Last Sunday morning and evening
we were in chapter 12 of John's gospel, and I thought tonight
we would just move on into chapter 13. I call this message, Supper at
Simon's House. This supper was two days before
the Passover. This is not the Passover supper,
but this is the supper recorded in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 at
the house of Simon the leper. It begins, verse 1, chapter 13,
now before the feast of the Passover. When our Lord Jesus knew that
his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world Our Lord referred to this hour
in John's gospel no less than seven times. I believe it was
about seven times. I'll read you some of them. Just
stay where you are in the scriptures. In John 2, verse 4, he said to
Mary, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet
come. Then in John 7, They tried to bring their wrath
to bear on him and kill him, but it says, No man laid hands
on him, because his hour was not yet come. And in John 12,
verse 23, the Lord answered and said, The hour is come that the
Son of Man should be glorified. In verse 27, he said in John
12, Now is my soul troubled, what shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour, for this cause came after this hour. And then
in that great high priestly prayer in John 17, he said, Father,
the hour is come, and I glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify
thee. That's what we're talking about
here. Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should be crucified,
buried, rise from the dead, go back to the Father, out of this
world and to the Father. All right, the next line says,
having loved his own. That's not all mankind. Having
loved his own. That's the elect of God. We know
that. all of his sheep. I love my sheep.
I know my sheep. He loved all that the Father
gave him. He loved all for whom he laid
down his life. I lay down my life for the sheep.
And he says, identifies them further, having loved his own
which were in the world. Now, many of his own were already
in heaven. I can name several. Moses, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Isaiah, David. They were not in the world. He loved them too, having loved
his own, but having loved his own which were in the world.
These in heaven and those to follow the ones in heaven. They are still on earth. They
are still in a vain and evil world. They are still in the
flesh. There are still men and women
of great temptation and trial, but that's no barrier to his
loving them. He loves them as much as he loves
those already in glory. Jesus knew that his hour had
come that he should depart out of this world to the Father,
having loved his own which were in the world, them too. He even prayed for those that
wouldn't believe on him through their name. He loved them to
the end. One of the writers says he loved
them continually. He's always loved them. He said
in Jeremiah, I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore
with loving kindness have I drawn you. But he loves them to the
end, to the end of his sufferings, to the end of their journey on
this earth. He loves them to the end of the
world, and he loves them forever. One of the hymn writers wrote
about this verse. Having loved his own which are
in the world, he loved them continually. He loved them to the end. He
loved them no matter what. This is what he wrote. Our blessed
Lord, who holds us fast, keeps his love from first to last.
The Lord Jesus is his name. An earthly brother drops his
hold, and sometimes he is hot and sometimes he is cold. But
the Lord Jesus is the same. His love before all time began,
and through all time it will remain. Not with a single soul will part. no tribulation which they feel,
no foes on earth and no folks in hell shall tear them from
his heart. He loved them to the end. He
loved them even unto death, even the death of the cross. Greater
love hath no man than this. He lay down his life for his
enemies, That's right. When we were yet
enemies, his love was upon us. He says in verse 2, "...and supper
being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas
Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him." This is the reason, I believe,
that this is the supper in Mark 14. Turn over there a moment.
Mark 14. This is when the woman the alabaster
box of ointment over his feet. It says in here, upon his head,
she poured it upon his head. In Mark 14, verse 1, and after
two days was the peace to the Passover, this is two days before
the Passover, of the unleavened bread, and the chief priests
and scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him
to death. But they said, not on the feast
day, lest there be an uproar of the people. This thing hadn't
been settled yet. And being in Bethany, in the
house of Simon the leper, he sat at meat. There came a woman
having an alabaster box of ointment, spikenard, very precious, and
break the box and put it on his head. And then down here in verse
10, Mark 14, and Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the
chief priest to betray him. unto them. He left this supper
and went to make plans of betraying his Lord. So verse 2 of John
13, if you look there again, supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son
to betray him. Verse 3, Jesus knowing that the
Father had given all things into his hands, that he was come from
God and went to God. He rises from supper and laid
aside his garments, took a towel, girded himself. After that he
poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples'
feet. When all of you heard Brother Rahm read this chapter, and most
of you have read it many times, and you are most familiar with
what our Lord is about to do here, he is preparing to assume
the very lowest and menial task, that of washing the feet of his
disciples. And yet this act is preceded
by verse 3, which says, Jesus knowing that the Father had given
all things into his hand, that he was come from God and went
to God, why is that put just before he performed this lowest
and menial task? Well, I'll tell you why. The Spirit of God, in inspiring
these words through the Apostle John, desires to show before
the event occurs, our Lord's great humiliation, his great
condescension, his great love for his disciples in this act,
his pattern of humility, a lesson for us in humility and a lesson
in brotherly love. And so the Spirit of God reminds
us of who this is. and what he is. Now, let's look
at it carefully. Verse 3, Jesus knowing the Father
had given all things into his hands, all things, all persons
in the covenant, all grace and glory, all power in heaven and
earth, all things in his hands, and that he was come from God
that he had his mission and commission from God the Father. He didn't
come of himself, but God ordained him and sent him. He said, the
Spirit of God is upon me. He anointed me. He ordained me.
He sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to give sight to
the blind, to set at liberty the captive, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. He came from God. He knew that.
The Spirit of God is reminding us of that. And not only did
he come from God, but after he had perfected that for which
he came, accomplished the task the Father had laid upon him,
he would return to God. And he would sit at the right
hand of the Majesty in the Heavens. That's who this is. He would have a name above every
name, and at his name, every knee would bow. to have all angels
and creatures bow to his name, to have authority and power over
all creation and everyone and everything subject to him and
every redeemed soul made like him. This being true of him,
think now of the condescension and lowliness of this task. That's
who this is. And that's why that verse is
there. There's no greater lesson in all of the Word of God, no
greater lesson of humility and grace and love than this illustration
here, this incident. And a person who's not moved
by this example can't be moved. So that being so, Jesus knowing
that everything is given into his hands, everything,
everything. Father loveth the Son hath given
all things into his hands, all persons, the covenant of mercy,
the eternal kingdom, the kingdom named for him, the kingdom of
his Son. So that being so, and that being
impressed upon us, look at the next line. He riseth from supper.
He riseth from where he was, from the supper, leaving the
disciples to talk and to visit, carry on their conversation.
They didn't know what was going to happen. They had no idea.
He riseth from the supper. And he laid aside his garments.
He laid aside his robe. his outer garments, not all his
garments. They wore inner garments and
other garments and then the robes. But he laid aside the garment,
the outer garments, the robes. And he took a towel, a large
linen towel, and wrapped it about himself. One of the old writers
says this act itself is meaningful. Because it gives us a picture
of his laying aside one day his glory, coming down to this earth,
laying aside his great dignity as the Son of God, and appearing
on this earth in the form of a servant. Our Lord is taking
the place of a servant. This is what the lowly servant
did. He wrapped a towel about him
and kneeled down before the visitors that came through the door and
washed their dirty feet in a basin. And our Lord, standing there,
having laid aside his garments and clothed himself with that
towel, there he stands. And that's a picture of he who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself
of no reputation. took on himself the form of a
serpent, was made in the likeness of flesh, humbled himself unto
death, even the death of the cross. That's that picture right
there. There he stood. The disciples
looked up, I'm sure. What's he doing? They got quiet then. The conversation
totally stopped. He laid aside his robe, wrapped
a towel around himself. He went over and poured water
in a basin. He got a basin, which is a bowl
in which you wash hands and feet. I remember when I was a boy,
we had those basins, had those porcelain pitchers or whatever
they were made of, and out there was a bowl about like that, and
you poured the water, washed your hands, got the towel. That's
what this was. He poured water in a basin, a
bowl to wash hands and feet. And then he stooped down and
began to wash the disciples' feet. He actually began to wash
their feet. He started with one and washed
his feet. And this custom of washing the
feet of travelers or guests was a servant's job. It wasn't the
servant. It wasn't the place or the responsibility
of the host or hostess or their sons and daughters. It was a
menial, lowly, unpleasant unwanted task of a servant, and never
performed by a superior upon an inferior. And what he's doing
here is no mere token and no mere show, no mere symbol. This was a personal work. He
literally washed their feet. Our Lord never did anything halfway.
