Christ-like Service pt 2

If God’s people would take their
Bibles turn to John chapter 13 where we resume John chapter
13 where we pick up into a passage that we began last Lord’s Day.
The parable of not the parable it serves as such but it is the
the account of Christ in the upper room the foot washing It is, as we began to realize
last week, it is one of the most profound moments that is ever
recorded in the Gospels. John 13 drops us into the scene
in John’s Gospel where he is right on the edge of taking on
our redemption, where Jesus Christ is just about to be arrested
and tried and crucified on our behalf. But in this fleeting
evening, in these hours that remain of his earthly ministry,
John records this really amazing scene of Jesus closing out his
earthly ministry in just this profound way. Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, as we saw last week, deliberately present every detail
of Christ’s ministry here in his journey from Bethany to Jerusalem,
whereas John almost seems like he’s in a hurry to get us into
the upper room. John provides in these five chapters,
chapters 13, through 17, rather, it really
captures one evening, whereas the first 12 chapters captured
almost three years of Christ’s ministry. So in these final moments,
there is this quiet opportunity with his closest friends, his
Twelve apostles, they’re gathered together. And what we refer to
now as the Last Supper, certainly the disciples don’t know it as
the Last Supper, not yet. Jesus is dealing with a crisis. He’s dealing with a crisis that
even affects the church down to our day. It is the crisis
of pride. If you would, John chapter 13,
and we’re just looking at the first 17 verses. Now 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. And during supper, the devil,
having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon, to betray Him. 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, rose from supper and laid
aside His garments. And taking a towel, He girded
Himself about. Then He poured water into the
basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the
towel with which He was girded. And so he came to Simon Peter.
He said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered
and said to him, what I do now you do not realize, but you shall
understand hereafter. Peter said to him, never shall
you wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not
wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to Him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said
to him, he who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is
completely clean. And you are clean, but not all
of you. For he knew the one who was betraying
him. For this reason he said, not
all of you are clean. And so, When he had washed their
feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again,
he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You
call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. If
I then the Lord and the teacher washed your feet, you ought also
to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that
you should also do as I did to you. 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. If you know these things,
you are blessed if you do them. Only the briefest of reviews
today, if you trickle back to verse one, where John records
that this was before the feast of the Passover, we believe,
as I presented last week, likely just immediately prior to the
Passover celebration. Jesus knows exactly the context. Jesus knows that it is His hour. That’s how John refers to it. It is the hour of His redemption,
that He should depart out of this world to the Father. And
then John records this Remarkable little note, having loved his
own who were in the world, having provided them an example, having
given them counsel, having given them the privilege to witness
so many miracles, having taught them lesson after lesson, having
modeled all of the things that he taught, having loved his own
who were in the world, he loved them to the end. He loved them
to the absolute utmost. He loved them in the most practical
manner, not just through His teaching, but now He’s going
to do it through this incredible example. An incredible and humble
example of washing their feet. That will be followed by a very
lengthy address that He makes to them. Ultimately, ending with his prayer
on their behalf as he goes before his heavenly father. All this
leading up to his most practical exhibition of love, that of the
crucifixion. No wonder R.C. Sproul said it
this way, that we cannot properly understand the significance of
the foot washing episode apart from its proximity to the crucifixion. Those things are all blended.
This is all an expression of Christ’s love. It is the very
core of the gospel itself. Well, we began by looking at
that verse that during supper the devil having already put
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, verse 2, the son of Simon to
betray him. Jesus knows exactly what’s in
every man’s heart. He knows exactly where Judas
has been, that Judas has already struck a deal. It’s all context
there in verses 2 and 3. Jesus knows full well that He
already has experienced victory. The Father has given all things
into His hands and that He has come forth from God and that
in just hours He will go back to God. And it’s in that context
that John records in verse 4 that Jesus rose from supper, laid
aside His garments, took a towel, girded Himself about, poured
water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet. We looked at this last week and
I said only the briefest of review. They’re all sitting around these
low tables, probably reclining on one elbow, and they are in
very close proximity to one another, including one another’s feet. It was a practice that was commonplace,
expected in that day, that because of the travel, because of the
sandals, because of the footwear that was worn, The streets the
roads weren’t paved they were dirt feet were very likely to
be dirty Depending on how far you traveled you would add the
odor that would obviously come with that and you are looking
at a very necessary but very practical Provision that a host
would make if he’s hosting a party in this particular case It’s
probably even understandable. And it would be like us to begin
to excuse this away that really everyone was responsible. And
we know the old adage is true that if everyone is responsible,
really no one’s responsible. And so they all entered into
this house. They all sat down at the table. There wasn’t a host to provide
the foot washing. So they all began to recline
and not one of them did anything about it. And then we’re told that Jesus
stands up, laid aside His garments, dressed
down to what we would call His underclothing, took a towel,
wrapped it around His waist, poured water in the basin, and
began to go, disciple by disciple, washing their feet. And I told
you last week, this is, to me, One of the most remarkable images
in all of the New Testament, you can put the baby in a manger.
Jesus didn’t have the same input on that particular decision in
the real life setting. That was his mother’s decision
to lay him in a manger. Circumstances providentially
directed that he be laid in a manger. But this one, Jesus took on. This is a very practical expression
of Jesus taking on human flesh. To strip down to his underclothes,
gird himself with a towel, was akin to slaves attire. He begins to wash his disciples’
feet, and as we saw, everything was going just fine until he
got to Peter. Peter challenges him. We spent
no little time looking at that challenge. Peter at first doesn’t
want, he can’t even conceive of Jesus washing his feet at
all. Totally misunderstood it. They
were literally dirty feet that he was washing. He wasn’t providing
some kind of a symbol or some kind of a religious rite. Jesus
is going to do this, he says in verse 8. And what he’s doing
is correcting, he’s instructing, he’s even rebuking his beloved
apostles. What he tells them is they cannot
be above this kind of correction. Jesus isn’t for a minute saying
that this is a new institution, that unless someone has their
feet washed in some public religious ceremony, they cannot be saved. He’s not instituting a third
ordinance like the Lord’s table or baptism. Instead, what he says is that
his ongoing work in the lives of every believer in rebuking
and correcting their sin and in bringing about repentance
is absolutely crucial. Look at verse 10. He who is bathed
needs only to wash his feet. You see, Peter got this idea.
Well, if that’s the case, then, you know, let me bathe my entire
body. Jesus says if you’ve bathed,
if you’ve already come to Christ in salvation, what you really
need is confession. You need confession of sin. You
need to be restored in that sense. You need, symbolically here,
a foot washing. He effectively says here that
every time you sin, you don’t rush home and take a bath. You
don’t need to be saved all over again, Peter. Every time that
you sin, every time we sin, we don’t lose our salvation. What
we need is a spiritual foot washing. That’s what he tells Peter. He
tells Peter, you need to repent of your sinful attitudes, which
was manifest in all of the apostles, specifically the sin of pride. And then it says in verse 12,
when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, reclined
at the table again. He said to them, do you know
what I’ve done to you? Now he’s not being coy. They
all knew full well that he had just washed their feet. As I
suggested last week, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were some
that were in tears at the very thought, at the idea that as
he passes by, they all overlooked this duty. And now their Lord
is washing their feet. When He asks them, do you know
what I’ve done to you? There’s absolute silence. There
is no reply. No reply recorded. And so Jesus
continues, you call me teacher and Lord. You’re right for so
I am. If there was ever a time to correct
the idea of His divinity, this was the time to correct it and
Jesus didn’t. It was right to call Him Lord.
It’s right to submit themselves to Him. If I then, the Lord and
the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s
feet. I gave you an example. I gave you an example that you
should do as I did for you.” So Jesus, as we saw, wasn’t ordaining
a new religious ritual. Instead, He was giving them a
living parable. It was meant to instruct them.
