John 13: 1-17
1-2a
It was in the early evening of Thursday night that Jesus and the disciples met for supper
2a the supper was the Passover meal
Matthew 26: 17-19, Mark 14: 12-16, Luke 22: 7-15
The Jewish people celebrated the Passover meal every year to remember how God set them free from 430 years of slavery in Egypt
On Israel’s night of freedom, God sent an angel of death to strike down the first-born of the Egyptians
This forced Pharoah to release the People of God
God commanded His people to kill a lamb in the afternoon and roast the lamb in the early evening and eat it for supper in preparation for their journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land
To protect their family from the angel of death, God told the People of God to take the blood of the lamb and smear it on the door frame’s top and sides
When the angel of death saw the blood on the door frame, it would ‘pass over’ (Passover) their home, and they would be safe
Exodus 12: 7, 12-13
Every year the Jews would celebrate their freedom by celebrating the Passover
Numbers 9: 12
And of course, the Passover of the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in Jesus death on the cross; Jesus death that freed us from the wrath of God against our sin
John 1: 36 ‘As Jesus walked by, John…declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God”’!
1 Corinthians 5: 7 ‘Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us’
John 13: 1-2a provides us with another apparent contradiction in the Bible – Jesus and the disciples celebrated the Passover on the Thursday night, not Friday night
As John 19: 14 says, the next day, Friday, was the ‘day of preparation for the Passover’ (That year, Passover started 6 pm Friday night, on a Sabbath)
It seems like a contradiction doesn’t it?!
But, it’s not!
In Israel, at that time, 2 systems were used to count days
In Northern Israel (mainly Gentile population) – the days were counted sunrise to sunrise
In Southern Israel (mainly Jewish population) – the days were counted sunset to sunset Genesis 1: 5
So, being from the North, Jesus and the disciples celebrated the Passover a day early = NO contradiction
2b-3
Judas had already betrayed Jesus and Jesus said that He would soon return to God
But before that, Jesus gave the disciples, AND US, an example to follow in showing love and service to one another
4-17
Jesus got up from the table and washed the dirty feet of the disciples
Have you ever thought about this – Why didn’t one of the disciples offer to do this?
Even after 3 years of Jesus teaching the disciples the Word of God, they were still not listening to Him or applying His teaching to their lives
Matthew 23: 11
So, Jesus teaches them by example, and says that if they follow His example, God would bless them
John 13: 17
Finally, I want to encourage you today to learn and apply another lesson from our text: being faithful to the Lord in the House of God
Tradition tells us that this Passover meal was celebrated in the Upper Room of a large home in Jerusalem that belonged to the family of John Mark
John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas and friend of the Apostle Peter
On the Thursday, Jesus sent Peter and John to find a house they could use to celebrate the Passover meal together
Luke 22: 7-13
After the Passover, the upper room in John Mark’s family home became the House of God for the early Church
They used the House of God for:
Fellowship – John 20: 19-23, 26-29
Prayer – Acts 1: 3, 4: 23, 12: 12
Receiving the mighty baptism with the Holy Spirit – Acts 2: 1-4
I want to encourage us today: Are we as committed to the House of God in the same way that Jesus and the early Church were?
Do you remember this prophecy from Scripture about Jesus, where it says…?
John 2: 17 “Passion for God’s House will consume me.”
And remember the words of Jesus
John 13: 17
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