Scott
Jonas
Series:
John Title: Maundy Thursday- Never Text: John 13:1-20
Exegetical
statement: Peter Says never to Jesus
Goal: That the hearers would repent as quickly as
Peter
John
13:1-20
Now
before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to
depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the
world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil
had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray
him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his
hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose
from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around
his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash
the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around
him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash
my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not
understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to
him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you,
you have no share with me.”9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my
feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him,
“The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,[a]
but is completely clean. And you[b]
are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For
he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are
clean.”
12 When he had washed their feet
and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you
understand what I have done to you? 13 You
call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If
I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash
one another's feet. 15 For I have given you
an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant[c]
is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who
sent him. 17 If you know these things,
blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not
speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be
fulfilled,[d] ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his
heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this
now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I
am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you,
whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives
the one who sent me.”
On
the night before the cross, Jesus washed his disciples feet. He did this to show them how to serve one
another. If the Lord of Creation could
stoop before his creatures then surely the disciples could stoop as well. As Jesus is demonstrating, who feels
compelled to ask a question? Peter. He says Lord do you wash my feet? Jesus says
“What I am doing you don’t
get now but you will.” Peter
says, You shall never wash my feet. Never.
Never
is a strong word. An absolute. You are putting yourself in a corner when you
use it. Under no circumstances will I.
do. This. thing. Debaters are told to
rarely use the word “never.” Because an opponent only needs to find one
counter example to defeat your argument.
Never is a bargaining word. You
start with a fixed position and then use it to gain an advantage over your
mark. Never is a childish word. Kids say “You
never let me stay up” or “I
never get to go anywhere fun.” Never is a defiant word. Winston Churchill famously said, “Never
give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in
nothing, great or small, large or petty—never
give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force.
Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
Was
Peter bargaining? being childish? being
defiant? Maybe a little of each. But it seems to me that though his actions
are impulsive his intentions are good.
He speaks without thinking but he wants to protect Jesus his Rabbi and
Lord. This isn’t
the first time Peter has told Jesus “Never.” This is second of three times Peter
emphasized the word.
Peter “never statements”
1. Matt 16:22 Jesus speaks of his death. Peter says, This shall never happen to you.
(Protecting Jesus’ Life)
2. John 13:8
You shall never wash my
feet. (Protecting Jesus’
Dignity)
3. Matt 26:33 Even if all fall away, I never will. (Protecting Jesus’
Friendship)
The first time was right after Jesus
compliments Peter. The disciple
confessed that Jesus is the Christ. The
Lord said, “You are Peter and on this rock I
will build my church.”
Then Jesus showed the disciples how he must go to Jerusalem, suffer and
die and the third day be raised. Peter
pulls him aside to rebuke Jesus. Not a
good idea. He says, “Far
be it from you Lord! This
shall never happen to you.” That’s
when Jesus unloads, “Get behind me Satan!” Peter’s
looking around like “keep your voice down.”
Peter isn’t
bargaining. He is being naive. He is trying to be defiant of the devil. Satan kills and destroys and has his sights
set on the Messiah. This is
horrible. The devil must not be allowed
to win. Jesus is bringing the kingdom of
heaven to earth.
Wouldn’t
you try to protect a friend’s life? Someone you have lived with for years says
that their life is in danger. There are
enemies out there looking to snuff them out.
Maybe your first instinct to to think that they are a little paranoid. How many people really have a consortium of
bad guys conspiring against them? It
sounds like its from a movie. But you’ve
seen men verbally attack your friend, trying to discredit him. These men have power. You have also seen the devil at work. Strange things have happened that can only be
explained by dark forces. Wouldn’t
you try to protect your friend’s life? I think any brave, caring person would. Peter had good intentions and he was
absolutely wrong.
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus offers to
wash the disciples feet. An argument
arises among the 12 as to who is the greatest.
They need a lesson in humility.
Jesus takes out a bowl with water.
Lowers himself like a bow. Takes
off the sandals and cleans their feet.
This is a common practice for servants of the rich. Jesus and his friends are not rich so the
custom would be to wash each others feet.
Jesus looks at Peter who says, “Lord
do you wash my feet?”
