John 13:12-17 (Jesus' After Action Report)

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon We pray that as we declare the

Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who

Christ is May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you after any meaningful action or training event or Operation if you're serving in the

US Army or in the Air Force or in other branches You would have gone through something that's called an

AAR or an after -action review now all jokes aside they are helpful meetings and essentially, what would happen is your commander would would gather you into an amoeba like structure and You would talk about your relative strengths that just happened and you would also talk about the weaknesses of the operation

So that you could become mission ready The the commander would would essentially tell you this is what you did, right?

This is what you need to work on because the training event is always preceding some sort of deployment or combat

And we need to become mission ready First sergeant, that's right Who uh, okay.

Well in our passage today Jesus has a sort of AAR and after -action review with his disciples

We were talking about this earlier in prayer and the elders and deacons got together and prayer and deacon

Dan which I love that in title He said this is probably the greatest event of service that's ever happened in human history.

And I and I agree with him Jesus who is infinitely high Jesus who's gone in the flesh kneels down and takes upon the role of a servant

Which has never happened in human history When God not only

Condescended to the to the depth of where humans are Jesus did that in his incarnation. He went down even lower to where the slaves are

The greatest act of service that ever happened the disciples were clearly Shocked and they had no idea what to think

Peter protested because it was so baffling to him and you know, Peter doesn't have the filter right? He just yeah Peter said no

Lord. You're not gonna wash me and Jesus says if I don't wash you then you don't belong to me He said wash all of me So Peter protested he didn't understand at all what

Jesus was doing Judas on the other hand Simmered and stewed quietly.

He probably remembered just 24 hours 48 hours before where the woman washed

Jesus's feet Anointed his feet in John chapter 12 and how that is the very night that he went and betrayed

Christ Because he said that that money could have went to the poor which is an excuse for his greed

So Judas rejected Jesus through that stewing simmering and then leaving and betrayal

The other disciples were confused, but this is how it works, right? 80 20 20 percent of the people actually do something on their confusion and then the rest of them sit and they're like What is he doing?

They don't say anything. That's how that's how it usually works Ten of the disciples were perplexed and didn't say anything one blurted out one left and betrayed but all of them were confused

They were as confused as an octogenarian president giving a press conference. That's a joke Jesus is the perfect leader

Jesus is the one who is gathering his disciples afterwards to tell them What it is that he did so that they can

Understand it so that they can know who he is So they can know what he has done and so that that knowledge of who he is and what he's done will equip them for Mission because if you think about it

This event is just hours before Jesus's crucifixion just hours before he's gonna be put on a cross.

He's gonna die He's gonna be put into a tomb and three days later He's gonna be risen from the dead and then 50 days later

Jesus is gonna ascend into heaven and then the disciples are going to go to work this training event

Happens just two months before they're gonna be called To go on mission for Christ and it's gonna end up Killing maiming and leaving most of them

Broken and yet it would turn the entire world upside down So this is very important that Jesus in this moment has this after -action review with his disciples to tell them this is what is happening

So, what does he do? He gets back to the table.

He sits down And he begins with a question and that question is gonna unpack sort of Christianity 101 for them

This question is gonna explore what their life's gonna look like when he's gone This question is gonna look like what it means for them to know him to love him and to serve him this question is gonna open up a

Conversation that it's gonna have a massive impact for you and I as well today as we explore the contents

Of what is going on and let's be honest We need to have these after -action reviews every now and then the disciples had one here

But as a church, we need to have these every now and then it's been 1993 years since Christ ascended to heaven every now and then we need to revisit the basics

So that we know who Jesus is so that we don't have mission creep that's come into the church because every now and then there's bad ideas that come into the church and it and it

It cripples us from doing the mission that Christ has called us to Our knowledge leads to love our love leads to mission

And if our knowledge is wrong about who Jesus is and what he's done it will trickle down into mission and we will not be effective as a church and We will go the way of many other churches, which is the way of the dodo bird

We will eventually die if we don't keep central who Jesus is and what

Jesus has done So today if you will turn with me to John chapter 13, we're gonna have an after -action review

We're gonna do the same review that the disciples went through and we're gonna see three things or two things in today's passage

Next week, we'll finish this topic because I couldn't do it all in one sermon. You'll thank me for that Today, we're gonna look at who

Jesus is and then we're gonna look at what has Jesus done and then an application

What is that? How does that apply to us? So if you will turn with me John 13

We're gonna be verses 12 through 17 as we explore these truths together

John 13 starting with verse 12 So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them

Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you were right for so I am if I then the

Lord and teacher have washed your feet You also ought to wash one another's feet

For I gave you an example that you should also do as I did to you

Truly truly I say to you a slave is not greater than his master Nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him if you know these things

You are blessed who do them. Let us pray Lord when we think about blessings and we think about The way that you bless your people.

