The Unfathomable Love of Jesus
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1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Setting the Stage
Setting the Stage
When a dinner was served at this time and in this culture…
Those dining would wash their right hand to eat appetizers.
The table would be low.
They would be laying on a mat.
Leaning on their left elbow.
Head at the table.
Feet pointed away from the table.
This would be considered “reclined at the table.”
After the appetizer, they would then wash both hands for the meal.
Often, meals would be accompanied by music, lectures, and or deep discussion.
Here, in this context, Jesus provides a lesson by example as He and the disciples are reclined at the table.
Right from the start, John lets us into the kind of love that Jesus had for His own.
Loved His Own
Loved His Own
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Jesus, from the beginning, knew His mission was to be a substitutionary sacrifice for His sheep.
He knows that the Cross is not some distant reality…
But, is only days away.
He knows that He is about to depart out of this world and go back to His Father.
He knows the path to the ascension and taking a seat at the right hand of His Father is through the Cross.
Becoming a curse for His bride is imminent.
But, we are transitioning from the end of His public ministry…
To the remaining days being devoted to the instruction of His disciples of:
What the Cross actually means for the people of God.
How the Cross actually benefits the people of God.
Although, His ministry to the public has ended, His ministry to His sheep will never end.
How his death, and ascension will actually result in better things for them.
And, so we now enter the private discipleship of Christ in His preparing His disciples for the Cross, and beyond.
Love’s Description
Love’s Description
Listen to John’s description of Christ’s love for His own…
having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The description His own who were in the world…
This not to distinguish those who were in heaven with those who were on the earth at this time.
—> Christ loves both, equally.
The description in the world is to magnify that Christ came to save His own from this sinful, dreadful, fallen world that is in full rebellion towards God.
We see this idea by John already in…
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Meaning, the world is under the self-imposed condemnation of God…
And, if one does not place their faith upon Christ they remain under condemnation.
John says elsewhere…
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
The world in which we live lies in the power of the evil one.
It is under condemnation, self-imposed by each of it’s citizens…
And, the only hope of escape is faith in Christ.
So, the love of Christ was manifested in His willingness to incarnate…
And, enter a condemned, dreadful, sin-filled, God hating world…
And, through His righteous life and His sacrificial death redeem a people out from the world for Himself…
And, through that grant His people citizenship in the kingdom of God.
And, that is what John is informing us of when he says…
1 …having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Here John tells us of…
Loves Extent
Loves Extent
Christ loves His people to the end.
There are two things being stated here that describe the love of Christ for His people.
He loves them inexhaustibly
This is a way for John to inform us of the type of love that Jesus has for His own.
IOW, there is no end to the love of God in Christ Jesus.
His love knows no end.
There is nothing His own can do to remove His love.
So, Paul can tell us that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
And, another point to John’s description of Christ’s love is that the inexhaustible love of Christ is manifest in that…
2. His love endured suffering
He never stopped loving us, even when faced with the Cross.
He never stopped loving us, even knowing He would become a curse.
His love for His own, led Him to the Cross, and carried Him through it.
His love for His own was unto death.
As Paul states…
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
His love for His Father, and His love for His own…
Led Him all the way unto death, even death on a Cross.
Now, Jesus is going to express His love in a way that the disciples will not immediately comprehend…
Rather, they get quite indignant at the gesture.
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Now in the synoptic gospels, there have been discussions and debates among the disciples of who would be the greatest among the twelve in the kingdom of God.
Here, to demonstrate the love of Christ…
And the depths that true love will actually descend for the objects of love…
Jesus teaches the disciples what true love looks like.
And, this foot washing is symbolic of the unmeasurable expression of love that Christ will go to for His own…
—> That is the Cross.
Foot Washing
Foot Washing
During a meal, typically, only servants got up during the meal.
As Jesus lays aside His outer garments, the disciples would have immediately become suspicious.
So, Jesus getting up from the table at this time would have seized their attention.
The removal of His outer garments would have been seen by the disciples as a great sign of humility.
But, in their minds, they’re wondering…
Why is He doing this?
What is He going to do?
As He wraps a towel around His waist and pours water into a washing basin…
There would have been a fearful, suspicious anger building up in their hearts.
As Jesus starts moving around the table washing the disciple’s feet…
The disciples would have become indignant.
Most of the disciples respond in anger by silence.
But, not Peter.
It’s time for Peter to voice what everyone else is feeling.
And, that is anger and frustration at what Jesus us doing.
Such A Menial Task
Such A Menial Task
Why the indignation?
