A Lesson in Service

If you live a self-centered existence, you lose the very thing you're trying to keep. Dr. Tony Evans reminds us that a life focused inward won't bring the fulfillment we expect. Trying to find yourself is like grabbing the wind.

As soon as you grab it, you lose it. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. True greatness can often be found in the most unexpected places, like a servant's heart.

Today, Dr. Evans shows us that greatness is defined not by power or prestige, but by the humility and love we extend to others. Let's join him in John chapter 12 as he unpacks this powerful lesson. So now Lazarus is raised from the dead, as we saw in chapter 11. Jesus comes to where Lazarus is, and Lazarus is having dinner. In verse 2 of chapter 12 with Martha, Mary does what Mary does best. She is always at Jesus' feet in verse 3. She takes a pound of very costly perfume, pure nard, and anoints Jesus' feet. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. This was an act of worship, and it was also an act of recognition of what was about to happen to Jesus, the anointing in light of his upcoming crucifixion. We now reference Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him.

Why was this perfume not sold, 300 denarii, and given to poor people? So he says, 200 denarii, I mean, that's like almost a year's worth of everyday wages. He says, Mary, you anoint Jesus' feet with all expenses.

We can help out the poor. Now, he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, verse 6 says, but because he was a thief. And as he had the money box, he had the piggy bank, he used to pilfer what was put into it. So he's a thief. He says, you don't have to spend all that money on Jesus. You could have given that money to the poor, which means you could have taken that money, put it in his banks so I could have more to steal. The bottom line, because he's a thief. So that's what it says.

That's why he said it. Jesus then rebukes him and says, let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. So this was done with Jesus' burial in mind, for you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. Jesus says, well, that's a never-ending ministry because you always have situations, you always have abandonment, you always have tragedies, so you're always going to have the poor.

But me right now, I'm here now. And so you will always have that opportunity to do that, but she could only do this for me now in light of what's happening with my burial. And we know that when somebody is buried, that's an emergency situation that requires attention then. Well, there's a large crowd of Jews that had learned that Jesus was there and came, not only for Jesus' sake, but verse 9 tells us they wanted to see Lazarus because the word was out. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, so they wanted to see with their own eyes.

They wanted to see this one that he had raised from the dead. And so many of the Jews were believing in Jesus as their Messiah. To believe in Jesus meant to believe in Him as your Messiah, as the Christ, as the Son of God sent to take away their sins. And so they accepted Jesus as how some of us would say it today. Well, the next day, there's this large crowd who come to the feast, the Passover, because they all come to the Passover to celebrate this event, this annual event, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. And now you're introduced in verse 13 to the triumphant entry, which we affectionately call Palm Sunday. So verse 13. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him and began to shout, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.

Hosanna means save us, a cry and a shout for deliverance. They put out palm branches and they identify Him as their King. He finds a young donkey, and there's a whole story behind that, again filling the prophecy of Zachariah 9-9, because it was written, verse 15, Fear not, daughters of Zion, behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey. The disciples are still not getting all this. They don't understand this at first, verse 16, until after Jesus rises from the dead, when He was glorified. Then they remembered that these things were written of Him. So why didn't they remember it? Because they forgot the Scripture. So the people went out to meet Him because they heard that He had performed this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, okay, here are our problem, boys.

You see that you are not doing any good. Look, the world has gone after Him. Everybody's talking about this Jesus. Now, even some Greeks, verse 20, were among those who were going to worship at the feast. These are non-Jewish people who had crossed over to the Jewish religion.

Call them proselytes. They crossed over to the Jewish religion, and there was a prophecy that even the Greeks would come after Jesus, and that's in John chapter 7. It talks about even the Greeks, verse 35, would be coming after Jesus as well.

So now you have that fulfilled in this story. So even the Greeks are coming after Him, and they're going up to worship at the feast. So they're coming to the Jewish Passover, but they're looking for Jesus. And they come to Philip of Bethesda, Galilee, and begin to ask Him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Okay, so keep looking for Jesus.

He's the one you're searching for, so they say that. So Philip came and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip, because they're always introducing folk to Jesus, Andrew and Philip, as we saw in the first chapter. Now, Jesus is riding in on a donkey.

You've got Hosanna. Save us. One of the questions was, how could people who were saying Hosanna this week say crucify Him next week? Because you only got a week in here, and all these folk changed their minds. How could they go from that to that?

