The Jesus We Think We Know | Josh Leake

visiting this weekend for Candy Kingdom it's one of your first couple times here my name is Josh I'm the lead pastor here and again I just want to say we're honored to have you with us thanks for being here can we also welcome God behind bars over in Somerset as always we love you guys today I want to talk to you about the Jesus we think we know that's the title of the message the Jesus we think we know and I want to tell you a little about my family to start so I have four siblings one sister and three brothers and my younger brother Caleb you just saw him he was on stage a minute ago he's one of the pastors here and growing up together I never thought we looked similar whatsoever never even crossed my mind and it wasn't until we came on staff here together the people were like you're like twins I was like what that's that I just never encountered that before something really weird happened though when I was elected as lead pastor six months ago which is that people started approaching my brother to congratulate him and to make it more confusing he started saying hey thank you so much so now no one knows I mean I could be Caleb right now how do you really know there's no way to know that so these people when they were talking to Caleb no one was trying to be rude they genuinely thought that they were talking to who they thought they were and they just happened to be wrong about that you may have experienced this before when you approach somebody out in public anybody ever done that before you approach somebody that you think you know who it is and you start talking to them and it's not who you think it is this is what I think happens with people in Jesus all the time the Jesus we think we know let me just explain this a little more there's a study it was done that found that six in ten adults in the US identify as Christian or belonging to some Christian denomination six out of ten people would say they follow Jesus or they belong to some sort of Christian church and then also many of us have experienced a phenomenon inside of that where we've met people who say they're Christian or go to church or follow Jesus and they are extremely rude anybody ever had that happened to them before so then we have to start to ask the question how is it possible that six in ten people six in ten adults in the US

say they follow Jesus and yet we have such a wide range of behaviors and people who treat people differently and think differently and some of them really seem almost nothing like what Jesus seems like in the Bible how is that actually happening if all of these people are claiming to follow the same master now the easy answer we could give is well some of them just don't take it seriously some of them are just fake and while that can be true in some cases some people just wear the label Christian but don't actually take any of it seriously I don't think that's a good answer to the question because we've also probably all met people who take Jesus really seriously and know the Bible inside out and yet are absolute jerks we've probably interacted with people like that before so how is that happening that we all all of these people have the same master and yet act so differently maybe you've seen somebody say something cruel online before and you click on their profile and there's a Bible verse in the bio I've had that happen before and you're like that doesn't seem to match up totally so this is a common accusation that's leveled against the church against Jesus against Christianity is how is this happening if Jesus and Christianity are so good then why is there such a wide range of people who claim Jesus some of them who look absolutely nothing like what Jesus seems like that is actually a really good question I think that's a fair question and accusation that we shouldn't just give an easy answer to so I want to study John chapter 13 and it's gonna help us answer this question John chapter 13 if you want to turn there in your phones or on your phone or in your Bible we're gonna study this and let me just set up what this is John chapter 13 is the last supper so this is Jesus's final meal together with his core 12 apprentices before he goes to his death he's been traveling around with this group for three years they're like family and they don't know but Jesus knows that this is the last little bit that they're gonna have together before Jesus dies now John's historical account of the life of Jesus contains something that the other three accounts of Jesus life don't Matthew Mark Luke John or the four gospels the four accounts historical accounts of Jesus's life the

first three all have the same moment at the last supper which is that when they're all together Jesus institutes what we call communion the bread and the wine and death on the cross. Matthew, Mark, Luke all contain that as part of the Last Supper. John does it. John has a different moment included instead of communion and I wanna study what that is. Okay, so John chapter 13, verse three says, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter who said to him, Lord, are you gonna wash my feet? Now, Simon's reaction is like, Lord, you're the master, you're the rabbi, you're the teacher, you're in the place of honor, you're stooping to the job of a servant. What are you doing? Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand, no, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then Lord, Simon Peter replied,

