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Now displaying: February, 2015
Feb 28, 2015

Question: How does what Jesus knows affect his behavior?

  • The knowledge of where he had come from and where he was going permeated Jesus’ thinking. Out of this mindset he was able to minister from the strength of a confidence in his relationship with God. Knowing that all things had been given into His hand and could not be taken away He ministers from a pure motive of love.
  • When we are unsure of our relationship with God we cannot serve with pure motives. Rather than give out of gratitude or serve out of love we attempt to compensate for our failing.
  • I preach not to be saved but rather because I am saved.

Question: What misconception does Peter have concerning leadership?

  • In Peter’s view, the outspoken representative of the motley crew of followers, the Lord is to be served. It is an offense to think that any Jew, much less the chosen one of God, would stoop to perform a duty that would normally be carried out only by slaves or by women of ill repute.
  • The Lord’s example counters the wrong view of Peter with an example of humility that would have been truly shocking.

Question: Where is my heart concerning the problem jobs and problem people?

  • Honestly, I serve when I believe that it is in the best interest of the program of the local church. I serve when it seems that there is something to be gained in appreciation from the people that I serve. Seldom do I serve in a way that truly gives all the glory to God with no thought of my own desires.

 

Message Text – John Chapter 13:1-20

Message Outline

Introduction - Fallen Condition Focus: Improving Our Serve

We hold service in contempt and positions of low visibility are regarded with disdain. The unsaid but obvious message is “Recognize me. Honor me and hold me in high regard. Promote me, praise me, and even worship me as God.” Although you are recoiling from the horror and vileness of such a thought… that is what my actions say. Although we claim that these are repugnant statements we claim, embrace, and promote them by our unwillingness to proactively pursue positions that are perceived poorly.

Heaven forbid that we should need to serve someone who has wronged us. May it never be that we would have to show humble kindness to people who have plotted and conspired to ensure our demise.

 

I.      The Decision for Demotion (13:1-4)

A.    Preparing the Reader (13:1)

i)            Time to Die (13:1a) – Now before the Feast of the Passover This is the Thursday of Passion week.

(1)                      The reader has been put on alert. This is the third Passover that has been mentioned in John’s account. (2:13, 23; 6:4) The readers that are familiar with the events commemorated by Passover would have in mind the lamb slaughtered by the Jews and how the blood of that lamb saved households from the judgment of God. They would also be reminded of the enigmatic statement made by John the Baptist: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.!” (John 1:29) John forces us to wonder, against our will, in what sense Jesus is the paradigmatic lamb.

(2)                      According to the Synoptics (Mark 14:12; Luke 22:15), Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover during the early hours of 15 Nisan (Thursday evening, with days beginning at sundown), with preparations having been made earlier that day, 14 Nisan, the day on which the paschal lambs were slaughtered at the temple (usually between 3:00 and 5:00 P.M. in modern measure).

(3)                      Using the Jewish way of accounting time Jesus is crucified on the same day that the lambs are slaughtered in the temple in preparation for Passover.

ii)          Time to Depart (13:1b) – when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father We are to see the material that unfolds next as somehow being the outworking of Jesus dealing with His eminent departure. The knowledge that His hour has come is catalytic.

iii)        Timeless Description (13:1c) – having loved His own who were in the world With this statement John summaries the previous chapters: Jesus loved these men. Without reference to the cultural idioms, colloquial sayings, or covenantal considerations John glorifies the Son. Will our epitaphs survive the age? Or will they become arcane and puzzling because they are hopelessly mired in dated religious activities instead of profound relationships. May I not be remembered as the man who got a patent for business intelligence drilldown technologies. May I not be remembered as the preacher who created compelling PowerPoint. May I not be remembered as the parent who taught his sons how to use a Java compiler. May I be remembered as the man who loved others.

iv)         Time Decision (13:1d) – He loved them to the end Hereby does the author prepare the reader for the acts recorded in the text that follows. With the aid of the lens of this introductory statement we are to view what comes as an expression of the Savior’s love for the disciples. John insists that we take notice of what Jesus does with his last moments. He seems to say, “Do not miss what Jesus does with his dying days.”

