A Courteous Demonstration of Love

, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to John chapter 13. John 13 for our time of study in God's word, this morning. This is the 3rd and final part of our trilogy on the subject of courtesy. And service we saw two weeks ago the story of the feeding of the 5000 where Jesus miraculously provided one meal to 5000 men plus women and children.

No one would have died if they did not receive this meal. Everyone in this crowd was at least maybe an hour away from being able to go and get their own meal. They had the resources to do that. But even though this was not absolutely essential, Jesus seizes the opportunity to demonstrate the greatness of his heart through this act of courtesy, this meal that comes to them courtesy of Jesus.

Last week, we looked in John 2 at the story, where Jesus is at a wedding feast, a wedding reception, and he miraculously turns water into wine. We were struck by how he went about doing this miracle in a deferential, humble way. We were also struck by the miracle he did and the fact that he deemed this worthy of a miracle. They ran out of wine at the wedding.

There had been wine there, but they were out of wine. No one would have died if they were not resupplied with wine. All that would have happened is people might have been a little more thirsty than they would have wanted, and the groom would have been. Socially embarrassed.

And in this setting, Jesus thinks to himself, this will be my first miracle. I will supply wine for the groom as he's seeking to extend hospitality to those who are here. And in so doing, again, Jesus demonstrates the greatness of his heart through this wonderful act of courtesy. Well, this morning we're going to be looking at John 13.

where Jesus does not do what we would consider to be a miracle, but this is no less stunning than the greatest of miracles that Jesus, performs. In terms of something amazing, we would rank this up with Jesus raising somebody from the dead or cleansing the leper. This is really an astonishing thing. That Jesus does in this passage in washing the disciples' feet.

This was not necessary. The disciples were not going to die if they didn't get their feet washed, but Jesus seizes this opportunity to demonstrate the greatness of his heart through this act of courtesy that he performs. And so if you want to give a title to The message, it would be a courteous demonstration of love. Last week it was a courteous demonstration of glory.

This week a courteous demonstration of love. foot washing today is something that is meaningful. I remember a number of years ago, there was, someone in the church who specifically asked if he could wash my feet. and I let him.

it was very meaningful for me and meaningful for this brother. It's something that we attach meaning to. There's various traditions within Christendom. The Anabaptist tradition, Mennonite and Brethren tradition, along with others within the Baptist denominations, Pentecostal, and so forth.

Where foot washing is a meaningful ceremony, they rank it up there with communion and, and baptism, and it's just a part of the normal fabric of life. There's some churches that on the Thursday that Christ washed his disciples' feet. that Thursday of the year on the lunar calendar, they do, they wash each other's feet. Back in the late 90s, there were some denominations that publicly repented of their past racist legacy, where in their past they had allowed for segregation between black and white and they publicly repented of that.

And it was in the news, and one of the ways that they demonstrated their repentance and their love for their black brothers and sisters is they had a foot washing ceremony, very emotional, very meaningful. for, for everybody. But understand that like all of that meaning that is now attached to foot washing, none of that existed prior to the events that take place here in John chapter 13. There was no moral or spiritual significance attached to this ritual or this courtesy that would be rendered.

And yet in John 13, Jesus washes his disciples' feet and in the process he infused this action with meaning that resonates to this very day. But back in this day, There was no meaning attached to it prior to what Jesus did. There was no moral necessity to it. In fact, one commentator says that foot washing was commanded neither by the law nor by the traditions of the Pharisees.

It was only a matter of propriety. So there's nothing in the law that said you've got to do this, so there's no moral necessity, and even the rabbis and their rabbinic tradition and the Pharisees who followed a lot of those rabbinic traditions, there was really no regulations about foot washing that imposed upon people some moral or legal necessity to do this. And even from a physical standpoint. aside from the moral, there was no necessity to this.

What Jesus does in this passage has been noted by writers is unnecessary, and that is what makes it all the more remarkable. DA Carson in his commentary on this story. Says that Jesus washing His disciples' feet, his act of humility in doing this is as unnecessary as it is stunning. And is a display of love and a model of Christian.

