Lesson #58 Humility in Action John 13:1-11 Presented Live on February 18, 2018 I. Introduction and review A. How many real or actual apostles have their been? B. What does it mean to be an apostle? 1. Apostles are not present in the church today. 2. The qualifications of an apostle were: a. To have been a witness of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1), b. To have been explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15), c. To have the ability to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12). d. To have spent three years with Jesus in training 3. The role of the twelve apostles, laying the foundation of the church, would also argue for their uniqueness. a. Two thousand years later, we are not still working on the foundation. 4. Consider again the major themes in the Upper Room Discourse a. Today we will touch on the first two b. But first there are some initial considerations we must look into before we begin C. Church ordinances 1. What is a an ordinance? Page 1 of 8
2. Catholicism and LDS view sacraments (or ordinances) to refer to a sign/rite which results in God's grace being conveyed to the individual 3. There are some denominations which claim that ordinances are prerequisites to salvation a. They will tell you that there are seven such ordinances b. But in doing so they bring the requirement if works into the salvation message c. We know that works are not prerequisites to salvation (1) Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (2) Titus 3:5-7 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 4. The Scriptures teach us that there are only two ordinances a. They are requirements for the believer only after salvation has occurred b. They are Baptism and the Lord s Supper or Communion 5. To determine what is an ordinance, one must look to the New Testament a. The make up of the New Testament (1) There are 27 books in the N. T. (2) Four gospels (3) One historical book (4) Thirteen Pauline epistles (5) Eight general epistles (6) One book of Prophecy b. The Gospels are considered to be historical books c. The book of Acts is an historical work on the Church d. The Epistles are doctrinal works e. If a proposed ordinance is found only in the historical books and not in the Epistolary literature, then it is rejected as an ordinance f. But if an act or action is found in the gospels, the book Page 2 of 8
of Acts and the Epistolary literature, then it will be recognized as an ordinance 6. Should feet washing be considered an ordinance? No, because it was not recognized as such in the Epistolary literature a. Does that mean we should ever do it? b. Or that practicing it would be wrong? c. No, but it s a matter of choice and not mandate D. Jesus repeatedly had difficulty teaching the people 1. That was because when He tried to speak to them on a spiritual level, they would always thinking that He was speaking on a physical level 2. For example consider a. Nicodemus and being born again, b. The woman at the well and living water, or c. Even the making of the wine at the wedding in Cana 3. In the upper room Jesus will continue to have the same difficulty, as His disciples only want to understand things on a physical level 4. For example, if they understood what He was doing was instructing them to always wash each others feet E. And then there is an important question we need to answer, was Judas saved 1. Although we are going to study that question in more depth as we move a little further into chapter 13 2. Today, we should come to understand that Judas was not a true believer 3. Jesus indicated that in John 13:10b-11... you are clean, but not all of you. 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, Not all of you are clean. II. Jesus last Passover [13:1] A. The setting is this 1. All of the 12 disciples are in the upper room with Jesus 2. Peter and John have prepared the Passover meal 3. That night Jesus will arrested, beaten and tried several times 4. The next day he will be tried again and again, then tortured and crucified B. Jesus is fully aware that His time of trial and death had come, in fact He had planned and orchestrated the entire working of His death Page 3 of 8
1. Jesus uses the word depart to describe His death 2. To Jesus death is just a departure, as if one is leaving on a journey 3. We should take the same approach of excitement over our up coming journey C. John tells us that Jesus had loved His own 1. Either to the end that is for as long as one can be loved 2. Or to the uttermost meaning to the greatest capacity possible 3. God s view is that real love is always demonstrated 4. Jesus will demonstrate it on this night by an act of service 5. The next day He will demonstrate it again by dying for them [see Rom. 5:8] III. Jesus view on leadership [13:2-5] A. In the Greek, verses 2 through 4 are one long compound sentence 1. The key part of this sentence to understand is: During supper, Jesus arose, laid aside His outer garments, and girded Himself with a towel. a. The KJV erroneously translates this first part of the verse: And supper being ended, b. That is incorrect, but instead during the supper 2. Injected into this primary sentence are a number of relevant facts a. The devil attacked by using the only one in the room who was not a believer b. And he gave Judas an urging and a plan of betraying the Lord Jesus Christ, which he accepted or adopted c. Let s consider for a moment what s in Judas heart: betrayal (1) There are a lot of people who will tell you that there is no worse pain then betrayal (2) Only someone close to or trust by you can do it (3) The closer they are, the worse it hurts (4) You can never really know or understand the depth and pervasiveness of the hurt and pain of betrayal unless you have experienced it d. We should notice that Jesus, even though He was to be betrayed by Judas, still washed Judas feet e. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us 3. Girding Himself with a towel equals humility a. Peter later wrote: 1 Peter 5:5 You younger men, Page 4 of 8
likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. b. What Jesus is intending to do is an act that is extremely subservient B. The streets and pathways used by the people in Jesus day were quite dusty and dirty 1. The people wore open sandals with no socks 2. As a result their feet would be covered with the dusty and dirt from the roads and pathways 3. Many times people would wash their own feet 4. Wives would wash their husband s feet 5. Children would wash their parents feet 6. And slaves would wash the feet the well to do 7. At a gathering it was an honor to have a slave greet the guests and wash their feet 8. The slave selected to wash feet was one on the bottom of the slave hierarchy C. So Jesus, in the middle of this meal, gets up from the table and begins to wash His disciples feet 1. This is clearly an act of great humility, the same way that Mary, Lazarus sister, had stooped low in humility to worship her Savior 2. Jesus is demonstrating something to these men, and that is servant leadership 3. They, as we, are used to leaders who are always above us 4. Our leaders believe that their followers are to honor and support them 5. Jesus, on the other hand, taught servant leadership 6. Consider Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. IV. Peter s objection [13:6-9] A. So as Jesus washes the disciples feet, one by one He comes closer to Peter B. Upon arriving at Peter, the disciple lets loose with a loud protest 1. In the Greek, his protest is emphatic 2. Here Peter will emphasize his loose cannon syndrome 3. His second protest is even stronger and more emphatic, containing a double negative 4. Jesus response is that if He doesn t wash Peter, they will Page 5 of 8
have no part together, that is you cannot share in my work or the reward C. Peter s response is to push to the other side of the spectrum wash all of me D. Here again Peter demonstrates that he s just a mixture of sand, gravel and water that sloshes one way and then the other E. However, it is Peter s protest that put Jesus in a position to explain what He is really doing F. What was Peter s motivation for protesting as he did 1. Some scholars tie his response back to when he told Jesus not to speak of dying 2. That Peter still believed that Jesus would become a warrior king 3. Others claim that Peter recognized Jesus assuming the role of a slave and responding that he, Peter, was not worthy of being served by Jesus V. The real message [13:10-11] A. In verse ten, Jesus introduces a second word, translated bathe in the NASB 1. If you are reading the KJV, you would never know for they translate these two different Greek words as the same English word 2. The word we have been using is ni,ptw nipto {nip'-to} a. Meaning: 1) to wash 2) to cleanse (especially the hands or the feet or the face) b. A mother would use this word to a child to wash your hands before supper 3. The second word is lou,w louo {loo'-o} a. Meaning: to bathe, wash b. It carries the idea of a complete cleansing of your entire person or body B. In Greco Roman culture, the example of a bath house is the origin of these two words. 1. One would travel (walk) to a nearby bath house and bathe completely 2. On the way home his feet would become dirty 3. If when he arrives home his feet are cleaned, then he is completely clean again C. One of these words speaks to non believers and one to believers 1. When we are saved are sin guilt is cleansed or washed away by the blood of our Savior a. That is the word lou,w louo {loo'-o} to wash Page 6 of 8
completely clean b. This same word is used in Titus 3:5-7 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 2. After we are saved, we still sin a. That sin breaks fellowship with the Lord b. And that fellowship needs to be restored in order for Him to be able to use us c. We can do that by confession of sin d. In that way we can be cleansed and clean for the Master s use e. See 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 3. Jesus is trying to teach His disciples that the daily stains and dirt of the world can be cleansed by confession 4. And the lesson in this entire demonstration is to teach us how to deal with periodic sin in our life D. But excluded from that teaching is Judas 1. Jesus makes it clear that one of them had never been completely washed 2. That would be Judas, the man who spent 3 years with Jesus and then betrayed Him for the price of a slave VI. Besides the living parable that Jesus presented to his disciple by washing their feet, he also gave them a lesson in humility A. He wanted them to come to understand that humility, like love, was not just an attitude or motivation, but an action B. If we look carefully at what and how Jesus put His humility into action we can learn several worthwhile lessons 1. Humility is unannounced 2. Humility is not a sign of weakness 3. Humility does not discriminate 4. Humility includes serving one another, not just the Lord 5. There is a joy in humility that can only be experienced through humility in action 2018 Believer s Bible Class, & Douglas W. Brady Page 7 of 8
Thank you for your prayers as I work on our websites: www.believersbibleclass.com www.believersbibleclass.podbean.com It is a huge undertaking, but it is moving along. I am counting on your prayers during this time. I just keep reminding myself that despite my lack of knowledge... my short memory... my sometimes discouraged attitude... GOD IS STILL IN CHARGE. TO GOD BE THE GLORY! JZ Page 8 of 8