Jesus, the Conquering King (John 13:1-20)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:06.519 Well, Gods Ah. The reading to day is from John Thirteen versus one 2 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:13.189 through twenty. This is the word of the Lord John Thirteen, one through 3 00:00:13.230 --> 00:00:19.309 twenty. Now, before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that 4 00:00:19.469 --> 00:00:24.219 his hour had come to depart out of this world to the father. Having 5 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:28.019 loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 6 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:32.100 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of 7 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:36.490 Judas a scariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that 8 00:00:36.609 --> 00:00:40.929 the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from 9 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:46.530 God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside 10 00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:50.159 his outer garments and, taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 11 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:55.159 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciple's feet and 12 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.520 to wipe them with the towel that he wrapped around him. He came to 13 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:03.719 Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? 14 00:01:03.670 --> 00:01:07.870 Jesus answered him. What I am doing. You do not understand now, 15 00:01:08.510 --> 00:01:14.510 but afterwards you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never 16 00:01:14.670 --> 00:01:19.340 wash my feet. Jesus answered him. If I do not wash your feet, 17 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:25.219 you have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, 18 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.340 not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. and 19 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:32.219 Jesus said to him, the one who has bade does not need to wash, 20 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:36.769 except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, 21 00:01:37.090 --> 00:01:40.969 but not every one of you, for you knew who was to betray 22 00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:44.290 him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean. 23 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:49.280 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garment and resumed his 24 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:52.599 place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to 25 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.239 you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for 26 00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:00.480 so I am. If I, then your Lord and Teacher, have washed 27 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:04.989 your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet, for I have 28 00:02:05.109 --> 00:02:08.430 given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to 29 00:02:08.509 --> 00:02:12.669 you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not 30 00:02:12.830 --> 00:02:15.900 greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent 31 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:21.099 him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 32 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:25.500 I'm not do I'm not speaking of all of you. I know whom 33 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:30.650 I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my 34 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:35.370 bread has lifted his heel against me. I'm telling you this now, before 35 00:02:35.370 --> 00:02:38.650 it takes place, that when it takes place you may believe that I am 36 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:44.319 he truly. Truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I 37 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:51.199 send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. 38 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:55.639 It sends the Reading of God's word. You may be seated. Well, 39 00:02:55.680 --> 00:03:02.909 I want to begin with the statistic that may surprise you, that one in 40 00:03:04.110 --> 00:03:10.229 twelve men and one in every two hundred women has a condition called red green 41 00:03:10.430 --> 00:03:15.740 color blindness. Now, this is a condition in which you cannot distinguish, 42 00:03:15.819 --> 00:03:20.099 at least not very well, if at all, the colors read and green 43 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.740 from each other, so you don't see the full spectrum of color in the 44 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:29.210 world. And thankfully this is a condition that a company with the last couple 45 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:35.009 years called in Chroma, has made glasses that actually fixes it for eighty percent 46 00:03:35.169 --> 00:03:39.090 of those who have it. And if you go on Youtube, where we 47 00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:45.360 get most of our information these days, you can look up videos of several 48 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:50.639 countless people putting on these glasses for the first time. Some of them are 49 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.400 elderly men, or a lot of them are again one and twelve. And 50 00:03:53.639 --> 00:04:00.669 for the first time, these men and women who have mostly seen the world 51 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:04.750 and kind of dull colors, who have never truly seen the vibrancy, the 52 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:10.379 abundance, the beauty of the world, for the first time in their lives, 53 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:15.900 they are