We often don't think about obedience as a blessing We often don't think about doctrine as a blessing

We tend to think about blessings in the shallowest sort of sense of this is what good thing happened to me and those truly are blessings as well, but There are other blessings deep blessings that come from knowing who you are

Knowing what it is that you've done for us at the cross and having those beautiful blessed beliefs trickle down into our heart

Trickle down into our will and our actions and our behaviors and will actually make us a very blessed people

Lord, I pray that today that we would see the very simple truths of who you are and who you've called us to be or to pray that in this

After -action review that we would see the things that we maybe have gotten right see the things that maybe we have fallen short in and That we would prepare for the battle ahead

Lord. There's a battle There is a kingdom of darkness there is an enemy there is a war there is a spiritual battle

Lord would you equip us your saints for that work for that war for that battle?

It's in Christ's name we pray amen Now the sermon is going to be largely application and if you've been here a while, you'll know that actually

That's a flip on its head a little bit because normally our sermons are largely cultural background theology and then a little bit of application today

It's gonna be actually a lot of application because I think this is really important for us to understand Because these are two areas that the church often gets sloppy in who is

Christ. What has he done? The most basic elements of Christianity and yet it's where the enemy constantly gets us off track

So today I want us to focus on those two things But I do want to provide a very brief summary of what is happening here in this text

Jesus has left the table a couple weeks ago Oh in the sermon scriptures are up there if you want them so that you don't have to flip

To them because I won't give you any warning. So they're there for your reference Now Jesus has left the table

He's taken off his robe he's gone down to the lowest part of the of the floor where the slaves actually inhabited and Jesus himself has washed his disciples feet and he has done so as a beautiful demonstration of the gospel because when

Jesus went down low to wash their feet he is showing them the kind of death that he's going to die when he goes down low and Takes upon him their sin their defilement their brokenness

And when Jesus stands up re -robes and gets back to the table He's showing them the ascension and resurrection where he is going to rise up Be robed in new creation garments and he is going to be our mediator forever at the table with God All of this as we've seen over the last several weeks is showcasing the gospel

Every moment in the foot washing ceremony is about what Jesus is gonna do when he washes our soul white as snow

From his precious blood that was shed on the cross. That is what this passage is about and Jesus Knows that his disciples do not get it.

So he begins his time with them by asking them a question which by the way

If you're in leadership, you know that a question is usually the best way to begin by getting people to have buy -in and ownership

You can tell them what they need to know or you can ask them and help them get there And that's what

I think Jesus is doing he's asking a question to help them participate in this truth to become Retrospective to become to process through what it is that he's done so that they will own it for themselves

He's asked them do you know? What I have done to you

He begins with that question and what a brilliant question that we will explore. What has

Christ done? for them and for us Now also again, we're just summarizing here good leaders

Also, don't just stop at questions because if you just ask a question and then you just walk away, what would be the point?

But good leaders also and Jesus is the perfect leader here He not only follows up that brilliant question, but he now speaks into their strengths.

He says this is what you got, right? Before he tells them what it is that they need improvement on That's the way that Jesus transitions

The final thing that he does is he does correct What it is that they're falling short in He's gonna tell them in John 13 13.

You call me teacher and Lord and you are right see You got that part, right? You call me teacher and Lord that is good

But he moves on to point to the areas of Improvement where they're falling short where they don't yet get it where they need growth where they need to To dig in and he does that in verses 14 through 17 when he says if I then the

Lord and the teacher have washed your Feet you also ought to wash one another's feet. So he's speaking out to the deficiency.

They don't know what to do He's telling them if I've done this for you you do this for others For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you truly truly

I say to you a slave is not greater than his master Nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him if you know these things you are blessed if you do them

Jesus is saying before you men are gonna stand boldly in the temple courtyard and proclaim the gospel.

You need to learn imitation Before you're gonna stand against those who oppose you in Jerusalem.