not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well. So Peter's over eager to prove and to please Jesus and he's missing what Jesus is trying to demonstrate, but what I wanna propose to all of us together is that I think any one of us would miss it. I think it's so easy to miss. And it's easy to look down on Peter, but I think any one of us would miss it. And let me give you a thought that I'll kick off the message here. Even those closest to Jesus frequently misunderstood him. These people who were like family to Jesus, traveling around with him is closest apprentices. What Jesus does in this moment is going against a global principle that has always existed and that we still operate by. That principle is the higher you climb in life, the more people are gonna serve you. There's nothing evil about that principle. That's not an evil thing. It's just the way that the world works. The more successful, important that you are, the more people are gonna serve you. So the higher you climb the ladder, the more there are going to be people that are serving you. This is how the business world works. If you do really well in your job, you're gonna get a promotion, you're gonna have more control over your schedule, over your responsibilities,

and you'll have a team of people that are going to serve what you're doing so you can delegate and have them do what you want them to do. We know this is true with money. If you have money, you can have people do what you don't wanna do. If you're like, I don't feel like getting up on my house and cleaning up my gutters and risking my life, you can pay somebody else to do it. Or we know this is true with when you get famous with celebrities. The second someone becomes famous, there's people carrying their bags and managing their schedule and cooking food for them. There's a classic film of our generation that I think demonstrates this concept so well, the classic film Home Alone 2. I never shot up about Home Alone 2, by the way, if you haven't found this out about me, I love Home Alone 2. The scene of Kevin in the limousine with the cheese pizza. That's like, or always getting room service and you have a butler as a kid, that's the dream. Somebody who's always serving you. The idea is a universal principle that we still operate by. The higher you climb, the more important you are, the more successful you are, the more influential you are, the more people are gonna serve you.

So now Jesus is violating this principle and it feels wrong to Peter. He's like, you're not gonna communicate to me that you're less important than me, that doesn't make any sense. And I think any one of us would have responded the same way because even those closest to Jesus misunderstood him. Peter is misinterpreting Jesus because what he's doing is interpreting Jesus through what he already understands. And this is, I think, what happens so much across Christians in the US that we easily miss it because it's easy to see Jesus through what we already believe rather than letting Jesus change what we believe. This is what happens with Christians all over. If we see Christians and people who say they're following Jesus in a religious, but don't actually look like Jesus, it's because it's easy to believe and interpret what we want rather than letting Jesus change what we believe. So if you're a disciple of Jesus in the room, my call to you as we study the rest of this, to all of us, me included, is let's really dig in and pay attention and reevaluate and not just assume that we already know because that would be doing what Peter's doing. We need to say, am I missing it? And if I am, Lord, help me see it. And to those of you who don't know

where you stand with God, maybe you don't believe in God or you're not really sure where you stand with Jesus, my invitation to you would be to say, I think you have misjudged Jesus. but who the real Jesus is. So let's keep going. John chapter 13 verse 10, Jesus answered those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet, their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean. This is really important. We'll come back to this in a second, but it's important to see Jesus already knew who would betray him. He was predicting it for telling him. And now comes the teaching explanation moment in verse 12. When he had finished washing their feet, he put his clothes on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I've done for you? He asked them. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. And very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you'll be blessed if you do them. So here's Jesus' principle that he's introducing that's different than the higher you climb, the more you're served, the more important you are. Jesus' reversed principle is greatness in the kingdom of God is all about selflessly serving others. You want to be great in Jesus' kingdom? You got to learn to pick up a towel and selflessly serve others. Jesus, the highest king, the master, picks up a towel and takes up the job of a servant. So what would be the temptation now would be to run off and say, okay, got it. Jesus wants us to go and serve and make the world a better place. Then we run off with the Jesus we think we know. Jesus wants me to be a good person. He wants me to love and serve everyone. Let's all make the world a better place. But we miss Jesus' point because we don't actually understand the depth of what Jesus went through and what he's demonstrating to his disciples. So let's just dig in a little bit. You have to think about what Jesus was going through in this moment because we know that Jesus knew a couple of things about what would happen. First of all, Jesus knew that he was