seeing all of the bounty and beauty of the earth and many 54 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:21.019 of them respond as you would expect. They start crying, they exclaim with 55 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:26.850 great joy. There is a wide range of emotions, beautiful emotions, where 56 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:30.370 they see for the first time him, you know, the true color of 57 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:35.089 their children's eyes. They see the first time what color arose really is. 58 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:40.079 They find out for the first time that their favorite color is red. And 59 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:46.160 so that is one of the things that we are going to be seeing today, 60 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:51.720 that is comparison today, because we are going to consider how Jesus Christ 61 00:04:53.149 --> 00:04:58.550 is the conquering King. And the tricky aspect about such a topic as Jesus 62 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:00.949 is kingship, is that a lot of us, when we think about his 63 00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:08.620 kingship, are colorblind. You see, we come to Jesus as kingship and 64 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:12.620 we have kind of a rough idea as believers, at least, you know, 65 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:15.779 if not a more fully developed idea that Jesus is indeed the king. 66 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:23.209 The problem is is that we often come to his kingship viewing it through our 67 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:28.529 own understand and we come to it with our own cultural ideas of kingship or, 68 00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:31.089 even worse, are sinful ideas of what a king should be like. 69 00:05:32.129 --> 00:05:35.759 And so the main idea that I want us to see today, the way 70 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:41.800 that I want to have corrective lenses put on a few the if you will, 71 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.240 the way in which our color blindness will be fixed, is to see 72 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:51.829 that Jesus is the conquering king, but not like you're thinking that he's. 73 00:05:51.829 --> 00:05:57.269 He is the conquering king indeed, but he is not the conquering king that 74 00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:00.110 we often imagine him to be. And so that is our main idea. 75 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:04.779 And so we come to this text, John Thirteen, and here is just 76 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:08.819 a little bit of background that I want you to see, particularly from verse 77 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:14.139 one. Two things. First of all, we have this phrase before the 78 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:19.250 Feast of the Passover. Now this is significant because John, throughout this text, 79 00:06:19.290 --> 00:06:24.850 has been developing this Passover theme. Throughout the text he's been pointing out 80 00:06:24.889 --> 00:06:30.810 how Jesus is indeed the Passover lamb. Indeed, is John One and twenty 81 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:34.680 nine says Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the 82 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.399 world, and so that's kind of our first thing that we're working with, 83 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:44.680 and this comes to a culmination in John Thirteen as they are eating the Passover 84 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:47.870 feast. The second thing that I want us to see is that throughout the 85 00:06:47.990 --> 00:06:54.470 book Jesus has been saying that his time has not yet come and as we 86 00:06:54.589 --> 00:06:59.029 see in verse one here, it says that his time is now here. 87 00:07:00.430 --> 00:07:03.379 You see all the way back in John Two, verse four, when Jesus 88 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:08.740 is at the wedding of Cana, which is where he performs his first miracle, 89 00:07:08.939 --> 00:07:12.860 you know, infamously turning water into wine. It's a scene where his 90 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:15.370 mother comes up to him. You know, the couple, the young couple, 91 00:07:15.410 --> 00:07:19.009 has run out of wine and Jesus, his mother, comes up and 92 00:07:19.129 --> 00:07:21.769 tells him, you know, they're out of wine. You can kind of 93 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:27.170 picture Mary here kind of being like, you know, we had the you 94 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:30.959 know, I had the vision from the angel, and your stepfather he had 95 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.839 the dream and we know there's something about you and surely you can do something 96 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:39.680 about this wine thing, right, and Jesus probably looking at her in that 97 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:42.720 way. That says, you shouldn't be saying this in public, but of 98 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:46.550 course not. sinfully says to her woman, what does this have to do 99 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:53.990 with me? From my time has not yet come. Similarly, in seven 100 00:07:54.029 --> 00:07:57.629 six through eight, his brothers want him to do some signs openly, some 101 00:07:57.790 --> 00:08:03.579 miracles, because his verse five says not even his brothers believed in him, 102 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:07.699 and Jesus responds to them by saying that his time has not fully come. 103 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:13.050 And Furthermore, in seven, twenty, eight, hundred and twenty, both 104 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:18.610 