Some of them will kill you You need to learn what it means to imitate me Before you carry the gospel to every tribe tongue and nation before you're persecuted

Imprisoned and beaten and go through martyrdom and sickness and weakness and loneliness and death before you go through those things

You need to know what it means to imitate me Because that's what's gonna sustain them in their mission is when they

Take what they know of Christ Take what he did for them and then through the power of the

Spirit live those things out on mission this was

Jesus's after -action review and We today now get to celebrate and Examine the same truths that his disciples examined two thousand years ago

By looking at what does this passage teach us about who Christ is? What does this passage teach us about what

Christ has done and then how does that equip you and I for Mission the question I would ask us right up front is do you know who

Jesus is? Do you know what Jesus has done for you? And Do you understand what that would require of?

Us those are the questions that we are going to consider for the rest of our time this morning We're turning now to the application

So number one and Jesus is after -action review. He says I'm gonna tell you who I am teacher and Lord Do you know what that means?

That Jesus is both teacher and Lord The word teacher comes from the

Greek word did ask Allah's in case you want to memorize that did ask

Allah's And it means a rabbi by profession It means a professional teacher an expert in the law someone who was who was a master of biblical

Theology someone at that time that you could come to and you could ask your biblical questions almost like a pastor in those days

But someone who is theologically trained It was not just an ordinary term.

It was a term of distinction rabbi teacher Now Christ is no ordinary teacher out of all the teachers in Jerusalem We see an encounter in John chapter 3 with Nicodemus.

He is no ordinary teacher Christ does not only know the Bible perfectly in every single way.

He's God in the flesh He's the one who was with God before the very beginning in John chapter 1 1 it says in the beginning was the

Word and The Word was with God and the Word was God this teacher is God It says and also in John 7 that he only teaches us what the father has told him to teach us

So if you look at all of these things together He is God in the flesh Who is teaching us about the father and only sharing with us what

God has told him to say so that everything that Jesus says is Available to you and I to help us know

God he's the one in perfect standing so that he's the only one who could ever tell us about the father and He's also the one who's

Listening perfectly to the father and telling us who the father is so that if you want to know God the father You have to listen to the son.

The son is the teacher the father sent to us to show us himself Jesus admits that this is his purpose in John chapter 17

Will begin in verse 8 for the words which you gave me got Jesus is talking to God the words which you gave me

God I have given to them and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from you and They believed that you sent me

But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy full in themselves

I Have given them your word and the world has hated them Because they are not of the world even as I am

NOT of the world Jesus is saying my job in the first coming in the incarnation was

I came to give you the word of God the father I Came to teach you who God is and just in case we're tempted to say that applied to the disciples because Jesus was praying about His disciples look down in verse 20 and 21

Jesus says no no if you're in me if you're in the church this words also apply to you

He said I do not ask on behalf of these alone these twelve But for those also who believe in me through their word

So everyone who heard the disciples preaching in the first century who became Christians this applies to them

And then everybody who heard that second generations preaching it applies to them And then everybody who heard the third and the fourth and the fifth all the way down 2 ,000 years or 1 ,900 specifically it applies to us because the same

Apostolic message of Christ crucified dead buried resurrected Has been given to you and I The same message of who

Christ is as teacher Has been given to us So if you want to know who

God is today You have to know what Jesus has said if you want to know who the father is if you never relationship with God You have to know what

Jesus said That's why he says in Matthew 28. I'd quote this passage every week.

You probably memorized it by now All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me thou therefore go and teach

Their disciple the nation's teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded Jesus came to give us the words of God and everything

Jesus said Helps us know God and it gets even better than that because Luke chapter 24

Jesus opens up the Old Testament He said yeah, that's about me. Yeah, that's about me. Yeah, that's about me

So between maps And the concordance of your

Bible that Genesis to Revelation section Every bit of that is Christ words for us to know the father

Christ not only gives us words But he gives us concepts and thoughts so that we can know who he is And I would even say that he's not just Lord over the words

He's Lord over the doctrine that comes out of these things and the things that we learn so that if we want to know God We have to have right doctrine

Jesus teaches us about the Word of God that's called Bibliology We know the word is sufficient.

It's an errand. It's inspired. It's Jesus his own word He is the eternal Word of God. So if you want to know

God you got to know the word, right? Jesus teaches us about who God is and his attributes if you want to know that God is loving merciful gracious that God forgives that God That God has wrath towards sin and just anger towards our unrighteousness

If you want to know those things and you have to know what the word says that's called theology proper Jesus teaches us about himself.

