The Sovereign Servant John 13:1-35

The Sovereign ServantJohn 13:1-35 Be Transformed Chapter 1 By Warren W. Wiersbe

John 13-17 is our Lord’s farewell message to His beloved disciples. Relationships • Humility: Heavenly Father (13:1-5) Timeline: • Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday Jesus cleansed the temple on Monday Tuesday was a day of conflict as the religious leaders sought to arrest Jesus • Wednesday was a day of rest • On Thursday, Jesus & His disciples met in the upper room for Passover John 13:1-3 emphasized what Jesus knew while John 13:4-5 counts on what He did

Jesus knew His time had come & was on a heavenly timetable. • 2:4-Mine hour is not yet come. • 7:30-His hour was not yet come. • 8:20-His hour was not yet come. • 12:23- the hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. • 13:1- Jesus knew that His hour was coming. • 17:1-Father, the hour is come. How? He should be glorified through His death, resurrection, and ascension. From human perspectives, it meant suffering while from the heavenly point of view it meant glory.

Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. Judas: 8 times in the gospel of John. Satan entered into Judas (Luke 22:3). “Put” in 13:2 literally means to throw. In John 6:64-71, Judas was an unbeliever. • Jesus Knew that the Father had given Him all things (13:3). Jesus was poor and yet rich because He knew who He was, where He came from, what He had, and where He was going. What Jesus knew helped determine what Jesus did (13:4-5)

Washing disciples’ feet – menial • Competitive spirit in disciples. • I Peter 5:5 “clothed with humility” • Poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3) vs. Poor-spirited • Humility vs. timidity & inferiority • His humility born of riches, not of poverty • II Cor. 8:9 “He was rich yet he became poor” • He maintained the humility while magnifying His Deity. John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:16; 8:50 • His ultimate (last) expression of humility was His death on the cross

Servant: Jesus was the Sovereign, yet He took the place of a servant. Phil 2:5-11 He had all things in His hands yet He picked up a towel He was the Master and Lord yet He served the followers Humility: it is not thinking meanly of yourself, but it is simply not thinking of yourself at all. True humility grows out of our relationship with our Father The church is filled with a worldly spirit of competition and criticism as Christians vie with one another to see who is the greatest. We grow in knowledge, but not in grace II Pet. 3:18

He served His disciples because of His humility & love. His disciples received unlike His own people “He loved Him to the end” v.1 (the uttermost) • Holiness: Jesus and Peter (13:6-11) As Peter watched Jesus washing disciples’ feet, he became disturbed and could not understand what He was doing. • Wash in 13:5-6, 8, 12, 14 is nipto and means “to wash a part of the body”. In 13:10, washed is louo and means to bathe all over.

When sinners trust Jesus as Savior, he is “bathed all over” and his sins are washed away and forgiven. (I Cor. 6:9-11; Titus 3:3-7; Rev. 1:5) The believers walks in the world and can become defiled. He doesn’t need to be bathed all over again, but he needs that defilement cleansed away. I John 1:9 Why is it important to “keep our feet clean”? If we are defiled, we cannot have communion with God. (13:8) Part is meros and means “participation, having a share in someone or something”. Unspotted from the world. James 1:27

Illustration: when the priest was consecrated, He was bathed all over (Psalms 29:4) & it happened only once. However, during his daily ministration, he had to wash his feet and hands at the brazen laver in the courtyard before serving, especially trimming the lamp burning the incense and eating the holy bread. The Lord cleanses us through the blood of Christ (I John 1:5-10) and through the application of His Word to our lives (Ps. 119:9, John 15:3, Eph. 5:25-26)

Peter tried to tell the Lord what to do and didn’t understand what Jesus was doing. Peter refused to be washed. To refuse Jesus He loses the fellowship with Him. Lesson from Peter: Don’t try to question the Lord’s will or work and don’t try to change it. His denial thrice It requires humility and grace to serve others as well as to allow others to serve us Submissive spirit can both give and receive to the glory of God. Jesus washed Judas’ feet, but he was not bathed all over (John 6:64-67)

Happiness: Jesus and the Disciples (13:12-17) Key verse: “…if you know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Sequence: humbleness, holiness, and happiness The world thinks that happiness is the result of others serving us, but the real joy comes when we serves others in the name of Christ • Jesus • Others • You The servant is not greater than his master. Jesus was the Master yet He served the disciples.

As a servant Jesus lifted us up, He dignified sacrifice and service. The chief is the servant of all. Blessing comes in the doing of the Word. James 1:22-27 God’s formula for true spiritual joy: submit to the Father, keep your life clean, and serve others. Hypocrisy: Jesus and Judas (13:18-35) Judas had never believed in Jesus (John 6:64-71) nor bathed all over (13:18-30). He was a treasurer (12:6)

Jesus had two concerns: • To fulfill the Word of God (13:18-30) • To magnify the glory of God (13:31-35) Ps. 41:9 “Yea, mine familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” In David’s time, it was probably Ahithophel who became a traitor and joined Absalom’s rebellion. Like Judas, Ahithophel committed a suicide (II Sam. 17:23, Matt. 27:3-10). God didn’t make Judas to fulfill the prophecy, but he was responsible for his own decision to commit a suicide. The disciples didn’t know Judas was a traitor and unbeliever.

Jesus knew what Judas would do (6:64) but He didn’t force Judas to do it. Regardless of the Lord’s warning concerning covetousness, Judas continued to be a thief. Jesus even washed his feet even when his heart wasn’t yielded to Him. The disciples didn’t take it seriously when Jesus warned about the traitor (6:70) until He spoke again at the Last Supper. This time, they were perplexed (puzzled). They wondered who it was.

Satan entered Judas. He left to fulfill the Word while the disciples thought He left to help the poor. He expressed an interest in the poor hypocritically. He met with the religious leaders to betray Him away from public disturbance “woe unto that man by whom the son is betrayed!” It had been good for that man if he had not been born (Matt. 26:24) Judas planned deliberately, “And it was night” Light vs darkness Jesus is the Light of the World (8:12) Those who do evil hat the light (3:18-21) After Judas’ departure, Jesus set up the Lord’s Supper.

Theme now changes to the glory of God (13:31-35) “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified.” (12:23) Son of man – 12 times in the gospel of John John 12:31 is the last on the Son of man Daniel 7:13 messianic What does it mean for Jesus to glorify the Father? • By doing faithfully what He call us to do. • For Jesus, Jesus will die for the sinners, be raised from the dead, and ascend to heaven. • John 17:1,5-The Son glorified the Father and the Father glorified the Son. • Jesus would be glorified in the disciples (17:10) but they didn’t follow at that time.

Peter boasted that he will follow Him even to death (Luke 22:3) but he denied the Lord 3 times. Jesus told the Jews twice that they will not find or follow Him (7:33-36, 8:21-24). He told the disciples that they will go with Him (John 14:1-3) & find Him after the resurrection. The disciples’ responsibility was to love one another as Christ had loved them. They will need it in hours to come. • “Love” – 12 times in John 1-12 • “Love” - 44 times in John 13-21 • “New”- new in experience, fresh, not new in time, opposite of worn out

This passage begins and ends with love: • Jesus’ love for His own (13:1) and disciples’ love for one another • “See how they love one another” • Love is the true evidence that we belong to Jesus. I John 3:14 “laying down our lives for the brother”

The Sovereign Servant John 13:1-35