times in which Jesus has upset the religious leaders and they are trying to arrest 105 00:08:18.649 --> 00:08:22.930 him so that they can crucify him, it says that they are unable to 106 00:08:22.009 --> 00:08:28.720 because his hour had not yet come. But now we come to the time 107 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:35.200 when his hour has come and we come to the time when it is for 108 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.440 the Passover meal. And so we see these two themes that have been developed 109 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:45.830 throughout the gospel of John Coming Together, that Jesus is indeed the Passover lamb 110 00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:50.750 and that his hour is indeed here. We see those two things coming together, 111 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:54.789 and is at this point where we may be saying, you know, 112 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:58.980 that's great and all, but I don't see anything. Kingly here. You 113 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:01.179 know, I don't know where they got the guest preacher from, but I 114 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:05.220 you know, he may see some king stuff here, but I don't see 115 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:07.460 anything king. They don't see anything about a crown. I don't see anything 116 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:11.769 about ruling and reigning. I don't see any of this kingship stuff. What 117 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:16.370 are you talking about? And it's at this point I would just like to 118 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:20.769 ask you, if you're thinking that, do you know what you're looking for? 119 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:30.039 Do you know what you're looking for? Because remember, Jesus is indeed 120 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:35.559 the conquering king, but not like you're thinking. So Jesus is the king, 121 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:41.830 but the scriptures often flip the script on how Jesus is the king. 122 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:46.750 That is, he's not the type of King we would think up, he's 123 00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:50.110 not the type of king we would imagine, and he's certainly not the type 124 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:54.220 of king the disciples were expecting, nor us, which leads us to our 125 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:58.820 first point, that we often want to decide what kind of King Jesus is 126 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:03.139 in verses three through eight. Let's look at verse three again. We see 127 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:07.970 this dramatic theme unfolding, which says this Jesus, knowing that the father had 128 00:10:09.049 --> 00:10:13.210 given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and 129 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:16.330 was going back to God. You see, his hour has come right this 130 00:10:16.370 --> 00:10:20.330 is the past over time. This is the time where we expect the kingly 131 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:26.559 activity to begin. This is the time where all authority has been given into 132 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:31.399 him, that is he is reigning. This is also the time when he 133 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.720 has come from God, that is his eternal throne, and he is going 134 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:37.830 back to God to reign again. And so it is at this time we 135 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:43.149 expect kingship to really come out. You know, and Jesus, he started 136 00:10:43.309 --> 00:10:48.190 so well with our thinking along these lines. He said the time is fulfilled 137 00:10:48.549 --> 00:10:52.860 and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel, 138 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:56.500 and he said often times in his ministry that the Kingdom of God is like 139 00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:03.299 this or the Kingdom of God is like that. And yet the disciples and 140 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:07.889 us, we are so often confused about what the Kingdom of God is truly 141 00:11:07.009 --> 00:11:13.769 like. Is that this time when Jesus as all authority, we finally see 142 00:11:13.809 --> 00:11:18.799 the kingly language coming forth, and is that this time where we often make 143 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:26.080 our mistake? This is often where we go wrong, because ask yourself this, 144 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:33.750 what kind of King or how do you expect a righteous king to treat 145 00:11:33.789 --> 00:11:37.669 rebels? Because, you see, Judas is right there, right and Jesus 146 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:41.870 knows that Judas has already betrayed him, or that is at least in his 147 00:11:41.950 --> 00:11:46.549 mind, to betray him. And so do you expect Jesus to kind of 148 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:48.820 just, you know, deal with Judas on the spot, just kind of 149 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:52.379 kick him out, to Zap him, you know, for Judas to kind 150 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:56.580 of drop dead? It's one question. But another question to ask when we 151 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.769 think about Jesus King ship is this. How do you expect a king to 152 00:12:01.929 --> 00:12:07.210 expand his empire? Do you expect him to use military might, as old 153 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:13.809 times, or maybe like our modern times with politicians using smear campaigns? Do 154 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:16.960 you expect him