Well, there's a couple answers to that. One, it was the influence of the Jewish leaders, but here's the bigger issue. The bigger issue is that the mass of the people were looking for a political deliverance from Rome. See, Rome was over the Jews, and the Jews were oppressed by the Romans. They functioned at the Romans' pleasure, and they hated that.

Okay, they hated that. And they knew that Messiah was going to be delivering them from the rule of the Gentiles. But before Messiah could do that, He had to be accepted as Messiah.

So when the people got disillusioned because they were looking for a political deliverer, Hosanna, and not, first of all, a spiritual leader, except those who accepted Him, but that was not the influencers of the Jewish people, the result was that the people could be easily led to say crucify Him a week later after putting out palm branches on the week prior to His resurrection. Okay, so Philip came and told Jesus, you know, we've got these Greeks looking for you, and Jesus now tells them it's time. Now, we've been reading all through the first part, half of this book, my hour has not come. My hour has not come. It's not time. It's not time. It's not time.

Because Jesus operated on a divine clock. Jesus now says it's time. Verse 23, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be magnified.

Truly, truly, sure enough, sure enough, I say to you. So He's trying to give them spiritual understanding, and He's going to apply it to them and to us. He says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. So Jesus is here prophesying, I'm going to die, but there's going to be a lot of benefit to my death. I'm going to bear a lot of fruit from the death. And that's, of course, He's talking about the salvation that would come to people because of His substitutionary atonement on the cross.

He takes now this further. He who loves his life loses it. And he who hates his life, that is, he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

So here's the principle. If you live a self-centered existence, you lose the very thing you're trying to keep. If it's only about you, the you you're looking for you will not find.

He who loves his life loses it. So you got all these people going around here trying to find themselves. Not knowing, it's like grabbing the wind. Trying to find yourself is like grabbing the wind, you know? Just grab it. As soon as you grab it, you lose it, you know? He says you'll lose it. You cannot find yourself by looking for you. Because if you don't even know who you are, how do you even know what you're looking for?

Okay? He says, no. He who loves his life, really wants to live life, it loses his life. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life if anyone serves me. So he's talking about service. He must follow me.

And what was he getting ready to do? He's laying down his life for the benefit of others. And where I am, there my servant will be also. So if you're following me, you're going to be like me. You're going to do what I do. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Okay? That goes back to reward. Some in this life, ultimately in next life. Your good works for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and then as an overflow to others, does not go unrecognized by God.

You get credit for that. He says, I will honor him. Because a lot of people don't want to serve anybody. They only want to be served. Dr. Evans will have more on A Lesson in Service when he continues our study from the Gospel of John in just a moment.

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TonyEvansTraining.org. The lesson we're in the middle of today is just one installment in Tony's 14-part sermon series on the Gospel of John. In this study, Dr. Evans explores the words, thoughts, and actions of Jesus, as recorded in John's first-hand account of the Savior's life.

You'll find comfort and hope as you more fully understand Christ's divine mission and be encouraged to live a life of purpose in light of His love and sacrifice for humanity. This complete study is available for your own personal audio library on CD or digital download, and it includes material we won't have time to present on the broadcast. This is a valuable collection of messages, and for a limited time, we're making them all available bundled along with Tony's classic book, Dry Bones Dancing, a look at how to inject new life and vitality into a faith that's grown old and dusty. Get them both as a gift with our thanks when you make a donation toward the alternative broadcast ministry. You can do that online today at TonyEvans.org.

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I'll repeat our contact information for you after the second part of today's lesson. Here's Dr. Evans once again. Now, my soul has become troubled. He's getting ready to die for the sins of the world and be laid on him. Father, glorify your name, verse 28, because he's living for the glory of God. Then a voice—this is the third time this has happened— then a voice came out of heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered. Others were saying, well, an angel spoke to him. This voice, Jesus says in verse 30, this voice has not come for my sake, but for yours.

In other words, God spoke to validate me. Now judgment is upon the world. Now the ruler of the world will be cast out, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. Jesus says that this act on the cross is an act of judgment, a judgment against the world system that leaves God out and a judgment against the devil. The cross guarantees Satan's defeat, because Satan finds his victory with sin. Sin was dealt with on the cross, which means the thing that gives him his victory he was robbed of. Everyone who hears the message of the cross will be drawn or brought closer to it by the Savior. So that's why we want to tell people about the cross, so that they can be drawn to the Savior, so that having been drawn, they might respond to Him and believe on Him for eternal life. So that's the goal of lifting up Jesus and lifting up the cross, to draw men to Him. So, verse 34, the crowd that answered Him, we have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever, and how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? So Jesus, so you've got the crowd saying, well, who is He? Obviously, this is a crowd that has not accepted Him. That's the crowd He's dealing with now, as opposed to the crowd He was dealing with before, who believed in Him. Jesus says, for a little while longer the light is among you, referring to Himself as the light.

