I Am Who I Am

John 13:19-20 – “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

John 8:58 – “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Exodus 3:14 – God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

John 4:34 – “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 17:18 – As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Application:

• ·         Jesus did not say “I was” but “I am”, expressing the eternity of His being and His oneness with the Father.
• ·         “I AM WHO I AM” was the name by which God wished to be known and worshiped in Israel—the name that expressed His character as the dependable and faithful God who desires the full trust of His people.
• ·         John often mentions that Jesus depended on the Father and did the work the Father sent Him to do.
• ·         We may long for heaven, but it is on earth that our work is done.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Shared My Bread

John 13:17-18 – Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

Matthew 7:24 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

James 1:25 – But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

John 15:16 – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Psalm 41:9 – Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.

Application:

• ·         The Bible often speaks metaphorically of God or Christ as a “rock”.
• ·         In contrast to the sinner, who is a slave to sin, obeying the moral law gives Christians the joyous freedom to be what they were created for.
• ·         Disciples normally chose the particular rabbi to whom they wanted to be attached, but it was not so with Jesus’ disciples. He chose them, and for a purpose—the bearing of fruit.
• ·         “Close friend…who shared my bread” was one who shared the king’s table—i.e., was an honored, as well as trusted, friend.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Wash One Another's Feet

John 13:14-16 – 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.

Galatians 5:13 – You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Mark 10:43-45 – Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Application:

• ·         Christians should be willing to perform the most menial services for one another.
• ·         True Christian liberty is not license to sin but freedom to serve God and one another in love.
• ·         Jesus overturns the value structure of the world. The life of discipleship is to be characterized by humble and loving service.
• ·         Jesus came to the world as a servant—indeed, the Servant—who would suffer and die for our redemption, as Isaiah clearly predicted.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Lord

John 13:6-13 – He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 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. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.

John 11:28 – After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”

Luke 2:11 – Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 11:1 – One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Romans 10:9 – If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 14:9 – For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

1 Corinthians 12:3 – Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 2:6-7 – So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Application:

• ·         The external washing of the disciples’ feet was a picture of cleansing from sin.
• ·         The rabbis would not teach women, but Jesus taught them frequently.
• ·         “The Lord” is a designation used of God and His “Anointed”.
• ·         “Jesus was praying”, not only on special occasions but also as a regular practice.
• ·         The affirmation, “Jesus is Lord”, was the earliest Christian confession of faith. It is clear that Paul, when using this title for Jesus, is affirming that, in Jesus, the God of Israel was Himself present among His people.
• ·         Christ’s Lordship over both the dead and the living arises out of His death and resurrection.
• ·         Those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit cannot pronounce a curse on Jesus; rather, they are the only ones who can confess from the heart, “Jesus is Lord”.
• ·         Believers have an intimate, spiritual, living union with Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Began To Wash His Disciples' Feet

John 13:5 – 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.

Philippians 2:5-7 – 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, being made in human likeness.

Application:

• ·         “Began to wash His disciples’ feet” was a menial task, normally performed by a servant.
• ·         In spite of all that is unique and radically different about the person and work of Christ, Christians are to have His attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others.
• ·         As a servant, Jesus was always submissive to the will of the Father.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Come From...And Returning To God

John 13:2-4 – The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

John 16:27 – No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

John 17:8 – For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

Matthew 20:26-28 – Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Application:

• ·         Christ explained why the disciples could come directly to the Father in prayer: They loved and trusted in Jesus, and in love God heard their requests in Jesus’ name.
• ·         Three things about the disciples are mentioned: (1) They accepted the teaching. (2) They knew with certainty Jesus’ divine origin. Acceptance of that revelation led them further into truth. (3) They believed.
• ·         Christ “gave Himself as a ransom for all people”. Salvation is offered to “all”, but only the “many” receive it.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Passover Festival

John 12:50-13:1 – I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

John 14:30-31 – I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

Exodus 12:11,13,21 – This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover…The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt…Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.

John 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Application:

• ·         Jesus had stressed the importance of His followers being obedient, and He set the example.
• ·         Passover was explained to mean that the Lord would “pass over” and not destroy the occupants of houses that were under the sign of the blood.
• ·         Just as the plagues were miraculous signs of judgment on the pharaoh and His people, so the Lord’s “passing over” the Israelites who placed themselves under the sign of blood was a pledge of God’s mercy.
• ·         Christ is “our Passover lamb”, sacrificed “once for all” for us.
• ·         Shepherds might risk danger for their sheep, but they expected to come through alive. Jesus said that the good shepherd is willing to die for His sheep.
• ·         Christ’s love was demonstrated not only in His words but also in His sacrificial death.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV