Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 13:1-20 (Ep. 35)

Episode Date: May 19, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John. In this episode, Jonny covers John 13:1-20.Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artivanis and this is Dial In. In this passage, we look at an event that takes place the night before Jesus is crucified. Our passage is John chapter 13 verses 1 through 20. Let's dial in. John chapter 13 verses 1 through 20. 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.

During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 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, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 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. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but afterwards you will understand.

Peter said to him, Jesus answered him, Simon Peter said to him, Jesus said to him, The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That is why he said, not all of you are clean.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. And you are right, them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I am telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Now the event that takes place in chapter 13 happens on Thursday night of Passion Week. On Friday morning, Jesus is going to be arrested, and on Friday night, he is going to be crucified. It says in verse 1 that he is eating this final dinner with his disciples, and it's the Passover. Now the Passover, remember, is the event that commemorates when the angel of death passed over the houses in Egypt that had been covered with the blood of a lamb. And on that following evening, Jesus himself would be the final Passover lamb ever needed to satisfy the wrath of God. On this Thursday night, Jesus is going to give his

disciples a series of promises that he extends to us today. These promises go through chapter 16, and in chapter 17, Jesus is going to pray that these promises would be for all believers for all time. In verse 20 of chapter 13, Jesus tells his disciples that he is about to send them out as his representative ambassadors. The question then is, what is the defining mark of those who represent Jesus Christ? We see the answer in this passage. Now, the gospel of John doesn't include the conversation that occurs right before Jesus stoops to wash the disciples' feet. Thankfully, Luke records it in his gospel.

Luke 22, 24 says that a dispute arose among them as to who was the greatest. The conversation taking place on the eve of Jesus' crucifixion is not one of affirmation or of love towards one another. It is a competition over who is the greatest. And in the midst of this scuffle over significance, Jesus doesn't do what you would expect. He doesn't shred them to pieces over their pride. He doesn't scream, how dare you? Don't you know that I'm going to die tomorrow?

No, he takes a water pot and a basin, takes off his outer garment, wraps a towel around his waist, gets on his hands and knees, and begins to wash the stinky, filthy, dirty feet of his disciples. In ancient times, men and women would recline as they ate. The imagery that you maybe have here is likely divorced from reality. Jesus is not at the middle of a table with his disciples sitting in chairs as they look at Da Vinci as he paints them. No, they are reclining on the ground and they're most likely leaning on their left arm as they eat with their right arm. Therefore, if everyone is reclining, you have the head of one guy over here and the feet of another guy over here. So Peter could be eating right next to Bartholomew's feet or vice versa. Feet are gross today, but even more so than in a culture

where people would walk mile after mile in sandals on dirt roads. The obvious courtesy at a dinner such as this would be to wash your feet, and this responsibility would fall to the lowest slave. This task was too low for a Jewish slave to perform, so only a Gentile slave would be required to do such a menial and grotesque task. But that's what Jesus does in this passage. Isn't it fitting what Jesus had previously told his disciples in Matthew 20 verse 26? Whoever would be the greatest among you, let him also be your, what? Slave.

This is total humility. Jesus, the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power, is washing feet. Jesus is manifesting true greatness, not by prestige, but by service. It reminds me of what Paul says in Philippians 2, 5, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though being in the form of God did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. This Greek word here is doulos, which means slave. Jesus takes the form of a slave and here performs the lowliest task of the lowliest slave. Jesus tells his disciples in John 15, 9, that he loves them the same amount

as God loves Jesus. Think about that. Jesus loves you if you're in Christ, the same amount as God the Father loves Jesus. And the way that Jesus demonstrates that love is by humble service. Jesus shows us that our capacity to love is related to our capacity to humble ourself in serving others. Much else could be said here pertaining to the humility of our Lord, but there is more here in this passage. At the heart of baptism is the symbol of cleansing, and that cleansing directs our attention to the supreme act of cleansing by which we are made clean in the sight of God, made possible not by water, but by the blood of Jesus Christ in the atonement. We have a need to be cleansed by God. Jesus, picture this with me, shuffles over to wash Peter's feet in verse eight. And Peter says,

no way, no way you're washing my feet. You are God. I'm a man. This isn't right. And Jesus responds, unless it's a necessary condition, unless I wash your feet, you have no part of me. Then Peter says, in that case, I want everything to be clean. Wash me all over. Wash me head to toe. Why? What moved Peter so far so fast?

He wanted a relationship with Jesus Christ. Peter understood that there was something deeper, something symbolic in what Jesus was doing and saying. Jesus goes from this lowly act to symbolize a reality that must take place spiritually. We need to be cleansed. Peter needed what Ezekiel talks about, a total washing, a thorough cleansing by God. Jesus responds in verse 10 to Peter, The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean, and you are completely clean.

Think about this with me. Jesus tells Peter, you are clean. He tells Peter, you are saved. Can you imagine this? Jesus telling you that you are saved? I have confidence in my own faith, but to hear it from Jesus himself, Jesus tells Peter, only your feet need to be cleansed. What does this mean? It means this. The Christian has already been justified. They have already been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. But throughout each day, they pick up the dust of the world. And what they need is to come to God in confession and confess the dirt to God and be cleansed by him. If you are in Christ,

you have already been forgiven and cleansed once and for all. But Jesus reminds us that we need to come to Jesus for constant cleansing from the dirt of this world. And John reminds us in 1 John 1, 9, that if we confess our sins, he, Jesus, is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus could have responded to the disciples' competition over who would be the greatest with a lecture, but he does something much more profound. He gives them a lesson that shakes them to their core. How do you teach someone how to serve? By serving them. How do you teach someone how to love? By loving them. Jesus says in verse 14, if I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example

that you also should do just as I have done to you. Jesus begs the question, if the God of the universe, the one who created all things and upholds all things, stoops so low and humbles himself to serve you, can you not do the same? But Jesus points to more in this passage. He points to the need to be cleansed by God. I ask you even now, have you been cleansed by Jesus? Jesus says that only those who have been cleansed will have part of him. And if you have been cleansed, have you come to him to confess the dirt that is on you? Come to Jesus who forgives and cleanses all those who come to him. Stay dialed in.