about to die. So as he's in this moment with his disciples, he knows these are my last few hours before I am put to death through crucifixion. He also knew, as we just saw, that one of the twelve disciples, Judas, was going to betray him. He knew in advance before they even came to the dinner that Judas was going to betray him. So imagine walking into this dinner as Jesus and you sit down and everybody's together and you look at Judas and you know in a few hours I'm going to die because of this man right here. If you've ever been stabbed in the back by somebody before, you know how difficult it is to keep your composure around them when they've betrayed you or insulted you or spit on you. Keeping your composure around somebody like that is really difficult but Jesus doesn't treat Judas any different. They're sitting at the table together and then Jesus goes one by one and is washing their feet and he comes to Judas and he knows what Judas is going to do and still he chooses to serve him. He had a lot of options at his disposal here. Jesus could have when they first came to the dinner before they even walked into the room he could have said, "Judas, don't bother coming. I know what you're going to do. You know what you're going to do? Don't bother coming." But he doesn't. He also could have said, "I'm not washing Judas's feet. I want everybody to know Judas is going to betray me. I'm not washing his feet." But he didn't. He came to the feet of Judas and knowing what Judas would do. He washed his feet and he served him. And then when Jesus says at the end of the dinner, one of the disciples is going to betray me. The disciples ask him, "Lord, who's it going to be?" And he says, "It's the one who I dip this bread in this dish and give it to them and he gives it to Judas." Now what we don't understand about that culture is that this act of dipping bread in the dish and then giving it to someone, this was an act that signified love and affection and friendship. So it's like up until the moment that Judas was stabbing him in the back that Jesus was saying, "I'm still calling you friend." Jesus knowing what Judas would do still chose to wash his feet, to serve him, to love him, and to extend friendship even to the moment he stabbed him in the back. And then if you think about Peter, think about what Jesus knew about Peter. later, Peter's going to deny me three times when I'm put on trial and they're going to kill me. Peter is going to deny even knowing me. When he tells this to Peter and he predicts this, Peter says, never. I would never do that because Peter

sees himself as devoted. But again, Jesus knew as he's washing the feet of Peter. This guy is going to deny knowing me. And Jesus, even knowing what Peter would do, still loved him. Knowing what Peter would do, he still served him. If we really want to follow the real Jesus, not just the cultural version of Jesus or the Jesus we think we know, we have to understand the depth of what Jesus went through. And what the example that he was setting and teaching on means. Here's the main point of the message, sums up everything. Jesus is the King who lovingly serves even those who betray him. He didn't just stoop down to the dirty position of a servant to serve. He did it knowing who would deny him and betray him. Knowing what they would do to him, he still served them and he still loved them. And then he calls his disciples, which was the 12 there, but also it applies to any one of us who want to be disciples of Jesus, followers of Jesus. He calls his disciples to follow his example. Now, how in the world do we follow this example? Because if you've ever tried to interact with somebody or show love to somebody who has insulted you, taken advantage of you, stabbed you in the back, you know how impossible it feels. This is a really tough example to follow. It's easy to just wave our hand and say, "Yeah, love, serve everybody." But when you think about getting your head somebody right now that has offended you, that you feel frustrated by, when you think about loving and serving everybody, but even the people that are difficult, that is hard. That's something that it feels difficult to look at and say, "Easy to replicate." You know, there's some things in life where you can watch people do them and you're like, "I could pick that up." I was just reading about this. It was cracking me up. There was a study that they did where they found that 46% of adult men said they thought they could land a plane in an emergency with no prior training, which I'm like, as a guy, I'm like, "I kind of get that. I think maybe I probably could do that." I mean, obviously it's not actually true, but it is funny that 46% of guys are like, "I could do it," with no training. That's crazy. There are some things you look at and you say, "I could probably figure that out." This is one of those things that I think if we're honest with the way that we feel about certain people, serving people who are really nice to us, okay, serving people that we know,

