Osceola Sermon Lent Extraordinary Servant April 17 th, 2011: (Jesus the Extraordinary Servant) Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet: (John 13:1-7) Palm Sunday (Pastor Bob Vale) Biblical Focus: John 13:6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Scripture Lesson: John 13:1-7 1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? 7 Jesus replied, You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. 8 No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. 9 Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! 10 Jesus answered, Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you? he asked them. 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. What does it mean to be a servant? I cannot think of a better example than that of Jesus Christ. 1. God came down to earth to become one of us. 2. He gave us example after example of loving, healing, forgiving, and serving those around him. 3. He served us by giving his life up for us for our sins. Leo Tolstoy said, the sole meaning in life is to serve humanity. Pastor Rick Warren said, we can retire from our careers and other forms of work, but the servant s heart of a Christian should never retire from serving others. The passage this morning is the picture of servant hood in the scriptures, given to us by Jesus. Let s take a look at it together. John 13:1-7 1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Jesus is trying to give his disciples; who would go on to start the Christian church their last teaching opportunities. During His earthly ministry with his disciples, Jesus showed them how to heal people, how to drive out demons, how to confront the Jewish religious leadership, how to feed 5,000 people at once and one of his final lessons was that of being a servant. On the last night Jesus would be alive, He illustrated a clear picture of what it means to be a servant. Jesus knew that the time had come. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And how would he be glorified? Not by being lifted high upon men s shoulders; but by being lifted up upon a cruel Roman cross. If the Last Supper experience were a basketball or football game, this would be the very last practice before the big game. The coach calls the players to gather together for the secrets to winning the big game. Imagine if you knew you only had one day to live. What message or words of wisdom would you give? The theme of this chapter is love and servant hood. The word love is only used 6 times in the first 12 chapters of John. In chapters 13-17, the word love is used 31 times. Jesus loved his disciples as they were his own children; and he knew three important things would happen. 1. He would die a very cruel and public death on a Roman Cross. 2. His Average, Normal, Everyday disciples would be frightened to the core and run for their lives in 12 different directions. 3. He also knew that nearly every disciple in the coming years would help start the early church and eventually die as a martyr for the Christian faith. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. After three years of ministry with Jesus, the disciples had a pretty good idea that Jesus was no ordinary teacher or rabbi. Peter even called him Christ, the Son of the Living God. The impact it must have had for Jesus to wash their feet rather than the other way around must have floored them. When I was younger going through Seminary classes in South Carolina, I received a surprise visit. It was my Bishop. He was the Bishop of over 1,000 churches and 300,000 Methodist members. He decided to come to my seminary and take a few of us out for supper. (His Treat) Suddenly this older and wiser gentleman stepped down from his bishop / pastoral office and became a college student for a day. He shared stories about his seminary days and the fun times he had. As we talked together we enjoyed the evening tremendously and we could not believe that he would take a day away from all the important things on his schedule to meet with four young seminary students. He really was a great guy. (Bishop Looney)
A few years later the four of us seminary students completed our classes and were finally going to be ordained as full clergy. Our ordination service is always held at the annual conference in front of a few thousand folks. The service is very traditional going back hundreds of years when John Wesley ordained Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury to come to America. Basically when we are ordained we kneel before the Bishop and he along with several other pastors lay hands on our heads and says a prayer and challenge telling us to preach and serve the world in ministry. It is a very moving spiritual experience. However, when I was ordained the bishop did something that he had never done before. Before we were officially ordained, he knelt down before each one of us, took our shoes off and washed our feet. I ll never forget the look he gave me as he told me to serve the church in this manner. Wow, it was awesome. I was very taken back that he would take the time to teach us that example of servant hood during an ordination service. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? 7 Jesus replied, You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. 8 No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. 9 Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! This passage is such a wonderful example of Peter. I really love Peter and his Go- Get-Em attitude. Peter was by far the disciple I relate to the most. He made so many mistakes, opened his mouth entirely too much, and he wrote verbal checks that his spirit and life could not pay. He was impatient, strong headed, stubborn, and wanted things done his way. Basically he was just like us at times! Yet he was also kind, loving, giving, courageous, and determined to be a good disciple. Peter was the bold one and just came out and asked Jesus, Are you going to wash my feet? He more than anyone probably saw the backwardness of this situation. I am sure he wanted to wash Jesus feet, rather than the other way around. Then Peter stuck his foot in his mouth again and said, Jesus you will never wash my feet. Peter stuck his foot in his mouth so much he had athletes mouth. Jesus response is perfect; Fine, then if you do not let me wash you re your feet, then you have no part in me. In other words, Peter, You are not going in the same direction I am going. Jesus was not asking him to Lead; follow or get out of the way! He was simply asking him to participate. Then Peter sticks his foot in his mouth again; although he is really trying to do the right thing, and says, Fine, wash all of me, my feet, hands, and head. Peter is a perfect example who is sincere, but sincerely wrong! Jesus comments on it in the next verse. This sounds a little like Psalm 51:2, where David prays, "Wash me thoroughly...." I sometimes wonder why Jesus doesn t give up on Peter? Why didn t Jesus call time out and say, perhaps Peter is not the best choice to be a disciple; who are the subs we can call in? Stop and think about Peter s mistakes throughout his ministry. 1. He pushed children away from Jesus. 2. He cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. 3. Jesus looked at Peter at one point and said, Get behind Me Satan.
