Washed Clean.

If you have your Bibles with you, we're going to be reading John chapter 13, starting in verse one. It says, it was just before the Passover feast.

It was just before the Passover feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Then Simon Peter replied, "Lord, do not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well." Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet. His whole body is clean, and you are clean, though not every one of you." For Jesus knew who was going to betray him. And that was why he said not everyone was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "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. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."

John 13:1-17

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word today. God, we thank you that we can open up our Bibles into this space and that we can gain not only more understanding of who you are, but that we can encounter your presence, that we can hear from your voice. And so God, I just pray that for these next few moments, that you would help us all to just be so present with you and your spirit and the things that you are trying to teach us and that you are trying to speak to us. So God, we open up our ears to hear. We open up our hearts and we just say that we're ready to receive from you because Lord, I know that I need you. I need you to be the breath in my lungs. I need you to be the one that continues to come and cleanse me today. Would you just wash over us with your word? Would you cleanse us? And would you lead us just closer to you. In your holy, powerful name, amen.

The Full Extent of His Love

This passage of scripture is such a powerful, powerful demonstration of the love that Jesus has for us. I love how right there in the first verse it says, "Now he showed them the full extent of his love." We've been in a series for a while talking about this idea of the table and looking at the different meals that Jesus had with people. And we've been talking about the power of sitting around the table with people because something happens when you sit down and you share a meal with one another.

We are reminded here of the humanity that we share. We're reminded of our need for food to strengthen us, to nourish us, to sustain us. We're reminded that at the end of the day, no matter what we look like, no matter where we come from, we all share this common need to eat and to be fed. But it's more than just physical. We all share the need to be fed and to be sustained by the living God.

And Jesus is coming here and he's once again gathering people around the table. He's once again gathering his disciples, people from different backgrounds, people who had all different stories that if it wasn't for Jesus probably had nothing in common, yet they sat at the table together and they got to experience the full extent of his love and what he was about to demonstrate for them when he washed their feet. This is love.

You see Jesus in the Bible, his presence, him coming down to earth as the son of God, as both fully human and fully divine, he was the object lesson. It's like this idea that if God could have saved the world, right, just through the Bible, he never would have sent Jesus. But he sent so much more than just a book for us to follow. He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross, pay the price for our sins, be raised back to life and leave with us his Holy Spirit so that we can continue to encounter him day after day after day for all of eternity, preparing for that relationship that we're going to have with him for all of eternity.

And what a gift it is for us that we can go to scripture and we can look and we can see how did Jesus live? How did he love people? To get an example of both how we can receive his love and then how we can love people in that same way and continue his mission here on earth.

But what I love so much about Jesus is that he didn't just tell people that he loved them, but he showed them that he loved them all the way to giving his life on the cross.

I've shared for the past couple weeks that I started a new grad program. It's my first time back to school in like seven years and so it's been quite the overwhelming experience for me. I never thought that I would go back to school again. But I have this one professor and disclaimer, he really is a really nice guy, like he is a wonderful professor. But he signs every single email, "You are loved." And here's the thing. Every time I email him, he rarely answers my questions, and if he does respond to my email, it's usually like three weeks later, and it's still not answering my question. It's like talking about something else. And so I don't really feel so loved by that, even though the email is responding to me, not answering my questions. It's like, "You are loved," and then we just had this week-long intensive where I had to go on campus because I'm doing an online program. And I am like a detailed person. I want the details. I want to be prepared for what you're walking into.

I'm like, give me the agenda, give me the schedule. That's me. So we got a schedule. Three days before we were supposed to be like in Florida, okay. So I have to buy flights. Even like buying flights, I'm like, it just says Tuesday, be there Tuesday. I don't know where, I don't know when, but just be there Tuesday. Finally, Friday, I get a schedule and I'm like, yes, we're going to be organized. But it was the social schedule. So it was telling me like where to be for ax throwing with my classmates on Tuesday and bowling on Thursday. And like, okay, that's great. Cool to ax throw. But like what classroom are we meeting in? What time do I have to be there?

And then we get there the first day and he's like, "I just want to start this program by like, you are loved." And I just wanted to scream. I'm like, I do not feel loved right now. Like what would make me feel loved is you giving me the schedule and giving me the details and giving me the agenda and all of these things. And again, he really is a good professor. They made up for it. It was a great week. But there's something where it's like somebody can say, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you," but if they're not showing you how they love you, it's going to get old real fast.

