The God who will Love You to the End and Wash Your Feet

—John 13 (Part 18)

Andrew Fountain – Feb 23, 2020

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1–12 ”Book of Signs”	13–21 ”Book of Glory”

Could spend a whole sermon on just this.
One of the deepest needs of human beings is to be attached
In ancient societies, if you were not attached, you didn’t survive
Babies survival depends on deep commitment from their mothers
In old age, we also become very dependent
Sue Johnson, who started a revolution in marriage therapy, watched 1000’s of hours of video of couples arguing
Under the surface “Will you ultimately be there for me?”
Do you have people in your life who are so committed to you, they would be with you to the bitter end
- Nothing can shake their love for you.
This is the kind of love Jesus has for “his own”
- Can you take a moment to take that in?
One more thing: Imagine your grandmother is in a retirement home, and you visit her, and she is very frail.
- But she says, “don’t forget I am always there for your, whatever trouble you are in!”
- Is that comforting? (Yes and no)
Yesterday I was talking to a friend who had just got back from vacation.
- On the last day he was arrested on some pretext by a corrupt police and locked in a tiny cell with 30 other men.
- “If my brother had not known where I was, I don’t know what would have happened to me...”
But for the Son of God to say it!!! I will never, ever abandon you, no matter what it cost me
- Let’s just sit with this verse for a moment and take it in.

1. Washing the feet of the disciples [2–17]

Some context:

How do we allow Jesus to wash our feet and this is going to be one of the key take-aways today
- A top up?
- It is about the act of receiving
- We come to him when we are filthy, and don’t hide in shame, but allow him to wash it
- I’ll return to this at the end.

2. “One of you will betray me” [18–30]

Jesus distressed!
Such a shock!!!
What does that mean?

My response to this is just to sit with what it was like for Jesus
- Jesus had just washed Judas’ feet!!
There, all along
Why make Jesus go through with this?
One of the worst of human experiences: Abandoned and turned against by those whom you trust!
Has that ever happened to you?
John was there—he saw what it was like for Jesus.
- He recorded it because we need to know
But actually all of them did in the end.
Let’s just sit with Jesus for a moment and take in what this betrayal was like for him.

3. Peter boasts he’ll die for Jesus [31–38]

Look at the shape—a preview of the next 4 chapters
the context of Jesus’ leaving, and something NEW beginning (He’ll talk about the Spirit)
- The central place of the New Commandment
Now a return to Peter
To really get this, we have to go back to the foot-washing:
- We come to him when we are filthy, and don’t hide in shame, but allow him to wash it
Parallels with the closing chapter:
- Jesus serves them at a meal
- Calls them children
- Several other neat connections put in by John
- But most of all, it resolves Peter’s denial
Chapter 21: Peter experiences the shame, but is washed by Jesus

The God who will Love You to the End and Wash Your Feet —John 13 (Part 18) Andrew Fountain – Feb 23, 2020 Click on this slide and then press the spacebar to advance slides: ➜ (or swipe on a touch screen)

The God who will Love You to the End and Wash Your Feet

—John 13 (Part 18)

John 13 – The Last Supper

Goal:

Overview

Structure of John

John 1–12 “Book of Signs”

John 13–21 “Book of Glory”

John 13. Three Stories at the Last Supper

Summary of “the Book of Glory”

Dirty Feet

Shocking!

v.10 – A Difficult Verse

Allow Jesus to wash your feet