That's Christology. He teaches about the Holy Spirit That's pneumatology the gifts of the

Spirit the fruits of the Spirit the love of the Spirit the union of the church in the Spirit That's pneumatology

If you want to know who you are That's anthropology comes from the Greek word onthropos man

Logos word it's words about our nature as human beings. We are fallen We are broken and we need a

Savior If you want to know who you truly are, you need to listen to the words of Christ in his word

Soteriology Again, I'm giving you words that you can win You can win trivia nights on Soteriology comes from the

Greek word soteros and logology from logos. It means words about salvation Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation.

So if you want to know how it is to be saved You don't look at the sky You don't look at a rock or a tree or a bush you look at the

Word of God and look at what Jesus Christ has Done and his death burial and resurrection is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes if you want to know that You got to know what he says in the word

Ecclesiology what is the church for is the church an event is the church a concert?

Is the church exists for us in our fields? If it does then let's just install all the latest gadgets all the latest devices.

Let's get a bigger building. Let's get more money Let's get more entertainment and let's just pack this place full of event attenders because it's all about us.

That's not what it's for If you want to know what the church is for you got to go to the word if you want to know how the whole thing ends

With Christ and his victory, that's eschatology. You got to go to the

Word and Jesus shows us not only that that doctrine covers every aspect of our life

But he also preaches these things in every aspect of their life. He preached from the synagogues

He openly declared the word to the people in John 18 He did it at the feast in John 7 on Mountainsides in Mark 9 lakes and seas towns and wells inside of homes inside the temple in the upper room outside of the upper room

Everywhere Jesus went he was teaching the Word of God because he's showing us that the word impacts everywhere we go

There's not a single place where Jesus didn't teach Which means that there's not a single place we go that his teaching doesn't touch his purpose and Coming his purpose and teachings laid out for us in John 2031 it says but these things have been written so that you may believe

That Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing in him you may have life in his name

What is Jesus teaching us? He's teaching us who God is Through him and if you want to know

God you got to know Christ The first thing that he tells them is that you call me teacher.

Do you know how much is underneath that statement? What did he teach them?

He taught them he's the Christ He taught them that he's the Messiah he taught them that he's the supreme

Lord over all creation He taught them that he's not only just a humble rabbi from Nazareth, but he's the divine

Son of God wrapped in human flesh He taught them that he's the long -awaited son of man from the prophet

Ezekiel and from the prophet Daniel He taught them that he is the master over all things that he's the

Savior over his elected He's the Redeemer that he's the king of kings that he's the Lord of Lords that the government is upon his shoulders that he's the prince of peace that he's the

Wonderful counselor that he's mighty God that he's lamb that he's prophet priest and King that he's a manual

God with us that he's the Word of God made flesh called the logos. He's the beginning. He's the end. He's the alpha.

He's the mega is the first He's the last that's who he is If you want to know God you got to know him

Tells us that when we see

Christ we see God when we hear Christ we hear God in God's infinite grace

He sent Jesus to teach us Who he is and Christ points us to God Do you know

God Do you know what Christ is taught about himself about you?

Do you know what he commands for your life? Do you know what it means for you to be his disciple

Do you know what it means for you to be a witness in his kingdom? Do you know what it means for you to build his kingdom? Do you know what that means for you when you leave here and you live

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday before you come back here? Again, do you know what it do you know what Christ has called you to?

Do you know what role he has for you these are the things that Christ came to teach us

He didn't come just to teach us that we can be saved raise our hand go to heaven and the rest of our life doesn't matter

If that were the case he would have saved us and zapped us out of here with a heavenly tractor beam He wouldn't have caused us to live 40 50 60 years of futility if he had no purpose for it

He saved us to empower us for mission He saved us not just to have intellectual knowledge, but to have intimate knowledge

That causes us to act Do you know who he is and do you know who you are?

And if you don't go to the word? Because it is there that Christ has revealed these things to you about you and for you

If you don't know him in a particular area of your life pursue him there If you don't know what it means that he's

Savior pursue him in that if you don't know what it means that he's Lord Pursue him there, but in wherever you're lacking pursue

Christ Don't allow yourself to lack the knowledge of Jesus Christ Because it's the most perfect and good knowledge that you could ever know better than the stock market better than crypto

Better than your hobbies better than your habits better than your family knowing Christ is better than everything Dedicate your life to that You know something that I think about often is

Is my current knowledge of Christ enough To sustain me for the battles that I'll walk through tomorrow

Because they're coming The real question is not will you suffer it's when?

