What week we begin a new series title Jesus’ Farewell Message by Francis Chan. The study will cover John chapters 13 through 17. There is a supportive video series on RightNowMedia.com that we will play, but it is not necessary to get any benefit from this study in this future.

We begin with a basic question of whether we know Jesus? It’s one thing to know facts about him, but to experience his love, wisdom, and guidance in our life is what it means to follow him. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus invited his disciples into a deep relationship with the triune God—and his invitation stands for us too. In this 6-part series, Francis Chan dives into John 13–17, a passage rich in promises, commands, and eternal truths. He’ll remind us we aren’t called to a part-time faith—we were made to know, walk with, and commune with God.

Our first session begins with “Christ Prepares His Disciples”. The main concept we start with is that the truths of God are both and invitation and a challenge. It is invitation into the fullness of life Jesus promises and a challenge to leave behind all our comfortable half-loves.

• To know that Jesus loves us beyond what we could hope or imagine.
• To love others in the way that Jesus loves us.
• To practice the truths Jesus teaches, specifically in lovingly serving others in the way that Jesus serves us.

What is the best invitation you have ever received? Did you accept the invitation? Why or why not?

Invitations are exciting. They let us know that someone wants to spend time with us and give us access to a party, event, or experience we may not have been able to otherwise attend. But there are times when scheduling conflicts or personal reasons keep us from accepting the invitations we are offered.

Jesus has an invitation for us, but we have to decide if we will accept that invitation to follow him or choose to stay behind in our comfort zones. In this series, author and speaker Francis Chan will show us what it means to follow Jesus and the radiant new life that comes from trusting God. All you have to decide is if you will follow where he leads.

To start our study of John 13–17, also known as the Upper Room Discourse, Francis will dig into John 13 and Jesus’s example of loving one another.  Let’s start by reading some parts of John 13.

John 13:1-17
John 13:34-35

Watch Session 1: Jesus Prepares His Disciples

Francis started this session with a challenge: God wants to take you deep into the riches of truth, growing your faith and giving you a greater taste of his presence in your life. But we often prefer to stay in places of spiritual comfort.

Why do you think it can be difficult for us to live in uncertainty or “by faith”?

What do you think it could look like for you to trust God as you go through this series despite the discomfort following Jesus might cause?

Before we dive into Jesus’s message to his disciples, we need to understand the context of this passage. First, let’s examine Jesus’s heart toward his disciples.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. – John 13:1 ESV

The first thing we notice about Jesus is his love for his disciples. Whom in your life do you love “to the very end”? Do you believe that God’s love is at least that strong for you? Why, or why not?

God loves you more deeply than we often dare to think. We know God loves us as a piece of trivia but, deep in our hearts, we can doubt that he really loves us, flaws and all. What do you think God sees when he looks at you? Do you imagine him as disappointed and angry or as loving you? Why?

God is holy and glorious; he is also abounding in love and mercy. To show the depth of his love, Jesus assumed the role of a servant and washed his disciples’ feet.

² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,^[a] but is completely clean. And you^[b] are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant^[c] is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. – John 13:2-17 ESV

Peter initially refused to be served by Jesus because he misunderstood what Jesus was trying to teach him. First, Jesus was showing his disciples that he came to serve humanity. Though his disciples might not have understood it at the time, Jesus was foreshadowing his ultimate service to them on the cross. Jesus loves us so deeply that he humbled himself as a servant so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with him.

In what ways does Jesus’s service reveal the depth of his love for you?

When Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he was also modeling how we should love one another. Love is more than a fluttering feeling; it should push us to serve one another. Do you think it is possible to love someone without serving them? Why, or why not?

It is easy to say we love people, but serving others is difficult.
Are you a servant?
Would the people closest to you talk about how you serve them?

We shouldn’t serve one another because we feel guilty or simply to check a to-do off our spiritual list. Just as love motivated Jesus, so also should it motivate us to serve others. As Francis said, “There’s no greater motivation for us to serve one another other than knowing God, the Creator, washed the feet of his disciples.”
When can it be difficult for you to serve others? In what ways does love overcome our excuses for not serving others?

Love is not an option for Christians; it should be our hallmark. When the world looks at the church, they should see our love in action above anything else.
What do you think non-Christians see when they look at the church? What would it practically look like for you to make love the hallmark of your life and community group(s)?

After Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, Judas left the upper room to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Francis challenged us to think of what “silver”—the alternative sources of peace, security, or comfort—we might choose over fully trusting Jesus. What kinds of things do we turn to when we feel like Jesus’s promises aren’t worth waiting for? What “silver” might we need to give up so that we can faithfully follow Jesus?

Jesus’s commands feel weighty, but all he asks is that we love others and look for ways to serve one another. What’s more, he promises that we will be blessed if we do what he says. What is the first step you could take in loving the people this week?

LAST WORD

God loves us deeply and showed us his love in Jesus, who served our ultimate need, dying in our place so that we might be redeemed. He asks that we love each other in the same way that he has loved us, serving each other with eagerness and humility.

It is time to step out of comfortable faith and to actively love one another. God is waiting with arms full of blessings, eager for you to live in his deepest truths and know him better. Will you trust him?