they don't have our best in mind, or they are out to get us, or they insult us, that is a much more difficult example to follow. So how do we actually follow that example? Beyond me just saying, "Thanks for coming. Go serve everybody." What do we actually do? Because Jesus was not just inviting us into a lifestyle. Go do these things. He was inviting people into discipleship, followership. We want to learn to be like Jesus. So here's what we're going to do. As we get to the last part of this message, I just want to look at what Jesus was communicating to his followers so that we learn how to be like him. Not just how to be a good person who serves, not just, "I'm a doormat and everybody can do whatever they want to me." No, how do we learn to be like our master so that we're not just following the Jesus we think we know, but we're following the real Jesus and becoming more like him, okay? We want to look at what are the things Jesus is communicating to his followers in this message. Here's the first one. First thing he communicated is, "You cannot follow me until you let me serve you." This is what he tells Peter. He says, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." So Jesus is highlighting really important this right here. "Unless you let me wash you, you have no part with me." The truth is that Jesus didn't just wash Peter's feet. He washed yours because this feet washing moment was pointing forward to the ultimate act of selfless, self sacrificial love on the cross, that you and I were dead in our sins, infected, dirty with our own selfishness, corruption. We were hopeless without what Jesus did, but, and Romans puts this so well, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, we'll read it. Romans 5, 8, here's what it says, and look at this through the angle of self. but God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Meaning, let me put this another way. Knowing what you would do, Jesus still served you. Just like with Judas, just like with Peter. Knowing what you would do and that you were helpless and that you and I were corrupted, He still loved you and He still served you. Becoming a follower of Jesus, a disciple and apprentice of Jesus starts with receiving. This is what He was telling Peter.

Starts with receiving, with gratitude. Jesus, thank you for what you've done for me. And we respond in surrender. If we don't start here, here's what happens. We don't end up needing gratitude because we haven't received anything. So then if there's no gratitude, we haven't received anything. There's no need for surrender. And if there's no need for surrender, our relationship with God starts to become not out of love, but out of transaction. This is where so many Christians in the US especially, I think live out of every day. When we talked about that disparity, six and 10 people say they follow Jesus, but you know, there's so many people that don't actually look like they're living it out. So many people follow the Jesus, they think they know. It's a version of Jesus who wants you to do good things and who blesses your life in return. But the first thing He said to His disciples is you got to receive first. We follow God every day, not out of duty, but out of love flowing from what He has already done for us. Flowing in surrender, saying, "Lord, you can have everything "because you served and loved me "even knowing what I would do." That's the first thing.

The next thing we see Jesus tell us comes from the question that He asked after He washed all their feet and He sat down. Do you remember what He asked them? He said, "Do you understand what I've done for you?" Basically saying, "To His apprentices, "I want you to adopt my worldview." Here's the second thing Jesus tells us, "It's learned to see power the way I see it." Another way to say this would be, "Learn to see greatness the way I see it." Have you noticed that we're still not into the portion of the message where we talk about, so what do I do when it comes to actually having to serve? What do I do with the difficult people that Jesus is asking me to love and serve? We're not even talking about that. Right now what we're talking is you have to start by receiving and surrendering and then you have to adopt how Jesus sees in invitation to adopt Jesus' perspective because Jesus is not just inviting you into behavior. He's inviting you into a rewiring of how you see the purpose of your life. The world around you, if you pull out your phone, if you turn on the TV, it's always preaching the same message. If you start to pay attention to the advertisements you get and what's popular in movies, you'll see the same message. You have one life, once it's over, it's over. Don't hurt anybody, but you gotta do what's right for you.

