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As we move from looking at the book of Jonah to spending the remainder of our time leading up to Easter Sunday looking at John’s gospel (particularly the High Priestly prayer in chapter 17), I want all of us to remember a few things about the book of Jonah as we continue in this Lenten season. I don’t want us to just say, “Well, that’s over; time to close the book on Jonah.” I was talking with someone in this church earlier this week and they expressed their frustration (good frustration) with the personal conviction that they felt during our series on the prophet. Now, they did admit that one of the purposes of a rightly preached sermon is to convict both the audience and the preacher; so that was good. Unfortunately, the only words of counsel I could give them was, “well, at least we’re not going to be adding any more to that series.” However, just because we’re done with one series of sermons doesn’t mean that they are done with us and their work upon our hearts is over; that continues on for hopefully years and years. The first thing that I want us to remember from Jonah is that God is always in control and always unfolding His eternal plan. The second thing is that none of us is any more or less deserving of grace or salvation than anyone else. And finally, Jonah was but a foretaste of the work of Christ. The kind of heart and life changing impact that we see Jonah’s words have upon the people of Nineveh is nothing compared to when Christ’s words, the gospel, comes in contact with our hearts. With those words of reminder in the forefront of our minds, let’s turn our attention to John chapter 13. (text)
Well, there certainly is a lot there to talk about. I thought about breaking up this chapter and dealing with some of it today and some next Sunday, but I think that there is a certain beauty that quite honestly gets lost when we disconnect or segment the contents of this chapter. This is John’s account of Jesus and his disciples in the Upper Room. The triumphal entry has already happened. What takes place beginning in chapter 13 and going all the way through the end of chapter 16 are the intimate moments and final words of instruction that Jesus gives to his disciples prior to his crucifixion. He shares the Passover meal with them and teaches them for virtually 4 chapters of John’s gospel (roughly a little less than 20% of this entire book). He tells them a great number of truths and things about himself that we so often quote; several of what are referred to as the “I am” statements. Things like John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He tells them of the coming of the Holy Spirit who will help them after Jesus is gone. The same Holy Spirit that was working in Christ was to be theirs after Jesus had departed. He informs them that they are to expect persecution, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” Jesus, during this time together with his disciples, was preparing them for the reality of life without him. However, he doesn’t want them to think for one second that their faith should be in any way diminished just because he isn’t physically with them. In fact, Jesus makes it quite clear that their faith is to be strengthened as a result of his leaving; since it is only then that they can have the power of the Holy Spirit working in them.
But here in our text for today, chapter 13, we see a few amazing things before Jesus begins his teaching, which is immediately followed by his retreat for a time of prayer (the central part of our Lenten series) and his arrest. Our text opens with an account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Have any of you ever taken part in a footwashing, either as the washee or the washer? Well, I have, and to be honest with you, it’s kind of gross. I was a high school student on a two-week long mission trip to the slums of Jamaica, building houses for the people in a particular community, and one night we had a footwashing. I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but I went with it, and do you know what happened? It was one of the most intimate moments of my life. Not intimate because of the person, but intimate because there was a humility and an openness there that I had never really experienced. You know that neither of you really want to be doing this, but you’re doing it anyway as a sign of respect and service to the other person. There was something amazing about knowing that this person, who didn’t really know me, cared enough about me to wash what was probably the nastiest part of my body after spending the last 10 days working construction in the heat only to come home to showers that had only cold water.
I think it’s funny that Peter is the first one who points out that Jesus should be getting his feet washed by the disciples and not the other way around. After all, it is Peter who the final part of our text tells us will deny Jesus three times. In both accounts, we find Peter’s insistence upon one thing changed to another. First, his “You shall never wash my feet” turns into “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” upon hearing Jesus say that this washing by Jesus must happen for Peter to be with Christ. The second emphatic statement made by Peter finds him saying, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” This statement finds Jesus answering by telling Peter of his future triple denial of Jesus, which we read about happening in chapter 18. Lord, you can’t wash us, we have to wash you. Jesus, I will never leave you. Peter, I have to wash you. Peter, you’re going to deny me. Jesus knows Peter even better than Peter knows himself, and the same could be said of you and me as well.