He put that basin down there with that water and put that
first disciple's feet in there and he washed his feet, tenderly
and carefully and completely. He cleansed that foot. Then he
got that towel and it says here, and he took that towel and wiped
that foot clean. That towel wherewith he was girded,
he literally washed his feet, he dried his feet, he cleansed
his feet. And we talk about, in the book
of Revelation, unto him who loved us and washed us, washed us from
all our sin. He washed that foot clean, washed
it. Verse 6, Then he came to Simon
Peter. He'd washed, I don't know how
many, no way for me to know. But he came to Peter. He was
in a line there, and they're sitting there silently. They're
sitting there. Oh, what's going on here? They'd
seen feet washed before. They'd had their feet washed
before, but never anything like this. The Lord of glory. He came
to Peter, and Peter asked him a question. Surprised and astonished,
he said, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? I understand this. I understand
Peter's I understand his attitude completely. He's shocked. He's
speechless until he began talking here. You mean you're going to
wash my feet? You remember John the Baptist
said that. I've got no business baptizing
you, you ought to baptize me. Peter was disturbed. This was
too much below the dignity of his Lord, too much below the
character of his Lord to wash the feet of such a worthless
person. You remember one time he said,
Lord, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. That's exactly
what Peter said. Lord, you just go your way and
I'll go mine because I'm not fit company for you. That's exactly
what he said. And that's what he's saying here.
And the Lord answered him. We need to rehearse these words
ourselves frequently. Listen to verse 7. I've never
seen it like I saw it in preparing this message. Jesus answered
and said to Peter, Peter, what I do, what I do, thou knowest
not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter, you do not understand
now. what I'm doing. But you will in a little while,
I'm going to explain it to you." And he did. He explained it to
him. Then I get on into the message.
He said, You don't know now what I'm doing, but you'll understand
it. Peter more clearly understood
this at Pentecost. He understands it better now
than hereafter. But the Lord is talking about
after a moment or two, you're going to understand. And I need
to rehearse this, these words, frequently, especially when I'm
going through a trial. And the Lord says, You don't
know what I'm doing now, but you will. When we're going through
some dark providence, you know he's doing it, but we don't know
why he's doing it. We don't understand. What I do, you don't understand
now. That word now is important. And
you can adopt that, just type that out and put it on the refrigerator
door, you ladies. Men, just put it on your sun
visors. What I'm doing now, you don't understand. You don't understand
now, but you will. You'll actually understand it
and agree with it 100 percent. Well, verse 8, Peter had been
behaving with modest in humility, but now he speaks rashly, very
rashly. And I listen to him. Peter said
to him, as he drew his feet back, you'll never, never wash my feet. You'll never. And the Lord replies,
Peter, if I wash thee not, he didn't say, if I wash not your
feet. He said, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. If
I don't wash you, you have no part with me. If I don't wash
you, you'll never be saved. If I don't wash you, you have
no part with me in the covenant, in the kingdom, in the inheritance
of the saints. You have no part with me if I
don't wash you." Was this too severe for our Savior to threaten
Peter with exclusion from eternal life? for modestly refusing to
suffer Christ to wash his feet? Was this too severe for our Lord
to threaten Peter with exclusion from heaven, from the covenant,
for refusing to allow Christ to wash his feet? Well, there
are two answers to that question. The first answer is this, yes,
the least disobedience and rebellion against the commands of Christ
is reason enough to exclude a soul from the kingdom of God, isn't
it? James says to offend in one portion to be guilty of the whole
law, and to find in a man's heart the least rebellion and resistance
to the word of Christ, no matter whether he understands it or
not. Well, that's sufficient to exclude
him from the kingdom of God. For any man to say, do what you
will to do to me." No, we don't talk that way. No, sir. And that's sufficient to damn
a man. You never wash my feet. Now, that's no good. But here's
the clue, here's the key to this. Our Lord is not talking about
his feet here. He's talking about washing him,
Peter, him, him. If I wash you not. If I was,
you're not. And what our Lord is doing is
using this ceremony not only to exemplify humility and love,
he's teaching them a two-fold lesson here. He's teaching them
humility, but he's also illustrating the necessity of God's Redeemer
and servant to lay aside his glory, take the form of a servant,
and lay down his life for those he loves. and wash them in his
precious blood, not just with water, but wash them from all
their sin in his precious blood. And that's what he's saying to
Peter here. If I don't wash you in the blood, you have no part
with me. And this is serious. This is
serious. And the seriousness of it ought
to get our attention. Because the Lord taught Moses
that in regard to his redemptive work, and Paul records it in
Hebrews 8. Listen to Hebrews 8, chapter
8 of Hebrews, verse 5. Listen to this. He told Moses
here in Hebrews 8, verse 5, Paul is recording it here. He says,
in verse 4, he said, If he were on earth, he would not be a priest,
seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to
the law. These praise serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make
the tabernacle. He said, See, saith he, that
ye make all things according to the pattern shown to thee
on the mountain. What our Lord is showing here
in type is his washing his disciples, cleansing them, and he's talking
about his blood. talking about his redemptive
work. And when we are faced with the redemptive work of Christ,
we don't in any way change it. We don't in any way alter it. Was it not a small thing that
Moses did when he smoked the rock? But God wouldn't let him
go into the promised land because he smoked that rock. But he was
trifling with the redemptive work of Christ. Christ gives
that rock a smitten once, not twice. The rock is smitten and
gives forth the water. But the next time he speaks to
the rock, he smote it. He violated the type, and God
killed him. Was it a small thing that a lamb
was sacrificed by King Saul? Is it all important who did it?