Conduct And that's what makes what Jesus does here all the more remarkable. It's not like he looked at his disciples and saw that they were dying of an infection from something on their feet, and so he does an intervention and he washes their feet free of the infection that was proving fatal to them. There was no medical necessity, no moral necessity, no physical necessity. It was simply a courtesy that Jesus renders here and as we go through the story, what we're going to do is just observe 6 ways this is how we'll frame things 6 ways that Jesus demonstrates love to His disciples in John 13:1 through 17 And the primary way he's going to do that is through this act of washing his disciples' feet.

But let's begin in verse one, and the first thing that we observe in terms of how Jesus displays love to His disciples in this story is, let's say it this way He loves them to the end. He loves them to the end. It says in verse 1. Now before the feast of the Passover, and this doesn't mean days before, what it means is they're in the room and ready for the feast of the Passover, the meal, and just before.

In other words, they're seated and they're ready. just before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Just notice that statement by John, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. In other words, Jesus had already been loving them.

For 3 years in remarkable ways he has taught them. He has poured into them. He has lived with them. He has put up with their wrongheadedness, their hardheadedness, their hardheartedness, their wrong notions, their quarrelings amongst themselves, their immaturities, the wrong.

Ideas that would come out of their mouths at times. Jesus has loved them through all of that over the last 3 years. And had he stopped loving them, and all of these ways, at the end of John 12, the disciples would have spent the rest of their lives telling everybody that never did they ever Experience love from anybody more than they did from Jesus. And yet, Jesus, having loved his own the way that he had already loved them, he loved them still.

And John says, he loved them to the end. He kept on loving them. Jesus, you will never hear Jesus say, what? I once loved you.

There was a day When I loved you. You'll never hear Jesus say that. It's always having loved us. He loves us.

To the end. The new American Standard translation says to the end, and at the very least what this means is he loved them all the way to the end of his journey to the cross. Jesus is on a path to the cross, to his death, and he loves them all the way to the end. in order to appreciate this, guys, understand that this is Thursday evening of the Passion Week.

By this time, The next day Jesus' body will be in the tomb. OK, he's 9 o'clock the next morning, he will be hoisted upon a cross and his crucifixion will begin. Jesus is standing in the chilling shadow of the cross, and we know if you keep reading in John 13 that his heart is already being torn apart with anguish. He knows what is coming his way.

And he's experiencing turmoil inside, and yet he loves them to the end. If anyone had a right to just be preoccupied and not really engaged with the disciples, Jesus had every reason, and everyone would say with hindsight, what, he seemed distracted, but knowing what awaited him and him knowing all of that, it makes sense. We can give him grace for that. But here's what's remarkable to John, Jesus in the shadow of his own dying, the details of which he's very much aware of, his heart already being ripped apart with anguish.

Jesus turns to his disciples, And looks at their feet. And says their feet need washed, and I'm going to wash them. that's amazing. That he would do this and he washes their feet in John 13 and then following that through chapter 1415, and 16, Jesus loved them by speaking.

Into them truth that would give them perspective. And then in John 17, he turns to his father and prays deeply and passionately for them. And then in John 18 and following, he, he then turns around and goes and dies for them. He loved them all the way to the end, and while Jesus was teaching them, washing their feet, and praying for them, they didn't understand in the moment.

But the apostle John has had decades to ponder this, and he looks back with hindsight at this massive volume of things that Jesus did and spoke into His disciples in these chapters, standing in the shadow of the cross, and John marveled. At how Jesus loved them all the way to the end. And that among those expressions of love would be that he washed their feet. In the very shadow of the cross.

This is an amazing thing to observe about our Savior. Some translations say He loved them to the uttermost. That's a good translation, I think. The NIV says He loved them utterly.

That's a good translation. John just finds what Jesus does here just truly astounding. Now to get to get an idea of what's going to be happening here, a room has been arranged for them to eat the Passover meal. They arrive for the meal and they go into this guest room.

There's a table that is set up there. The food is ready for them, and we would know from the events that followed that there were There was foot washing resources that were there in the room. There would have been a pitcher containing water. There would have been a water basin for the water to be poured into, and there would have been a linen cloth or a towel for somebody to use when they're washing Jesus and the disciples' feet.

So There was facilities there for foot washing. There was a kiosk there, let's say, for the foot washing of the guests that would come into the room. And so here they are, they take their seat around the table. They're reclining at the table, and nobody's feet have been washed.