to use that kind of deceitfulness a type of way of levying 155 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:24.960 for power? Or how do you expect a King to exercise authority? Do 156 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:31.269 you expect a king to only have good servants and to reward those good servants 157 00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:35.110 with good gifts and a promotion accordingly? These are all questions we need to 158 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:41.629 ask as we think about kingship. And yet the thing is, the type 159 00:12:41.669 --> 00:12:46.779 of king that Jesus is is not the king we expect, because right at 160 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:48.980 the point where we expect him to wield the sword, right at the point 161 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:54.179 where we expect Jesus to really flex his muscles and show what his kingly power 162 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:58.730 is and Kick Judas out and, you know, the root of the Romans 163 00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:01.690 along with him. All he's at it right. It's right at that point 164 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:09.529 where we have verse four and five, which says this. He rose from 165 00:13:09.570 --> 00:13:13.720 supper, he laid aside his outer garment and, taking a towel, tied 166 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.200 it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to 167 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:24.279 wash his disciple's feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around 168 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:30.590 him. You See, this language, or the picture of him laying aside 169 00:13:30.669 --> 00:13:33.629 his outer garment and wrapping a towel around his waist, is the image of 170 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:41.779 the lowest servant possible. This great king is bringing about his kingdom by being 171 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:46.379 a servant. You See, right at the moment when we expect Jesus to 172 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:50.779 really show his kingly power, right when the text is building us up for 173 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:58.610 this grand kingly display, Jesus takes off his outer garment and he puts the 174 00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:05.450 towel around his waist and he washes disciples feet and the thing is is that 175 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:11.039 we don't often like Jesus using his powerless way, which is seen in Peter's 176 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:15.840 response in verse six. Peter Protests on his behalf and the rest of the 177 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:20.000 disciples behalf. You know, it's easy for us to give Peter a bad 178 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.240 rap and to think that Peter, you know, kind of just didn't get 179 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.470 it, but all of the disciples would have been absolutely mortified by what they 180 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:33.909 were seeing. You see, because culturally you would never have a superior wash 181 00:14:33.389 --> 00:14:39.659 someone else's feet. Maybe you're familiar with foot washing, but this was something 182 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:46.259 that was only done by the lowest level of servants. This was something that 183 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:50.059 was rarely done from one peer to another, unless you were want trying to 184 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:58.730 show extravagant love and devotion to your friend. But it was never done from 185 00:14:58.730 --> 00:15:03.090 a superior to someone who is under them. And so they would have all 186 00:15:03.129 --> 00:15:07.879 been mortified by this, and that is why Peter Responds, Lord do you 187 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:11.279 wash my feet? He's actually indignant when he says this. It's as if 188 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.720 he's saying it as Lord do you wash my feet? Jesus, what are 189 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:22.590 you doing washing my feet? This is surely out of place for them. 190 00:15:24.230 --> 00:15:28.509 So in Verse Eight, Peter Protest Again. He goes from pure being a 191 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:33.870 gas to declaring that you shall never wash my feet. You know, in 192 00:15:33.950 --> 00:15:39.460 the original language this is very strong. It's as if he's saying you shall 193 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:43.100 not wash my feet into eternity. You know, it's kind of like when 194 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:46.259 you're a little kid, you know, if you're a little boy and you 195 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:50.490 think that girls have cooties and you say I will never in a million billion 196 00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:54.210 years get married. Right. This type of the type of negation that Peter 197 00:15:54.409 --> 00:15:56.730 is using here. This is never going to happen. Ever, you shall 198 00:15:56.850 --> 00:16:02.210 never wash my feet. And you see, this is the problem that we 199 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:07.559 are often plenty happy in Peter and the disciples were plenty happy to wash Jesus's 200 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:12.159 feet, to do things for Jesus. And the problem is that are in 201 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:18.909 our relationship with Jesus too often is you shall never wash my feet the tagline 202 00:16:19.029 --> 00:16:26.389 for how we relate to him. That is our problem. You See, 203 00:16:26.509 --> 00:16:30.629 it is easy for us to kind of think of the Christian life as we 204 