It's all important who did it. The priest. And King Saul lost
his kingdom because of that. Was it a small thing when Uzziah
went into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifice? He thought
it was, but God killed him. You see, Peter here is trifling
with the redemptive work of Christ. And Christ said, Peter, it's
got to be this way, or you have no part with me. It's got to
be washed. I think about how we baptize.
I think about today, the form of baptism in the scripture. It has to do with the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ. Is it a small thing to change
it? It has to do with his redemptive
work. I think of the Lord's table. He said, This do. And to take the bread, the unleavened
bread, which represents his pure, spotless, sinless body, and break
it, like he did, and eat it. I don't take a banana, I don't
take a cracker, I take unleavened bread. It's a small thing, but
it has to do with how he saved sinners. The wine? It's pure,
the blood of Christ. It's a small thing. But he said,
Moses, you see, and he said this over and over again in Exodus
and Numbers, see that you do this like I told you. It has
to do with my son's redemptive work. I know we're living in a day
when folks say, well, it doesn't matter, it's just the thought
that counts. Why did our Lord say this to
Peter? If I don't wash you, you have no part with me. You better submit, Peter, hadn't
you? That's just it. If it has to do with his character
and his redemptive work. Verse 9, Peter, that broke him,
and that ought to break anybody. It broke him. Lord, not my feet only, but my
hands and my head. My head, my thoughts, they're
out of kilter too. My hands, my deeds, they're out
of kilter too. If you're talking about washing
me from my sins, and I judge that's what you're talking about,
then wash me all over. I need cleansing all over, not
just my feet, not my feet only. But wash me, my problems, not
just my feet, it's my hands and my head and my heart. Now here's
the first of the two-fold lesson. Jesus said to him, he that's
washed, he that's washed. The washing of regeneration.
The word is frequently used in the scripture, he washed us.
He washed unto him who loved us and washed us. from the blood,
in the blood, in his own precious blood, washed us. He that is
washed, he that is redeemed, he for whom I suffered and died.
You say he hadn't gone to the cross. Yes, he had. He's a lamb
slain at the foundation of the world. That's the way Moses was
saved. He was washed. That's the way
David was saved. He was washed. That's the way every Old Testament
believer was saved, not by keeping the law. He was washed in the
blood of the lamb. He that's washed, And he does
not save to wash his feet, he is clean every whit. Boy, I like
that word, every whit. Every whit. He is clean every
whit. He is clean from top to bottom, inside and out. He is
totally clean, completely clean, washed, justified, sanctified
before God, holy without blame, without spot in the presence
of a holy God. He is washed every whit. But he needs to wash his feet.
While we are walking through this world, you remember he said
a while ago, having loved his own who were in the world. And
we have been washed, but we, as we walk through this world,
our feet gather that daily dust, that daily struggle and trials
and temptations and testing. And our feet, walking through
this world, we need daily forgiveness. Our Lord has cleansed us in the
blood, but he taught his disciples to pray. How often should they
pray? Pray without ceasing. But he
taught them to pray, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. And forgive us our sins, as we
forgive those who sin against us. Every day we pray for forgiveness.
But you say you are already forgiven. I'm washed, I'm already washed,
but I need to wash my feet. The best example I have of that
is in the service, when we were in the service and out in these
campsites and pitch the tent and have a place to take a bath.