And trust me, the disciples, everyone would have been aware of this. It wasn't an oversight, but apparently there were no servants there that would have washed their feet, and the disciples definitely were not interested in washing each other's feet. In fact, when you read a parallel account in Luke chapter 22, verse 24, Luke tells us that at this very supper, some commentators say perhaps while they were trying to figure out what the seating arrangement should be for this meal, it says there arose a dispute among them as to which of them.

was regarded to be the greatest.

So they're having this discussion, which of us is the greatest? Who would you say is the greatest? Well, I think I'm the greatest, and maybe they're quarreling over this as they're trying to figure out who sits closest to Jesus, who sits at his right hand, and, and so forth. They have this sense of foreboding, but also excitement, something's happening.

things are escalating and they're bucking for the highest seats. They're definitely thinking it's a relevant topic to figure out right now which of them should be esteemed by the others to be. The greatest. And so here they are in this room, and this is the quarreling that takes place at some point in the room.

All of their feet have not been washed, but the facilities to wash their feet are sitting there. Someone thought about that in advance and supplied that for them, but it's not being done because nobody among the disciples is humble enough. To wash the other's feet. Jesus observes this.

He waits and waits. One writer says Jesus waited a long time. The disciples had already occupied their places around the U-shaped table. The food was on the table, and the meal was about to begin.

Still, no one offered to perform the duty of the servant. The water pitcher, the washbasin, and the apron towel placed there in plain sight of all frowned upon them. These utensils constituted a silent accusation against these men, and still no one moved. So they all notice somebody thought about this.

We're going to need our feet washed. We see the stuff right there. for this very purpose, but I'm not going to do it. Part of the reason why none of them were willing to do it, as one writer says, is because each would have considered it an admission.

Of inferiority to all the others, so they're thinking about, I'm the greatest. If anything, I should be getting my feet washed, and no one was willing to lower themselves and humble themselves and wash the feet of the others. Can I make a quick point regarding this? Let me just say it this way.

Facilities don't mean anything without love. There's a sense in which we can view, the The basin and the pitcher with the water and the towel, we can view that as facilities, but they sat there idle. In fact, the disciples could have conducted a tour, people come and hey, check out our facility here. We've got a nice room.

We've got a table. We got food for our guests, and you'll notice over here we have a kiosk for our guests, and there's a water basin and a pitcher, a sturdy pitcher, beautiful, and it's got water, clean water. And a linen cloth, a towel, people say we've got the best foot washing facilities this side of the Mediterranean, in fact. and people would have maybe heard that on that tour and said, man, you guys are amazing.

You think of everything down to the smallest detail. So they had that they had the resources, the facilities in place, and yet those resources sat idle for a lack of love and humility. Guys, we can as a church, someone can drop a $25 million campus on us, and we can have all the facilities, the most beautiful facilities imaginable, but if we don't have love and we don't have humility, we are nothing. We are nothing And even without any such luxuries, if we have love and we have humility, there's no telling what God can do.

Now. Facilities are necessary. There was a need for a towel and water and a pitcher and a basin of water. Facilities are necessary, but facilities don't accomplish anything.

And a church can have all such things, but in the absence of love mixed with humility, that church is still nothing in God's kingdom. That's very important for us even as we sort through things as a church and where are we going, where are we going to end up, and how will we delegate and what will be the structure of our ministry. We can think about all that stuff and just have all of that totally refined, but if we can't love each other, we can't forgive each other, we can't be humble, and we can't serve one another from the lower position.

Then we're really wasting our time.

Well, this kiosk of foot washing materials sat idle and the disciples are ready to dig in. It's like, what, my feet need washed, but I would rather have my feet left unwashed than to lower myself to wash the other disciples' feet, so they're ready to eat. They're ready to eat. And so look what Jesus does.

Here's the second way that he shows them love, and that is he gets up and he makes the necessary preparations to wash their feet,. It's just interesting to me that John doesn't just say, and he got up and washed their feet. Instead, he makes a point out of this. He didn't just wash their feet, he made preparations to wash their feet.

Look at the graphic detail here. 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. And he uses the present tense here to make it even more vivid to bring us into the moment. So imagine yourself seated here with the disciples.

He rises from the supper. And lays aside his garments, speaking of his outer garments at the very least. And taking a towel, he girded himself about. Then he pours water into the basin.