The real question is not if you will go through hard times it is only a question of when it will happen and Yes, God is sovereign over those things, but he uses the knowledge of Christ To help you walk through those difficult seasons with grace with power with victory with peace is

The knowledge you have of Christ today Sufficient for the battles of tomorrow and if it's not

Cling to the Word of Christ cling to who he is. He's teacher. Let him teach

That's the first aspect of what it means to know him. He also tells us that he's Lord He's not only teacher, but he's

Lord. I absolutely love this word And I think it's neglected in the church and actually it's a fairly surprising thing

I didn't write this down, but John MacArthur great Baptist preacher When John MacArthur became focused on the

Lordship of Christ, everybody started attacking him. He was right Christ is

Lord over every aspect of our life There's not a single aspect of our life where Christ is not

Lord. Do you know what the word Lord means? comes from the Greek word koryos

Which means owner? Isn't that fascinating? We tend to have this picture of Lord like in my

Sunday school class there was a picture of Spanish Maybe Greek Jesus with the flowing brown hair

Looking up with the light shining on his face meek and mild. That's the Lord that doesn't describe his lordship

His lordship means that he owns Everything everything belongs to him If you go in the ancient world to a meat market and you meet someone let's say his name is

John and John owns the Meat market. He's the koryos of the meat market. If you go to someone's house and you visit he's the owner of the house

He's the Lord of the house Did you know that Jesus is not described with that modifier

Lord of the blank? He's just called Lord Because his ownership knows no bounds no limits

He owns everything the cattle on every hill he owns every street in every city.

Yeah, I'm talking about the modern ones When I drive through Lowell and I get discouraged at the state of the city

Christ owns it and has a plan for it and he will accomplish his plan He owns everything

He owns every tree in every forest every bird and every afternoon sky. I was fascinated by this the smallest

Verifiable subatomic particle is called a quark Did you know? That it takes two or three quarks to make a

Bayron Did you know that there takes a few Bayrons to make a proton? It takes a few protons in a nucleus with some neurons and some electrons

To make a nucleus and then it makes atoms and it makes cells and it makes the cosmos Every aspect is his

You could build a microscope that would look down even further and we could give it some other ridiculous name

Some other subatomics of a subatomic of a subatomic you're not looking at new material you're looking at material that already belongs to him

He has limitless ownership, which means he has limitless authority in my house.

I own my house You don't get to come and spray paint on my walls. I have authority over my walls

Christ owns everything Which means his authority? Extends to everything he makes the rules on how objects in motion work he appoints gravity and He appoints its bounds so that it doesn't suck you through the soil and so that you don't go flying up into the atmosphere every conceivable function thought or even possibility of reality belongs in his hand

That means how we behave That means who we're attracted to that means how we dress

Means how we speak that means where we go what we spend our money on Every aspect of our life is under the lordship of Jesus Christ There's not a single part of your life that belongs to you

And if you really think about that that's freeing Because if it belongs to you then you're gonna be held accountable for how you use it and you have not used it well

But if it belongs to him, he's already paid it He's already died for it. He's already claimed.

He's already purchased it He went to the lemon lot and he saw you and he knew you didn't start and he knew you didn't work

You were ugly and so was I and he purchased this anyway, and he got it running again and he got it moving and now he's using us for his purpose and for his glory

His lordship is a blessing to the elect it says in Galatians 2 20 I have been crucified with Christ It's no longer

I who live but it's Christ who lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the

Son of God who loved me and who gave himself up for me the crucifixion of Kendall the crucifixion of you is for your good because the life that you now live is because of the love of Christ in you

It is for your good It is for your good that he's your Lord The Bible calls us slaves and it is for your good that you are his slave because how

I Know the word slave has a really hard definition in modern times, but think about this

How blessed would it be to be a slave of Jesus Christ how blessed would it be for him to be your master he is

For you Now his lordship is not a blessing to everyone.

It's not a blessing to the reprobate It says in Matthew 7 22 through 23 many will say to me on that day

Lord Lord They're appealing to his lordship Did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons in your name perform many miracles that I will declare to them

I never knew you Depart from me those who practice lawlessness.