And a fellow would grab his towel and put it around him and go
walking through the sand and the dirt over there and get in
the shower and pull that thing and get the water to come down
and just soak and get all clean. dry off and put the towel on
and start walking back to your barracks or to your tent. And when you get in there, what
you have to do is turn the faucet on and wash your feet, because
you got them messed up coming. But you don't bathe all over
again. He that's washed is washed. He that's clean is clean, but
his feet. Now that's what that's talking about. He's clean everywhere. And he's bathed in the blood
of the Lamb, he's clean. But his feet, he needs to pray
daily, Lord, forgive me, forgive me. And he says, you're clean. You are clean. Boy, he pronounces
them saved, sanctified, justified, clean. But not all of you. Not
all of you. Judas was still there. He hadn't
gone out yet. All of you aren't clean. He didn't
die for Judas. shed his blood for Judas. Our
Lord didn't fail. He said, Not all of you. And
the reason I know that, verse 11, he knew who would betray
him. He knew, and therefore he said, You're not all clean. Perfectly
obvious. Peter, you're clean. You just
need to wash your feet. But Jerry, he's not clean. So
verse 12 says, After they had washed their feet, here comes
the second lesson. The first one has to do with
redemption. washed in the blood. We are clean, but we have to
be daily cleansed. We are forgiven, but we have
to be daily forgiven, daily forgiven. Then after he washed their feet
and taken his garments and put them back on, he sat down. He
was going to talk to them. And he said, Do you know what
I've done to you? You know what I've done to you?
They were in total silence. This was an unusual occasion.
Now, do you know what I've done to you? Now, here it is. Here's the lesson. You call me
Master and Lord. I want to give you a little lesson
here. What did they call him? They never, ever called him Jesus. Never. Never. They never said
Jesus. They said Master and Lord. And
when they went to get the donkey, and the man says, Who told you
to get my donkey? They said, The master has need
of it. They never said Jesus. When he
went somewhere else to get something else, he said, The Lord said
do this. The Lord. You say, but in writing
here, they say in Jesus, the apostles in writing the scripture
are referring to the man. If they always said Lord or God,
you'd think they were talking about God in heaven, wouldn't
you? So when they say Jesus, It's like the angel said to Mary,
or to Joseph, call his name Jesus. The angel didn't say call his
name Lord, because he's going to be a man. Call him Jesus.
You see, that's the difference in that. This picture here doesn't
say Jesus said this and Jesus said that. I said the Lord said
it. The Lord did it, the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, if you
want to say something, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's Lord, he's
Jesus, a man, he's the Christ, he's the King, the Priest, he's
the King, he's the Prophet, and he's the Priest. Lord Jesus Christ. But he said, you call me Lord,
Master and Lord, and you say, well, that's what you're supposed
to call me. So that's what I am. That's what
I am. Now, if I, your Master and Lord,
have washed your feet, I've rendered to you this lowest service, this
simple menial task out of my love for you, and to serve the
greater glory of God, you ought also to wash one another's feet. Does that mean, Pastor, that
we're supposed to have foot washing down here? No. That's not what
he's talking about. that he showed that was prevalent
in that day, and that was a service in that day, and was needed in
that day. These men wore sandals, they'd
come in from the dirt, and it was a service and a task that
was done in that day, a lowly task. And he's saying, I have
performed the lowest task as your master and Lord. And verse
15, I've given you an example. that you should do as I have
done. But I'll tell you this, if you were helpless and in a
bed of affliction and needed your feet washed, a believer
would wash them. He can cut your toenails for
you. You couldn't bend over and do it yourself. Don't mind doing
it all, but that's a service that's needed. That's a service
that's required. That's a service that needs to
be done for someone. You should do as I've done to
you. You should do Not wash people's
feet literally, unless they are sick, crippled, or not able to
wash their own feet, but perform even the lowest service in the
Spirit of Christ Jesus. See that? And he says in verse
16, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater
than his Lord. If the Master performs such service,
much more should we, his servants. Neither is he greater that is
sent than he that sent him. Now here's the closing word.
If you know these things, not this thing, but these two things,
if you know these two things, not in doctrine, not just in
theory, but not just in form, but if you have experienced the
joy and the peace of being washed in the blood of the Lamb, washed
in the blood, and daily washed your feet, forgiven you daily. Not only of your great trespasses,
but of the other trespasses. If you've experienced
that, happy are you. But also, if you have experience,
if you know this, if you know these things, the joy and happiness
of being a servant. of the Lord, being a servant
of his people, learning that it's more blessed to give than
to receive. You really learn that if you
know these things, if you know this. If you know
there's more blessed to give than to receive, to serve than
to being served. If you know that feeling, to
be a blessing rather than to be blessed. If you really know
those two things, happy are you if you do it. Isn't that a great,
great chapter? Maybe we'll just stay there for
the next service, I don't know. But I love to go through the
word, verse by verse, and study the words of our God, our Lord.