The Passion of The Christ

John 13:1-15

The Christ Event Series, Part Eleven

John chapters 13-19 is commonly called the Book of Passion. This section begins in the Upper Room and ends at the Garden Tomb. Here, like no other place in the gospels, Jesus is baring His very soul to His disciples.
This is the most reverent, intimate, and sacred experience that they would share with the Savior.
This is their “burning bush experience” because here we truly are on holy ground.

Passion has been defined as “a strong desire coupled with a deep emotional drive”.
Passion is not the emotion itself, it is the thing that fuels the emotion. We can either love or hate with a passion.

All the events of Chapters 13 through 19 (The Last Supper through the Burial of Christ) takes place in less than 24 hours.

The Book of Passion begins with Jesus and His disciples about to observe the Passover together for the last time.
Jesus is about to leave them and go back to His Father in Heaven, but first He needs to teach them a few more lessons.
He had been telling them that He would have to die and rise again, but evidently they thought this was another parable.
Actions speak louder than words, and besides, they hadn’t been paying much attention to Jesus’ words anyway.
The disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest in God’s Kingdom, Lk. 9:46f.
Washing the disciple’s feet called to their minds what The Lord wanted them to do for one another.
- Unconditionally Love and Forgive one another
- By love Serve one another
- It is the perfect example of going the 2nd mile.
Now, with the cross less than 24 hours away, Jesus has withdrawn from the crowds and has decided to spend His last hours with just His disciples (Ch. 13-16) and His Heavenly Father (Ch. 17).
V. 1...The Book of Passion begins with two statements of fact and here is where we see the Passion of Christ demonstrated:
A. JESUS KNEW (Greek is “had full knowledge”) that the time for His crucifixion was at hand.
He knew where He came from Why He was here, and where He was going.

He was not taken by surprise when they came to arrest Him, nor was He an unwilling victim or martyr.
He knew He was in control,...He could have called ten thousand angels but He didn’t.
He chose to lay down His life for the redemption of many.

B. JESUS LOVED His disciples unto the end. The Greek is “to the fullest extent.”
He knew that at that very table was a man who would betray Him, another who would deny Him three times, and the rest except one would desert Him.
No matter what they did, or were about to do,...He loved them anyway. That is unconditional love.

Jn. 13:3-11...Everything that happened between verses 4-12 is a perfect picture of Christ laying aside His glory, assuming the form of a servant, then taking His glory back again as we read in Phil. 2:5-11.

In that day everyone either wore sandals or went barefooted. There were very few paved roads then and one’s
feet would become dirty and require frequent washings.
Everyone used the public baths back then and then walked the dusty roads. When they arrived home or at the home of their host their feet would be dirty and tired.
A good washing would cleanse and refresh them.
Washing feet was the task of the lowest servant in the house. If there were no servants, water would be provided by the host so the guests could wash their own feet.
Until now, the disciples were not in one accord: Mk. 8:31-33; 9:31-34; 10:33-37
Their thoughts and words must have made Jesus wonder if they had ever paid any attention to anything He ever said to them.
This passage illustrates the truth of Mk 10:45. Jesus’ passion was to minister and give His life as a ransom for many and to teach His disciples the importance of a holy walk or lifestyle.
They weren’t willing to take on the role of a servant, so Jesus decided to show them Himself. Imagine their shock.

Jn. 13:8-10...The action explained.
V.8…”No part with me” means communion, fellowship. In order to enjoy our fellowship with Christ we must be cleansed of our daily defilement by confessing our sins, and only Christ can do that for us.
Along the way in our Christian walk, sometimes we become guilty of committing certain sins.
When God saves us He bathes us all over and brings about our union with Christ, which can never be broken.
However our communion depends on our living in a right relationship with Him
We don’t need to take another bath (be saved) but we do need to have our feet washed (confess it to God.)
If we allow unconfessed sin in our lives it will hinder our communion with Christ: No joy, no witness, no power in prayer, no help in temptations and trials.

Daily confession is how the fellowship is maintained with God through Christ, I Jn 1:9. Our Lord is passionately concerned about our holiness.

