Simply Jesus. The Life and Ministry of God s Son

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1 Simply Jesus The Life and Ministry of God s Son Lesson 22 Introduction Adults naturally want to be in control, to see the end from the beginning, so that we can selectively choose our own direction and chart our own course in life. If that were indeed possible, we would always choose the smoother path that leads upwards to majestic views from magnificent mountain tops. Never would we decide on our own to trek through dark ominous valleys or walk dilapidated roads fraught with potholes that might cause our unexpected demise. Jesus, however, lived each day with the full awareness that He had come to die: I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished (Luke 12:50). Throughout the remainder of our study of Simply Jesus, we are given a close up in the Gospels of how Jesus spent His last week on earth. The focus of His thoughts and words were not for Himself, but for those whom He had been given. The seed thoughts He had planted in the disciples minds for three and a half years would now explode through their hearts! They would feel the full blow of their meaning, while seeing with their eyes what they had only heard with their ears He loved them... to the end... enough to die on a cross. It is only God s grace that allows us not to see what is up ahead, around the corner. What we as believers must remember is that while we don t know what tomorrow holds, we know who holds tomorrow the One who holds our times in His loving hands; the One who promises to complete and bring to perfection all that concerns us until He comes to take us home. Did you know ~ The infinite love of God transcends our finite ability to understand it. The remarkable and wonderful thing about it is that as we walk through this life with Him, He gradually unfolds the mystery, allowing us to perceive and realize experientially the fullness of His love. John 13:1 says, Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. The word He used in the Greek for love is agapao, the perfect selfless love that desires the ultimate best for the object being loved. The words to the end are not a time reference, but a reach reference. In everything having to do with them, Jesus was more concerned about His disciples than His own suffering. His final words would prepare them for what they would face and enable them to become His vessels to carry His message of salvation to the world! 1

2 Open your Bible and lesson each day by beginning with a word of prayer. Up Close ~ The chart below represents a reader s guide to the contents of this week s lesson. The topical teachings and/or events covered are followed by the primary scriptural text as well as the supportive parallel passages. You will be able to receive and grasp a well-rounded picture of the story narrative in the Gospel harmony by reading every passage. However, using the bolded text as your point of reference (your anchor text) will allow you to determine the facts, lessons, and personal applications necessary to formulate your own conclusions. Teaching / Event Scripture Text Parallel Passages Jesus Models Service John 13:1 17 Identifies His Betrayer Luke 22:1 6; John 13:18 30 Preparation for Passover; Luke 22:7 30 The Lord s Supper The New Commandment; John 13:31 38 Jesus Predicts Peter s Denial First Impressions: Group Discussion Reflect for a moment on the passages you have just read. Respond by recording your first impressions from your initial reading of the text. Be prepared to share one of your impressions with your discussion group. Heartbeat: John 13:34 35 NKJV (Memory verse) (Write it out once in the space below. Practice it each time you open your lesson.) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. 2

3 Part One: John 13:1 17 Jesus Models Service In John 13 17, we find one of the longest private discussions Jesus had with His disciples. It comprises what we have come to know as the Upper Room Discourse, taking place following the last Passover celebration together. During it, Jesus issued a new commandment to the disciples; instituted the Lord s Supper; instructed the disciples on the necessity of abiding in Him; and illustrated the promise, power, peace, and prayer that believers enjoy through the coming of the Holy Spirit into their lives. As you study these passages, take your time to meditate on what Jesus is saying to you personally through His tender words in that upper room. In Jesus day, whenever a guest entered someone s home for dinner, it was customary for a slave to greet them and immediately wash their feet to make them feel welcome and comfortable to dine. Notice in your reading of John 13:1 17, no one among the family of disciples offered to do it for each other or for their Master. 1. What act does Jesus proceed to do on His disciples behalf? Put this in your own words. vv. 3 5 a. What does John note that has already taken place before supper ended? v. 2 b. What does John say about Jesus heart that compels His behavior at this important time? v. 3 c. Think about it: If you fully grasped the assurance of your relationship to God as Jesus did, how would this give you the liberty to wholeheartedly serve Him as opposed to trying to please others? Share your thoughts. Jesus was omniscient (all-knowing); He had heard the moments when the disciples thought He wasn t listening as they were arguing among themselves who was the greatest. He knew that one of the twelve would betray Him. He knew that all of the remaining disciples would desert Him. He knew that the three closest in His inner circle of followers Peter, James, and John would be unable to stay awake in the garden to pray with Him during His most desperate hour. He knew Peter, the Rock, would publicly deny Him. He knew all this and yet He loved them as His own. So He took the form of a servant and began to wash their feet to model for them all how they were to serve each other after He was gone. 3

