The Towel and The Pecking Order

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Recap of 9/23/12 (John 13:14-17):

1.  The disciples saw life in terms of power, authority, recognition, rulership, much like the world.  They had to impress others with their importance.  Jesus saw life in terms of servanthood,  and humility.  He was not looking to impress others but to fulfill God the Fathers purpose for Him.

2.  “…every leader must examine his or her conduct against Jesus’ teachings concerning genuine greatness.  Our Lord taught and demonstrated by His life that servanthood was the path to effective service.  His servanthood symbols were a basin, a towel, and dirty feet.” (Author unknown)

3.  In chapter nine of Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, he presents two kinds of authority, the authority of status (represented by the pecking order) and the authority of function (represented by the towel-based on Jesus’ action in John 13). The authority of status is characterized by a desire to control, manipulate, focusing on position and titles, service is discriminate and self-serving, seeking great service, expecting reciprocation, serving by moods and whims.  This kind of service is destructive to a body and ruptures community.  The authority of function on the other hand is characterized by a desire to serve in humility and hiddenness (seeking only God’s approval), doing any service, great or small, without expectation of being paid back, serving because there is a need, a lifestyle not temporary.  This kind of service build up a body, builds community.

 

Authority of the Towel

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Recap of 9/16/12 (John 13:1-13):

1.  John 13 begins the next major section of the book.  The outline we are following is:

              I.  Prologue  1:1-18

             II.  Public teaching and miracles  1:19-12:50

            III.  Private teaching  13-17

            IV.  Passion & resurrection  18-20

             V.  Postlude (Epilogue) 21

2.  John 13 provides one of the most poignant pictures of Jesus’ ministry as He washes the disciples’ feet.  One of the most powerful symbols of His authority is seen in the towel, the basin, and dirty feet.

3.  This visual illustration of humility was needed because of the pride of the disciples seen in their ongoing dispute over which of them was the greatest.  A dispute which is evident in various passages of Scripture and which even inserted itself into this “last supper.”  (See Matthew 20:17-28; Mark 9:33-34; Luke 22:24-28).

4.  Jesus loved them despite their failures.  Dr. John Mitchell stated it this way:  “He knew all about the frailty and the failures of His disciples, yet He loved them to the end.  And He loves us clear through to the end, to the uttermost.  I repeat, our frailty, our faults, our failures, our circumstances never affect His love for us.  Now, I’m not excusing frailty, nor am I excusing failure.  But instead of becoming discouraged because of failure, we must have our eyes on Him and remember that even our failures have not affected His love for us.”

5.  The issue is clearly set before us by the writer who asked:  “Are you willing to follow Christ’s example of serving?  Whom can you serve today?”

The Hour Has Come

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Recap of 9/9/12 (John 12:28-50):

1.  In Jesus last public teaching before the cross He teaches that the essence of life is to live: sacrificially, putting others ahead of ourselves; courageously, accepting God’s will, living for His glory despite whatever suffering may come, to risk “place, profit, and prestige” to identify openly with Jesus; and by faith, responding to Him, exercising faith for salvation and day to day living.

2.  This prayer by Eugene Peterson expresses perfectly what Jesus was seeking to communicate about life in John 12:25,26: “May I never, God, forget that You are my Lord and I am Your creation; that however wonderfully you have made me, you have not made me to live to myself or for myself, but to You and for others, even as Jesus Christ did.”

3.  According to William Barclay at the heart of Christian life and faith are three paradoxes: 1) death to personal aims and ambitions leads to life and real usefulness to God; 2) “only by spending life do we retain it”; and 3) “only by service comes greatness.”

4.  Barclay explains courage in this way:  “Real courage does not mean not being afraid.  It means to be terribly afraid, and yet do the thing that ought to be done.”

 

Jesus' Last Instruction

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Recap of 9/2/12 (John 12:20-27):

1.  John 12:20-50 records the end of Jesus’ public ministry.  This is the last teaching He will conduct among the masses.  Chapters 13-17 deal with Jesus’ teaching for His disciples called the “Upper Room Discourse,” and chapters 18 to the end of the book deal with the crucifixion, the resurrection and the post-resurrection appearances to His disciples.

2.  As if to illustrate the hyperbolic statement of vs. 19 about the whole world going after Jesus, John mentions some Greeks who desired an audience with Jesus.  These Greek were probably “God-fearers,” those who liked the morality and monotheism of the Jews but did not go all the way to conversion to Judaism. 

3.  Jesus realizes that His “hour” has arrived, the hour of His passion, His rejection, scourging, crucifixion and resurrection.  His death was a necessity if there was to be a harvest of salvation.  He would willingly sacrifice His life (as our substitute) to secure eternal life for those who trusted Him. He gave His life so that others might gain real life. 

4.  His sacrifice also would provide a pattern for His disciples to follow of living sacrificially, placing others above themselves

5.  The thought of His coming travail troubles Him, as later it would in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. Jesus is not concerned only for the physical pain He would endure.  His agony is the thought of becoming sin. He the Perfect, sinless Son of God would have to become sin so that we could be redeemed (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)