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:33.820 kind of save ourselves and we kind of clean ourselves up, and Jesus is 205 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:38.340 kind of the divine health inspector who comes along asked us if we got behind 206 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:44.539 our ears and then says that'll do. And you see, that's problematic because 207 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:49.210 we often use that as a way to keep control. We often relate to 208 00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:55.370 Jesus that way in which we are the ones who daily do our own washing, 209 00:16:56.009 --> 00:17:00.210 and this is reflected by the ways we answer those previous questions. You 210 00:17:00.289 --> 00:17:04.039 see, because if you expect Jesus to be the king who punishes rebels, 211 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:10.039 then you are often going to despair of your sin and think that you're too 212 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:15.150 far gone for His grace. Or you're going to think of those people, 213 00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:21.549 whoever those people are for you, and you will think, surely God could 214 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:26.430 never save them, surely God would never give those people over there his grace, 215 00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:30.700 and so we end up being those who are either despairing or judging others. 216 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:33.859 Or, secondly, you'll be tempted to we or to bring about Jesus 217 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:40.539 Kingdom through those forms of earthly power that we mentioned. You'll be prone to 218 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:44.650 try and gain power for the kingdom, to try and do so through worldly 219 00:17:44.769 --> 00:17:48.490 means rather than that kingdom ethic that we heard about in the law reading. 220 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:52.170 You'll try and use power that way. Or, third of all, if 221 00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:56.769 you expect Jesus to use his authority to reward good people, you know, 222 00:17:56.890 --> 00:18:03.519 with good gifts based on their good efforts. Then you will not selflessly love 223 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.960 your neighbor, but you will only try and pad your spiritual resume with God, 224 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.470 I remember when I was a student at you have a, I took 225 00:18:14.549 --> 00:18:17.950 this leadership class and one of the things that we learned in this class was 226 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:22.230 how to first of all put together resumes, but then also how to do 227 00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:26.339 job interviews. And they always practice for the question of what is your greatest 228 00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:30.900 weakness? And you see, when we were given this question, we were 229 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:33.619 supposed to really, you know, answer with kind of a basically a backdoor 230 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:37.980 way about bragging about ourselves, you know, and so we were told to 231 00:18:37.059 --> 00:18:41.180 say something like well, my greatest weakness is that I try and do too 232 00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:45.730 much. All right, my greatest weakness is that, you know, I 233 00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:49.049 work too hard, right, and so that's kind of the answer we were 234 00:18:49.089 --> 00:18:53.569 given, totally give and while that may be true in our society, where 235 00:18:53.609 --> 00:19:00.079 we often work ourselves into the ground and don't value Sabbath rest particularly, that 236 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.079 was definitely not our problem. I know it wasn't my problem, you know, 237 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:07.119 when I was a college student. And so that's the thing though, 238 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:14.950 right is we won't actually confess real sins. Will kind of confess in this 239 00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:18.589 vague type of way. You know, we won't actually be honest with each 240 00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:23.269 other about the real sin that we're struggling with or about the real ways that 241 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:27.299 we've sinned against each other, real ways that we can hurt each other as 242 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:32.660 Christians. This will all stay very vague and very much a theory, right, 243 00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:36.940 because we can't open up too much about our real struggles, about our 244 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:41.049 real sins. That is what happens. And so, you see, you 245 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:45.690 shall never wash my feet. Is ultimately away for us to maintain kingship, 246 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:48.809 because if we cannot admit that we are weak, then we do not need 247 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:52.720 a king to come and save us. And this leads to my second point, 248 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:59.200 that Jesus is the conquering king that we never expected. You See, 249 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:03.000 he says next that if I do not wash you, you have no share 250 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.119 with me. This idea of having a share or part in Verse Eight is 251 00:20:07.230 --> 00:20:14.309 this language of inheritance, but it's also this language of kind of scatological or 252 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:18.470 kingdom blessing. That is what it meant for the original here is to be 253 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:22.579 a part of God's kingdom, to receive blessing in God's kingdom, and so 254 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:26.539 this is very much kingly language here, this is very much conquering language, 255 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:32.660 and so we see the connection, you know, because ask yourself, is 256 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:37.049 this really all about just having clean feet? Is the moral of the story? 