And that's what I love about Jesus is if anything, he spent more time showing us his love for us than he did telling us. Which again is a good reminder for us today as we follow Jesus. And if you decide to follow Jesus, to see what it looks like for you to not only receive his love in that way, but the example of how we show people love is that it's one thing for us to say I love Jesus, but it's a whole nother way to actually live like it.

And it's one thing for us to just tell people, hey, Jesus loves you, but nobody's going to care if Jesus loves them if you don't love them and you don't treat them with kindness and honor and respect, right? Jesus displayed his love. So then his words, when he spoke them and he said them, they had weight and they had substance and they mattered and people heard them and received them because they didn't just hear it, but they saw it in the way he communicated and the way he prepared them and the way he served them and the way that he laid down his life for them.

He didn't just say, "I love you" or "you are love," but he showed them his love. Our words are only going to take us so far.

A Life of Prayer

There's a few things that I want to talk about today that when Jesus was here on earth, he demonstrated so well for his disciples. One of the things that we see Jesus demonstrated so well was the life of prayer. Jesus was someone that was in constant communication with the Father.

In Matthew 6, we find one of the many accounts in the Gospels where Jesus gives them the Lord's Prayer, and his disciples came to him. They're like, "Lord, teach us to pray," and he teaches them to pray in this way.

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and on the street corners and to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. For your father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:5-15

There's these common themes in the way that Jesus demonstrated things to his disciples. He's showing them here like how they can pray. And he's giving them this demonstration. And so much of that is about the community of saying, we're calling on God to come and show us his kingdom come. And we are also praying like, "Will you give us this day our daily bread?" And that's why like, even as a church, we're committed to looking at who's in our neighborhood, who are we walking past, and how are we clothing them this winter, right? How are we feeding them throughout the months when people are in need?

Because it's not just even saying, okay, we want to make sure every person in New Culture is fed, but we have an entire city of people that God has placed us here, that we have a responsibility to show the love of Jesus and to be seeking ways to see his kingdom come and renewal for our city and saying, God, we're praying, would your kingdom come? Would you give us this day our daily bread? Would you feed this city? Would you strengthen this city? Would you pour out your spirit and your presence on the people around us? Jesus was showing them how to pray in this moment.

There's also times in John 17, when Jesus is praying for the disciples, he spent time praying for the people in his life. And that too is an invitation that we have to say, are we praying for the people around us? When you spend time talking to God, how much of that time is praying for your specific needs? And how much of that time is interceding for other people? How much of that time is looking around and saying, God, is there anyone right now in this moment that you need me to be praying for? Because that's part of our responsibility as the body of Christ. That's part of our responsibility is following Jesus and making disciples of him is that we'll follow his example here and we too will pray for people.

Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you and they believe that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those who you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours and all you have is mine and glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world and I'm coming to you, Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they might be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by the name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so the scripture would be fulfilled.

John 17:7-12

Jesus here, he's praying for his disciples. He's praying that God would protect them. And he's also alluding and starting to speak to this idea that he's saying, "I'm going, God, I'm like, Father, I'm coming to be with you." But we know that he then leaves with us his Holy Spirit. And he knows that he's left the disciples everything that they need to continue to go and to preach his name.

So he's praying for them. He's been preparing for them. And then we see that not only does he show them how to pray and then goes and prays for them, but he also prays with the disciples. And this is so key for us as we're following Jesus and we're making disciples. Is to think, who are we praying with? Who are we coming and letting them enter into the vulnerable prayers of our hearts?

In Matthew 26, you read of the account where Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane before his death. And he's in this vulnerable moment where you read that famous scripture where he's saying like, "Lord, would you take this cup from my hand?" He knows at this point, "I'm going to be crucified. This is going to be painful. I don't know that I can go through with this."

And the disciples, he invited a few with him.

Taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me." Going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."

Matthew 26:37-39

What I love about this is I think sometimes we can have this perception that as we follow Jesus and the closer that we get to him, the more that we have to have it all together. Or the more that we can't let other people see us in weak, vulnerable moments where maybe it doesn't appear that we have it all together.