Writers point out that this is clearly eyewitness testimony here. The disciples are riveted. Jesus gets up from the meal, he goes over to this, where the foot washing materials are. He takes his outer garment off.

Good night. What is he doing here? And then he takes the towel and he girds himself with the towel. He pours water into the basin and girding himself in this way, he is adopting the dress of a menial slave, dress that was looked down upon both in Jewish and Gentile circles.

This is their Lord and Master who is now donning the garb. The outfit of a menial slave. And John was there and he says, I'm not just going to tell you he washed our feet. Let me tell you what he did.

He rose from the supper. He laid aside his garments. He took a towel, he girded himself with that towel, and then he poured water. Into the basin.

One writer says the record here is very graphic and rightly so, the purpose being that the reader's mind may ponder the manifestation of wonderful condescension. The heart must linger here awhile. That's what John is wanting us to do, to just live in this moment and see through his eyes what they saw as Jesus rose from the supper and began making preparations to wash their feet, and that leads to the third thing that he does, and that is he actually washes their feet. maybe they were thinking he's making the preparations, and then he's going to tell one of us to do it, and delegate this, but no, Jesus makes the preparations, and then he actually washes their feet.

says, and he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with a towel with which He was girded. Jesus is rendering now an act of service that the disciples would have never imagined themselves doing or Jesus doing. One writer says peers did not wash one another's feet, except very rarely and as a mark of great love. Some Jews insisted that Jewish slaves should not be required to wash the feet of others.

This job should be reserved for Gentile slaves or for women. And children and pupils. This was the culture of the day, and yet Jesus Assumes the position of a slave of a household servant. And begins to wash the disciples' feet.

He probably did some of the disciples' feet washing their feet and then drying them with a towel. Before he ended up getting to Peter and we'll see what happens with Peter in just, just a moment. But let's just ponder this for a quick second. Where, for Jesus to do this, where does the resource to do something like this come from?

For him to lower himself in this way, to dress as a slave and from that lower position to render the service of washing the disciples' feet, where does someone get the resource to do that? From what wellspring does this act flow? And I just want to suggest two things we could add to this, but, but obviously he loved the disciples. It's like, I love you guys.

I want, let me do this for you. I, I love you. Even though the disciples were often unlovely, and many of us would have lost hope on them and just said, I'm, I'm done. I'm done with you guys.

Jesus wasn't he really loved these men, and when he looked at these men, he did not just see them as they were in the moment of their quarreling over which of them was the greatest. He saw them for what they would become. He loved them, and this is just one of his small ways. Yes, it's unnecessary, but one of his ways of showing them love.

But I think we can also suggests that Jesus was obviously very secure in himself, right? This is not something that an insecure person does. Jesus obviously was very secure in his Messiah ship. In fact, John actually tells us what was going on in Jesus' mind.

Look at this. 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. He rose from supper and did the things John is describing.

So Jesus knew the Father has given me all things into my hands. I have come forth from God, and I am going back to God. And it's in the secure awareness of these things, of his messianic identity. It's his security and these things that served as the wellspring from which he could do this amazingly humble deed of lowering himself to serve the disciples in this way.

silly example, but it helps make the point. I, ladies, a little secret about men sometimes, that sometimes amongst men, guys will do something that normally would be, rightly or wrongly is associated with, with something that women might do. I know when I was in college, sometimes we would wear pink shirts. Those were in style back then.

Guys would wear pink shirts and, and occasionally, there's a guy at church, that will show up in a pink shirt and it doesn't mean anything, but sometimes guys will tease each other and, and say, wow, you must be really secure in your masculinity. To, to wear that. It's just one of the ways we tease each other. Several years ago, I bought a Camry.

That to my sight was blue. it was a blue Camry. I'm still convinced of that to this day, but to the eyes of brothers in this church, it was periwinkle. And for weeks and months, however long I had the car, guys would come up to me.

I'd pull in the church parking lot and they're like, Man, you must be really secure in your masculinity to drive a car that color. And I heard that just again and again, and I know they didn't mean anything by it, but eventually the car, I'll just say the car got in an accident, so it's not. To impugn anybody, and I was left with a choice. Do I want the car repaired so I can keep it, or do I want to just take the insurance settlement?

Well, I took the settlement and bought a truck, OK. Because obviously I was not secure. In my masculinity. but what, a guy who is not secure in his masculinity might be afraid to do something that another guy who is more secure is.

