Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 38 – Oct 1986

 

Fully Loved – And Encouraged Τo Do The Same!

 

Sermon by Rev. J. Ter Horst on John 13:1,17

Reading: 1John 4:7-21, John 13:1-17

Singing: BoW.S 15, PsH. 217, BoW.H 13, PsH. 369, 488

 

People of God, Congregation;

I am sure many of you are familiar with the sign that reads, “It is hard to be humble when you are as good as I am!” But you do not have to be that good to find it difficult to be humble.  Most people are proud.  To be proud is often the opposite of being humble.

In John chapter 13, Jesus gives us a lesson in humility.  In John chapter 13 we reach, what we could call the final episode in the story of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  Here we discover yet another milestone in the life of our Saviour and Lord.  The public ministry of Jesus is as good as over.  His main concern now is the disciples.  That group of men whom he had taken aside.  That group of men who would carry on His work.  In preparation for that, Jesus focuses His words and actions on them.  In the shadow of the cross, He concentrates His ministry on them.  Jesus was standing on the threshold of Golgatha, and He stoops to wash the feet of the disciples.  The Master, on His knees, doing the work of a lowly servant.

Who can fathom the depth of His love?  How can such grace be measured?  Who can be compared with Him?

Point 1

“It was just before the Passover Feast”.

Yes, it was that time again.  Time to celebrate the Passover.  Time to remember how God had delivered them from Egypt with an out-stretched arm.  Time to talk with the children and tell them what had happened so many years ago.  Time to tell them how God’s people had painted their doorposts with blood while they lived in Egypt.  The blood was a sign for the Angel of the Lord to pass over’ that house.  Where there was no blood, there the angel would strike, and death would result.  Death for the firstborn in that house.

Without the sacrifice of blood there was no deliverance.  Without the sacrifice of blood God’s punishment would follow.  How appropriate that this celebration should mark the last ‘leg of the journey’.  No deliverance, no salvation, without the sacrifice of blood.  For Jesus, simply the thought of it must have brought the cross so much closer!  The time had come.  This is why the Lord was born.

Jesus was fully aware that His time had come; that is quite clear from verse one.  Jesus was fully aware of what lay just beyond the horizon.  He realised only too well that worse suffering awaited Him.  Yet, knowing all that, He was still able and willing to show His love for His disciples.  A love which went beyond the boundaries of their relationship.  A love which went beyond mutual concern.  A love which led the Master to do the work of the servant.  Jesus should be sitting at the place of highest honour.  Yet, we find Him at the feet of His pupils.  At a time when He really needed their love and support, Jesus thinks not of Himself, but of others.  At a time of deep personal conflict, Jesus finds  the courage to look beyond Himself, beyond His own needs, to minister to those He loves.  What a loving Saviour we have, congregation!  How indebted we are to that self-sacrificing love!  With the hymn-writer we want to raise our voice and sing, “Hallelujah, What a Saviour!”

What do we see in this foot-washing display of Jesus, congregation?  Do we see it only as an act of humility?  That is how some people see it.  Comparing the Gospel accounts we notice that in Luke this event is preceded by the argument of the disciples concerning, ‘Who was the greatest’.  And this action of Jesus speaks much louder than words about ‘being great’!  It was yet another lesson for the disciples.  Jesus, through this action, gave the disciples a very clear non-verbal lesson.  A lesson concerning greatness in the Kingdom of God.  Humility, as Jesus showed, led to greatness in the Kingdom.  He who would humble himself, he shall be great in the Kingdom of God.  Those who seek to be great on earth, have their reward already.

But let us see more than this today.  May we look further than the lesson on humility?  Let us see a much deeper, a richer significance.  This act of Jesus in washing the disciples’ feet was a beautiful summary of His teaching.  It was like a parable showing His great love.  It was a display of the type of love we read about in 1Cor.13.  The love of God in Jesus Christ.  Had that not been the axle around which His teaching revolved?  Was the theme of love not central to His life?  Of course it was!  In fact, it was because of love that Jesus was with them.  For God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son!  Jesus was the very embodiment of God’s love.  Here in the foot-washing scene, Jesus displayed that love.  He who is the greatest, was willing to humble Himself and take the role of the least.

There is more.  We also see here a preview of what was soon to take place.  The disciples had their feet washed by Jesus.  They were made clean through what Jesus had done.  That was a beautiful foreshadowing of His self-sacrifice on the cross.  There can be no cleansing apart from Jesus.  Jesus said as much to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”  Cleansing is only possible if Jesus washes us clean.  Clean from lives that are stained by sin.  Clean from lives that have the scars of past sins.  Clean from lives that were instruments of the devil.  This cleansing comes only through sacrifice.  Just as in the Passover feast a lamb needed to be sacrificed, so blood needed to flow to avoid God’s terrible judgement.  So today, people’s lives need to be washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.