The Promises Of The Christ
II Cor. 1:20
The Christ Event Series, Part Ten

Notice first of all the enormity of all this verse encompasses. Paul speaks of all the promises of God.
When I began putting this sermon together I must confess that I was overwhelmed because I found out that there were over 7,000 promises of God in the Bible.
In fact, one author, who had to have a lot of time on his hands, went through the Bible and found that there were 7,487 promises made by God to his people in the Old and New testaments.
Did you realize that when you sang Standing on the Promises?
No, I didn’t bother to count them myself to see if he was right or not,...I’ll just take his word for it.
A Promise is a statement from God that we can depend on with absolute confidence.
And all of God’s promises are kept in Jesus Christ.
There are so many promises that cover every aspect of life we can’t possibly cover them all,..so we will zero in on four of the most important.
They are:
The Promise of Salvation, The Promise of Answered Prayer, and The Promise of the Holy Spirit.

I. The Promise of Salvation..Jn 5:24
How can I be forgiven of my sins? What does it mean to be "saved?"
Jesus tells us that it is a matter of believing (or trusting) God.
Hear ...means not only to listen, but to believe and obey.
I haven’t heard the words of Jesus until I have accepted them as true and obeyed what He said.
Many people come to church week after week, hear a lot of sermons and leave in their unbelief.
We must believe what Jesus says, or we call God a liar.
and believeth on him that sent me... It isn’t enough just to believe that there is a God, that a divine being exists.
Would you believe me if I said that one could believe in God and still not be a Christian,...and not be saved?
"I believe in God" is not enough, James 2:19
We must believe in God, but also that this God sent Jesus to be the Savior.
We must believe what God believe about Jesus; that He is the only Savior for the whole world and He dealt with our sins on the cross when he died as our all sufficient substitute.

hath everlasting life...Notice Jesus is speaking in the present tense here. Everlasting life is not something we get when we die; it is a present possession.
them as true and obeyed what He said.
Many people come to church week after week, hear a lot of sermons and leave in their unbelief.
We must believe what Jesus says, or we call God a liar.

and believeth on him that sent me... It isn’t enough just to believe that there is a God, that a divine being exists.
Would you believe me if I said that one could believe in God and still not be a Christian,...and not be saved?
"I believe in God" is not enough, James 2:19
We must believe in God, but also that this God sent Jesus to be the Savior.
We must believe what God believe about Jesus; that He is the only Savior for the whole world and He dealt with our sins on the cross when he died as our all sufficient substitute.
We may feel conviction for sins we commit and God wants us to confess, but never condemnation, Rom. 8:1.

II. The Promise of Answered to Prayer...Jn. 14:13
Contrary to popular opinion, this is not a blank check on the Bank of Heaven. Jesus is not saying that we can have anything we want just by praying in His name.
First of all our Lord is assuming that one doing the praying is a believer who is walking in close fellowship with Him, and not someone who is backslidden, selfish, and greedy.

Praying "in Jesus’ name" means several things:
1. Asking for things according to God’s revealed will
2. Asking for that which will glorify God
3. Asking for things which will be for my own spiritual good. The reason many prayers go unanswered...Jas. 4:3

We need to read the fine print and compare scripture with scripture, I Jn. 3:22,23 and 5:14,15
If our heart is right with God we will want only what He wants, knowing that He knows what is best.

III. The Promise of the Holy Spirit...Jn. 14:16
"Another" is another of the same kind, or another Jesus.
This Comforter would be with them forever.
Whereas Jesus had to leave and go back to the Father, to prepare a place for them (and us), the Holy Spirit would never leave them
V. 17...He would dwell with them and be in them.
That’s where His ministry would be carried out, in the lives of Christians.