Jesus is a very secure person. He is the most secure person in this room. And he knows who he is. He knows who he is before His Father.

I have come from God. I am going to God. I know who I am. I am secure in my messianic identity.

And so Jesus, the most secure person in this room, was willing to lower himself in this way. That's what secure people do. It's insecure people who are afraid of what other people think, and they're afraid to lower themselves in this way. It's insecure people that are bucking for the glory and wanting to be the greatest.

This dispute they're having over which is the greatest. That's the discussion that insecure people have. And Jesus on the opposite end of the spectrum, Absolutely secure in his identity, lowers himself and renders This service, I think the same would be true of us. The more filled we are with the very love of Jesus, and the more secure we are, this is, this is how God views me.

I'm justified. I'm righteous. I'm forgiven. I'm a child of God.

I'm on my way to heaven, and all that really matters is what God's verdict on me is. And if we're really secure in that, how that would just free us up. Just be who God has made us to be and to serve. And if it means lowering ourselves before other people to repent or to confess or to forgive or to serve, and we don't even get the credit for it, no one knows we did it.

Someone else seems to get the credit for it, doesn't matter. I am right with God and I am a justified one. If we are a church of secure people, We would be a church of free people who are free to serve and free to love. There's a 4th thing that Jesus does here.

In this narrative as it unfolds, and that is he persists over Peter's objections and washing. Peter's feet. He persists. Over Peter's objections and washing his feet.

It's not like the disciples, all of them were like, yeah, great. Thank you, Jesus for volunteering, wash my feet. No, when Jesus gets to Peter, Peter puts up an obstacle in front of Jesus. Look what happens verse 6, and so he came to Simon Peter, and he, Simon Peter, said to Jesus, Lord, do you wash my feet?

Peter may have observed, the other guys seem OK with this. I'm not OK with this. Do you wash my feet? if a servant had washed Peter's feet, he would have had no objection.

If one of his fellow disciples had washed his feet, Peter would have been like, hey, thank you very much. By the way, you missed a spot. Can you just hit that area once? there, there would have been no awkwardness, he would have received that.

he would have been totally OK with that. But Jesus, it's a different story. He says, Lord, do you, you of all people, wash my feet. He's protesting And verse 7, Jesus answered and said to him, what I do, you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter.

This is Jesus saying, Peter, I'm not going to get into it right now. This may not make sense to you, but there's coming a day when you will totally understand what I'm doing. Just let me do what I'm obviously indicating I want to do. You'll understand it later.

That actually should have been all that Peter needed, right? OK, I don't get it, but Jesus wants to do this for me. I receive it. But that's not what Peter does.

It says in verse 8, and Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. The New American Standard has the word never. And the statement followed by an exclamation point, and still the translation is weak. Literally there's a double negative here.

It could literally be rendered this way. No, you shall not wash my feet into eternity. He's like, No, Jesus, you will not wash my feet ever. As long as eternity exists.

you ever been over at someone's home and they've offered you something? Like, hey, you want a glass of tea? And you're like, No, that's, I'm good, I'm good. But you wanted the glass of tea, but you didn't want to put them out.

that ever happen? No., and you're hoping they'll say, No, you sure, because it's not a problem. In fact, I made this just for you. I heard that you were coming and they're like, no, no, it's no problem.

You sure? Because I'm actually going to get myself a glass of tea. Do you mind if I just go and get you one because I'm already going to be doing this. OK, that's great.

You're glad they persisted. but imagine someone's at your home and you say, hey, would you, Would you like for me to do this for you? Would you like a glass of tea? And they said no.

You will never You will never give me a glass. I will never drink a glass of tea from you forever. That's a conversation stopper right there. Like I, I think most of us would say, I'm going to let this go.

I'm not going to be pushy here. And what's amazing is that Jesus hears that. And says, I'm going to, I'm going to still push. I want to, I want to do this.

And so he says something to Peter that's really astounding. He says, Peter, If I do not wash you, You have no part with me. If I do not wash you, You have no part. With me You have no inheritance in my kingdom.

If you don't let me do this, Peter, then You, you have no inheritance. You have no relationship. With me. What is Jesus saying by this?