The question, as it pertains to footwashing, often becomes; what was Jesus doing exactly in washing the disciples’ feet. Was it a nice gesture, a sacrament that Jesus was instituting, some new practice that ought to be commonplace within the Church, what is it? Well, the answer is right there for us. Jesus says, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example.” Jesus was giving them an example of how they could show humility to one another. Again, I can tell you from personal experience that there are few experiences that will teach you more humility than washing someone’s feet. It’s not as if this is Jesus’ only teaching on humility in this text either. Verses 31-35 tell of Jesus’ giving what he refers to as a new commandment, “that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Now, I’m not saying that Jesus was wrong, but the newness of this commandment could be debated. One could argue that a faithful keeping of the final six commandments as they are given in Exodus 20 at Mount Saini to the people of Israel would be what loving someone truly looks like. This is virtually the same commandment that we see in other gospel accounts referred to as the second part of the Great Commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself.
Humility is a product of love, the most loving thing that we can do for someone is to be humble with them, to serve them. Do you want to know how I know that my father and my father-in-law love my kids? It’s because they are willing to make complete fools of themselves all for the sake of my children being happy. It’s as if they completely transform from who Amy and I have known them to be and turn into different people altogether. My father-in-law in particular, will get down on the floor and sit for hours (which is not very comfortable) and play games with my kids simply because he loves to see them learn, grow, and laugh. At work he’s a pretty successful guy who meets with government bigwigs, military generals, and state leaders. But when he’s with my kids, he’s Pappy. He’s the guy that will go out of his way (and often does) to serve them and give them what they need. We show other people that we love them by serving them, by being selfless. We don’t show them by telling them our demands and our stipulations, we show them by caring for them in whatever and by whatever means they need it. If they need help with something that we don’t enjoy, well then hopefully we’ll learn to enjoy it as we help them. Even if we don’t ever enjoy it, it’s what they need. I can’t imagine that anyone ever grew to enjoy washing someone else’s feet, but more so that they grew merely tolerant of it. However, that was one way in which Jesus taught his disciples to show humility. So, they practiced it accordingly. The gospel accounts in particular are filled with several accounts of people, not all of them disciples, washing someone else’s (usually Jesus) feet as a sign of humility.
Now, in the midst of all of this talk about humility and loving one another and predicting Peter’s denial of Jesus, there is a brief mention of Judas’ betrayal. It’s mentioned in the opening verses, in verse 18, and verses 21-30. Harkening our minds back to the major points that I listed from Jonah (God always being in control, none of us deserving God’s grace but still receiving it, God unfolding his plan), we see those in play right here. Even in the midst of Jesus being betrayed by one of his disciples we see the plan of God unfolding exactly as God intended it to. We see Jesus make no efforts to stop Judas because what Judas was about to do was completely in line with God’s will. Even though Judas’ actions are sinful and shameful, God’s glory is demonstrated through them. All of this is part of the continued humiliation of Jesus Christ. People often think of the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus as the starting point of his humiliation. However, what we celebrate at Christmas is the real beginning of the humiliation of Jesus. Philippians 2 has a hymn recorded by Paul about Jesus’ humiliation. “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Christ humbled himself in becoming human. He humbled himself by being born into a family of no status or wealth. He humbled himself through his service to others, like washing their feet. He humbled himself by his obedience to the Father. He humbled himself by laying down his life on our behalf. Remember, Jesus’ life wasn’t taken from him; he laid it down of his own volition.
Right in the middle of our text we find these words, “I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” One interesting fact here is that the word “he” at the end of verse 19 is actually added to only the various translations. The original Greek simply reads, “that when it does take place you may believe I am.” This no doubt causes us to unmistakably link the person of Jesus with God as He refers to Himself throughout the Old Testament. Jesus is telling his disciples that the time has come. One greater than Moses and Jonah and David and Abraham, that one has come. The hour of Christ’s greatest work is at hand and that all that he is doing and will do is in service to us. There is no greater example of the complete humility of Jesus than the cross. As we continue during this Lenten season, which is a season in which we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter, let us not forget the humility of Christ. Let us not forget that all that took place was completely in line with God’s plan. Let us not forget that we don’t deserve any of the everlasting benefits that come from these events. Let us not forget that Jesus Christ is Risen.
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