But what we see here is that Jesus, in one of the moments where he was troubled, and it says filled with sorrow, to the point where other accounts in the gospel say that he was like crying, that there was like blood and sweat coming from his face, like this excruciating moment, this vulnerable moment, Jesus took some of the disciples with him and let them see him in these moments. Jesus let them see him in this vulnerability and pray with him.

As we follow Jesus and we are his disciples, part of our invitation is to not only take our seat at the table, but to invite others along on the journey with us. And that means being willing to have people that we let them see us in our moments of vulnerability and our weakness, because it points again, that it is not about our will, but it's about the father's will. That it's not about our glory, but it's about God's glory. That we're not living so that we can look perfect or have it all together, or even recognizing that on this side of eternity, it's not going to always be pain free. Like there's going to be moments of deep trouble and deep sorrow.

And if Jesus himself can let people in on that when he's walking through that, then we can too. And I hope that that's a freeing thought for you today. I hope that that's like, I can take a deep breath and recognize that the closer I get to Jesus and the things that he's asking me to do, I can still have people around me that I'm real with, that I'm not only praying for, but that I'm praying with and I let them see me there.

A Life Rooted in Scripture

Another thing that we see is that Jesus had a life that was so rooted in scripture and he demonstrated this. Jesus culturally would have been Jewish. And so part of that would be, he would have memorized the Torah. He would have known all of these scriptures. And even you see them celebrating. It says here that they were getting ready just before the Passover feast. So they're about to celebrate this Jewish feast and they're going through this. He would have known the scriptures.

In Matthew chapter four, when you read about Jesus' temptation and Jesus being in the wilderness, one of the things that he does to overcome is he quotes scripture. He uses scripture to overcome the attacks of the enemy. If Jesus needed to know the word of God, how much more do we in our lives? If Jesus needed to remind himself of what God said in order to overcome the temptations of the enemy, how much more do I need that in my life? He was rooted in scripture in everything that he did. He knew the word of God and he used the word of God. He demonstrated this for his disciples.

So often you can see in the New Testament, and this is just a little side note as you continue to read and study it, when you read sometimes in the New Testament, Jesus might just reference like a really quick thing in the Old Testament, but he won't read the whole passage. And oftentimes that was because culturally the people he was speaking to, they also would have memorized the Torah. They would have memorized these scriptures. And so Jesus didn't have to.

Like in the same time, if I were to reference, I don't know, like a nursery rhyme or something that we all knew, you might all know the story and I might not have to tell you the whole thing because you might know it. So culturally, they would have known these things. And so that's just a fun thing as you're reading the New Testament to look out for that. Like, is there ever a reference to an Old Testament passage? And then go back and read the whole thing because oftentimes that's the context he was speaking to.

But because they memorized so much scripture, there was just this assumption that they could go off of. So Jesus, he demonstrated a life of prayer. He demonstrated a life rooted in scripture. And then finally, what we're really seeing here in the passage that we started with in John 13 is that he demonstrated a life where he was so, so present with people.

The Example of Humble Service

Jesus was so present with people. I want to read some of those last few verses again.

Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I've given you an example that you also should do just as I have done. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

And how often do you feel like you're experiencing something. And oftentimes, maybe it's even Jesus doing something in our lives. And you're like, I have no clue what just happened. Like, I do not understand what's going on in this situation. And that's Jesus here. He's like, okay, so let me spell this out for you. If you don't understand, he's like, I got you. He's showing them here once again, the lowly place that he wants us to take. He's showing us once again the humility that it takes to follow Jesus.

You know, week one of this series, we talked about the parable of the great banquet where Jesus is saying like the last will be first, and this whole idea of not taking the seat of honor, but instead pulling out that chair for somebody else to come and sit. Jesus from day one was introducing this upside down kingdom. From day one he was showing us a different way that he was going to come and rule and reign. People expected him to come in this high and mighty way and instead he came as a baby. He came as someone that needed to be taken care of and cared for. He grew up. He went through all the stages of humanity, the good, the bad, the ones that we literally don't remember because it's the early years of our life.

And thank the Lord we don't remember those things. Jesus walked through it all and he showed us a better way to live and to rule and to reign. And so one of the last times that he's gathered around the table with his disciples, he comes back to this and he's like, "Do you understand here? I'm going to wash your feet. I'm going to literally come down and in a way, I'm at your feet."

And then I'm going to say, "Well, you now do this for each other." Jesus was the message. And he's saying, "If you know now these things, blessed are you if you do them."