Let me, let me give you a paraphrase of what he's saying, and And then let's see where your mind goes as you think about this or hear this. He says, basically what he's saying is this, Peter, if you do not let me humble myself and from that position of humiliation, provide you a washing, You have no part with me. Listen to that again, Peter, if you do not let me humble myself, and from that lower position of humiliation, provide you a washing, You have no part with me. Where does your mind go when you hear that?

Here's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, Peter, if this offends you, If me lowering myself To my knees to render the menial task of washing your feet. If that offends you and you can't receive that from me. You will never receive what I am about to do for you.

At the cross I'm lowering myself to this degree to provide your feet a washing, and you're not wanting to receive that. If you can't receive that, then you will never accept me lowering myself, far more infinitely deep. And from that position of humiliation at the cross provides you the washing that your soul needs. Jesus knows actually that Peter's soul is actually in jeopardy at this moment.

If he can't receive this from Jesus, Then he'll never accept the cross. Jesus is pushing Peter to surrender. This is Jesus' message to everybody. And if you're here today and you've never put your trust in Jesus, this is his message to you.

That you need to let me wash you, you need to acknowledge that you need a washing. And you need to accept the fact that I have lowered myself to the humiliation of the cross so that from that position, I can give you the washing and the cleansing, the forgiveness and the salvation that you need. And if you cannot receive that, if you're too proud to receive that, you have no part with me. You have no inheritance.

In My kingdom. This is a serious moment and Peter's soul. Has And the balance And Peter gets the point. Guys, let me just say that part of becoming a disciple of Jesus.

Probably the key first step to becoming a disciple of Jesus is surrender. And you say, yeah, no, surrender, obeying Jesus and His lordship. Well yeah, it involves that. The key to becoming a saved disciple of Jesus.

is surrendering yourself to grace. Surrendering yourself to grace. This is why a lot of people don't believe in Jesus, because they won't surrender to grace. They want what they feel that they deserve.

Peter, if a fellow disciple, excuse me, washed his feet, Peter would have been totally fine with that. He deserved that. But he's receiving now a grace that he finds devastating personally, and he can't receive it. And Jesus is saying, you need to surrender, Peter.

You need to surrender to my grace, or you have no part with me. Well, look how Simon responds. He gets it. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Don't just wash my feet, then please wash my feet, but also my hands, these hands that I just held up in protest, pushing you away, stopping you, wash these hands, and this head. That has been thinking that this is wrong for you to do this for me, that did not want to receive this from you, wash my head also, Jesus. I need a total bath. And Jesus said to him, He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, he says to Peter.

And to the rest of the disciples, everyone except Judas. Back in this day, if you were going over to someone's house for a banquet, you would bathe, and then you would dress and you would make the journey to where the feast would be, but on the journey, your feet would get dirty and when you would arrive, You would need your feet to be washed, or you would want that, but you didn't need a bath. And what Jesus is saying to Peter and the other disciples except Judas, saying you guys have already been bathed in a saving way, becoming mind.

You've already been bathed and rendered fit for the banquet for the feast.

But in the walk of life, You do get soiled. And you do need forgiveness, and you do need the cleansing of your feet. John, the apostle later in First John is going to tell Christians that, you've been cleansed, you've been saved, you've been forgiven, but he tells us as Christians that if you confess your sins, if you are confessing your sins, he is faithful and just to be Forgiving your sins and cleansing you from all unrighteousness. So in the Christian life, we enjoy the forgiveness of God, the fact that God has already rendered the verdict and decided upon our forgiveness, but in our walk from day to day, we come to Him for the daily cleansing that we need as we make our way through this.

This darkened world where it's so easy to be stained by sin. But Peter is now ready for a bath and Jesus says, No, you don't, you don't need that, Peter. You just need your feet washed. Just let me wash your feet.

And so Peter acquiesces to that and lets Jesus wash his feet. There's a 5th thing that Jesus does, by way of showing love to his disciples here, and that is he urges them to wash each other's feet as he has just done for them. He said, and so, or John says, and so when he had washed their feet and taken his garments, And reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you're right, for so I am.

Jesus was not content to just wash their feet when he was done. He says, Do you guys realize what I just did? I want you to think about what I just did. Let's process what I just did.

You call me teacher and Lord, and you're right, I am your teacher and your Lord. And if I then the Lord and the teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you should Also should do as I did to you. And then he says, basically don't think that this is beneath you.

