Scripture: John 13:1-5

C.I.: Things We Need to Know!

Today we begin a new series… - Intimacy & urgency before His Passion & return to heaven. –
Importance of “recurring words”…!!! John wrote this, not only that we may learn what Jesus knew.

•  Six Things We Need to “Know,” (John 13:1-17)

•  …Our Time is Short, (vs. 1-2)

•  “Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved….”

•  Illust.: All of us need to have a short-timers mentality ( quote Jms. 4:14 ). – What to do?!!

•  Thus, there are things we should love, Mk. 12:31-32 , “You shall love the Lord….”

•  And there are things we should not love, I Jn. 2:15, “Do not love the world….”

•  Sadly, Judas loved what he shouldn't & hated what he should love – ( v. 2 ), “And during the supper, the devil already having put into the heart of Judas I., son of Simon, to betray Him.”

•  So if you knew you were going to die tomorrow – how would you live today???!

•  …Our Relationship with God, (vs. 3-5)

•  ( v. 3 ), “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God…” – Jesus knew some things…

•  Jesus knew and we need to know - how precious He/we are in the sight of God!

•  ( I Jn. 3:1 ), “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us … For this reason….”

•  ( II Pt. 1:3 ), “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things pertaining to life….”

•  Only when we know who we are & what we have been given – are we ready to do His work.

•  ( vs. 4-5 ), “…rose from the supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel girded Himself about. – Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” – The work of the lowest slave.

•  Arrogant people don't understand “humble service” – its all about them! (cf. Matt. 6:1 ).

•  When we are sure about Whose we are & what He has given us – we can serve with humility.

•  … the Power of Jesus to Make Us Spiritually Clean, (vs. 6-10a)

•  ( vs. 6-8 ), “He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?' Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I do you do not know now, but you shall understand hereafter.' Peter said to Him, ‘Never shall You wash my feet!' Jesus answered, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part..

•  Obviously NOT a physical cleansing, i.e., foot-washing, for Peter would have understood that!

•  Peter should have remembered the results of Jesus' “washing”

•  ( Jn. 9:7 ), “‘Go wash in the pool of Siloam,' (translated means Sent). So he went an washed and came back seeing!”

•  ( Jn. 5:37 ), “The Father who sent Me…” – Thus, we need to be “washed” in the One sent.

•  … the One Who will Seek to Destroy Us, (vs. 10b-11)

•  ( vs. 10b-11 ), “‘…and you are clean, but not all of you.' For he knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, ‘Not all of you are clean.'” (Notice He's talking spiritually )

•  Remember in v. 2 , “…the devil having put into the heart of Judas I. to betray Him….”

•  Judas was merely Satan's tool/pawn. – But the one who seeks to destroy us = SATAN!!

•  ( Eph. 6:12 ), “Our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces….”

•  As Christians – we need to see the war in Iraq is not about setting the people free from physical tyranny – but it is about setting them free spiritually!

•  People make two mistakes when it comes to Satan:

•  They under-estimate the power of the devil!

•  I Peter 5:8 , “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. – Your adversary, the devil, is prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

•  Several months ago, a keeper at the Denver Zoo became complacent – and left open the door to one of the big cats. – It killed her!!

•  In the same way, if we become complacent – and leave the door open to our lives – Satan will enter in and destroy us!!!

•  They over-estimate the power of the devil (“Woe is me! There is nothing I can do!)

•  I Jn. 4:4 , “…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

•  The Holy Spirit, in the life of a believer, - is truly one of the greatest gifts a believer is given!

•  … the Importance of Following Jesus' Example, (vs. 12-16)

•  ( v. 12 ), “And when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to You?'”

•  Again we see that Jesus isn't asking if they know what is physically obvious (i.e., foot-washing).

•  Jesus is asking if they understand the “sign” He is showing them, ( cf. 20:30-31 ).

•  “Sign” produce belief – ( Jn. 2:18 ), “The Jews asked, ‘What sign do you show us. Seeing that You do these things?'”

•  Therefore the question Jesus is posing – do you truly believe in Me – enough to do the difficult things to serve others???!

•  Vs. 13-16 , “You call me Teacher & Lord; and you are right for so I am. – If then the Lord & Teacher washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. – For I gave you an example that you should do as I did to you. – Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.”

•  Believing Jesus' Lordship means doing whatever it takes – to serve others.

•  ILLUST.: Examples of jobs (“beneath us”) – that God calls us to do…!

•  (CONCLUSION): … that Blessings Come not merely from “knowing” these things – but in DOING them! (v. 17)

•  “If you know these things, you are blessed if you DO THEM!”

•  Review the 5 things Jesus wants us to KNOW

•  In I Jn. 4:4 , “…He who is in you…” – One of God's great gifts to us is His Spirit. We receive Him at the moment of our salvation – Acts 2:38 , “Repent…”

•  So if you are one of our guests – and want victory over Satan in your life…!