You gotta live your life to the fullest. You got one chance to be happy. Don't let other people try to control your happiness. It's an inward-flowing purpose that we are preached to. Jesus rewires the whole purpose of life to say the real path to greatness is not about inward-flowing purpose. It's a new mindset that's outward-flowing. Actually, Philippians chapter two talks about this mindset that we're supposed to adopt that Jesus had. Here's what it says. "In your relationships with one another, "have the same mindset. "What's the mindset? "Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus." And then it describes his mindset during his death on the cross, but also during this feet-washing moment. Who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God, his status, his power, something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Jesus was not using his status and his power to have an inward-flowing service for his own pleasure, fulfillment, satisfaction. He was showing the purpose of life,

and especially in the kingdom of God. Greatness comes from your purpose, flowing outward into self-giving love. You want to be great in the kingdom of God? Now, when you follow Jesus, there's joy and there's peace that comes from these things. There's fulfillment, but we were not created to fulfill that in our own terms. What we were created to do is just like Jesus, take on that mindset to say, my life is about self-giving love. This is also about how we see other people. Before we speak a word or do an act to anybody else, we have to adopt the way that Jesus sees others. This is so often where it's difficult is when people have really wounded us, hurt us, betrayed us, and we try to think about serving them, loving them. Whatever it would be that Jesus is calling us to do, we're often thinking and viewing it through the lens of our offense. We're viewing it through the lens of our emotion and how we feel, but what Jesus invites us to do that instantly, miraculously makes it easier, not easy, but it makes it possible as we start to view people through the lens that Jesus sees them through. Actually, so often what makes this easier is that we forget how Jesus sees us. As we close the message, I just want to bring up one final moment in Luke chapter 22. Jesus is arrested on trial with the religious leaders. They're interrogating them. They're beating him. And Peter, the disciple who thought, I would go to the, I would go to the death with Jesus. I would never deny Jesus. Now Peter is hiding nearby and watching. All of the courage he thought he would have has just melted away and he's watching and people start to approach him and they say, you're that guy who was with Jesus. He says, no, that wasn't me. Just like Jesus predicted three times this happens. Somebody comes and says, I know you were that guy who was with Jesus. No, that wasn't me. You're mistaken. I swear, that wasn't me. Then the third time somebody comes and says, I know that you were traveling with him. You can read about this in Luke chapter 22. What happens is he says, I never knew this man. And at that exact moment, it says Jesus made eye contact with Peter. I don't know if you've ever read that moment. It's a very interesting moment. The moment he denies Jesus for the third time, Jesus looks over and they make eye contact. And the weight of Peter's failure crashes down on him. It says he begins to weep. Jesus looked at Peter, not in condemnation, not in frustration. He looked at him remembering what he had predicted. And Jesus in love, knowing what Peter would do,

still chose to love him, to serve him. And then after he raises again from the dead, Jesus forgives him and restores him. The truth is though, Jesus didn't just do this with Peter. He does this with you and me. He looks us in the eye and knowing what we will do, knowing the depth of our sin, knowing the depth of our selfishness, he's still chosen to love and to serve us through his death, through his forgiveness, through his mercy, through his grace. So we extend love to others out of what he does to us. And that's point number three. We got to love others the way he's patiently loved us. This is what Jesus tells us. Love others the way I've patiently loved you. If we're going to approach learning to love and serve other people, we don't do it because we're trying to be a good person. We do it because we remember Jesus just like Peter. You loved and served me. You washed my feet even knowing what I would do. You have been so patient with me. I think sometimes we struggle with this concept because we like to think of ourselves as pretty good people. Yeah, Jesus has forgiven me, but I haven't been that bad. But when you realize the depth of what Jesus had to forgive us for, the weight of our sin that he went to the cross for, what Jesus had to endure was infinitely worse than anything that we will ever have to. And yet knowing what we would do, he still chose to love us. So when we start to look at other people and we're saying, Lord, give me the strength to love and serve them even when it's hard, we remember you did this for me so much more. Even though I sinned and treated you poorly, you loved me. So as we get ready to close, I just want you to think about the people in your life that God may be asking you to do that for. The instructions of Jesus is not go out and serve. The invitation was be my apprentice, my disciple, follow my example. We want to be more like him. If we try to be a better person in our own strength, we're going to fail. We got to receive from Him first. To say, "Lord, whatever anybody else does to me, I know that at the end of the day, the sin that I've committed against you is so much worse and that you've chosen to forgive me." And then when we're looking at other people, and you start to get those people in your head, that God may be asking you to serve or to love, self-giving. We say, "Lord, help me to see them the way that you see them. And help me to remember that you did this for other people and for me. Help me to love other people patiently in the same way that you've been patient with me." So we get ready to close.