It was meant to challenge them. It was meant to extol the need
of humble service. See, any one of these not only
could have done the same thing, but each one of them should have
done the same thing. Each one of them should have
recognized the need of foot washing. Each one of them should have
taken it upon themselves to stand. and serve their brothers. And
no one did. Jesus waited until the last possible
minute to ensure that no one did. And so Jesus says, I provided
you an example. An example of what? Well, I suggested
to you last week by our title and by our start into this study
What Jesus is calling us to is Christ-like service. It’s ministry
that honors God, and he’s calling each one of his apostles to Christ-like
service. And by proxy, by reading this
account, he’s calling each one of us, that if we have placed
our faith in Christ, if we call ourselves Christians, he’s calling
us to Christ-like service. We went on from there to look
at the first particular of ministry that honors God. I said that
there are four, four particulars of ministry that honors God.
First of which is that Christ-like service is self-sacrificing. It is by nature inconvenient. Look at the verse, verse four.
Pardon me, back up to verse two. During supper, Jesus, Verse 3,
rose from supper. Verse 4, that’s the simple sentence.
Everything else is context. During supper, Jesus rose from
supper. We saw that that was absolutely
crucial to ponder this detail, that it was during supper. I
told you last week, we don’t even answer the phone during
supper. And yet Jesus gets up strips down to his underclothing,
girds a towel, grabs a bowl of water, and begins to go, man
by man, washing his friend’s feet. He waited until, as I said, the
last possible moment, till every last apostle had neglected, even
forsaken, out of their own heart of pride, to do this basic service. And that’s exactly what Jesus
is rebuking, and Jesus knows their hearts. I’m not just drawing
conjecture here. It’s exactly what Jesus is rebuking. The other reason that Jesus did
this is he wanted to provide an enduring example that service
is by nature inconvenient. Could there be anything more
inconvenient than standing up during supper, stripping down
to your underclothing, girding a towel around your waist, filling
a basin of water, and washing all of your guests’ feet? It
was during supper that this happened. He’s deliberately going from
guest to guest on his knees, washing feet, and then he returns
to dinner. What we pointed out last Lord’s
Day is that ministry is hard. Ministry is, by nature, inconvenient. It’s hard, it’s dirty, it’s painful,
it’s challenging, it’s frustrating, And most of the time it’s just
plain inconvenient. That’s ministry. That’s how you
know you’re doing ministry. Ministry is by nature inconvenient. Ministry is by nature inopportune. Ministry doesn’t call and say,
when it’s convenient for you, when you have time, could you
schedule in such and such? Most often it is, disruptive
to our life, to our schedule, is a, as I said last week, it’s
a displacement of ourself, it’s a displacement of our plans,
our time, our resources, and even our dignity. Point two. We’re looking at Christ-like
service, ministry that honors God, that is review. This brings
us to point two, the second particular of ministry that honors God.
Not only is Christ-like service self-sacrificing, Christ-like
service is self-aware. It is sensitive to the shortness
of time. Listen to this. Verse 1, Now before the feast
of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come, Jesus
knows exactly that this is the last opportunity that He’ll have
on this earth to communicate this lesson to His apostles. Last opportunity. Knowing that
His hour had come, that He would depart out of this world to the
Father. Look at verse 3. 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. Jesus knew that this was
His last opportunity. The Lord Jesus is fully aware
of the significance of this hour. It is His hour, says John. It is the time marked out for
the fulfillment of His mission as the Redeemer. It is the very
point in time. at which God sovereignly marked
out as the precise moment of mankind’s redemption. Hundreds
of years had come in the unfolding plan of redemption and now it’s
come down to the ticking of a clock. And Jesus Christ is not caught
off guard. He’s not caught by surprise.
He knows He knows not only the timing of this mission, but he
also knows the success of it. He’s assured of his return to
the Father, and it’s precisely because he knows that he would
be returning to the Father, returning to glory, that this is the last
opportunity he has to promote, to teach, to model self-humbling
love. We are, you know this, we are
likewise admonished many times in the scriptures, aren’t we?