B.     Preparation of the Lead (13:2-5)

i)            The Problem (13:2a) – And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him It is important to the story that we know where Judas stands in his relationship to Jesus. Although he sits at the table eating with the Son of Man he has already received payment for betraying Jesus to his enemies. Although he sits in fellowship with the disciples he is in fact a devil.

 

ii)          The Provision (13:3) – Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, The knowledge of His position, his purpose, and his destiny was an enabling factor in what follows. John says you need to know that the events you are about to witness are the outworking of what Jesus knows.

 

iii)        The Puzzle (13:4) – rose from Supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

 

(1)                      John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

(2)                      Philippians 2:5-8 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

II.    The Demonstration (13:5-11)

A.    Jesus’ Service is Proactive (13:5)

The service modeled by Jesus is not in response to someone begging for foot care but rather internally motivated by His great love. The matter has been placed in the hands of the Son of Man. (13:3)[2] When Jesus rises from the water of His own baptism the Father says, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Why? Look at His heart. Instead of skirting responsibilities Jesus goes after them motivated by His love for the Father and His love for His disciples.

B.     Jesus’ Service is Persistent (13:6-10)

i)            The Disturbance (John 13:6-8): Poor Peter is terribly disturbed by what He is seeing. His master, his teacher, his Lord has lowered himself to work that no self-respecting Jew would ever do. Against the emphatic protest of Peter the Lord presses on with His determination to serve.

 

ii)          The Determination (John 13:9-10) Do not be easily deterred by opposition to your proposition. Peter sensing Jesus’ reversing of their natural roles, asked why He, Peter’s Lord, should wash the feet of His servant Peter. In Peter’s question the word You is emphatic in the Greek. (σύμουνίπτειςτοὺςπόδας) Jesus said that later (after His death and resurrection) Peter would understand.

 

 

 

C.    Jesus’ Service is Positive (13:10-11)

 

i)            The Call for Confession (13:10) – Those who are bathed refers to those who have been washed with the word they have received and who will shortly experience the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. These people do not need to be bathed completely again. They are already clean. However, in our travels we do get dirty feet. The washing of the feet symbolizes our ongoing need to confess and forsake the sins that we have committed since our bathing.

 

ii)          The Condemnation of Unbelief (13:11) – The condemnation and corrupting sin in this passage is the sin of unbelief. In refusing to receive the words of Jesus the heart of Judas was prepared to receive the hideous, heinous, and horrible suggestion of betraying the innocent Lord of glory.

 

III.  The Discussion of the Demonstration (13:12-17)

 

A.    The Resurrection Condensed (13:12)

 

As a picture of crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to glory John provides a few words on what the Lord does after finishing the humiliating work of washing the feet of the disciples. Having finished the working of atoning for our sins, the Resurrected Lord put back on His garments of glory and ascended to where he was before. (Acts 1:9-11)

 

B.     The Rhetorical Question (13:12)

 

The question is asked with the aim of drawing the disciples into contemplation of the meaning and message of his most recent actions.

 

C.    The Right Confession (13:13)

 

To call Jesus Teacher and Lord was to agree with who He claimed to be. Through the Old Testament, testimony of John, the miracles, and the voice of the Father from heaven Jesus is proclaimed to be the Prophet that is to come into the world (John 6:14) and the King of Israel (John 12:34). Unlike the majority of people who had seen the signs and continued in unbelief the disciples had come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. (John 6:68-69; 11:27)

 

D.     The Real Consequence: Rightly Related Regardless of the Circumstance (13:14-17)

 

i)            The Disturbance (John 13:6-8): Poor Peter is terribly disturbed by what He is seeing. His master, his teacher, his Lord has lowered himself to work that no self-respecting Jew would ever do. Against the emphatic protest of Peter the Lord presses on with His determination to serve.

 

ii)          The Determination (John 13:9-10) Do not be easily deterred by opposition to your proposition. Peter sensing Jesus’ reversing of their natural roles, asked why He, Peter’s Lord, should wash the feet of His servant Peter. In Peter’s question the word You is emphatic in the Greek. (σύμουνίπτειςτοὺςπόδας) Jesus said that later (after His death and resurrection) Peter would understand.

 

 

Feb 28, 2015

Real Talk with Roderick

Don't Look Back

 

 

 

In His grip by His grace

 

Roderick

 

 

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