What does the Holy Spirit do for us?
He teaches us and reminds us of God’s Word...Jn 14:26
He never draws attention to Himself, but always points us to Jesus Christ...Jn 15:26, 16:14a
In fact, the Holy Spirit had to wait until Jesus was glorified in the resurrection before He could descend and empower the church, Jn 7:38,39
He would guide the apostles into all truth, even revealing the future to them...Jn 16:13

This is how we know the NT is trustworthy.
In the matter of salvation, it is the Holy Spirit that:
Convicts us of our sins...Jn 16:8-11
Convinces us of our need of the Savior...Jn. 16:10
Converts the sinner to faith in Christ...Jn 3:3,5

The Transfiguration of The Christ
Luke 9:28-36
The Christ Event, Part Nine

About a week before the transfiguration, Jesus had foretold the disciples of His death and resurrection which would take place at Jerusalem, v. 22.
In v. 31 we are told this would happen in Jerusalem, and evn though the elders, chief priests, and scribes were the culprits, the crucifixion would be Jeus’ accomplishment, not theirs. The Bible is clear that Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many; they did not take it from Him.
The Christian faith is neither magical, nor mythical which was the basis of all the other religions of that day.
Magic...The Bible never condones magic nor magicians, but exposes them for the fakes and phonies they are.
In Egypt the court magicians could not reveal the meaning of Pharoah’s dream, but Joseph could because it was revealed to him by God, Gen 41:8, 24.
In Babylon the court magicians could not reveal the meaning of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, but Daniel could because it had been revealed to him by God, Dan. 2:27,28.
In Samaria, a sorcerer named Simon wanted to buy the power of the Spirit to bewitch people and become rich, Acts 8:5
In Paphos, a sorcerer named Elymas was condemned by Paul, Acts 13:6ff
Magic is meant only to deceive by trickery and sleight of hand.

Myth...All religon in that day was pure paganism, i.e. the worship of the gods of Greek and Roman mythology.

The Christian faith however did make use of mystery and metaphysics however.
Mystery...a divine truth that had been hidden until, at the proper time, it was revealed by God. Man could have never figured or discovered these truths by himself.
Mk. 4:11...Because they were interested and wanted to know, Jesus revealed to His disciples the mystery of the Kingdom of God
I Cor 2:7-10...the wisdom of God was another mystery; what He has prepared for them that love Him
I Cor. 15:51,52...The mystery of the nature of the resurrection
Eph. 3:2-5...The Jews thought that they alone were the recipitants of God's grace But God revealed to Paul that the Gentiles would also be included in God’s plan of redemption
Col. 1:25-27..."Christ in you, the hope of glory" was another mystery revealed buy God about the indwelling nature of Christ in the Believer. (See also Jn 17:23,26)

So, what is the mystery revealed in our text?

The thing they did not understand, and the most important one of all,...the necessity of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, v. 22, 31.
V. 21...When Jesus first told them about this they couldn’t believe it because they didn’t understand it. In fact Peter tried to deny and reject that his Lord would suffer and die, Matt. 16:21,22. Jesus had to rebuke Peter in the strongest possible terms. That is why Jesus told them to tell no one about it; they didn’t know enough about it yet. They had to learn more.
What greater way to teach them than to give them a foretaste of glory in the greatest Bible conference ever held with Moses, Elijah, and Jesus on the program.
Imagine, the greatest speakers expounding upon the greatest subject,...the death of Christ.

V. 31..."Decease" is the Greek word for Exodus and refers to Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.

Just as Moses led the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage, Jesus would lead Believers out of their slavery to sin.
Our Exodus from earth, is our Genesis of Heaven

This passage also gives us a look at the "other side."
Forget about John Edward and all the other phony psychics who claim to be able to communicate with the dead. Believe the Bible instead.
Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Moses and Elijah. Moses representing the Law and Elijah representing the prophets.
They were easily recognized by Peter even though they had never met because they had been dead for hundreds of years, and no photographs of them existed.
Moses and Elijah lived a half a millenium and hundreds of miles apart, but they knew one another, and more importantly had one mission.
The great lawgiver and the great prophet came together in Jesus Christ, the voice of God came from heaven again and said "This is my beloved Son: hear him."

This must have reminded Moses of Deut. 18:15...Moses knew that this was the one God had told him about.

Then, Moses and Elijah were gone, and Jesus stood alone. Prophets and preachers come and go, but Jesus Christ abides forever and shares His glory with no one.
II Peter 1:16-18...Peter, an eyewitness of Jesus' glory never forgot this experience on the mount with Jesus.

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables,

when we made known unto you the power and

the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were

eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received

from God the Father honour and glory when there

came such a voice to him from the excellent glory,

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

And this voice which came from heaven we heard

when we were with him in the holy mount.