Peter is uncomfortable as I think you
would be to. He wants to obey Jesus but
he also doesn’t want to violate the Lord’s
dignity. Some of you feel weird having
anyone wash your feet. Imagine if your
grandmother offered to wash your feet.
Imagine a supreme court judge offered?
Imagine that Jesus Christ offered to clean between your toes. Your first reaction would be to decline. The dignity of the other person is too
great. It is better to have dirty feet
than to make a person of that esteem do a gross act. Peter says, “You shall never wash my feet, Lord.” Peter had good intentions and he was
absolutely wrong.
Fast forward to later that
evening. Jesus said to them, “You
will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I
will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But
after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter
answered him, “Though they all fall away because of
you, I will never
fall away.”
Once again Peter tries to say the right
thing. He is confessing his allegiance
to JEsus and the church. Nothing could
ever pull Peter away. There is no
circumstance in which he would deny his Lord.
The devil could tempt him and Peter would not fall away. The Pharisees could threaten him and he would
not fall away. The other disciples could
leave the cause and he will not fall away.
He is rock solid. Jesus can count
on him. Peter had good intentions and he
was absolutely wrong.
During the Lenten season, we try to
take an honest look at ourselves. We
look in the mirror and describe what we see.
Hopefully you see a follower of JEsus.
You try to walk the path of righteousness. You try to follow your heart. But your heart can deceive you. Just like Peter you can have good intentions
and be absolutely wrong. Every day, you need forgiveness. You need a savior. You need Jesus.
That is why we trust God. There are times when our instincts tell us to
go one way. But God’s
word tells us to do something else. If
we are like Peter then we first go with our gut. We saw how that worked out in the
moment. Peter goes with his heart and
Jesus rebukes him. Peter is embarrassed
and humiliated. In the case of the “never
shall I fall away”
Peter is devastated.
But Jesus never leaves him in that
state of failure long. In all three
cases Jesus encourages repentance. He
wants Peter to recognize his sin, listen to Jesus’
words, turn around and follow close.
Jesus said he had to die. Peter said “Never.” It wasn’t
until after the resurrection that he realized how wrong he was. He started recalling Jesus’
words, really listening to them and realized that he couldn’t
get past his own preconceived notions.
The Messiah can’t die. That’s
preposterous. The Messiah is God’s
instrument to make the world right. He
is the ultimate warrior and prophet. He
is indestructible. That is what Peter
thought. Peter had to go through the
pain of being wrong in order to restructure his theology. Jesus forgave him and Peter was able to not
only understand Jesus’ death but write about it in 1st and
2nd Peter.
With the foot washing, Peter was much
quicker to repentance.
He says never will you wash my feet.
Jesus says “If I do not wash you, you have no
share with me.”9 Simon
Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my
hands and my head!” We can learn from Peter here. He is impulsive but he is also quick to
change. He listens to Jesus’
warning and he pivots. He may not
understand why Jesus needs to wash him but he is going to allow Jesus to do
it. He puts out his feet hands and head,
ready to be clean.
10 Jesus
said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need
to wash, except for his feet,[a] but is completely clean. And you[b] are clean, but not every one of
you.” 11 For
he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not
all of you are clean.”
It would take a long time for Peter to understand that Jesus was talking
about Baptism. Sinners need to
continually cleaned by Jesus. The Spirit
washes us on the day of our ceremony but he also washes us day by day. We sin and Jesus cleans up after us.
It took only hours for Peter to go from
saying “Never
will I fall away” to denying Jesus three times. It didn't take the devil or the authority of
the Pharisees to scare him. It took a
girl pointing at him. We hear his
repentance in his wailing and tears.
We need to realize that we are capable
of falling away from Jesus. Left on our
own all of us will deny him. If you don’t
believe that you are capable of falling away then you are in great danger. You have made yourself a target of the
devil. You have issued a challenge
saying, “Never.”
We need all the power of Jesus to stay
faithful. We need to be daily cleaned of
our sins. We need the help of the
church. We regularly need his body and
blood to stay spiritually healthy.
Do you need to be cleaned of you sin?
Instead
of saying “Never”, confess you sins to God our Father. He is eager to restore you.