Sermon Title: 10 Reasons: #6 Jesus Claims it is True, and Lives It
Scripture: John 13:1-17 (NIV)
Contributed by Rev. Jason S. Wakefield
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. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. —John 13:13-17
Many years ago, back in the 1990s, I was a youth pastor in the Midwest. I remember that it was popular among youth to wear a bracelet that had the letters WWJD— What Would Jesus Do. The phrase came from Charles Sheldon’s book, In His Steps: What would Jesus Do? The idea of wearing bracelets came from a youth pastor in Western Michigan who wanted the students to remember the phrase. From that youth group, the practice spread across the country.
We have four witnesses who tell us what Jesus taught and how He lived—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus lived what he taught but still, his disciples struggled to understand. When Philip asks Jesus to “show us the Father and that will be enough for us,” Jesus replies, “Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” (John 14:8-11). Jesus is saying that the works themselves, the things that Jesus did, testify of who Jesus is. And, the works themselves are Jesus’ lived-out teachings for all to see.
The implications of the combination of what Jesus teaches, what Jesus does, and the way he lives, are that his disciples are called to likewise do what he has done. He tells his disciples, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do ever greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). When we hear Jesus say the disciples will do “greater things,” we may think first of healing, leading, or challenging the status quo. But the greater things Jesus intends includes the menial task of washing feet—the task of a servant.
At the Last Supper, Jesus stunned the disciples when he removed his outer garments, took up a basin of water and a towel and he washed the disciples’ feet. “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (13:12). Jesus wants the disciples to serve as he has served them.
But Jesus’ service to his disciples goes far beyond washing their feet. Jesus asks them to let go of pride and arrogance and to receive humility. He asks them to be other-focused people who obey the Father’s will. Remember the words of Paul in Philippians 2 when he tells Jesus’ followers, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, … he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil 2:3-8).
Today, we have another reason the Bible can be trusted. In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus did what he taught. Jesus, our teacher, is our suffering servant and our risen Lord. His Word is true.
Consider –
╬ Jesus is the Word that became flesh. How does Jesus’ incarnation, his life, death and resurrection give you reason to trust the Bible?
╬ Jesus is our teacher who gave us an example of a true servant leader. How did Jesus choose to be known as a leader? Consider Jesus’ leadership example from John 13-14 as you ask yourself, “What Would Jesus Do?”
╬ Jesus, you are our Lord and Savior, the great teacher who took on the role of a suffering servant so that we might be reconciled. Lord, help us to live as you taught. Help us to be an example to others as we trust your Word. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.