LOVING AS CHRIST LOVED
A. What are you willing to do for someone you love?
ILLUSTRATION:
Some of my fondest memories as a kid was playing with my brothers and friends at an old abandoned TWO-STORY HOUSE located about a quarter of a mile in a PASTURE across from where we lived in Oklahoma. We would spend hours playing in that old house.
One day a couple of friends from church, my little brother Johnny, and I were playing on the first story roof of that house when we discovered a Yellow-Jackets’ nest hanging from a window-sill. Jeff and Mark, our friends from church who happened to be the preacher’s and song leader’s sons, took off their SHIRTS and started popping the NEST. Angry Yellow-Jackets swarmed everywhere.
Jeff and Mark JUMPED off the roof while I darted back through the upstairs window and ran down stairs and out the front door. We were standing in the front yard trying to catch our BREATH when we looked up and saw Johnnie still on top of the roof JUMPING up and down, waiving his arms frantically. We yelled, “Get down! Get down!” He just stayed up their doing a JIG!
So I ran back up STAIRS onto the ROOF, grabbed Johnny, and ran back down carrying him over my shoulder. By the time we got him home, he had about a dozen WHELPS on his body where he was STUNG—and I didn’t get STUNG once.
COMMENT:
Why did I do it? Because I LOVE Johnny. That was my little brother up there getting STUNG, and my LOVE for him COMPELLED me to go up there and get him down even if I got STUNG!
You have done similar things for people you LOVE too, haven’t you? But what about those who HATE you and HURT you? Would you LOVE them SACRIFICIALLY, too?
B. Loving those who HATE and HURT you is LOVING as Jesus LOVED!
1. John 13:34- Jesus tells His disciples that they are to “LOVE each other as He LOVED them.”
a. That was a tough one for the disciples because they were COMPETITORS.
b. I don’t think they HATED each other, but their COMPETITION kept them from LOVING each other as Christ LOVED them.
2. What Jesus does in John 13 is a result of an ARGUMENT that the disciples had immediately following Jesus' introduction of the Lord’s Supper.
a. They were arguing over who’s the greatest among them- Luke 22:24-27 (READ & COMMENT)
ILLUSTRATION:
While the disciples are still eating, Jesus gets up from His RECLINING position. He lays aside his outer clothing, takes a towel and wraps it around himself. He then pours water into a BASIN and begins to WASH His disciples feet one by one. While the disciples are ARGUING over whose the GREATEST among them, the One who is the GREATEST becomes their SERVANT.
b. It’s this kind of LOVE that Jesus wants us to EMULATE. (MOVIE CLIP from Gospel of John)
C. NOTICE THE NATURE OF THE LOVE DEMONSTRATED BY JESUS from John 13:1-5
MESSAGE:
I. LOVE THAT COULD NOT BE QUENCHED BY EVIL- v. 2
A. From this night to the CRUCIFIXION, Jesus was confronted with many of Satan’s PLOYS, using His very own disciples.
1. Judas’ BETRAYAL
a. “The devil had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus.”- v. 2
ILLUSTRATION:
Judas had been with Jesus for three years. Time and again he watched as Jesus compassionately helped people with their NEEDS. He saw how He LOVED and ACCEPTED people who had been SHUNNED by SOCIETY because of their RACE or SOCIAL STANDING. He watched as the Lord extended FORGIVENESS to the UNWORTHY.
Never had Judas saw LOVE demonstrated the way Jesus LIVED it, and now he was ready to
END it all for a measly 30 pieces of silver (“the price of a slave gored by an ox”- Exo. 21:32).
b. The beauty of this story is the fact that Jesus knew Judas was going to “BETRAY Him”- v. 11.
ILLUSTRATION:
Knowing that he was going to be SOLD into the RUTHLESS hands of His enemies, Jesus knelt down in front of his BETRAYER, placed his dirty feet into His hands and WASHED them.
Can you picture Jesus doing that? Here He is holding the FEET of the man who is going to have Him KILLED. His LOVE just pours out for Judas. Tears probably welled up in His eyes as He takes the feet of His BETRAYER and ever so gently WASHES and MESSAGES them.