4 Look closer ~ a. Read verses What happened when Jesus came to Simon Peter? v. 6 b. How did Jesus answer Him? c. Instead of listening and receiving Jesus words, how did Peter make things worse? Straightaway Jesus corrected Peter s thinking: If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. When Peter heard this, he was willing to be washed from head to foot! Jesus goes on to make an important point about the need for regular confession and cleansing. Peter already had faith in Jesus, so he didn t need to be cleansed from head to foot; he only needed a foot-washing. When we initially come to faith we need to be washed, cleansed from the inside out saved from sin by the blood of Christ. Once we become saved, our relationship needs regular daily maintenance through confession of sin (1 John 1:9). Otherwise we let sin rob us of our joy and our assurance of salvation, keeping us from enjoying the abundant life Jesus provides for us. In verses 12 17, Jesus contrasts the lowly task of service He had just performed with the lofty titles the disciples ascribed to Him, conveying a life lesson designed to define the disciples service. d. Write that lesson here using your own words. e. By way of personal application, what does Jesus say about His followers who not only know these things but do them? f. Peter learned his lesson well, as evidenced by his own later writings. How does he drive home his point to believers in 1 Peter 5:5 6? g. Personal: Name a specific lowly task you have recently performed in service to someone and how it blessed them. 4

5 Part Two: Luke 22:7 30 The Lord s Supper The Feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover were celebrated simultaneously, causing many to speak of them interchangeably as one or the other. As Jewish pilgrims were filling the city of Jerusalem in anticipation of the Passover celebration, the chief priests and scribes were meeting secretly to plot the demise of Jesus. These two normally opposing religious groups were making an alliance as co-conspirators, but they would need to enlist the aid of someone privy to the schedule and daily habits of Jesus in order to succeed. Luke summarizes for us the reason Judas became that willing accomplice: Satan entered Judas... who was numbered among the twelve (Luke 22:3). Luke also mentions the time of the setting in verse 7: Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover [lambs] must be killed. Preparations were ongoing for weeks in advance; many out-of-towners arrived early to secure their lambs and supplies for the meal: bitter herbs, wine and unleavened bread. Rented dwellings had to be purged of any leaven (yeast) at least two days ahead of the feasts. Peter and John located a room and arranged the details for their meal according to the Lord s instructions (vv.10 13). Everything was set for Jesus and the disciples to celebrate with the Jews the historical significance of Passover the blood sacrifice of the lamb that atoned for sin and the unleavened bread that represented the flight of the Jews in haste from Egypt the night God redeemed them as His own. 1. Before Jesus prayed for the meal, He sat down with the twelve and made two declarations; what was the first? vv a. As He held up the cup, Jesus gave thanks and issued the second announcement; what was it? vv According to Jewish custom, the head of the house would pronounce the unleavened bread represented the bread of affliction ; but what did Jesus declare it to be? v. 19 a. Similarly, toward the end of the meal, the cup would be lifted as the cup of blessing or cup of redemption. How did Jesus give it new significance? v. 20 Selah ~ The drinking of the wine at the Passover supper to the Jews symbolized looking ahead to the prophetic new covenant in Jeremiah 31: Today, it gives believers a look back in commemoration of the blood Jesus shed on the cross to redeem us. In pronouncing His blessings at the meal, Jesus took that look back and then looked forward to institute what Christians everywhere call the Lord s Supper. What insight do you gain from these verses in Jeremiah that speak of our covenant relationship with Him? Will you thank Him for it today? 5

