Reflecting the Lord of Love
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Embracing and internalizing the way Jesus wages war with the enemy.
Text: John 13:1-3
Date: 01/13/2019, the Traditional service.
Series: "John: Encountering Love" Part 120
Description:
As we begin our study of Jesus' final night with His disciples, our focus will turn from the events and discourses of His public ministry to His impassioned private instructions for "His own". Our text for this message serves as an introduction to this segment and particularly for the profoundly significant foot-washing that immediately follows. After establishing John's eschatological perspective we will recognize that evil is at the table and that we are witnessing the culmination of the epic struggle between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. We will consider in awe how Jesus wages war against the enemy and "crushes the head of the serpent" on this night. What kind of love is this that transcends justice and even evil itself? What kind of Lord is this who treats His enemies this way? The answer is in the questions themselves: He is the Lord of Love-- and we are called to be His reflection!
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I. Introduction, Gen. 3:15, John 1:5, Rev. 12:3-4,7.
II. Exposition of the text, John 13:1-3.
A. Context
B. Introduction to chapters 13-17, vs. 1.
1. Preliminary thoughts.
a. A reversal of method.
b. Noticing what is missing.
2. Love and the imminent departure, vs. 1.
a. A problem of chronology.
b. The Passover Feast.
i. Christ our Passover Lamb, John 1:29, 1Cor. 5:7.
ii. Revisiting the Passover, Ex. 19:5-6.
• The propitiation of the Passover.
• The expiation of the Red Sea crossing.
• The temporary atonement of the sacrificial system.
c. The hour has come.
i. An eschatological, redemptive "hour", John 7:30, 12:23.
ii. An expected hour, John 12:27, 2:4.
d. A discussion of departure and destination.
i. The departure.
ii. The destination, John 1:14.
e. The deep, deep love of Jesus.
i. A major shift in focus.
ii. Identifying "His own", John 6:37.
iii. Love to the full.
C. Introduction to chapter 13, vs. 2-3.
1. The presence of evil, vs. 2.
a. The timeline.
b. The devil at the Passover table.
i. Noticing the contrast.
ii. A graphic image.
c. The extraordinary implicit revelation.
i. A child of the devil, John 6:70, 13:27.
ii. How Jesus waged war, Matt. 5:43-44, Rom. 12:20.
2. The Lord of Love, vs. 3.
III. Application, John 13:14-15.
IV. Conclusion