Washing someone else’s feet was a task that would be too low even for a Jewish slave to perform.
It would be something only a non-Jewish slave would be asked to perform.
Many times guests would be provided a water basin to wash their own feet.
You can imagine the disciples thinking that this task is too low for them to do to one another…
Much less their Lord washing their feet.
But, what Christ is teaching them is an expression of true love.
Christ is teaching them that being the greatest is not Lording it over others.
It is not using that status of superiority over people for personal benefit.
What Christ does here goes against cultural status boundaries.
It’s not even unlikely that the disciples thought this such a task that they were not low enough to wash Jesus’ feet.
Remember the disciple’s indignation at Mary anointing Jesus feet.
Think About What Jesus Knew
Think About What Jesus Knew
Think about what John tells us right before we’re told the position Jesus takes as foot washer…
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
The knowledge that all things are His.
All things into His hands is an Hebrew idiom for Full Authority.
All things are at His disposal.
All things are under His authority.
All things are subject to His power.
Not one person, nor anything can stay His hand.
Well, with that kind of power…
Also, knowing what Judas has been plotting.
Knowing what the RL’s are planning to do.
What would we do?
What would we expect a human leader to do with such power?
We would expect a reckoning.
We would expect fury unleashed upon the enemies.
We would expect Judas to have fire rain down upon him.
We would expect the RL’s and the Nation of Israel that have rejected their Messiah to be crushed by the power of Christ.
We would expect Christ to call down legions of angels and vindicate His name in holy wrath.
But, that is not what we see.
Last week, we looked at how that reality will come.
But, what Jesus does with that knowledge of ultimate power and authority…
Is to lay down His outer garments, wrap a towel around His waist, and wash His disciples feet.
Even the feet of the one whom Jesus knows is planning to betray Him for a meager wage.
In spite of the fact that Jesus is gaining nothing from His own.
In spite of the fact that Jesus is being betrayed and will be tortured by His nation…
In spite of Christ’s eternality and divine essence as the Son of God.
In spite of Christ knowing that He is going back to His throne in heaven.
—> Jesus continues to love.
What an amazing God!
What an amazing Savior, we have in Jesus!
Let’s Think About This…
Let’s Think About This…
I’m going to say this, and I mean it…
The more I study God’s word.
The more I look in awe at the life of Christ.
The more I’m convinced that we have never loved anyone or anything the way the Bible calls us to love.
If you take the most dear thing to you in life…
There is a limit to your love towards the object.
There is a limit to when, how, and why we express love.
Most of the time, our love is expressed as a reciprocation of the way the object makes us feel.
And, the greater the object makes us feel the greater the intensity of our expression of love towards the object.
And, so what I mean is this…
Our giving of love is based upon a reciprocal receiving of feeling.
Sometimes our expression of love is greater than the feeling we received from the object.
But, it is in the hope of receiving more from the object in the next round.
If the reception of more does not occur, we typically begin to withdraw.
And, as I contemplate such truth according to the Bible…
It truly reveals how selfish and sinful my heart truly is.
And, how glorious, righteous, and perfect the love of God is.
And, how Christ met that perfect standard in His love towards His creatures as their Creator.
But, even more so, and graciously towards His sheep…
Those whom the Father gave Him to redeem.
The Disciples
The Disciples
Here in the company of the Holy Creator they’ve been arguing about self-glory.
Over and over the Lord has had to repeat the same truths so they would understand.
There’s been a Betrayer in the midst, that Christ has known about from the beginning.
All of the disciples will abandon Christ in the Garden, and He knows it.
None of them take the Lord serious enough to stay awake in prayer.
Peter, who is the bravest and most courageous of the bunch will deny Christ three times out of fear of man.
All of this is enough for us to divorce ourselves from such a group ten times over.
But, not Christ.
He loves His own.
The Law
The Law
So, feel the crushing weight of this command…
Love your neighbor as yourself
Feel the infinite ways in which you fail that command each day.
Feel your insufficiency to keep such a command.
You’ll never measure up to the summary command to love others.
And, so you are unrighteous before the Law.
The Lord
The Lord
But, now look to Christ and see His love that is immeasurable.
His love that surpasses human understanding.
His love that goes to depths that cannot be measured.
And, know that by faith in Christ…
His record of love is credited to your account.
Rejoice in the perfection of Christ…
And, know that by faith His record is yours.
And, the same loyalty Christ had to His own while on earth…
He has to all those who put their faith in Him.
We are secure, forevermore, in Christ’s love.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
