity for usefulness.
When you do this and find your true purpose in life others are going to notice. You will become an example to those around you.
You hear it said during the NFL draft that it is better for a young QB to go to a team with a veteran QB to learn how to play the position.
That is the best way to learn how to live the Christian life – to find an example that lives it like a master teacher.
Paul lays out this them in 2 Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 3: 6-10
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order : if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat,
Paul makes a clear case that the missionary team that he brought to Thessalonica did not take advantage of the church.
They worked hard not to be a burden on other Christians.
Paul would make the case in Philippians 2 that we should be humble as Christ was humble and put others needs before our own.
When we do this – quietly live a life that cares about others needs first, a life of hard work to help the church – others will notice and copy that example.
Teaching by example is one of the strongest ways to teach anyone.
A mother wrote, "My 3-yr-old was on my heels everywhere I went. And whenever I stopped to do something & then turned back around, I’d trip over him.
Time & again I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. But he simply smiled an innocent smile & said, ’Oh that’s all right, Mommy. I’d rather be in here with you.’ Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.
"After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience.
When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up with sweet green eyes & said, ’Well, Mommy, my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.
But I can’t see Him, so I’m walking in yours.’"
There are others that are watching us and what do they see when they observe our actions.
Think about the Apostles when times would get tough later, I am sure there probably wasn’t a day that went by that they didn’t think back to examples like this that Jesus gave them.
Vivid things that would stick with them forever.
Application:
So what do you do with this information?
This new covenant is one of the heart – we love God from the heart and that leads to our obedience.
We have love so radical that it loves others before we seek our own.
We have an example of Jesus that was a servant to all of us, servanthood, a slave to others.
Conclusion:
Most people wish to serve God -- but in an advisory capacity only.
How do you want to serve God? Do you want to find that true life in God that you have been craving?
Do you want true purpose in life? Do you want your life to mean something? To be something that blesses others around you?
Where do you apply this?
During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war.
First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky.
Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner's caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, 'And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?' And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, 'We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.'"
Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their "facs to the coal" who help the church accomplish its mission.
In Ephesians 4 Paul lays out all of the different roles of those in the Church. WE all have some roll to fill in God’s Kingdom. What is yours?
There is no biblical concept of just coming on Sunday and not participating. The Church is something that requires all of our participation.
This local congregation has a role for all of us. What is your role here?
Are their people here that should be helping teach Bible classes? Helping teachers get materials together.
Are their people here that can help just by getting the kids here for Bible school so they can learn about Christ.
Are their men that may be qualified to be deacons – SERVANTS for Christ. We sometimes forget that behind every great elder or deacon are great wives that help their husbands reach spiritual maturity.
Do we have folks that can call on our shut-ins, mail cards to those that have been out. There are a multitude of things to do in the local Church and God’s Kingdom works in that way- through us. That is how it has been since day one – God works through his people – we just have to be willing to humble ourselves and seek His kingdom first and not our own self interest.
Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, tells about the Roman aqueduct at Segovia, in his native Spain.
It was built in 109 A.D. For eighteen hundred years, it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city.
Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow.
Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, "This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor."
They did; they laid modern iron pipes.
They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And the aqueduct began to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble.
The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall. What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated.
God is calling you this morning to get into the fight. Get off of the sidelines and join the battle. If you don’t you will experience Spiritual Atrophy and not growth.
If you want to grow in Christ and be renewed then today decide to be a servant Just as Jesus was a servant.
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