It is one thing to know that Jesus loves us. It's another thing to be willing to receive that fully. It's one thing for us to then go tell people that we love them, that they are loved. But it's so much different and it's the way of Jesus when we actually do it, when we actually love them, when we actually lay down our lives for them, when we give up our place of honor for the other people around us, when we pull out a seat and invite them to the table.

You see, there's so many things in our life that we just naturally know how to do, but it's really only valuable if we do it. A really simple example would be something like our cars. You can know that this key turns my car on, but your car is not valuable to you unless you actually start the car and you drive it and you do the thing that you know to do.

Man, I wonder how many of us know that we are to show the love of Jesus, but we feel so stuck in that place of knowledge. When Jesus wants to invite us to partner with him and seeing his kingdom come, and say, it's not just knowing it, but you will be blessed as you do these things. As you go and you wash the feet of the people around you, as you too show them honor and show them care. That is when you are blessed.

Once again, Jesus in this passage, he's pointing to action. He's reminding us that our words are not going to be enough, that just knowledge is not going to be enough.

I think back to even I had a really, really passionate friend in high school who she was one where like she would be at just like at a park hanging out and she'd be screaming like, "Jesus loves you." And it was always like, it would make me uncomfortable because I'm like, you don't even know that, you know. And it goes back to that where I'm like, you can scream that at a million people, but if you're not actually loving them, those words are only going to take us so far.

Jesus is saying it has to be more than just words. He wants us to be present with people and show his love to them in the same way that he didn't just give us this big message. God didn't give us this big message of saying, "I love you," but he sent love in the form of Jesus to come and to show us and to demonstrate to us what that looks like to be loved.

And here in this moment, Jesus is loving his disciples in one of the most powerful, intimate ways as one of his final moments with them gathered around the table. And he's saying, "Let me love you in this moment. Let me show you what it feels like to be loved."

The Cleansing and Preparation

There's a few things that are happening here at the table with Jesus washing the disciples' feet. He's showing us love as an example once again where he's saying:

A new command I give you: love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

John 13:34-35

He's demonstrating his love for them in the way that he's washing their feet and then he's saying now continue to do this for one another. Continue to get down and be humble with one another. He's showing the humility of being a servant. He's saying that you consider me master and teacher. Culturally, this would have made no sense as the master and the teacher to come down and wash the disciples' feet.

I mean, what kind of king, what kind of ruler does that type of thing where they come in and they say, "Let me wash your feet. Let me serve you." Jesus was demonstrating time and time again by the way that he lived that this is a different type of kingdom that we are following, that we are a part of when we choose to follow Jesus.

This act of cleansing and forgiveness, washing the disciples' feet, it wasn't just this physical cleansing, but it was this prophetic act of the spiritual cleansing that was taking place. He's saying, "Every single one of you at the table, I want to clean you, and I want to cleanse you, and I want to heal you."

It was also this beautiful act of equality and unity where once again, it's not just certain people, I'm going to choose to wash your feet, and others like not so much. But it was all of the disciples that were with him. Even Judas, who he knew was going to betray him. Peter, who just a few chapters, as you read later, denies him. Jesus sat there with people that were going to betray him and people that were going to deny him, and he washed their feet anyways. Because that's how much he loves us.

Where it's not based on the things that we've done or even the things that we're going to do. He says, "I'm going to serve you and I'm going to lay down my life for you even if you never fully accept it." Now that is a crazy type of way to live. What would it look like if we lived that type of way? What if we didn't love people based on what they could or could not give us in return. But if instead we loved people and we served them, no matter what their background, no matter what they've done or will do, even if they could never repay us, even if they could never serve us in that type of way, or even if they didn't really even want to receive it. What if we loved them in that type of way like Jesus did in that moment?

This was also a preparation for the disciples. He's preparing their feet to continue to walk and to live for him.

During the supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Jesus, knowing 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, laid aside his outer garments, took a towel, tied it around his waist, and poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet. The one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. You are clean.

John 13:2, 3-5, 10

I love how we see that when Jesus called his disciples, he sent them out. And he told them to take nothing with them, but to go and to preach his gospel, to heal the sick, raise the dead to life. Now they didn't have cars, right. Like they would have been walking and so their feet would have been dirty. They would have needed to be cleaned and cleansed.

