Title: Christ
our Example
Text:
John 13: 1-20
Date:
April 2, 2015
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
John 13: 1: Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his
hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2: And supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray
him; 3: Jesus knowing that the
Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and
went to God; 4: He riseth from
supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5: After that he poureth water into a
bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the
towel wherewith he was girded. 6:
Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash
my feet? 7: Jesus answered and
said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8: Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part
with me. 9: Simon Peter saith
unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10: Jesus saith to him, He that is
washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and
ye are clean, but not all. 11:
For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. 12: So after he had washed their feet,
and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye
what I have done to you? 13: Ye
call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14: If I then, your Lord and
Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15: For I have given you an example,
that ye should do as I have done to you. 16: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater
than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17: If ye know these things, happy are
ye if ye do them. 18: I speak
not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be
fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 19: Now I tell you before it come,
that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. 20: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me
receiveth him that sent me.” (Joh 13:18-20)
Every believer—chosen, redeemed and
regenerated by the grace of God—wants to do the will of God. Our desire is to
please God and honor God, to see Christ receive all the glory, to love and help
our brethren and to see needy sinners brought to faith in Christ.
Every
believer has a commandment from God by which we are to live. The apostle John
wrote, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his
Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” (1 Jn 1: 3)
Believers
are not under the law of Moses. But we are not without the law of Christ. “Faith
which worketh by love” is the rule of the believer’s life. “For the love of
Christ constraineth us.” So where does the believer look, to be taught the
example, the pattern, we are to live by? We look to Christ alone! Our Redeemer
said, in verse 15, “I have given you an
example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” The apostle Peter
reaffirms our Savior’s words, writing, our Savior, “suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his
steps” (1 Peter 2:21). We learn everything we need to know by looking to
Christ and we are taught effectually in our hearts by Christ.
Here is
what we see in John 13. In love for God and his brethren, Christ lowered
himself to the very lowest position, and served his people, washing each and
every one of God’s elect from our sins. So then we ought to love one another by
lowering ourselves to the very lowest position and by serving one another.
LOVE UNQUENCHABLE
Christ
let nothing stop him from loving those the Father gave him. By that, our Redeemer teaches us to let
nothing stop us from loving one another.
We see Christ’s unquenchable love beginning in verse 1, “Now before the feast of the passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto
the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end.” (Jn 13: 1)
Oh, how
much must have been on our Savior’s mind at this time! “Before the feast of the Passover” tells us this was the night
before Christ was to die as the true Passover Lamb. This happened on the eve before our Lord’s
death.
This
coming Sunday is the day the world regards as Easter. If it were truly the
morning of our Lord’s resurrection then this Thursday night would be the night
the things in our text transpired.
Notice,
Christ’s heart was upon the work of his Father, “When Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father.” He knew. Christ knew the hour for which the
world was made had come. He knew God’s law must be honored and that he alone would
and could accomplish it. Christ knew God’s justice must be satisfied and he
alone would and could satisfy it. He
knew God’s elect must be reconciled and he alone would and could reconcile
them. Our Savior knew God’s elect must be made the righteousness of God in him
and he alone would and could accomplish the work.
Also, the
cruel cross was before our Savior with all its horrors and shame. He knew he would bear the sins of God’s elect
in his own body on the tree. Christ knew he would bear the just fire of God’s
wrath, being forsaken of God his Father. He knew he would lay down his life and
have his body laid in a tomb.
Further,
as proof of his victory, the joy of returning to the Father was before Him. Oh,
what joy was set before him! The joy of being with the Father and having all
his people raised in him to God’s right hand in glory.
Yet, at
the same time, as his heart is set on his Father’s work, his heart is set on
those he loved, “when Jesus knew that his
hour was come that he should depart out
of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end.” (Jn 13: 1)
Brethren,
when we have a fearful and important task before us, we have a tendency to
become very much self-absorbed. Or, if we have some great joy before us, we
tend to do the same. Either way, our love for one another tends to fade into
the background. But with our great Redeemer, not the terror of the cross, not
the weighty responsibility, nor the joy and rest of glory could turn Christ
from loving and caring for his own in the world.
LOVE TO THE END
Brethren,
you do know that “his own” are not
just those at the table that night, but all God’s people, even us here tonight?
We are his own—Christ’s very own by God the Father’s electing grace, by
Christ’s own redeeming purchase and by God the Holy Spirit’s regenerating grace.
Christ loves his own! And Christ loves us to the end.