Is Judas squirming? Is he having second thoughts? Does a tear appear in the corner of his eye? Jesus loved Judas UNCONDITIONALLY.
2. Peter’s DENIAL
a. Despite the LOVE that Peter claimed to have for Jesus and his willingness to DIE for Him,
Jesus told Peter that he would “DENY Him three times before the night is over” - vv.36-38.
COMMENT:
As HEARTBREAKING as it was to know that Judas was going to BETRAY Him, Jesus, undoubtedly, was HURT beyond DESCRIPTION to know that Peter, one of His closest friends, would DENY even knowing Him.
Having an ENEMY to HURT you is one thing— but not a FRIEND! Jesus not only knows it’s going to happen, He later “WITNESSES it”- Luke 22:61. (TELL THE STORY.) Hearing Peter’s CURSING and DENIAL must have BROKE Jesus’ HEART.
b. Yet, Jesus knowing that His friend will soon openly DISOWN Him, humbly KNELT DOWN
and WASHED Peter’s feet.
3. Disciples’ COWARDICE
a. When Jesus was ARRESTED, “all of the disciples deserted Him and fled”- Matt. 26:56.
COMMENT:
Jesus knows that ALL of His DISCIPLES are going to run like SCARED RABBITS when the SOLDIERS finally come for Him. During the most difficult ordeal of His life, none of His FRIENDS are going to be there. Only John finally makes his way to the foot of the CROSS.
b. Knowing that His disciples would FLEE did not DIMINISH the LOVE Jesus had for them, and DEMONSTRATED by WASHING their FEET.
II. LOVE TENDERED BY JESUS BEING FULLY AWARE OF HIS OWN EXALTED POWER- v. 3
A. The WASHING of FEET is even more amazing because Jesus is the Son of God.
1. Jesus was fully aware of His DIVINE position.
a. Yet, being God in the flesh did not cause Jesus to think Himself to LOFTY to get on His knees and WASH the feet of His followers.
b. As you know, the TASK that Jesus performed was that of a SLAVE.
COMMENT:
Jesus was the Master of these TWELVE men, but He had become their SLAVE by WASHING their feet. God’s Son was on His KNEES doing a MENIAL CHORE that the DISCIPLES wouldn’t even DREAM of doing.
2. Jesus asked His disciples, “Do you understand what I’ve done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”- vv. 12-14.
COMMENT:
These men had been ARGUING about whose the GREATEST. Jesus showed them that the GREATEST was not the one being SERVED, but the SERVANT. Here they were FIGHTING for the THRONE, but not the TOWEL. Indisputably, the one who PICKED up the TOWEL was indeed the GREATEST.
B. Jesus had always taught that the SERVANT is the GREATEST, a lesson the disciples hadn’t learned.
1. But what about YOU and ME? Have we LEARNED this LESSON?
ILLUSTRATION:
Has this ever happened to you? You realize the importance of being a SERVANT so you decide to go VISIT an ELDERLY MEMBER of the church who has been HOME recuperating from SURGERY.
You walk into her LIVING ROOM, sit down on a comfortable recliner, and then ask how she’s DOING. Taking a deep BELABORED BREATH she says in a faint WHISPER, “I am doing okay.” You reply in an UPBEAT manner, “I am SURE glad to hear that.”
Then after a few more minutes of SMALL TALK, you look at your WATCH and say, “Well, I guess I need to be going.” As you make your way toward the DOOR you turn around and ask, “Oh, you don’t need me to do ANYTHING for you, do you?” and she shakes her head “NO.” You say, “Okay, but if there is anything I can do, be sure to let me know.” Then you get into your CAR and DRIVE away.
That may sound good, but the problem is while there you notice DIRTY DISHES in the sink, TRASH CANS running over, the CARPET needing VACUUMED, and the LAWN needing MOWED, yet you still asked, “You don’t need anything, do you?”.
2. GREATNESS is seen in those Christians who are willing to MOVE beyond the COMFORTABLE, to ROLL up their SLEEVES and get their HANDS DIRTY in the SERVICE of those who can’t DO for themselves.
COMMENT:
If you want to see GREATNESS, then look for those around you who are BUSY serving others.