257 00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:41.769 You know, God godliness is next to cleanliness? No, it's not. 258 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:45.809 We see this connection between verse three, that all authority is being given 259 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.970 to Jesus and that he didn't turn is using that authority to serve his disciples. 260 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:55.319 And so it's in this we see how Jesus conquers. It is in 261 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.839 this that we see that his conquering reign, in his kingly glory, is 262 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:03.440 in serving us and that service of us is primarily in dying for us. 263 00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:08.430 That is how he's glorified. Look at John Twelve, twenty seven through thirty 264 00:21:08.470 --> 00:21:14.750 three, just a little bit earlier, which says this. Jesus says this. 265 00:21:14.950 --> 00:21:18.029 Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, 266 00:21:18.109 --> 00:21:22.980 save me from this hour, before this purpose. I have come to this 267 00:21:22.259 --> 00:21:26.900 hour, father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. 268 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:32.420 I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood 269 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:37.490 there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said in Angel has 270 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:41.329 spoken to Him. Jesus answered, this voice has come for your Sake, 271 00:21:41.490 --> 00:21:45.690 not mine. Now is the judgment of this word. Now will the ruler 272 00:21:45.730 --> 00:21:48.799 of this world be cast out, and I, when I am lifted up 273 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:53.839 from the Earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to 274 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.680 show by what kind of death he was going to die. You See, 275 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.789 it is in this act that Jesus is lifted up, it is in this 276 00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:07.670 act that Jesus is glorified. It is the hour of Jesus, is kingly 277 00:22:07.789 --> 00:22:11.869 glory, and we see the our connection here, or the connection with the 278 00:22:12.029 --> 00:22:17.900 hour. Jesus is our and we also see this connection here with the Passover, 279 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:22.019 for as First Corinthians seven says, for Christ, our Passover lamb has 280 00:22:22.140 --> 00:22:29.660 been sacrificed. Furthermore, Mark Ten forty five says that, for even the 281 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.730 son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his 282 00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:40.329 life a ransom for many. That is how Jesus is glorified, that is 283 00:22:40.410 --> 00:22:45.440 how Jesus exercises kingly rain. And so in nine through eleven we see Peter 284 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:48.359 Respond. Will Not only my head, but my hands are not only my 285 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.400 feet but my hands on my head also, and it's, you know, 286 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:53.519 one of those points where you're kind of like, you know, Peter, 287 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:59.029 you're not getting it right. This isn't about that. You know you're going 288 00:22:59.029 --> 00:23:02.190 to need the Holy Spirit for this. So just trust me now and wait 289 00:23:02.230 --> 00:23:06.670 till pentecost. But eventually it's all going to make sense. But this is 290 00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:10.549 about what is foot washing of meaning? Or what is foot washing about? 291 00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:14.299 Because just as Peter was not getting it, we often don't get it. 292 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:17.579 What is Jesus doing by washing his feet? What does nine and ten mean 293 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:23.660 when you see what's happening here with foot washing, and what Jesus is signifying 294 00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:30.329 with Peter, is that the initial act that Jesus provides and his death is 295 00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:37.049 a once for all cleansing act. So when Jesus says that you are clean 296 00:23:37.609 --> 00:23:42.839 already, Jesus is saying that his death has worked for Peter and for those 297 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:49.519 who believe a cleansing, a onetime cleansing that has effects from day to day 298 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:59.470 and forever. So what does that mean for you? Means this that Jesus 299 00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:04.670 is the king over your past sins. He's a king over your past sins. 300 00:24:07.950 --> 00:24:12.380 You see the sin that you regret, the choices that you can't take 301 00:24:12.500 --> 00:24:18.140 back, the foolish sin of your younger days. Jesus has washed all of 302 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:23.289 that away, which I think we naturally get generally if we've been in church 303 00:24:23.410 --> 00:24:30.769 long enough. But it also means this, that Jesus is the king over 304 00:24:30.890 --> 00:24:34.890 