6 Jesus and His disciples celebrated God s past faithfulness to the nation Israel as He prepared them to implement a miraculous new covenant. Nearby sat Judas Iscariot (vv ) who had followed Jesus for more than three years and had risen in prominence among the disciples as one that could be trusted. As the time drew near for him to fulfill His mission, Jesus announced to them that one among them would soon betray Him. There would not have been a man at that table who suspected Judas, the one elected as treasurer to handle all the finances. A position of such trust would eliminate him from consideration. Luke doesn t mention when Judas left the room, but the other gospel accounts tell us it was immediately after this announcement by Jesus. How much time and deliberation were given to Jesus revelation isn t revealed, but the text tells us that soon after the disciples began entertaining themselves with a startling topic. 3. What was the subject of their disagreement? v. 24 a. Following the departure of Judas and coupled with the somber news Jesus had just shared about His own impending suffering, in your opinion how must have these remaining eleven men made Jesus feel at this moment? 4. From verses 25 30, contrast the disciples own interests about being elevated to greatness with that of Jesus perspective on what serving God truly means. Part Three: John13:31 38 The New Commandment Judas left the light of Jesus and went out into the darkness of night. Then Jesus turned to the remaining disciples and spoke these words in John 13:31 32: Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. Once Judas had left the scene, things began to move quickly toward the cross. The road from here on meant denial, desertion, disgrace, darkness and death; yet His face was focused on the glory it would bring the Father people would be redeemed! Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus despised the shame of what would happen to Him on the cross, but He endured it because of the joy that was up ahead the great multitude of individuals who would take His name, pick up their cross and follow Him. It was this reality that moved Him on that final night with great desire to share His last meal with those closest to Him. 1. Knowing His disciples were in for a very rough time themselves, in what way does Jesus refer to them? v. 33 6

7 It is a term of parental love one of endearment we see repeatedly throughout the Gospels. What Jesus would accomplish on the cross would mean a change in relationship for His followers who would no longer be called friends but would instead be His children, adopted into His family. 2. No longer being with them in the physical sense, what new command does He leave them? v. 34 a. The caveat was not just love, but as I have loved you, so also love one another. Be specific in your answer about the ways Jesus loved them. Give examples. In Leviticus 19:18, we read the commandment God gave to love one another as they loved themselves. Jesus rewrote it to include the clause, As I have loved you. Peter must ve only heard the words, Where I am going, you cannot come. Peter asked, Lord, where are You going? And then followed it up with the strong conviction that he would lay down his life for Jesus. 3. What startling word of prophecy did Jesus then give to Peter? v. 38 The fact that Peter would draw out a sword against a thousand Roman soldiers reveals he truly meant what he said; but Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. Peter s courage would be turned into cowardice as the sun rose the next morning. He would also repent, weep bitterly, and be restored to a place where God could use him mightily. Selah ~ Have you ever made a bold brash statement to defend Jesus only to find yourself falling short? What did you learn from that experience? Aren t you glad that Jesus understands your heart motive when your desire is to please Him? Right now you are a work in progress so be patient. When Jesus looks at you He sees a completed work! 7

8 Behold & Be Transformed What did you see as you beheld God s Son? How does beholding (looking upon) Him, motivate you to change your thoughts, habit, attitude, speech or actions? Pause... What is the most significant lesson you have learned this week? Ponder... How will you put it into practice? Pray... Write out your prayer and be specific Janis J. Vance, All Rights Reserved. Used by permission. 8

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