Would you bow your head to close your eyes with me? And if you've never made the decision to give your life to Jesus, I want to invite you to do that. This is what life is all about. Not about living for yourself. Not about maximizing your own happiness until you die, and then there's nothing. You are not here on accident. You are a wonderfully complex being with a creator and a heavenly father made for a purpose. But the only way to know that purpose is through Jesus Christ. Jesus was God Himself came in human flesh because He saw our sin-infection problem that we were separated from God that we could not fix on our own. So Jesus, God Himself, lived a sinless life perfect. And then He was crucified, tortured, on a cross to absorb the cost of your sin and of mine so that you and I can be made right with God in this life. And when we take our breath, next breath, when we cross into the next life, it starts with faith. It's not about being a good person. Jesus makes us into a better person when we follow Him. The first step, it's surrender, it's faith in the person of Jesus Christ. So if you're in the room and you've never made that decision, or you want to come back to Jesus, I want to invite you just to pray a prayer along with me. Okay, and I'm not going to ask you to repeat after me. I just want to invite you to pray silently along with me. So everybody in the room, just pray that prayer of dedication. Just kind of pray along silently now. Lord, we are so grateful that you loved us so much, even knowing what we would do. You washed our feet. Self-sacrificially gave yourself on the cross so that we could be free even though we don't deserve it. So Lord, I say, I need to be forgiven. I know I don't deserve it, but I need your forgiveness. So Lord, help me to receive that.

I ask you cleanse me of my sin. Make me right with you. I want to follow you Lord. I give my life to you. I want to be your disciple. I want you to make me more like you so I can live into your purpose for my life. In Jesus' name, everybody said, amen, amen. Awesome. Let's stay into our feet together as we prepare to close. I've asked the team to sing a song just really quick that gets our eyes on Jesus. That's the whole purpose of the message. Not go out and do all these things. It's get your eyes on Jesus. Become more like him. So we're just going to worship Jesus for one minute here. If you have kids though, you're taken through Candy Kingdom. I'm going to dismiss you now so you can beat the rush. Thank you so much for being here, guys. So grateful you're here. Enjoy Candy Kingdom. Everybody else, hang tight. Let's tilt our face up towards God like this. Like we're giving them our attention. Let's worship. We have to close us in just a minute. All hail the King, Jesus. All hail the Lord of heaven and all hail the King, Jesus. All hail the Savior. All hail the King, Jesus. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth.

All hail the King, Jesus. All hail the Savior. All hail the Lord of heaven and all hail the King, Jesus. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. All hail the King, Jesus. All hail the Savior. All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. Thank you, Jesus. I pray that God's blessing would rest upon you this week and that you would remember every morning that the Holy Spirit would remind you of the powerful love of Jesus, that even knowing what you would do, chose to love you and serve you. Pray you would be reminded of his closeness, of his favor, as you surrendered him, as you walk and step with him. I pray God's blessing, his favor, his grace, would guide you this week, would rest upon you and your family. In Jesus' name, everybody said, "Amen, Amen." Awesome. Guys, thank you for being here. Have a great weekend, enjoy Candy Kingdom. [MUSIC PLAYING]