your present sins. You see that fight that you had with your spouse on 305 00:24:34.930 --> 00:24:40.079 the way here, the ways in which you believe that the church is really 306 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:42.960 about faking it till you make it, the anger, the fear, the 307 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:51.119 anxiety that you have. Jesus is king over that. Your discontentment, your 308 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:55.269 same sex attraction, your gossip and your cheating on your spelling test, your 309 00:24:55.309 --> 00:25:00.269 addiction to drugs or alcohol. Jesus is king over all of that, and 310 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:07.579 also means this that Jesus is also the king of your future, as Romans 311 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:14.099 Eight, thirty one through thirty nine says this. What, then, shall 312 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:17.099 we say to all of these things? If God is for us, who 313 00:25:17.140 --> 00:25:19.900 can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but 314 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:23.650 gave him up for us all, how will he not also, with him 315 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:30.130 graciously give us all things? Who shall bring at any charge against God's elect 316 00:25:30.930 --> 00:25:33.849 is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one 317 00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:37.680 who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the 318 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:41.519 right hand of God, who intercedes and is interceding for us. WHO shall 319 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:48.200 separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distressed or persecution or 320 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:52.869 famine or nakedness or danger or sword, as is written? For Your Sake, 321 00:25:52.029 --> 00:25:56.829 we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep 322 00:25:56.910 --> 00:26:02.069 to be slaughtered. No, and all these things. We are more than 323 00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:06.619 conquerors through him who loved death. For I am sure that neither death, 324 00:26:06.819 --> 00:26:10.259 nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things 325 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:14.460 to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else 326 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:18.210 in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God. 327 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:26.170 In Christ Jesus, Our Lord Jesus, is King over your future as 328 00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:32.690 well, which leads us to our third point, that the conquering, or 329 00:26:32.769 --> 00:26:36.880 what it looks like to conquer in the land's kingdom, is different as well. 330 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:41.039 Verse Twelve, Jesus Returns to his matter. He asked, do you 331 00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:45.400 understand what I have done for you? And he unpacks this idea of being 332 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:48.670 both teacher and Lord. Now teacher to them would have been the equivalent of 333 00:26:48.789 --> 00:26:52.109 saying that he was their rabbi, right, and they are his disciples who 334 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:56.029 are learning from him, who are following him. So he's referring to that, 335 00:26:56.069 --> 00:27:00.940 that they should be his disciples and learn from his action. But then 336 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:06.859 he is also Lord, which was first of all applied to his teaching role. 337 00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:11.859 But after the resurrection Lord takes on Richer Meeting for Jesus, you see, 338 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:15.970 because Jesus has conquered death, because Jesus is your king, because he 339 00:27:17.049 --> 00:27:21.930 has conquered your sin. He is also the name that is above every name. 340 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:26.009 He is indeed Lord, he is the name by which our salvation was 341 00:27:26.170 --> 00:27:30.240 one, and he is the conquering king who has faced death and destroyed it 342 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:36.720 in his death. And so he is teacher and Lord, and he makes 343 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:40.680 the point that this is a model that he is giving them, and verses 344 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:44.000 fourteen and fifteen not a model, by the way, that we should continue 345 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.990 foot washing, which is good news, because I had my feet washed. 346 00:27:48.029 --> 00:27:51.670 I don't know about you, but I was a camp counselor in college and 347 00:27:51.789 --> 00:27:53.869 I had had someone washed my feet and it was like the most uncomfortable thing 348 00:27:53.910 --> 00:27:59.180 I've ever experienced. If you know, if foot washing is something that you 349 00:27:59.299 --> 00:28:02.339 like, just get a pedicure, because then it's done by a professional. 