About the brevity of life, about the fleeting nature of our opportunities. Time is short, it’s uncertain. The opportunity for service to
Christ and to his people The opportunity of service to his
church is fleeting. It’s here one day and gone without
any warning. It’s a glorious opportunity,
the most glorious opportunity in all the world to serve Christ,
but it will not last forever. The window is closing. The sense of urgency is woven
into our everyday language, isn’t it? Complete these in your mind’s
eye, if you would. Make hay while the sun shines. Know time like the present. Don’t put off till tomorrow what
you can do today. Strike while the iron is hot. Those are all woven into our
everyday language. Even Leonardo da Vinci was taken
with this concept. Near the end of his life, he
said, I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. That’s
a pretty profound statement, isn’t it? A lot of people think
about doing. A lot of people plan to do. A
lot of people propose to do and promise to do. But there’s nothing
more urgent than actually There’s nothing more urgent than actually
beginning the day. Some of you have been to funerals
that I have done. I often will read Psalm 90. Psalm
90, you know the psalm, you turn man back into dust. You’ve swept
them away like a flood. They fall asleep in the morning.
They are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning, it flourishes.
Toward evening, it fades and withers away. We’re just like
the blade of grass. As for the days of our life, they contain
70 years, if due to strength, 80 years, and that’s no promise.
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for soon it is gone
and we fly away.” And the conclusion of that psalm,
teach us, teach us to number our days, that we may present
to you a heart of wisdom. In other words, the psalmist
is saying there, When he says, teach us to number our days,
not just tally them up. There goes another day, there
goes another. Teach us to use them wisely. Teach them to use
them for the glory of God. Teach us to fill up every day,
to seize hold of every opportunity in the service of Christ. Peter learned the lesson well. Peter sat there, having the Lord
at His feet, washing His feet. He heard the example. He heard
this urgency of Christ. Peter says in his first epistle,
chapter 4, verse 7, The end of all things is at hand. Therefore,
be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. What he issues there is just
an urgent call to ministry, to service. What greater sense of urgency
could there be? He pulls out all the stops here. The end of all things as a hand. All things? All things. The end
of worldly enjoyments, the end of time, the end of pain, the
end of suffering, the end of sorrows, the end of opportunities
to preach and to repent. This is more profound. This is more urgent. than if
you were a passenger on the Titanic. This is more urgent than if you
knew there was an ICBM headed our way with a nuclear warhead.
This is more urgent than the mere ticking of a clock that
you know the alarm will sound soon. This is urgent because
we don’t know the day. We don’t know the moment. We
don’t know how long our life is. Matthew records similar plea
by Christ here now much more pointed in it. We don’t have
to wrestle over the eschatology implications here but in Matthew
24 he says the coming of the Son of Man will be just like
in the days of Noah. Well how so? Rain? No. In those
days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying,
giving in marriage until the day of Noah entered the ark.
And they did not understand until the flood came and took them
all away. Paul likewise admonishes the
Thessalonian believers, you know full well that the day of the
Lord will come just like a thief in the night. Whether we perish,
whether the Lord returns, Whatever the case may be, time is short. Time is fleeting. You have one
less day to serve Christ than you did yesterday at this time.
And we are urged throughout Scripture on a number of different points.
We’re urged to holiness because of the fleeting hour. Romans
Chapter 13, Paul says, This do, knowing the time, that it is
already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation
is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost
gone, the day is at hand. He says that the dawn, the sun
is right on the horizon. Our time is almost finished.
The commitment to the local church is hinged on this fleeting hour. as Scripture paints the picture.