That's why in your English Bible, the letter L is capitalized. Walk while you have light. Now, I have not just talked to you. I have shown you light. You have seen what I have done and what I can do.

You have seen it. So that the darkness will not overtake you. The point is simple. If you reject the light, you enter into darkness.

Okay? He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. So to walk away from Christ, God in Christ, is to walk in darkness. That's why we've got a dark world. That's why we've got dark leaders. That's why we've got dark situations.

That's why we've got dark families. Because when you walk away from the light, you don't know what you're doing. So Jesus cried out, verse 44 says, He who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. I have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings as one who judges him. The word I spoke in which will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.

I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me. Now, what's his point? His point is when you reject me, you reject the Father. Because this is a Trinitarian relationship. So Jesus now makes this critical statement that is at the hub of Christianity, and that is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the representative of the Father to speak of their Trinitarian relationship. So you can't be saying, I accept God's word but not Jesus' word. You certainly can't say, I don't accept Jesus' word about God. Because unless he is the one who gives eternal life, that's not the Jesus of the Bible. You reject the Jesus of the Bible, you have a deficient or errant view of God.

You may believe in God's existence, but your view of God is incomplete or erroneous for both. John 13. Jesus has emphasized servanthood. He now comes to the Last Supper before the feast of the Passover, knowing that his hour, verse 1, has come.

So during supper, for the Last Supper, the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper and laid aside his garments, and taking the towel, he girded himself. Now, that's what slaves and servants did. He poured water in a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet. Now, that's what—because, you know, they were sandals, and when you walk through the dusty roads of Rome, you got dust on your feet. And so when you came into the house, there would be a servant who would wipe your feet. But Peter said, Never shall you wash my feet.

This is backwards. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me. If I don't keep you clean, you won't be in fellowship with me. Well, Simon says, Well, shucks, give me a whole bath. Verse 9, Simon Peter said, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Come on, let's go to the shower.

But this shows Peter's heart. I want all of you. I want all of you. I don't want to be disconnected with you on any level, so give me a full bath if that's what it's going to take. So Jesus says to him, He who is bathed, that is, who's already saved, needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you.

So in other words, if you've already taken a bath, you just got out of the shower, but you're wearing sandals, you don't need to come into the house and take another shower. You just need to get your feet clean. So if you're already saved, you don't need to get saved again. You just need to clean off the dirty areas in your saved life. You just need to clean off the dirty areas in your saved life so that you stay clean.

Okay? So that's confession of sin and repentance of sin. But he says, but you are clean. You're clean already in terms of your overall cleanliness, but not all of you. For he knew the one who was betraying him, and for this reason, he said, not all of you are clean.

Okay? He's referring to Judas. So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. I am your teacher and I am your master. If I then, the Lord and the teacher, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

He said, I did this for you so you can do it for others. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. Verse 18, I do not speak of all of you. I know the one I have chosen, but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

He who eats my bread and has lifted up his heel against me. So he's now getting ready to prophesy, specifically related to Judas. But from now on, I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. In other words, I'm going to tell you what's getting ready to happen so that you know that I knew what was going to happen before it happened. So in other words, I'm just reinforcing the fact that I am who I say that I am.

From now on, I'm telling you this before it comes to pass. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who is sent from me. So he reinforces this point about if you receive him, you receive the one who sent him, namely his father. So he who receives whoever I send, so when you and I go in the name of Jesus, because he sent us, to receive us is to receive him, and to receive him is to receive the Father, because the Father sent him and he sent us.

So we get into the Trinitarian network when we are responding to Jesus who responded to the Father. Dr. Tony Evans, on the essential role that serving others plays in living out our faith in Christ. Well, as I mentioned earlier, all 14 full-length messages in this sermon collection on the Gospel of John can be yours with our thanks when you make a donation to the alternative broadcast ministry. You'll receive the complete two-volume series on CD or downloadable MP3s, as well as a copy of Tony's encouraging book, Dry Bones Dancing. Take advantage of this limited-time offer by calling for details 1-800-800-3222.

Resource team members are on hand 24-7 to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Or make the arrangements and get your digital downloads right away at TonyEvans.org.

Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Love is more than just a feeling. It's a choice that changes the way we live and serve. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans explores how Jesus' love for us calls us to love others in the same way. Be sure to join us for that.