Thought on This Chapter
JN 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another.
There are many reasons that we are to love the
brethren. One of them is listed for us in verse 35. By our love for
each other all men will know that we are truly Christ's disciples. All men
certainly includes the lost. Our love for each other testifies to a lost
and dying world. In a good local church you will see people of all ages,
cultures, backgrounds, and races loving each other. People who would other
wise have nothing in common find that they have a lot in common once they get
saved. Time and time again I have seen people sacrifice for others with no
thought of what they can get out of it. They simply do it out of godly
love. God in our hearts gives us the capacity to love in a way that the
lost world cannot.
Our love for the brethren is an important witness to
the lost. That is one reason (there are many others) why God hates
it when instead of loving the brethren we cause discord. Pay
attention to the 7th thing in this list in Proverbs.
Pro 6:16 These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an
abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in
running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord
among brethren.
Thought On This Chapter
JN 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well;
for so I am.
Here is yet another place where Jesus claimed to be
Master and Lord. No mere man can make that claim. It is a claim of
His deity.
JN 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
JN 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done to you.
Jesus declared who He is, He set an example of service
for us. And we are expected to follow it. Notice His next statement.
JN 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is
not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent
him.
If Jesus served, and He did, then who are we to not
serve?
Jesus is about to leave them. Before He does He
makes sure that the call to serve others is unmistakably clear. Then
Jesus says this:
JN 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do
them.
Just knowing alone will not bring happiness.
Jesus says, "happy are ye if ye do them." IF. Here we find a
principal. Being involved in the work of God is a joy. Serving
others is a blessing to them, but it is also a blessing to you. It is a
blessing to be a blessing.
The fact is that there is a joy in helping and serving
others that you cannot experience any other way. You are not going to get
it by being selfish, or by keeping to yourself, or by being hard hearted,
unfriendly, and so on. It comes by giving of yourself. By serving
others.
If your heart is close to Jesus, then you will love
what He loves, care about what He cares about, and that is people. You
start loving people thru action and Jesus will bless you for it. One way
that He does it is by letting you share in the joy of being used in His work for
His honor and glory.
I will say it again. It is a blessing to be a
blessing.
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King James Bible Main Index:
JN 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
JN 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
JN 13:3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
JN 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
JN 13:5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
JN 13:6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
JN 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
JN 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
JN 13:9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
JN 13:10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
JN 13:11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
JN 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
JN 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
JN 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
JN 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
JN 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
JN 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
JN 13:18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
JN 13:19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.
JN 13:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
JN 13:21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
JN 13:22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
JN 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
JN 13:24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
JN 13:25 He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
JN 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
JN 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
JN 13:28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.
JN 13:29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
JN 13:30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
JN 13:31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
JN 13:32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.
JN 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
JN 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
JN 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
JN 13:36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
JN 13:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
JN 13:38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.
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JN 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments;
and took a towel, and girded himself.
JN 13:5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and
began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he
was girded.
There are those who teach that foot washing is a church
ordinance and this is the scripture that they use to justify it.
But there are several problems with their teaching that
foot washing is a church ordinance.
1) This is their only text.
2) There are not any instructions given in any book of
the Bible on how to carry it out. This is not the case with Baptism and
the Lord's Supper.
3) The church in the book of Acts is the model church
for us to follow and you never see them foot washing each other.
Everything else that a church is to be doing you see them doing. They did
not practice foot washing because it is not an ordinance.
In verses 15 and 16 Jesus explains the foot washing
that he gave to the disciples.
JN 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done to you.
JN 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is
not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent
him.
Jesus says that it was an example. It was an
object lesson of service.
Jesus said that the servant is not greater than his
Lord. So if Jesus was willing to serve others, then we should to.
Jesus was willing to humble Himself and be a servant of
others. We need to be willing to humble ourselves and be a servant to
others.
Jesus was willing to roll His sleeves up and get to
work. He was not afraid to get dirty in the service of others. We
should do the same.
Jesus said that the servant is not greater than his
lord. And Jesus served others.
The implication is clear. We are to serve others.
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