Hebrews 10.25, not forsaking our own, assembling together
as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the
more as you see the day drawing near. Because there’s going to
be an opportunity where inviting people to church is pointless. Patient endurance, Philippians
4.5, let your forebearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord
is near. James 5.8, same point, you too
be patient, strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is
at hand. If there was a sense of urgency
for these Christians in the first century or back when Psalm 90
was first written, if there was a sense of urgency for them,
how much more is that sense of urgency for us? The Christ-like servant is going
to be self-aware. He’s going to be mindful of the
fact. He’s going to be numbering his
days. He’s going to be aware that his life on this earth is
a vapor. He’s fleeting. But he’s going
to maximize it. He’s going to take every opportunity
to serve all that he can while he can. Because there’s coming
a day when he will stand before the Lord and give full report. What did you do? How did you
serve? There’s a third particular. We’re
just considering the particulars of ministry that honors God.
We want to serve like Christ-like. Christ-like service is self-sacrificing. Christ-like service is self-aware. It’s sensitive to the shortness
of time. Christ-like service is self-motivating. It is in
recognition of an opportunity. Look, if you would, at verse
five. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the
disciples’ feet and to wash with the towel with which he was girded.
Now, I’ve already explained the whole process, the significance
of it. He wasn’t instituting a new rite.
They were dirty feet. I think I’ve made that point
over and over again. You see, the need would have been immediately
noticeable to all. Their feet were literally right
behind one another’s heads. All the disciples should have
noticed immediately, even if all they were pondering was their
own two dirty feet, there was a regularity to this practice. It was just commonplace. When
you came in, when you entered a dwelling for a dinner, water
was provided for that purpose and you washed your feet. You
washed your own if you had to. But even if the water wasn’t
present, everyone would have been immediately aware that there
was no slave there to do this work. And the most obvious sign
would have been their own smelly, dirty feet, not to mention their
brothers. But even in the face of those
things, none of the disciples took initiative, none of them
volunteered for this effort, and maybe it was an oversight,
Perhaps, but it sounds very much like us, doesn’t it? You just
kind of glide in and pretend that nobody notices your own
dirty feet, and I’m going to put up with yours, and you put
up with mine. All 12 of them. A more likely reality was that
even if they noticed a lack of a slave to wash their
feet, lack of water, They had to have noticed the dirty feet
and they did nothing about it. As one commentator noted, it
should have been done when they first entered the room, not after
a considerable time it elapsed. It should have been done at the
door, not at the table. It should have been performed
by the disciples themselves, not by the master. What we do
know is that the Lord Jesus waited patiently and silently. He didn’t drop any hints. He
didn’t nudge and glance at someone else’s really, really dirty feet. Because here was perhaps the
one last time, the truly teachable moment to drive this point home
to his disciples. He had addressed the sin of pride
many times before, but here is his last best chance to drive
home this point perpetually. We don’t know to what degree,
and because of that, we don’t necessarily need to attach sinister
motives, but it’s possible that they were already quibbling over
who sat where. According to Luke’s gospel, a
very uncomfortable discussion occurred in relation to this
dinner. Luke 22 records, There arose
a dispute among them as to which of them was to be regarded the
greatest. They wanted the best seat at
the table. Luke says this argument occurred
after dinner. Some felt as if Luke’s order
was somehow dislocated and it must have taken place before
dinner. But remember, this is one of the reasons why some of
the commentators took a position that John can’t be talking about
the Passover here. But you know what I say to all
that? Check your own heart. If they
had a discussion about who was the greatest, it really doesn’t
matter whether it was at the beginning of the dinner, or at
the end of the dinner, or in the middle of the dinner. It
was in their heart. It was already in their heart. We have the capacity to sin upon
sin, each one of us. Even a significant correction
like this may not have eradicated the resident sin of pride in
their hearts, not for very long. Before dinner, after dinner,
it doesn’t matter. This sickness was in their hearts
just as it’s in our own hearts this morning. How sad is it that