And I love the significance of this. It's one of Jesus' last moments with them. It's like this reminder. And then he says in his great commission where he says, "Make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all that I've told you. And surely I will be with you always."

What a beautiful act that he's saying, "Hey, your feet that are about to do some walking, your feet, they're going to need to be cleaned for this journey. Like I got you. I'm going to prepare you. I'm going to make sure you're ready to go."

Jesus is not sending us out without preparing us. He has given us everything that we need through his death and his resurrection and through the power of his Holy Spirit. And so if there's things in your life where it's like, "I don't know if I'm ready to walk in this direction. I don't know if I'm ready to say yes in this type of way." Know that Jesus, he's not going to leave you or forsake you. He is with you every single step of the way. And he wants to come and he wants to cleanse you and he wants to heal you and he wants to restore you and he wants to get you ready for the journey ahead.

And he wants to continue to do that again and again and again. And so the question for us today is like, do we want to be clean? Do we want to be clean? Do we want to let Jesus come in? Because, you know, it can be a really intimate thing to wash someone's feet. But it can also be a really vulnerable, intimate thing to have someone wash your feet, to come and to cleanse you in that type of way.

See, at one point Judas was getting uncomfortable with what was happening, and he gets up. But others chose to stay. See, we have a choice today of whether or not we will choose to stay at the table and position ourselves to be cleansed and to be prepared and to be ready for Jesus to come and prepare us and empower us for the journey ahead.

And so today, I wonder, do we want to be cleansed and are we willing to sit at the table and wait for Jesus to come and cleanse us and prepare us for what is to come?

The Invitation to Follow

I'm going to invite you to stand today, and we're going to close in a time of worship. And I want you to spend time processing that with the Lord. Of asking, how can you follow his example today? And for some of us, it might just be start by saying, "Lord, will you come and will you cleanse us again?" Maybe today there's repentance that needs to take place in your life. And essentially that's when we ask God, "Is there anything that's keeping me from you?" And if there is, to surrender to him and to turn back to face God again.

Do you need to come back to the table or maybe even come to the table for the first time today? So if you would just take a moment and just close your eyes today. I just want to remind you in this moment that you were invited to sit at the table. That you were created to sit at the table and commune with Jesus for all of eternity.

And so if you're here today and you're in a place where you're like, "I have not taken my seat. I have not chosen to follow Jesus. But today I want to make that decision. And I want to invite him to come and to cleanse me." I just want to pray for you. I'm not going to have you come up or anything like that, but would you just raise your hand if that's you so we can pray for you today. If you're just ready to say like, "I want to follow Jesus and I want to say yes to that relationship."

So God right now we just pray that your Holy Spirit, through the power of your Holy Spirit, you would just come and wash over us, God. And if you're making that decision to follow Jesus, it says in the word that if we just believe in our hearts that he's Lord, we confess with our mouths his death and his resurrection, that we can be saved.

And so it's simple today of saying, "Lord, I leave my past behind. I acknowledge that you are Lord, that you are Savior, that it's your kingdom that I want to live for, that I want to be a part of, so I just surrender my life to you."

And then I just feel like for many of us today, it's just that question of saying, "Lord, inviting the Lord to come in and then just cleanse us again. And to take that seat and to choose and to stay at the table so that we can be people that continue to go and to demonstrate his love and to usher in his kingdom and his presence."

Because we are his plan A for seeing his kingdom come and sharing his gospel. And so we need our feet clean. We need our feet ready to go. And we have the perfect example.

And so God, I thank you today that you sent your son Jesus to be that example of love and to demonstrate love for us in such a powerful way. Of continuing to show us what it looks like to pray and to talk to you. What it looks like to hear your voice through scripture. What it looks like to be present with people and to live a different type of way, a better type of way.

And so God, I just pray that if there's anything in our lives that we need you to come and to just clean, that you would do that. God, if there's any way that we just need to experience your love today, that we would do that. And now we just take these moments to just look to you and to look to the hope of your kingdom and the hope of your glory, the hope of what is to come when we would continue to just spend all of eternity with you, with people that if it wasn't for you, we would have nothing in common with. What a gift it is, Jesus, to be loved by you and to share your love.

And so we just welcome your presence into this place. When you speak to us, God, as we worship you. We ask this in your name. Amen.