I think that's the scariest passage in all the New Testament Lord Lord, didn't we do this and then we do that and we go to church

Didn't we didn't we hold that sign or didn't we do this? Didn't we tell someone else about Jesus didn't we do this and if you are not known by Jesus and you're just doing that in Your own power in your own strength, and you're not a

Christian. You're just faking it and going through the motions He will say depart from me. I never knew you So it's possible to fake it it's possible to not be his and to still go to church and to still ostensibly look like a

Christian his lordship is

What determines our destination not our behavior? There are many atheists in this world who are nicer people than we are

There are many people who hate God with clenched teeth who give more money to charity than us

Our destination is not determined by our behavior It's determined by the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Does he own you or does he not are you his or are you not? and If you're not the scripture says in 2nd

Thessalonians 1 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the

Lord Matthew 13 49 through 50 so it will be at the end of the age the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and they will throw

Them into the fiery furnace in that place. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth the lordship of Christ Determines our destination.

Are you his or are you faking it the two things that Christ wanted his disciples to to know about him?

He's boiling down his entire ministry here into two words teacher and Lord Did you think about that?

Jesus is limiting his entire ministry. He's giving you a two -word summary teacher and Lord I came to teach you the things of God I came to show you who

I am and what I'm gonna do for you and I came to Possess you purchase you be

Lord over you. That's his entire ministry in two words teacher and Lord, do you know that is

Christ the Lord over your life? Or are you pretending it's Christ the Lord over your marriage

You see the Lord over your appetites. I'm not saying that you're perfect. But is he have a lordship over that area or does he not?

Is he Lord over your desires? Do you repent when you have errant appetites and desires? Is he Lord over your singleness is he

Lord over your wallet is he Lord over what you believe is he Lord over your actions? Is he Lord over your affections as if he is?

the worst punishment that you will ever face is the humility to repent for your sin and The greatest blessing will be when you walk in his presence and he says well done my good and faithful Servant and you will smile and you will laugh and you will say the only good

I ever did was you Jesus Well done my good and faithful Savior. I Didn't get myself here

Do you belong to Christ It's an imminent preeminent urgent question that I ask you

The Next thing Jesus does is he moves from the knowledge that they got right to the action that he wants them to improve upon for their mission verse 14 and 15

He says if I then the Lord and teacher washed your feet Then you also ought to wash one another's feet if you have the knowledge that I just gave you it will produce the action that I'm describing for I gave you an example

That you also should do as I did to you. Jesus is saying that all the knowledge of my teacher

Ness and my lordship Doesn't end in your head.

It ends in your behavior and in your actions and it produces something in you

It produces imitation of Christ He's saying as you have seen me do

Go and do for others He's setting the standard that he wants his disciples to live by and I just want to go through this

Sort of briefly here, but what sort of picture is Jesus talking about?

What is he showing us here? What is he what standard is he holding us to what is he calling us to imitate?

You can look at the entire ministry of Jesus and that would be helpful because I think we should imitate Jesus and everything that Jesus did

But in this moment, he's giving them a few particular examples that I want to cover Number one, he's showing them what true humility actually is

Jesus left the highest seat of heaven to sit in a shabby upper room

But it's more than that. He left that high position at the table and he went down to wash their feet

He's showing them that true humility Has nothing to do with you

Humility is not about thinking too highly of yourself and humility. This is what CS Lewis said, by the way Let me give credit where credit's due

Humility is not about thinking too highly of yourself and it's not about thinking too lowly of yourself.

It's about thinking of yourself less Humility is thinking about yourself

Last look at what Jesus is doing. He is not thinking about himself here He's thinking about the blessing and the benefit of others.

Is there anyone who is higher than Jesus? Is there anyone who who could have asserted his rights?

I'm not getting down on the floor. I'm the Lord I'm not getting my hands and my feet dirty.

I made all this stuff. I know that it's yucky Like if there's anyone who could assert their right it was

Jesus and yet if there's anyone who laid it aside more perfectly It was also Jesus He wasn't thinking about himself here

He was thinking about the blessing that it communicated to his disciples Think about the other side of humility that we've seen.

Have you ever seen someone who's false humble? You can imagine Jesus saying I don't really deserve to be at the table with you guys

So I'm gonna get down on the floor and wash your feet because I'm not worthy We act like we act like that.