III. LOVE THAT WAS ACTIVE- vv. 4-5
A. Without announcement or fanfare, Jesus simply rose from His reclining position and began WASHING His disciples feet.
1. The disciples didn’t VOLUNTEER.
a. They were too preoccupied with their dreams of GREATNESS to assume the role of a SERVANT.
COMMENT:
If one of the disciples arose from the table and WASHED the other’s feet, he would admit to his COHORTS that he wasn’t as GREAT as the rest. (At least that’s what he would think.)
After disputing over whose the GREATEST among them, there’s no way that a disciple would DEMEAN himself by SERVING the others.
b. The sad thing is, none of them VOLUNTEERED to even WASH Jesus’ feet.
ILLUSTRATION:
Not wanting to WASH your companion’s feet is one thing, but no one even offered to WASH their Master’s feet. If WASHING Jesus’ feet meant resigning their position of GREATNESS, forget it.
c. Their PRIDEFUL unwillingness to perform this task is characterized by their LACK of LOVE.
COMMENT:
They didn’t have an UNSELFISH LOVE for their COMPANIONS or for their Master. They were more concerned about themselves and what others would think.
2. Jesus assumed the RESPONSIBILITY- v. 5
a. He demonstrated that GREATNESS is not determined by one’s POSITION in life, but by what he or she does.
b. Jesus was GREAT not because He was the Son of God, but because He was an OBEDIENT SERVANT- Philippians 2:5-11 (READ and COMMENT)
3. Jesus LOVED His disciples enough to SERVE them. His was an ACTIVE LOVE.
COMMENT:
He didn’t “Love just by WORD, but by ACTION”- 1 John 3:18. Washing His disciples’ feet was just one example of many of how Jesus DEMONSTRATED His UNCONDITIONAL and UNSELFISH LOVE for them.
B. What kind of LOVE do we have—ACTIVE or PASSIVE?
1. PASSIVE LOVE is that which says, “I love you,” but when the time comes to DEMONSTRATE that love, you’re never AVAILABLE.
a. It’s easy to say “I LOVE you.”
ILLUSTRATION:
But then your phone rings at 3:00 in the morning. A brother in Christ on the other end says, “Listen, I know it’s late, but I’m STRANDED at the AIRPORT and can’t get HOME. I hate to ask and I know it’s asking a lot, but would you mind so TERRIBLY to come here and get me?”
COMMENT:
PASSIVE LOVE will make an EXCUSE as to why you can’t GO simply because you don’t want to get out of your WARM BED. ACTIVE LOVE will cause you to think, “Man, I hate to get out of this WARM BED!” But you GO anyway.
b. It’s this kind of LOVE that sent Jesus to the CROSS!
2. ACTIVE LOVE picks up the TOWEL.
COMMENT:
ACTIVE LOVE doesn’t ask, “What can I do?” It sees what needs to be DONE and DOES it! This is “LOVING one another as Jesus LOVED us.”
CONCLUSION:
A. When a person starts LOVING as Jesus LOVED, astounding things begin to happen.
ILLUSTRATION:
A PREACHER and his son went to a Father/Son Retreat in the mountains of New Mexico. Around 200 Christian men were in ATTENDANCE with their sons. Someone spoke on the story of “Jesus WASHING the disciples’ FEET.” It was suggested that each FATHER and SON wash each other’s feet as an act of LOVE and HUMILITY, and to capture some of the marvelous ATTITUDE of our Savior.
The BOY got on his knees, took off his Dad’s SHOES, and slowly, tenderly began WASHING and RUBBING his Father’s feet. The TEENAGE BOY looked up at his Father with TEARS in his eyes and said, “Dad, I’m not as GOOD a BOY as you think I am!” With equal emotion and voice choked with LOVE, the Father, a highly respected PREACHER of a large congregation, replied, “Son, I’m not near as GOOD a MAN as you think I am.”
COMMENT:
When Christians truly strive to be like Jesus in every ASPECT of their lives, wherever they are: on the JOB, at SCHOOL, at HOME, on VACATION, or on the SOFTBALL FIELD, they are going to experience a CHANGE from within.
People will see a marked difference in them. They will be drawn to them like a MAGNET. They will be drawn to Jesus who LIVES inside them through His Spirit.
HOW IS YOUR LOVE LIFE?
