Receiving and Believing in Him Who was Sent

On the night Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the chosen disciples received a lesson in cleansing and humble service (John 13). Our Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples by example. He washed their feet.

God the Father sent His perfectly obedient Son on a mission into the world (Jn 3:16). Jesus, the Son of God, submitted to the will of His Father in everything. He always did what was pleasing to His Father (Jn 8:29). Jesus had come from the Father; and as we read in John 13:1, He was about to return to the Father. The Bible records the risen Savior’s ascension to heaven and His enthronement at the Father’s right hand (Ps 110:1; Acts 2:33; 5:21; 7:55–56; Rom 8:34; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; 1 Pet 3:22). He sat down because that mission was finished. The work was completed to perfection.

In teaching His disciples, Jesus acknowledged their view of Him as Teacher and Lord (Jn 13:13). They had learned much from their Rabbi. As their Lord, the expectation is that they would obey all the He had commanded them (Mt 28:20). In essence, Jesus’ disciples were to love God and their neighbors as themselves (Lk 10:27). This action of love would be in direct response to their receipt of God’s love (1 Jn 4:19).

Foot washing was a lowly task performed by the least of the household slaves in both Jewish and Greek homes. In the context, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11). From the pinnacle of power displayed, to this menial task was a stark contrast, indeed.

Service precedes glory (Rom 8:18; 1 Pet 5:10). Jesus’ life and ministry exemplified this principle. The disciples, like all people, were tempted to take the short-cut to glory. They were also vulnerable to seeking the glory bestowed by this world. They needed a proper view to the kingdom of God.

A slave (Gk. doulos) is not greater than his master (Jn 13:16). The disciples of Jesus, then and now, must follow His example (Jn 13:15). To be a servant of the most High God does not permit one to think more highly of himself than he ought (Rom 12:3; 1 Cor 8:2). Jesus came into the world, emptied Himself, taking on the form of a slave (Gk. doulos). He humbled Himself in obedient service — even to the point of death on a cross (Phil 2:5–11).

To know who Jesus is and what He has done is the result of God’s grace toward His elect, redeemed, regenerated people. Jesus Christ is the mystery of God revealed by the Spirit of truth illumining the Word of truth (Jn 1:9; Eph 1:18). From the Spirit and the Word, we learn that we belong to Jesus (1 Cor 3:23), having been purchased off the slave market of sin (Jn 8:34; Rom 6:6).

It is the will of God for His elect to receive Christ (Jn 1:12–13). It is the receipt of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11), who is sent by God the Father and God the Son (Jn 14:26; 15:26), and who implants the Word of faith in the hearts and minds of those to whom He is sent (Jas 1:21). Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17). The Spirit gives life to those who were appointed to life (Acts 13:48). The Word of Christ is spirit and life (Jn 6:63).

True preachers will preach the Word (2 Tim 4:2). The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12). It is powerful to accomplish the purpose of God, which is salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16).

Faith is the manifestation of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:22; Phil 1:29; 2 Pet 1:1). The Spirit of Christ cannot deny our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, what differentiates the believer from the unbeliever is the permanent occupation of the Spirit of God (Heb 13:5).

The born again of God are recipients of God’s grace (Eph 2:8–9). Grace is God working for the salvation of those whose names He wrote in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27). This is the same group of people He gave to His Son before creation (2 Tim 1:9).

Receivers of Christ are believers in Christ by the will of God (Jn 1:12–13). Believers in Christ are doers of the Word because God is in them willing and doling His good pleasure (Phil 2:13; Jas 1:22). Faith in the Son of God is our Christian walk (lifestyle). We do those things that our Lord and Master and Teacher did. We are blessed by knowing and doing; but we know that God performs all our works for us (Is 26:12). He accomplishes what concerns us (Ps 57:2; 138:8).

As witnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8), we are witnesses to the ongoing work of the indwelling Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11), who conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29), who is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15).

The exception to this union are those people outside of Christ (Eph 2:12), void of the Spirit (Jn 14:17). They do not believe in Jesus because they do not belong to Jesus (Jn 10:26). Therefore, the Father and the Son do not send them the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26; 15:26). Without the Spirit of Christ, there is no receipt of Christ (Jn 1:12–13). God has not willed for the children of the devil to be anything but vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22; 1 Jn 3:10). These are known by their fruit (Mt 12:33; Lk 6:44), which is the manifestation of various vices (Gal 5:19–21).

Faith in Christ does not manifest in these people, for the very reason that they are void of the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; 1 Cor 2:14). Judas Iscariot is the example of unbelief; the example of disobedience; and the fulfillment of Scripture. Judas had no love in his heart for Jesus because God had set His love upon Judas (Jn 5:42). The son of perdition was a lover of this world, a lover of money (1 Jn 2:15–17; 1 Tim 6:10).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus repeatedly warned His disciples and the Apostle John warns us that one of them was unclean (13:10); a devil (6:70); a betrayer (12:4); the son of perdition (Jn 17:12); and a thief (13:18). A man of pride is the foil for those who walk humbly with their God (Mic 6:8), who lives in them. Jesus came into the world not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45).

Christian, you are to walk in the manner of the Lord (Col 1:10; 1 Thess 2:12). His Spirit is the One who causes you to walk in God’s statutes (Ezek 36:27); therefore, give thanks with a grateful heart for the measure of faith granted to you by His grace (Rom 12:3). This is the sufficient grace by which you receive and believe in Him who was sent from heaven…for you.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

March 29, 2024

John 13:12–20