We when people compliment us. We say oh, no. No, it it's not me You know, it was this it was that that's false humility

Jesus didn't have false humility. He knew better than anyone how perfect he was how infinite he was how royal and regal and majestic He was and yet he's not thinking about himself.

He's thinking about his disciples He's living his life for their good that's what true humility is if you want a definition of humility

It's doing things for the good of someone else and not for you. It's taking you completely out of it

That's what humble is Humble is not how you appear Humble is not how good you are at saying how humble you are

Humble is how you love and care for others and it's demonstrated by your life and not by your words

That is what Jesus is showing them how to be truly humble and he's doing this on purpose

Because the life that he's called them to the ministry that he's called them to will be

It will kill them if they focus on their self Can you imagine Paul in prison after everybody is has been hateful to him and who has beat him and who's left him for dead?

several times he's been shipwrecked bit by a snake and you almost think Paul is gonna be like come on If he was thinking about himself

Ministry would have crushed him Jesus is saying you cannot think about yourself.

You must think about what it is. I've called you to do Because thinking about yourself will kill you

And i've called you to bring life This is so important that we realize this because how often do we get depressed and discouraged and broken and frustrated?

Because we're thinking about us Why'd they say that to me? Why'd they treat me like that?

Why'd they do that to me? Do they not know what i've done for them? They not know how much time i've spent with them how many hours i've been with them

Do they not know all the ways that i've tried to give my best to them all that is I I I I and it's toxic

Christ is giving them an example on how to die to you so that you can live for him.

What a blessing That that is And he modeled it for us so that we could begin living that way

The question is are you willing to lay yourself down? And again, it affects all of us.

I i'm as i'm preaching this right now I've got seven areas of my life. I'm thinking about I need to lay this down Are you willing to lay yourself down to serve christ because if you cling to yourself it will kill you

It will sour you it will poison you be free of it And cling to christ

The second thing is he shows us an example of true devotion That he's committed to the father's will even if it takes him into embarrassing places

How are we committed to the father's will look at what jesus does? He gets down from the table and takes the most scandalous position that he could ever take

He's given us an example of the will of god That god's will will take us places sometimes that embarrass us

God's will will take us sometimes to places that humble us God's will will take us to places that make us uncomfortable almost always

I have very few examples of where god intentionally led me to more comfort I have very few examples of where god intentionally led me to more

More happiness in a human sense more leisure But I do have a lot of examples where he led me into places that are uncomfortable

That stretch me that bend me that challenge me For my good for your good

We're going to be called to places church In this town and in our towns and in this part of the country that are going to make us uncomfortable

What will we go there for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of christ? That's the second

Is he shows us what true? What true devotion to the will of god is?

And along with that he shows us what honor is Honor is not clinging to our status honor is not clinging to our position and our authority honor is clinging to christ

Do you? Do you find your identity in how your status is?

Do you find your identity and how far you've climbed in life? I used to do that I'll give you an example to bring this home

I grew up in the south and I was very very aware that I was in the south

And I was very aware that most of the country thought that the south was Intellectually less stimulated than other parts of the country

And I also grew up with with I don't know of a single male in my family as far back as I can look who even

Graduated high school My dad didn't graduate high school. My grandpa. I don't think graduated middle school And I also remember growing up that as a kid who had a lot of energy and not a lot of focus

That people would judge you based off what you know And based off how well you could behave and I ended up learning that I could gain value in this life through vocabulary through study through good grades

So I was the first male to graduate high school first male to graduate with an associate's first male with a bachelor's then a master's

And I started stacking these statuses They did absolutely nothing for me and they do nothing for you

Because true honor comes from being connected to the lord. Jesus christ. It doesn't come from your papers your certificates

It doesn't come from your relationships It doesn't come from your promotion your job or what your house looks like It doesn't come from any of that.

It comes from being on the floor with jesus That's honor He gives us an example of what it means to be a true priest and how to truly care for someone when you care for someone till it hurts

Has god called you to care for someone like that? And have you done it? It's easy for us to tap out but jesus never tapped out for us

He's called us to love until it hurts to love until it bleeds to love until we're right there with him

He said I gave you an example of these things so that you would do it. Let's take that seriously I was thinking about some examples of this

As christians, it's really easy for us to hide in our churches It's easy for us to adopt pharisaical attitudes

It's easy for us to look down our nose and say it's us and it's them. It's so easy

If you've walked with jesus for any length of time at all, and you've gained any ground in your sanctification

It is easy to forget what it means to be lost Imagine if there were christians

Who were sharing the gospel with the owners of abortion clinics and imagine just one of those abortion clinic owners was saved

Would that change the course of history? There'd be life where there was death

You think about the executives at planned parenthood? Where are the christians in their life? Where are the believers who can share the gospel with them wouldn't it be amazing if planned parenthood put out a statement

We all got converted. We can't continue this business anymore. We're shutting down What about the owner of a pornography website?