Not only
unto the end of time but to the end of our greatest need of his grace.
Our omniscient Savior knew his apostles would argue over who should be the
greatest, exalting themselves over Christ, yet he loved them to the end of
their need. He knew Philip would act like he never knew him yet he loved
him to the end of that need. He knew three of them would sleep while He prayed
and agonized in the Garden, yet he loved them to the end of that need. He knew Peter would deny him, Thomas would
doubt Him and all would forsake him, yet he loved them to the end of their need.
Believer,
he knows this and more about every chosen, redeemed, child here now. Yet he
loves us to the end: unto the end of our miserable failures, unto the end of
our unworthiness, unto the deepest end of our deepest need. He shall continue loving
us to the end of time till we are with him in glory forevermore and he will not
lose one! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. There is
no shadow of turning with him. He loves his own with an everlasting love. (Jn
10: 28-29; Heb 13: 8; Ja 1: 17; Jer 31: 13)
Here is
the first thing for us to know. Christ said, “I have given you an example, that
ye should do as I have done to you. If ye ‘know these things’, happy are ye if
ye do them.” So here is the first thing for us to know. Christ upholds the holy
and righteous requirements of God and at the same time he loves and ministers
to his people. In fact, these two things are inseparably united. He went to the
cross because he loved God and he loved those the Father gave him. But Christ
must make them righteous and holy in order for us to come into his presence and
experience his love. God’s love and righteousness and holiness are inseparable.
He loves his own in righteousness and holiness unto the end.
Therefore,
God’s grace and love constrains each blood bought child to never compromise the
truth of the gospel of God’s electing grace, of Christ’s particular redemption
of his people, and of the Holy Spirit’s invincible calling keeping grace. And at
the same time, his love constrains us to never cease loving one another unto
the end, faults and all! It is because these things—faith, truth and love—are
inseparably united when God has given us in new heart.
LOVE OVERCOMING HELL
Notice,
Christ also loved his own while as yet he knew his betrayer was in his midst, “And supper being ended, the devil having now
put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.” (Jn 13:
2)
This
shows us that a betrayer being in their midst, the devil himself ruling Judas’
heart, could not prevent Christ from loving and serving his own, not Judas, but
his own elect.
Brethren,
Christ said “the gates of hell shall not
prevail” against Christ and his church. (Mt 16: 18) So never be daunted by
Satan’s craftiness. Let the enemy of the cross, rage. By the power and grace of
our King and Christ, the devil and his hellish host shall never hinder us from
believing on Christ and from loving one another.
LOVE CONDESCENDING TO SERVE
Christ
Jesus loved his own by taking the lowest position of service in order to wash
his people. One of the most amazing
aspects of God’s grace is that the one who did this work for us is himself the
Son of God, “Jesus knowing that the
Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and
went to God…” (Jn 13: 3)
Notice,
it speaks of Christ’s work as having already been accomplished and he already
possessing his glory. It teaches us that our Savior’s dominion as our Mediator is an eternal dominion. He
has always possessed all power in heaven and earth for he is the Son of God! He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world.” (Rev 13: 8) The works of God were finished from the foundation
of the world. (Heb 4:3). In
Christ, all God’s elect were blessed and accepted from everlasting. He came
from God to redeem his people from our sins as the King and when he finished
the work he went to God as the King. He is God and Man in one. That very night,
it was so. And it is so now! And he knew it was so.
Yet, knowing
himself to be God Almighty, he humbled himself to wash the feet of his saints.
Understand what the washing of feet was. In those days in that land they
traveled in sandals in the hot sand. So washing the feet of your company was customary.
But it was performed by the lowliest servant in the house because no one wanted
to wash the dirty feet of weary travelers.
It is
amazing love and humility that the GodMan condescended that night to literally
wash the feet of his apostles. But what a perfect way for Christ to illustrate his
most amazing love and humility which Christ showed his people by coming down
from glory to the lowest possible position to wash us in his blood on the
cursed cross.
What a
picture he gives us in verses 4-6 and in verse 12 of his work of redemption! Verse
4 says, “He arose from supper” like
as the Son of God arose from his throne in glory. “He laid aside his garments and took a towel, and girded himself” like
as the Son of God “who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Php 2: 6-8)
Verse 5
says, “After that he poureth water into a
bason” like as the GodMan poured out his precious blood on the cross. “And began to wash the disciples’ feet”
like as Christ purged his people from our sins, judicially under the law, declaring
God just and the Justifier of all who believe on Jesus (Rom 3: 24-26); like as
Christ washes us in regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3: 4-7); and like as
Christ continually cleanses us of all sin as our Advocate with the Father as we
confess our sins to him (1 Jn 1: 9-10; 2: 1-2) “And to wipe them with
the towel wherewith he was girded” like as Christ robes us in his
righteousness through faith.