The glory of God is the only hope of the world, I Peter 2:24

Jesus Christ came into this world to give His life as a sacrifice for sin. His death on the cross is the ground of our salvation.
He rose from the dead to demonstrate His power and authority over sin and death.
He ascended back to Heaven to prepare a place for us
And He is coming again to receive us to Himself and share His glory with us.

Jesus Christ came into this world to transform our lives as well, II Cor. 3:18.

The Preaching of The Christ
Luke 4:16-30
The Christ Event Series, Part Eight

Only Luke records this episode of when Jesus returned to His home town of Nazareth. His fame had grown to such an extent that many came out to hear this preacher and miracle worker. It was the "Home town boy makes good!"
I. The first thing to notice is that it was Jesus’ custom and regular habit to go to church.
He could have said that the synagogue was full of hypocrites, and it was.
He could have said, "I don’t need it" and He’d be right.
He could have said, "The Sabbath is the only day I have to sleep in, play golf, or go to the lake."

But He went to church on a regular basis, and as in all the other Christian disciplines, He set the example for us and knew it was best for God’s people to assemble regularly for worship, rest, and a change of pace, Heb. 10:25.
A service in the synagogue was very similar to our worship services. It was not like the temple at all,...no sacrifices were offered there, there was no need for a priest, or an altar in the synagogue.

A synagogue could be started in any town that had ten or more Jewish families to support it.
The service would be conducted similar to this:
1. Invocation for God’s blessing
2. Recitation of the Hebrew confession of faith,
Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21
3. Prayer
4. Readings from the Old Testament Law and Prophets
5. A brief sermon given by one of the men present or a visiting rabbi (teacher)
6. Benediction (if a priest was present)

7. Closing prayer by one of the men present.

Often, a visiting rabbi was asked to read and make a few appropriate remarks on the Scripture text.
On this particular day, Jesus was asked to read the scripture and deliver the sermon which he did reading from the prophet Isaiah 61:1,2.
The other rabbis and everyone else present knew that this text referred to the Messiah. Imagine their shock when Jesus said that the words applied to Himself, that He was the Messiah who had come to usher in "the acceptable year of the Lord".
They were thinking in political and economic terms, but Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms.

Jesus was here referring to the "Year of the Jubilee:
Every 7th year was a "Sabbatical Year" when the ground was to lie fallow and untilled. The people and the soil was to rest and trust God for enough to eat of the surplus of the previous years.
Every 50th year was the "Year of Jubilee" when the economic system was balanced:
- Slaves were set free and returned to their families,
- Land that had been sold out of the tribes to which they were given was reverted back to the original owners,
- all debts were canceled,
- the land lay fallow as man and beast rested and rejoiced in the Lord.

The Jubilee was an object lesson to remind them of the character of God; Sharing and Caring were the order of the day, and not getting and hoarding.
If a fellow Jew found himself in trouble, God’s system said that you were to help him out, not take advantage of him. You could not loan money at interest, nor could you sell him food for a profit. (We hear of price gouging even n time of disaster. God knows the nature of man, sinful.)
A man could sell himself into slavery, but it was to be treated like a hired worker with dignity. He was to be set free in the Year of the Jubilee.

What’s the meaning of the Year of Jubilee? Pretend it is you who had to sell the family farm, and maybe even yourself into servitude. How would you want to be treated? This is a once in a lifetime experience, and it provides for the children of those who fell on hard times. (Remember, there was no social security or welfare programs then.)
The Year of the Jubilee was God’s way of balancing the economy and reminding them that the land belonged to God, they were just stewards of it
It also kept the rich and powerful from exploiting the poor.
It also provided than everyone would have an inheritance
But there is a more important lesson involved here. The Sabbatical Year and the Year of the Jubilee were also intended to remind Israel of God’s goodness to them and us.

If you are a Christian you are living in the Year of Jubilee.
You have been set free from the bondage of sin, your sin debt has been cancelled fort all time, and you have been given a fresh start,...sort of like being born again.
No wonder Christians have so much to sing about and praise God for!
The grace and promises of God all extend to everyone. But they only come to those who have the faith to believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the fulfillment of Scripture and the Savior of men.