Jesus alone noticed this very necessary service? How sad that
none of His friends offered to wash anyone’s feet including
his own. Sad and it’s shameful and so
Jesus gets up from dinner, washes their dirty, stinking feet and
it was a rebuke. It was a rebuke of their pride,
a rebuke of their inaction. Can we even begin to fathom the
depth of their shame as Jesus Christ Himself dressed down,
degraded His outer appearance with slaves’ clothes, and then
went, man by man, on His knees, washing their feet? There’s no doubt that if Jesus
worked His way through the pews today doing the same thing, you
would be sick by the time He got to you. Let’s face it, it was a disgusting
job. It shouldn’t surprise us to find
the apostles reluctant to take up this task. It’s not like feet
were any better then than they are now. Like they weren’t as unpleasant
then as they are now. They had the same calluses, the
same unsightly toenails, the same scales, the same toe jam,
the same smell. Try this. These were mostly fisherman’s
feet. Wet, slimy, water wrinkled, and
then you add sandals to those, walk them untold miles, hot,
dusty footpaths, and we say maybe the feet weren’t so bad back
then. This was, by anybody’s account,
a disgusting job. If Jesus Christ washed fishermen’s
feet, is there any task that’s too low for us to perform? Let me put this in perspective. Consider the feet of those that
are here this morning. I don’t mind if you look around,
including your own feet. These feet, by the world’s standards,
were likely washed this morning with the finest soaps available,
pampered with expensive and aromatic lotion or cream stuff, kept cool
and dry with foot powder. Gold Bond, right? We all have
our favorites. Dr. Scholl’s. placed ever so
delicately in cotton socks, ultimately into nice leather shoes, protected. But you know what? I don’t think
it’s a stretch to point out that even still we would be disinclined
to perform this task in this church. To wash feet. Even feet that
are so delicately treated. But you know what else? Because
of our vanity, before we even removed our shoes and our socks,
we’d run out and get a pedicure before we let somebody else see
our feet. Here’s my point. Self-motivation
recognizes not only a need, But it wastes no time in taking action
to remedy that need. The disciples all likely recognized
the need. They knew their own dirty feet.
They probably smelled their friends and saw their unsightly feet. And they did nothing. Saints, there are lots of needs. There are more needs than I could
put on a piece of paper. Three columns. Ten point type. The trouble is
that we condition ourselves to ignore them. We convince ourselves
that it is in our responsibility that somehow we are exempted
from this particular duty. Jesus had a completely different
standard, didn’t he? In Matthew’s gospel, these words
are recorded, if Christ is not this way among you, but whoever
wishes to become great shall be your servant. That occurred
in the same context of this upper room. Whoever wishes to become
great shall be your servant. Whoever wishes to be first among
you shall be your slave. For just as the Son of Man did
not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as
a ransom for many.” If Jesus Christ washed His disciples’
dirty feet, there is nothing. There is nothing that we shouldn’t
notice and do. Point four. As we consider the
Christ-like service ministry that honors God, the fourth particular
of ministry that honors God, not only is Christ-like service
self-sacrifice, by nature inconvenient, Christ-like service is self-aware,
sensitive to the shortness of time. Christ-like service is
self-motivating in recognition of an opportunity. And fourthly,
Christ-like service is self-denying. It’s performed alone, not by
committee and not with reciprocation. I want you to notice this. Look
at verse 12. And so when he had washed their
feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again,
he said to them, do you know what I’ve done to you? You know
what’s missing? None of the disciples took the
initiative themselves. They let Christ do this work.
You know what’s amazing? None of the disciples joined
Christ. After their own feet were washed,
why not come and help Him? Not one. But I want you to note
this. Not one of the disciples reciprocated. Lord, you just washed 12 disciples’
feet. Allow me to wash yours. No one
reciprocated. No one. Not even the magnanimous
outspoken Peter. After being served, not one of
them rose and washed the Lord’s feet. Maybe you’re saying this morning,
I would have washed his feet. Maybe. Would you wash your brother’s
feet? How are you serving now? Jesus’ standard is, if you serve
them, you have served me. If you will not serve them, you
would not serve me either. It’s not a mark of good churchmanship. That’s a mark of Christianity. If we would be the greatest Christians, we must be the greatest servants. Jesus says, if you want to be
a great Christian, are you willing to serve the least of these?
