Welcome to the Daily Disciple podcast, where we seek daily to be with and to become like Jesus, our teacher. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Together on Mission podcast. And Happy Tuesday morning. I've got John 13 opened up right before me, so go to John chapter 13, because I decided this week just to meditate on John 13, all 38 verses in John 13.
This is one of the most seminal, powerful, shocking chapters stories in the life of Jesus and Nazareth. We're going to take a look at it this week. And the title of the podcast this morning is Identity. And the question is, do we know who we are?
Do you know who you are? And I know that's a bit of a deep question for an early Tuesday morning, but do we know who we are really? And we probably know who other people think we are. We probably know how the world would define us or what the world would say about us.
We might even define ourselves the way that the world would define us. You know, maybe what we do vocationally or, you know, what we've done or what we have not done. But do we know who we are truly? Do you know who you are truly?
And when we consider the power of John 13 and the power of the life of Jesus, we often focus on what Jesus did. We often focus on the what. And what he did is absolutely amazing, as we're going to discover. But we only do what we do in life, good or bad, because of who we perceive ourselves to be.
In other words, the who precedes the what always. And so it's a crucial question, do we know who we are at a deep, solid, immovable level? Who I am? Who you are?
Or use the language we're going to read just in a moment. Do we know how God feels about us? Do we know where we've come from? Do we know where we're going?
Do we know who we are? That's the question. In fact, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a great German theologian, said that when we're talking about God and we're thinking about God, we must ask the who question before we ask the what question. Always, he said like this, the who question must take primacy over the what question.
And that's the case not only with God, because we're looking at Jesus in John 13, the disciples, us, whoever. And that's exactly what John 13 is all about. Who is Jesus? And therefore, what did Jesus do?
And the who is always the determining factor in what you do and whether we're going to sustain what we do. And of course, sustaining what we do is the key to life, getting relationships and being the kind of person that changes the world in large and small ways. So that's the question. Who are you?
Who am I? And we're only looking at three verses in John 13. Verse three is going to be the who. And then verse four and five is going to be the what.
And so John 13, verse three. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. Jesus knew that. And he knew that he had come from God and was returning to God.
So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist. After that he poured water into a basin. He had to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Jesus knew.
Jesus knew who he was. He did not get his identity from other people. Which is honestly a very, very good thing because Jesus was called a blasphemer. He was called a bastard.
He was called a Samaritan. He was called a person that was demon possessed. He was called a glutton and a drunkard. I could go on.
He didn't get his identity from other people. And he certainly didn't build his identity around the woundings that he had received. And we'll come back to that. He knew that God had put all things under siege.
He knew he'd come from God. He knew he was returning from God. He knew he was God's unique son. He knew it.
He had that identity. I know who I am. I know where I come from. I know where I'm going.
So Jesus did what it is that he did in this story. See, we wouldn't have John 13 without John 13, verse 3. Jesus knew who he was. And this kind of serving, this what if you will, will change our marriages, our gaining relationship, our friendships, will change our lives.
It will change everything around us. But we must start with the who because the who produces the what. So we need to stop building our life around what other people think about us, who other people think that we are. We must stop building our life around the wounding that we've encountered.
See and let's just take a little bit time here. We've all been wounded and it hurt and it matters. We've all been wounded. You know, I wasn't affirmed when I was young.
And so, gosh darn it, I'm going to be affirmed. I didn't have a voice, you know, when my family forces, gosh darn, I don't have a voice. I started out broken and didn't have much of a name. So I'm gonna make a name for myself.
I didn't feel like I was great when I was young. So, man, I'm being great. I wasn't seen, I wasn't sure, I wasn't cared for. So gosh darn, I'm seen, I'm cared for.
I was neglected. And so, you know, I'm not going to be neglected anymore. And on and on it goes. And of course, these messages are subtle.
And most of the time we're unaware that we've actually wrapped our lives and our strategy for life, our what if you will, around these kinds of messages. And we might even think, and we'll talk about this, but we might even think, you know, when I do these menial tasks or these lowly tasks or whatever, it just taps into my pain. When I miss out on, I just can't do that. I can't sustain it.
But when people serve me, you know, then I feel healed and whole. And, you know, we've all been hurt. And as a result, we've received, you know, messages because of the wounding. And it often defines us.
And we wrap our lives around these messages, these wounds. But honestly, that's a strategy that our wounding win, everybody else loses. And of course, that's exactly what the disciples are doing. But not Jesus, because he knows who he is.
He knows that God is crawling under his feet. He knows he's the Son of God. He knows where he's come from, he knows where he's going. And even though people have called him, you know, bastard, Samaritan, demon, possessed, you know, glutton, drunkard, even though Jesus has been called every name in the book, he's not wrapped his life around these messages and therefore trying to get served to bring a bit of healing into his life.
No, no, he knows who he is. And so he can go low, he can lift up other people, he can empty himself, because that who leads to a what and that what is serving other people. So today, let's just allow God to share with us who we are and how he feels. Let's let him speak into our wounding and give us a different message, a message that is worthy of wrapping our lives around it.
A message that's true. A name that is true and it be healing. And it will lead to us getting up and grabbing the towel in the basin and washing the feet of those around us. So this morning, let's not ask the question, what does it look like to serve other people?
What does it look like? No, let's ask the question, who am I? Who am I? Truly, how does God feel about me?
Because the who will lead to the what? And the right who will lead to the right what? And we'll talk tomorrow. Thanks for listening to the Daily Disciple Podcast.
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