DOCTRINE
Christ endured the horrors of the cross out of love.
I. CHRIST’S HORRIFIC DEATH ON THE CROSS WAS LONG PROMISED AND FORESHADOWED (v. 1a)
John 13:1a “Now before the Feast of the Passover…”
II. CHRIST ENDURED THE HORRORS OF THE CROSS WILLINGLY (v. 1b)
John 13:1b “…when Jesus knew that his hour had come…”
John 2:4 “And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
John 7:30 “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”
John 8:20 “These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”
John 12:23-24 “23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”
III. CHRIST ENDURED THE HORRORS OF THE CROSS FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM (v. 1c)
John 13:1c “…to depart out of this world to the Father…”
Hebrews 12:2 “for the joy that was set before him [Christ] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Philippians 2:6-11 “6 Though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
IV. CHRIST ENDURED THE HORRORS OF THE CROSS OUT OF LOVE FOR HIS OWN (v. 1d)
John 13:1d “…having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
In Ephesians 3:18-19 “[Paul prays that the Ephesians] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
APPLICATION: what does this mean for us today?
I) It is not your love for Christ that makes you secure; it is His love that makes safe.
II) If you ever wonder if Christ loves you, look to the cross.
III) If Christ loves you now, He will love you to the end.
Romans 8:35-39 “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
EXHORTATION: what must we therefore do?
I) Sinner, you who are still outside of Christ, come burn your sins away at the fire of Christ’s love.
Jesus says in John 6:37 “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
II) Weary Saints, you who are in Christ by faith, come warm your hearts at the fire of Christ’s love.
III) Worried Saints, come melt your worries and anxieties at the fire of Christ’s love.
IV) Beloved Saints, go and love others the same way Christ has loved you.
John 13:33 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”