Verse 12
says, “So after he had washed their feet,
and had taken his garments, and was set down again he said unto them, Know ye
what I have done to you?” like as after Christ finished the work of
redemption, he arose from the dead, took his garments of glory, sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on High, from where he teaches each of his redeemed
through the gospel the great work he has done for us and in us.
Then
Christ said, “If ye know these things,
happy are ye if you do them.” (Jn 13: Sinner, do you know these things? This
is the one thing needful. Peter protested not to be washed this way. But it was
only pride. The Lord told Peter in verse 8, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.” Pride will destroy
you. That is what our self-righteous,
legal works are. It is not our works that washes away our sins. Nor is it
baptism that washes away our sins. Christ baptized no one. Notice, Christ
washed Judas feet, but it did not change his heart. By that, Christ shows us that
no outward observances can wash us judicially or inwardly. Christ himself must
wash us or we have no part with him. Again, Christ must wash us judicially—(Romans 3: 24-26); experimentally (Titus 3: 4-7) and continually (1 John 1:9).
Brethren, what peace to be washed
in the blood of the Lamb, washed in regeneration, and continually forgiven and cleansed
by our Advocate. “Jesus saith to him, He
that is washed…is clean every whit.” And to every believer Christ declares
in the court of our conscience, “And ye
are clean.” (Jn 13: 10; 1 Cor 6: 11) To be clean is to be righteous and holy and accepted
of God. Sinner, do not protest against Christ, submit to Christ in faith and “thou shalt be saved.” (Rom 10: 9)
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Lastly, Christ teaches every
believer to love one another even as Christ loves us, “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then,
your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one
another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have
done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than
his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know
these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” (Jn 13: 13-17)
Not one of us is greater than our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Master and our Lord. He says, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
We do not wash feet literally
because the only ordinances Christ instituted were Baptism and the Lord’s
Table, not the washing of feet. Our Lord means so much more than that we
literally go through the outward form of washing one another’s feet.
As we have seen in this passage,
with his great work before him, yet he loved us. Therefore, whatever work is
before you and I, let us yet love one another. With the pain of the cross
before him, yet he loved us. Therefore, in the midst of our trials, let us yet love
one another. With the joy of the Father before him, he yet loved us. Therefore,
with joy before us, let us yet love one another. Unto the end, he yet loved us.
Therefore, let us love one another faults and all to the end. With a devil in
his midst, yet he loved us. Therefore, if the devil tries to stop us, let us yet
love one another. Condescending from his throne in glory, he loved us.
Therefore, let us abase ourselves to the lowest service to love and serve one
another. He washed us from our sins because he loved all those the Father gave
to him. Therefore, let us cover the sins of our brethren in love as he did us. He
laid down his life for us because he loved us. Therefore, let us lay down our
lives in love for one another.
There is something else important
for us not to miss in this passage. What a lesson we learn from Peter’s
objection! When our brethren attempt serve us in love, do not object to them
doing so. Let us never let our pride get in the way of letting our brethren do
what God has enable them to do in love for us.
I recall one occasion as a young
believer where the Lord taught me this lesson through a loving brother in
Christ. He was offering to help me while
I was in need. When I objected he said
to me, “God has blessed me with the unspeakable gift of his Son. He has given
me faith to believe on Christ and to love my brethren. God has given me the
substance and the heart to cheerfully help. It is my joy to do so. So please do
not take this privilege from me.” How God used those words to melt my heart and
teach me that it is just as important that we are willing to be served by our
brethren, as it is for us to love our brethren.
Lastly, notice, true happiness is
knowing Christ and obeying him from a willing and happy heart. Christ said, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye
do them.” (Jn 13: 17) Indeed, the
only true happiness that exists is in knowing Christ and obeying him. But our
Redeemer says that if we know these things then we are happy. That is why we do
them. God’s grace and love toward believers makes us happy. Therefore, believers do what we do for one
another, not grudgingly or of necessity, but from a willing, cheerful heart.
That is the heart with which Christ served God his Father and successfully
redeemed all God’s elect. And that is the only kind of doer that God loves. (2
Cor 9: 7)
Amen!