To do what I just did. To think that this is beneath you now would imply that you think you're greater than I am. If it's not beneath me to do this, then it cannot be beneath you to do this. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master.

Neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. Jesus is looking at his disciples and he's saying, I've just, I've loved you in this moment, not just by washing your feet, but I've loved you by providing you a pattern that I want you to follow from this day forward. I want you to do for one another what I've just done to you. And let's just think of Peter and another disciple, John.

here's basically what Jesus is saying. Peter, as I have just washed your feet, and you've been the recipient of my humble service, you need to love your brother John in the same way that I have loved you. But Jesus is also saying, Peter, you saw how I washed your brother John's feet and loved him in the same way that you saw me love him and wash his feet, you are to follow my example, and you are to love him and wash his feet in the same way. And so in both ways, we're, we're loving others the way we've been loved, and we're also loving our brothers and sisters the way we know Jesus loves our brothers and sisters also.

That leads to a final thing that Jesus does by way of showing love to His disciples, and that is He promises blessing or blessedness upon them if they wash one another's feet. He says, if these things, you are blessed if you do them. here's What Jesus is basically revealing now is I've been loving you guys, not just by washing your feet and rendering this courtesy. I've actually loved you by showing you the path to true blessedness.

You guys are quarreling with one another. None of you are smiling. None of you are happy when there's this spirit. of competition among you.

And I'm, I'm doing what I'm doing, not just because your feet need to be washed, but I'm trying to show you a better way. And I'm trying to show you the way to blessedness, to happiness. How to be enviably blessed before God and man. Guys, listen carefully.

And children, listen very carefully. We tend to think that happiness, blessedness comes in being served. People waiting on us, and catering to us. But Jesus is saying, no, no, no, the path to blessedness is in serving.

We tend to think that happiness comes in being the greatest. If I can just be the best at what I do and esteemed by others to be the greatest, or at least greater than those people, and we envy those that are esteemed differently or in a greater way than we are, and we think that happiness would come if I could just have this or that in the estimation of other people. And Jesus says, happiness doesn't come from being the greatest. It comes from assuming the lower place that I have just assumed.

And going to the lower places I've done just now, I'm showing you the path to blessedness. Blessedness or happiness does not come from our pride, being honored and catered to. Blessedness comes from humility and serving from that position of humility and Jesus says, you realize what I've just done. Do you realize what I've just done?

I have just showed you. The path to the blessedness that I know you want. And the route to get there is not through greatness. Not through pride, not through being served.

But through serving. And being humble And assuming the lower place. Again, for us as a church, guys, if we Whatever the road ahead is for us with all the work that's being done and just thinking through the path forward, the questions that need to be answered. All of that is, is so meaningless if we can't be a church characterized by this love from Jesus.

Paul says we're nothing. were nothing in 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 that If we have all such things but do not have love. And so the responsibility is on every one of us as elders and as staff and as members of the congregation, every one of us. To follow Jesus' example.

If every one of us are secure in our identity in Christ and we're willing to assume the lower place and just serve from that position, With a self forgetfulness that only a relationship with Christ can produce, there's no telling. what God can do with this church. But if we lack that, But we have millions and millions of dollars of beautiful facilities. Then we're a big fat 0 in God's kingdom.

And may that not be our fate. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord Jesus, we thank you for saving us and for all the ways you save us through your atonement, through your shed blood, through the forgiveness that you provide us. And you also save us by showing us a better way than the way that comes natural to us, the instinctive way.

I pray that you would make us a people that are OK with grace. We're OK with receiving a grace from you that we do not deserve, that we would surrender to this grace. Yeah, we don't deserve it. It's the opposite of what we deserve, but by the grace of God, I am what I am and I have what I have, and I will not reject the grace of God.

I receive it. Even though I don't deserve it, and I will give this same grace to others. I will love and I will forgive and I will serve. And I will seek to be like Jesus, who has shown us the better way.

This is the way that the world is hungry to see. They don't even know what they're hungry for, Lord, help us to show them something that is different. In the natural way. In the worldly way.

We thank You, Lord, for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you. Just receive these funds that we give and this offering, Lord, and do much with the money that is given for the glory of Jesus, this wonderful Savior who has condescended so low to save us in this way that He might raise us to the heights of glory for all eternity. In His name we pray. Amen.