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Jesus Shows What It Means To Be a Servant John 13 Introduction:
Ho w many ministers do the Westside Church of Christ has?
Where does the church get its ministers?
Do we think of the preacher, elders, and deacons as being the ministers
of the church? Do we think of
ministers as those we hire to do a task? There
was a sign in I)
Understanding Ministers and Servants A)
Minster 1.
mesharet, which is applied to the attaches of a royal court (2 Chron 22:8; cf.
Ps 104:4); to the priests and Levites (Isa 61:6; Ezek 44:11; Joel 1:9,13; Ezra
8:17; Neh 10:36). 2.
Old Testament – Levitical Priesthood were selected by God to perform a
service. God also selected the
Prophets and Priest, Psalm 84.10 3.
New Testament – to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to wait upon, to supply
what is needed. City magistrates, Romans
13.4. B)
Servant 1.
Doulos – a slave, bondman, man of servile condition, 2
Cor. 4.5; passages that speak of slave master relationship uses this word, Ephesians
6.5, 6. 2.
Diskonor - one who executes the
commands of another. Waiter of tables, Acts 6 3.
diakoneo (dee-ak-on-eh'-o); from NT:1249; to be an attendant, i.e. wait upon
(menially or as a host, friend, or [figuratively] teacher); techn. to act as a
Christian deacon: 1 Tim. 3.8 4.
Who puts down as their goal in life to be a really good servant?
We would probably think of that like saying I want to work all my life at
a fast food chain.
a. Remember that servants get dirty, and work hard.
b. We generally appreciate those that wait on us very well.
Lady at Cracker Barrel is exceptional in that she does all the big and
little things. She remembers the
order, does not get them mixed up, brings coffee, etc.
c. In the world of men
appearing as a servant is not the way to gain power.
Kings did not take out the garbage, or wash the carriage, or hang the
clothes on the line. They had
servants to do those tasks. It was
beneath them. II)
Background to John 13.3-17 A)
Old Testament pictured the Messiah as a King sitting on the throne of David,
Lord and Master, Military Leader, Victorious over His enemies, ruling with a rod
of iron, Isaiah 9.6 1.
The Jews equated power with prestige and having others to bow down and serve
you. 2.
The one time Jesus lived up to their expectations was His entry into B)
In the New Testament they still looked for a Military Leader, and victorious
King. 1.
Pilate asked “are you king of the Jews” because this was unlike any king he
had ever seen. 2.
Questions such as: Who is going to be the greatest in the 3.
The disciples traveled with Jesus for three years but were still not
thinking like servants. III)
Jesus washes the disciples feet, John 13.3-7 A)
The custom of the Jews 1.
Abraham made this gesture in Genesis
18.4.
a. Practical need for those traveling to wash the dirt off their feet
b. As seen as an act of humility and hospitality. 2.
Usually either a servant or the master of the house would offer to wash the
guest feet. B)
On this occasion 1.
They had walked to 2.
Their feet were dirty and needed to be washed. 3.
In this case neither the master of the house or a house servant was
present. 4.
The disciples were all just looking around at each other; perhaps waiting for
some one to wash their feet. C)
Jesus starts to wash their feet 1.
Imagine having a professor in a class come in and start doing this. 2.
Peter protests, vv. 6-7; he could not
see Jesus doing such a thing. He
knew Jesus to be the Son of God, Matthew
16.16-18 3.
Peter had to allow Jesus to do His will, not Peter’s will, v. 8 4.
Jesus came as a servant, Phil. 2.7; Matthew 20.27 5.
In the Old Testament the Messiah is described as a Servant, Isaiah 42.1; 49.5-7 6.
This would seem to be a contradiction; a ruler that would be a servant. IV)
Do we understand, vv. 12-17 A)
He was the Master, vv. 13-15 1.
If the Master can wash their feet they can do likewise and so can we. 2.
Jesus not only talked about service He provided the example of being a servant.
B)
Lessons to learn 1.
Selfishness often gets in the way to being a servant.
The first act of a good servant is to concentrate on the job and forget
about themselves. 2.
People think of the church as an institution that serves them instead of the
church being made up of servants.
a. The bible speaks of faith without works as being dead in James
2.20. Do we have enough faith to
serve?
b. Christianity is an “active religion” one that requires action on
the part of the believer, 2 Timothy 2.1ff
is filled with active descriptions.
c. How many of us excuse ourselves instead of seeing what we can and
should be doing?
d. Do we sometimes just say “I don’t want to” and think nothing
about it. 3.
To be a servant one must think like a servant, Romans
12.1-2.
a. What needs to be done?
b. What can I do?
c. How can I improve my ability to serve others? 4.
Thinking right always precedes doing right. 5.
What does God want you to be when you grow up? Answer: a servant 6.
Our service makes a difference. No
job is too small or too menial. Conclusion:
Imagine what it would be like if every member of the Lord’s body did the very
best they could do. What if the
elders had the problem of having too many workers?
Instead of having to round up the flock and keeping the saved, saved, the
efforts of the congregation would be at converting the lost?
What if members said, I want more to do, can we have more classes?
Can we have more Gospel Meetings, can we have more… the church would
grow more than we could imagine. Are
we following the example of Christ? |