Are you willing to do the most menial task? You know what it
does? No harm to my Christology, to
my doctrine of Christ. I know that Jesus Christ was
absolutely sinless, but it does no harm to acknowledge that Jesus’
feet that evening were just as dirty as his friends were. These
were feet. We’re talking about dirty feet. We’re not talking about his soul. In fact, you may recall when
the sinful woman anointed Christ’s feet, wiping them with her hair,
he was criticized by the Pharisees. Luke records turning to the woman,
he said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house,
you gave me no water for my feet. Jesus acknowledges himself that
he had dirty feet. Remember this foot washing that’s
recorded here in John 13 was first and foremost practical.
It was just practical. And only secondarily was it symbolic
of the removal of sin through confession. It wouldn’t have
been like if Peter jumped up and insisted on washing the Lord’s
feet that he was suggesting for a moment that Jesus had sinned. Jesus had no need of spiritual
cleansing of any kind, any degree. But he certainly needed and he
deserved to have his feet washed, didn’t he? And that is part and
parcel of the indictment that Jesus delivered to the disciples. They didn’t even wash His feet.
They didn’t initiate the process. They didn’t even reciprocate
after His clear lesson on the matter was already rendered. But Jesus didn’t stew about it.
He didn’t pace back and forth, you know, bouncing on His toes,
waiting for someone to step up, you know, pointing to His feet.
He served, and then he sat. And so should we. Christlike
service is self-denying. Christlike service isn’t going
to be reciprocated, not usually. Christlike service isn’t part
of a committee that says, I’ll show up if you show up. If you
get two or three men, I’ll be there. That’s not what Christ
did. Christ didn’t wait for a committee.
Christ didn’t wait in turn. Christ didn’t expect a reciprocation. Jonathan Edwards nailed this
point so well when he said, a truly humble man. is sensible of his
natural distance from God, of his dependence on him, of the
insufficiency of his own power and wisdom, and that it is by
God’s power he is upheld and provided for, that he needs God’s
wisdom to lead and guide him, and his might to enable him what
he ought to do for him. In other words, Edwards just
pointed out that our natural inclination is pride, which is
exactly what Jesus addressed. So I ask you today, how are you
serving? Is it selfless? Is it self-denying? Is it self-motivating? Do you
look for needs? Do you try to find a need? Do you pray for those needs and
then do everything to the best of your ability to meet those
needs? I would encourage you to just
sit with You know, sometimes sit with a list or a phone book
and just brainstorm. Find ways of serving. Ask the
Lord to provide insight into the way of serving. Ask the leaders of the church.
They usually have some ideas. Whatever we do, we’re called
to serve as Christ serves. We’re called to serve as unto
the Lord. We’re called to serve like Christ
did selflessly. Self humbling himself before
even his own apostles. Would you consider these things
as we humble ourselves before the Lord in prayer? Our merciful God, We thank you
so much for this passage. And Lord, in times past, perhaps
we had different perspectives. Perhaps we even thought that
Jesus here was instituting some kind of ritual that we had left
undone for so many years. Lord, we left plenty undone.
There’s much to do. And we thank you so much for
your graciousness to us, for your mercy. That you give us
the chance to right the ship. You give us the chance to respond
by way of repentance. That what we’ve left undone or
where we’ve been selfish or short-sighted in the past doesn’t have to continue. Lord, we can take up your service
at any time. We can serve as Christ served
because you give us the grace to do so. Lord, you are the one
that makes us. To see the needs. That gives
us the motivation in our own heart to serve our brothers and
sisters in Christ. Lord, we do pray. The first and
foremost, you would save. Any who do not know Christ and
having saved them. Make them hungry. to do as Christ
did, to serve as Christ served. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.
Amen.