350 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:07.900 But the thing is, the point is is that we engage in counter cultural 351 00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:12.250 sacrificial love for each other. That's what Jesus is getting at here. And 352 00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:18.210 so, despite our differences, despite the way that we have differing personalities, 353 00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:23.769 different political opinions, skin colors, nagging sins and the like, we are 354 00:28:25.089 --> 00:28:30.559 all God's smelly children and we're all in need of being washed in the blood 355 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:34.240 of the lamb. And you see, when you admit that, that means 356 00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:38.839 you are also admitting that you do not have any right, or we do 357 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.630 not have any right, to view ourselves as superior to anyone else here. 358 00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:48.109 Can you see? This is counter intuitive, radical stuff, because it also 359 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:53.630 means that in the Church of Christ there are no misfits, there's no one 360 00:28:53.670 --> 00:28:59.460 here that doesn't belong. Everyone here has a place and everyone here has a 361 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:03.740 gifting by the spirit. And so Jesus says in verse Seventeen, blessed are 362 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:10.210 you if you do these things? And how will we be blessed? You 363 00:29:10.329 --> 00:29:15.130 See, the more that we realize that Jesus has conquered death. The more 364 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:21.130 that we realize that he is king over our sins, the more we realize 365 00:29:21.170 --> 00:29:23.680 that he is our king now and forever and that there is no sin that 366 00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:29.599 can separate us from his love, the more we will realize that we don't 367 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:33.240 need to compete against each other, you see, the more we will realize 368 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:38.309 that we can actually confess real sins to each other right you see, because 369 00:29:38.349 --> 00:29:42.829 if you don't have to convince Jesus that you're really clean when you're not, 370 00:29:45.150 --> 00:29:48.549 if you don't have to convince Jesus to give you something or to earn something 371 00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:52.259 from him, but if he freely cleanses you, then you have no reason 372 00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:57.059 to try and convince anyone else that you're clean on your own. And when 373 00:29:57.140 --> 00:30:00.980 we live under that freedom, we are then free to receive from Jesus together 374 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:07.490 and, in turn, free to watch each other's feet. That is the 375 00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:15.049 freedom that this brings. That's self sacrificing service of each other. Finally, 376 00:30:15.089 --> 00:30:17.809 I want to say this. You know, in seminary they teach you to 377 00:30:17.890 --> 00:30:19.690 only have three points in a sermon, and so I'm going to break those 378 00:30:19.730 --> 00:30:22.440 roles, but I'll just call it an epilog. So I can kind of 379 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:26.119 keep with the standard or conclusion, but I just want to say this about 380 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:32.160 are verses eighteen through twenty. Let's want to say this about suffering and death 381 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:37.869 and evil. You see, Jesus talks to his disciples and he wants to 382 00:30:37.950 --> 00:30:42.549 communicate this to them. In Verses Eighteen through twenty. He wants to show 383 00:30:42.670 --> 00:30:48.509 them that while Judas is betrayal is coming, while his death and suffering is 384 00:30:48.710 --> 00:30:53.819 coming, that that is not a foiling of the plan. You see, 385 00:30:53.819 --> 00:30:56.819 that's how we naturally think. We naturally think that if the king is dead, 386 00:30:57.339 --> 00:31:00.980 that the kingdom's kind of all over right, that all hope is gone. 387 00:31:02.180 --> 00:31:04.769 I'll hope is lost and we, his subjects, are without any hope, 388 00:31:04.890 --> 00:31:10.410 anyone to defend us. But Jesus is telling them that his Judas is 389 00:31:10.490 --> 00:31:15.529 betrayal and his coming death is not actually counter to his conquering but is actually 390 00:31:15.569 --> 00:31:22.960 the the conquest that he uses Jesus is death is the climax of his conquering 391 00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:27.759 kingdom. And he quotes David here when he says the scriptures are being fulfilled. 392 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:32.599 In he quotes Psalm Forty one nine, which alludes to Jes or to 393 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:37.230 David being a king, and it shows that Jesus is filling in this kingly 394 00:31:37.269 --> 00:31:42.470 role, and he is doing this kingly role in which the king himself is 395 00:31:42.589 --> 00:31:48.180 being betrayed by a friend, you see, because the share a meal with 396 00:31:48.299 --> 00:31:51.339 each other in that culture was one of the most intimate things you could do. 397 00:31:52.019 --> 00:31:56.740 And so the king himself is being betrayed by a friend. This is 398 00:31:56.819 --> 00:32:00.740 the most heinous thing that could happen, that the son of God being betrayed 399 00:32:00.819 --> 00:32:04.569 by an intimate friend, and Jesus is telling him that, despite all that, 400 00:32:04.769 --> 00:32:07.849 despite the fact that this is the most heinous thing that could happen, 401 00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:10.769 is actually the thing that he is going to use to bring about his kingdom, 402 00:32:12.930 --> 00:32:19.880 that his kingdom comes through death and that in his death he destroys death. 403 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:24.680 And so that means for you to day that regardless of what you are 404 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:34.069 experiencing and suffering, regardless of what sin is besetting you, Jesus has already 405 00:32:34.109 --> 00:32:37.829 conquered it in his death, and because he has conquered in his death, 406 00:32:38.549 --> 00:32:44.269 you can know that he is with you in your suffering, in your sin, 407 00:32:44.940 --> 00:32:49.700 and he has already destroyed it by his death and resurrection. Therefore, 408 00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:52.779 let him wash your feet. Let's pray