Recently our pastor, Kendell Hicks, preached through a great series on the spiritual gifts based on 1 Corinthians 12:1-14. His theme was the unity of the Spirit in a church and the necessity of each gift. Pastors always have to stress this, that every gift is important, because so many people feel they are gifted in the "more important" gifts like pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophecy, healing, tongues, etc. but seldom do people recognize in themselves gifts like faith, mercy, exhortation, giving or the one that Jesus is going to model for us tonight; service. It makes sense that if the Holy Spirit is gifting a church that there is going to be a healthy mixture of these gifts, yes? I mean if the church begins with 30 people and 29 have the gift of healing they will be physically healthy but not spiritually.
Hopefully, after "hearing" Jesus teach us about service, we will realize that no gift is beneath us and no gift, if Jesus through the Holy Spirit has given it to us, is not of absolute importance.
Verse 2- Always want to point out to you the devil, because he is in your house right now. And at work. And at school. And in the checkout line. And at your church. One of these days, I am going to do a five or six part series on him and if you "hear it" you will never feel the same way about him again.
The Jews had a punishment where they "whipped" someone 40 times, minus 1. That's 39 lashes. They did it this way, so they could say they were showing mercy and making sure they were not breaking the Jewish law that the beating shall not go over 40. When they actually applied this beating, they would stop after 13 strokes to check the person whipped. It was a big Jewish no-no, to have this victim die on them but the whipping was so incredibly painful and "shocking" to the system, that it could kill a person. So every 13 strokes they would stop and check the victim. Usually, they were checking if the victim had lost control of their bowels; that is, pooped themselves. People often lose control like this, right before they die, and almost always if it is a slow yet violent death. So I say all this to say that the Jewish whipping was brutal but was often stopped after only 13 strokes. Not so, with the Roman form of whipping, called scourging.
On scourging, I will be brief. You've all seen The Passion when Jesus was tied to the whipping post. I was going to link you to a scene of the whipping but looked at a few and would just rather not. You can go if you like. I'll just say that it is the most accurate ever seen on film but there are a few inaccuracies. Jesus was naked. The soldiers doing the beating were probably more professional as they were called Lictors, which is an actual title given those that carried out the punishments meted out by Rome. And this beating that was applied before Roman crucifixion was designed to get the "prisoner" so close to death that he wouldn't be up very long on the cross before death came. It was actually nicknamed the "Half death" because so many did die during the whipping. One other inaccuracy in the scourging scenes is some of the Mary, "Mother of God" stuff that was probably due to Mel Gibson's Catholic roots.
Jesus surely saw dead men and those nearly dead hanging on crosses at a very early age. It says in Luke 2:41-52 that He and His family went to Jerusalem every year. Crucifixion was designed to be a deterrent to crime by showing others what happens to criminals if they break Roman laws. So in Jerusalem, crucifixions were done just outside of town, usually on a hill overlooking roads that entered the city for all to see. Quite a warning. I guess we have come a long way from public forms of physical punishment to the sign on the left. But I bet there is a lot more crime today.
Anyway, Jesus probably passed quite close to these criminals on perhaps quite a few occasions. Close enough to see the nails in the wrist and ankles. Close enough to hear the painful wailing. He probably also understood what happened during a scourging, if not the Roman type, he would have known in detail about the Jewish form. And he would have heard that the Roman method was far worse. We often say that Jesus knew what He was getting ready to go through and still faced it willingly. But I think we sometimes think that He knew what He was about to endure because He was God and God knows everything. I don't think so. I think He knew it the same way you or I would have known it. He'd seen it. He'd heard it. He'd smelled it.
I have gone into detail about all this gruesomeness for a reason. Jesus is getting ready to have an intimate supper with a group of men that He loved dearly. John records 5 Chapters of nothing but Jesus teaching these men(Chapters 13-17) and pouring His love and wisdom into them. All the while, He knows that He is within 12 hours of this brutal whipping and a gruesome death on a Roman cross. I can't get my head around that. Can you? If I had minor surgery the next day, I would have been a mess but He is not only doing His Father's will to the very last but in a kind, loving and very calm way. That is stunning. It might be the most incredible thing in the entire Book of John for me.
I'll hit a few specific verses before we are done.
Verses 4 and 5 don't need much illumination. The lesson is, as Jesus says a few verses down, If Jesus is serving you then you should serve each other. Servant leadership is what they call it today.
Verses 6 thru 8. The character of me and you, the self righteous "Christian", is played by Peter. "Lord, I am such a humble creature compared to you. I can't let you wash my feet." He says this after watching all His friends get washed without objection. So to appear the most humble of all, he objects. But there is nasty pride here. Peter is telling Jesus that what he is doing is wrong. He can't see Himself this way yet but boy will he.
Jesus essentially says, "Peter, shut your big, fat yapper." In verse 8 Jesus says something to Peter that has nothing to do with washing feet:
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
That's the Gospel in a nutshell, folks.
1 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. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 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.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 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. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you al9 so should wash one another’s feet.15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them
More John Piper and I agree with every word.
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