Do you think that would change the course of history if a christian got in their life and said you cannot do this anymore?

Turn to the lord jesus christ and they became converted sex trafficking brokenness the disgusting

Industry could come toppling down based off of christians going to hard places sharing the glorious gospel of christ

What about with drug dealers government officials? What about with the aunt who really told you

I don't want to talk about this anymore at the table You're ruining things Will we go to the hard places for christ?

Because he went to the hard places for us and it's more than just going down onto the floor and washing his disciples feet

He went to the cross And he went to the cross for the joy that was set before him

He gave us an example of how to go to the darkest places How to go to the hardest places and how to have victory

He did that as an example for us. Will we do that? For those in our life for those who are broken for those who need the gospel of christ

He gave us an example of what true service is One of the reasons that this church doesn't have a thousand ministries is because we don't believe that's what true service is sure, we could have a parking lot team and we could have a

A fog machine team or whatever other teams that you could have But what we believe about true service is true service is found in imitating christ not in performing a job at a worship service

And if you spend all your time and all your energy trying to pull off an event at a church You've not actually served christ you've just pulled off an event

Our service to christ is monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday repeat

Our service to christ is following him where he goes and going to the people that he loves our service to christ

Is sacrificial in all of our life not just in one hour a week. So He gives us an example of what it means to really serve him

What service really means? And he gives us an example of what true dominion looks like We've all heard stories of ceos like Who's the apple guy before tim cook jobs brilliant guy cult of personality, but yet Blisteringly mean to his employees screams at them

Yells at them. He uses his dominion to dominate It's his vision it's his company get on board get ran over We've heard of pastors

Like mark driscoll mark driscoll who's a pastor Now he's still a pastor in in arizona, but he once was quoted as saying

By god's grace. There's a thousand people. This church has ran over and and by the lord's grace

There will be a lot more by the time that it's over That's disgusting That's not an example of the lord who bows down and washes his disciples feet that's a megalomaniac with a mission

Christ doesn't use his dominion to nominate He uses his dominion to bless And do you know that he shared his dominion with you

All the world belongs to christ. He's called you to steward it In the parables, he says that he's left his servants in charge of his house.

His house is everything You're his servants he's left you in charge this world belongs to our care

As christians Our towns don't belong to them. They belong to christ who's given us authority to care for them

How will we use the dominion of christ? Will we use the dominion of christ to run away and hide like ostriches?

Will we use the dominion of christ like some churches to beat people over the head with bibles and say You're disgusting.

You're a sinner. You're this you're that we use the dominion of christ In sinful ways where we use the dominion of christ to bless the nations with the gospel of christ

Will we follow jesus's example? He's given us a poignant example in these passages

He's shown us that he's the teacher who teaches us how to know god through his death burial and resurrection That's the gospel

But the gospel doesn't end there because he sends the spirit inside of us to make us submit to his lordship

And once we've submitted to his lordship, then he sends us on mission by the power of the spirit Will you follow christ?

Down from the table Down to wash the feet to go to the places that he's called you to go

And if a church if the church the church Would follow christ that way it would revolutionize it would change the world.

Let us pray lord. Jesus your gospel is glorious But your gospel is not the finish line of our faith

It's the starting line You came you died you purchased you bought you paid for you did all those things not so that we could become spiritually lazy

Not so that we could become apathetic not so that we could sit on our laurels and do nothing lord.

You saved us And remade us And have called us to imitate you

To imitate you in your humility to imitate you in your service to imitate you in your

Devotion to the will of god to imitate you in everything lord. Would you cause us? To love you that way as teacher and lord and lord, would you cause us to follow you that way?

Following the example you gave to us lord Would you cause us to imitate you and lord would the nations be glad because of it when they see us?

Would they give glory to our father in heaven because of the good things that we have done in christ's name? Our salvation comes from you lord

And yet you've also called us to do the works that you prepared before the foundations of the world lord Would you let us step into those things in christ's name?