4. Jesus asked Peter three times.do you love me? 5. Peter walked on water with his eyes on Jesus, then began to sink when his eyes went off of Jesus. 6. Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times. What does it take to get this guy off the team? I am so glad that Jesus never kicked Peter off of the team; (How about you?) What a great example the disciple Peter is to us. How many of you here today see a little bit of the disciple Peter in you? 1. Jesus is not looking for perfection in being a disciple. 2. Jesus knows we are going to make mistakes along the way. 3. Jesus is willing to be patient with us as he was with Peter. I sometimes wonder what Jesus sees in us when He calls us to follow him. But we know Jesus accepted Peter, and, in spite of his failures, Peter went on to do great things for God. 1. Are you willing to keep following Jesus, even when you fail? 2. Do you realize Jesus does not give up on you! I believe Jesus uses cracked and broken vessels to do His work!!! Jesus first words to Simon Peter were Come, be my disciple (Mark 1:17). His last words to him were Follow me (John 21:22). Every step of the way between those two challenges, Peter never failed to follow even though he often stumbled. Ultimately Jesus referred to Peter as, The Rock. I believe Jesus gives us the same exact calling as Christians. 1. Come be my disciple. 2. Follow me. *Will you answer yes to both? 10 Jesus answered, Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean. Here again Peter takes the opportunity to be a typical religious Jew and look at the external rather than the spiritual internal. Jesus points this out to him and tells him; ( He Is Clean! Inside and out.) Jesus knew the disciples probably had a bath before coming to the evening meal in the upper room. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus was not concerned about hygiene and cleanliness. Otherwise he would have washed the feet of the disciples as they came in the door, as was the Jewish tradition, instead he starts this in the middle of the meal. Jesus uses this act as a double meaning. First He recognizes that the disciples are physically clean, but he also illustrates that there is one in the group who is not clean. (Judas, who would betray him.)
Illustration: Jesus gives us a spiritual message in this text. 1. He knows our hearts. I always find it interesting as a pastor who preaches the word of God on Sunday mornings; later in the week I will sometimes get an email, phone call or card from someone letting me know how much the Lord spoke to them during the sermon. Often times I will hear, it was as if you were speaking directly to me. Sometimes they will jokingly thank me for not using their name in the sermon. Of course as the Lord and I prepare the sermon weeks or sometimes months ahead, only God himself knows who needs to hear a special part of the message. Not only does God know what the message will be for that day, the Lord knows exactly what you ned to hear that morning. The Lord uses the foolishness of preaching to touch the hearts of humanity. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you? he asked them. 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. Any good teacher after providing a lesson to their student s, will typically ask his or her students what they learned. Jesus did exactly that. He asked them if they understood what just took place. It was more of a rhetorical question to his disciples, in that he went on to answer the question, saying that He is their Lord and teacher, yet he humbled himself and washed their feet. Moving on with the application Jesus tells them that they need to do serve others as He just served them. 1. Jesus indeed knew what was ahead for his disciples. 2. Jesus knew what it would take to begin a global church. (Being a servant to others.) 3. Jesus illustrated what he said earlier: I came not to be served but to serve others. I have two questions for you as we close out our sermon this morning. 1. Are you a servant of the Lord? 2. Are you serving others? There is a wonderful Jewish tradition dating back three thousand years in the Old Testament. It comes from the book of Deuteronomy 15:12-18. (After six years of service to his master, the servant had the opportunity to go free on the seventh year. He also had the unique option to serve his master for the rest of his life.) If he servant chose to stay and serve his or her master for the rest of their life, then the master would take them to the door post of his house and would pierce his or her ear, signifying they did this voluntarily and would forever be called a Bond Slave. This piercing was a unique way of telling the world they chose this path voluntarily. Here it is 3,000 years later and that tradition has not really changed much in a spiritual sense. I asked you if you are a servant of God? If you said yes, then you are just like the servant who decided to say and serve the master for the rest of his or her life.
When we say yes to follow Jesus we do it willingly out of free will. We don t have to choose to follow Christ. We could simply say no, I choose not to follow. Millions do exactly that. But if you follow Christ, God will pierce your heart and he will love you forever as you serve him. The second question: Are you serving others? Are you helping those in need? Do you have a heart for the spiritual lost? Is God using you to touch the lives of others with your hands? Let s Pray