Sermons

Expository Sermon on John 13
by Maylan Schurch
11/8/2025

Please open your Bibles to John chapter 13.

While you’re turning there, here are some reminders about what will happen after I conclude my brief remarks here. We will be leaving the sanctuary for a few moments for our traditional footwashing service.
Some of you might be new to this way of remembering what Jesus did for His disciples just before they had their “Last Supper” together. As I mentioned last week, our denomination – and a growing number of other denominations — have decided to simply take Jesus at His word when, after He had washed their feet, He told them:

“ . . . If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” John 13:12 – 15
You are all invited to take part in this meaningful ceremony—and in the communion service afterward—no matter what faith you may be from. This will happen in three other areas of the facility. The women will go to the youth room down at the end of the hall. The men will go to the Junior Room downstairs in the educational wing. And if your family would like to participate together, you may go up the steps to the fellowship hall.

Just a reminder that at the very conclusion of the service two of the deacons will be dismissing you by rows.

Finally, two other deacons will be at the door collecting an offering for the Helping Hand fund, which is used to aid members with emergency financial needs.

This week as I was studying through John 13, I found myself looking closely at something Jesus said during the footwashing service which He had just introduced. Suddenly, that question of His held a much deeper meaning for me. Let me show you what I mean.

Once the footwashing service was over, Jesus decides to use it as an important teaching moment. Let’s start with verse 12:

John 13:12 [NKJV]: So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

This is a familiar question if you’ve read this story before. The point Jesus is making – and He explains it in the next few verses – is that He, as their Lord and teacher, is giving them an example of humility and service.

And that is exactly what He means to communicate to them.

But this week, I suddenly realized that this question can have a far wider answer, and that this wider answer can actually add power to this humble act.

Look at the question again: “Do you know what I have done to you?”

What has Jesus done? Well, in the Upper Room story, since there is no household servant to wash everyone’s feet, Jesus has knelt down and acted the part of the servant.

But it suddenly struck me that Jesus has done a whole lot more than footwashing. Glance back at verse 3:

Verses 3 – 4: Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

So Jesus is more than merely a human rabbi or teacher who is acting the part of the servant to His followers.

“Do you know what I have done to you?”

Here’s another answer to that question, and it’s hugely important. If you’re taking sermon notes, it is Sermon Point One. Jesus could have answered:

“I am visiting you from heaven.”

He did come down from heaven, and within a couple of days He will return back to heaven.

So as I say, Jesus is more than a human rabbi introducing His disciples to a powerful symbol of servanthood. He has come from heaven itself. And He is returning there.

And what does this powerful heavenly citizen do as a result of who He is?

Verses 3 – 4: Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

This act is more breathtaking the more you think of it. Jesus knew who He was, where He had come from, and that He was returning there soon. And what was most important to Him was giving His friends the privilege of being servants.

Because servants are exactly what Heaven is filled with. All those millions and millions of angels are not called “kings” or “princes” or “dukes” or even CEOs or presidents. They are called “angels,” anggeloi in the Greek. That word simply means “messengers.” In fact, in Luke 9:52, Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem, and He sends some of His disciples as “messengers” ahead of Him, and that is that very same Greek word for angels.

“Do you know what I have done to you?” Jesus asks. “I have come from Heaven, and I am going back to Heaven. And by washing your feet I am demonstrating to you that Heaven is full of servants. God is a servant, I am a servant. The Holy Spirit is a servant.”

So what do I do, now that I have understood more fully that Jesus and His fellow heavenly citizens are all servants?

Well, the obvious answer is that I must become a servant too. No matter what my earthly occupation is — no matter how many people I have over me, no matter how many people I have under me, I needed to act out Jesus’ role as I move among the people. I need to remember that it wasn’t the proud Pharisee in the temple, but the humble, repentant tax collector, that became right in the sight of God.

This afternoon at 3 o’clock at the Edmonds Adventist church I will be taking part in a memorial service for Marilyn Jordan, a 92-year-old Adventist teacher. I’ve known Marilyn since the mid-1980s, and I knew her to have been not only a good teacher but a truly humble servant of the Lord. It’s going to be a privilege to help remember Marilyn – and to meet her again at the Second Coming.

Again, Jesus’ Verse 12 question comes to us: “Do you know what I have done to you?”

There’s another answer to this question, still further back in John. Turn back to John 1:1:

John 1:1 – 3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

There’s a lot to unpack in those verses, but I think we could summarize the answer to “Do you know what I have done to you” like t his. Here comes Sermon Point Two. It’s like Jesus is saying,

“Not only am I visiting you from heaven, but I am your Creator God speaking to you.”

As John began his book, he could’ve said, “In the beginning was the King, and the king was God,” and so on. He could have given Jesus the title of Prince, or Ruler.

But under divine inspiration, John called Jesus the “Word.” A word is something that is spoken. A word communicates. I am not doing pantomime up here in the pulpit – I’m using words. This afternoon, words will be spoken to remember the life of Marilyn Jordan.

So why is it so important that Jesus is our Creator God speaking to us? It lets me know that God created me, and that He wants to communicate with me. And at each communion service, we rejoice that this God who cares humbled Himself to death on the cross to give us salvation.

So as we follow His instructions in the footwashing service, and then partake symbolically of His body and blood, let’s allow this gift to lift our hearts this week and beyond.