How is it with us my, friends?  Have we all experienced this wonderful and complete cleansing?  Remember the words of Jesus, “Unless I wash you, you have no part in me.”  It is no good pretending we do not need it.  Some people think they can clean themselves up enough; after all, they are not that bad!  The point is, we are!  This sin is so ingrained that nothing we do will wash us clean.  Jesus can!

There are two main things we should see in our text today.  The first is that we see here an example of love.  Jesus, displaying a love for His own.  A love that motivated Him to put others first.  We see here a display of the love that would lead our Lord to the depths of Gethsemane.  A display of love that would lead to the darkness of Calvary.  A love that would soon cry out, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!”  Jesus said, “No greater love is there than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”.

Point 2

The second thing we should see is that Jesus left His followers an example to follow.  There had been that argument about who was the greatest.  The example of Jesus should have silenced that argument immediately.  He not only settled their dispute, He gave them a new rule to live by.  Love is to be the controlling factor in the life of a disciple of Christ!  Love can be known by the actions it prompts.  Jesus’ love prompted Him to wash the disciples’ feet.  Love led Him to Calvary.  Love for His Father led to obedience.  “Not my will, but thine be done!”  Jesus encouraged His disciples to so love.  That is where verse 17 comes in.  It helps us to see this aspect of the lesson better.

In the N.I.V.  we read, “Now that you know these things…”  The  original can also read this way, ‘If you know these things’.  But the phrase expects the affirmative answer.  In other words, ‘If you know these things, and I am sure that you do’.  Yes, Jesus was sure they did.  The disciples had lived with their Master now for some 3 years.  They knew.  They had seen the way He lived.  They had heard the way He spoke.  Yes, they knew.  There had been that little squabble about being the greatest, but deep down, they knew.  It was now only a matter of putting it into practice.  We have a little saying for that today, ‘Practise what you preach’.  That does not only go for ministers.

Yet, it is exactly at this point that we too so often let Jesus down.  We, like the disciples, know of the ultimate gift of love.  That foot-washing scene was not for the disciples’ benefit alone.  It is also for us.  We know.  It is not a problem of not knowing.  The problem for us too is acting upon what we know!  Remember that statement, love is known by the actions it prompts.  What actions are being prompted by our love?  Is it evident that the motivating force of our lives is the love of God in Jesus Christ?

Our text reads, “…you will be blessed if you do them.”  That is a good translation, “…if you do them.”  Simply knowing is not enough.  Or as James has it, “Faith without works is dead.”  It is common for Reformed Church people not to lack knowledge.  Most of us attend Church every Sunday.  Many are also involved in a Bible study.  I would say, generally speaking, we know what the right thing to do is.  The trouble is, acting on that knowledge.  Jesus points out here that the “blessing”, is conditional.  It depends on you doing something.  You will be blessed IF you do them.

Some people have interpreted this to mean that we should wash one another’s feet.  Some groups even have regular ‘foot-washing services’.  While that is commendable, I believe the point of the text is missed.

Jesus is teaching an attitude here, not an action.  Jesus wants us to change our attitudes over against others, not simply our actions.  I can quite easily wash another person’s feet and still not be obedient to this text.  The attitude of the heart is what is important.  Love needs to prompt our actions, our conversations.

Conclusion

Congregation, how is it going in your lives?  I am not asking you adopt a foot-washing ceremony.  I am talking about a change of heart!  But that is so hard that you object, “I find it so difficult to really love”.  Congregation, Christians are people who have the Holy Spirit of God living in their lives!  It is said of Christians, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”  The Christian can say with all confidence, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  The question must remain: Are we prepared to serve one another in that way?  Are we prepared to show in fact what we really are?

We started by quoting that saying, “It is hard to be humble when you are as good as I am.”  And that is often the problem, is it not?  Our pride gets in the way.  Our pride prevents us from doing what we know is right.  Human beings have this terrible idea sometimes that the world revolves around them.  When people think like that, it is obvious from their actions.  But that is part of the old nature.  That old nature which was crucified with Christ.  The Christian seeks to walk in humble obedience with the Master, the Lord of his life.  Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.”  The command of Jesus is to love as He loved.

I wonder, is that evident at home?  Boys and girls, do you love your brother and sister that way?  Parents, is that the way we relate to our children?  Young people often only obey because they fear the consequences.  That is not action prompted by love.

Actions prompted by love lets the other person have his fair say.  Actions prompted by love do not insist on their own way.  Jesus said, “blessed are you if you do them.”

AMEN