John 13 - The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible

13:1 before the feast. Thursday night. knew that his hour was come. Our Lord faced the cross with complete knowledge of His coming glory and with a heart full of love toward His own dear people.

13:2 the devil having . . . put into the heart of Judas. The flesh-and-blood enemies of Christ were but instruments of Satan’s hatred and schemes to destroy Christ (v. 27; cf. Acts 5:3).

13:4 towel. Christ assumed the garments and position of a common servant. girded. Tied around the waist.

13:8 no part with me. Clearly our Lord refers to this washing as a symbol of the spiritual washing that all sinners need (3:5).

13:10 save. Except. every whit. Completely. A person who has had the new birth does not need it twice, but he does need cleansing from daily sins (1 John 1:9). not all. Ominously, Jesus now revealed that one of the twelve disciples was graceless and unconverted.

13:12–17 Christ’s self-humbling action ought to be an example to all believers (Phil. 2:3–8).

13:18 I know whom I have chosen. Christ knows who are, and who are not, His own elect people given to Him by the Father (10:14). Though not yet named, Judas was about to fulfill the ominous prophecy here quoted by Christ (Ps. 41:9).

13:19 I am he. Literally, “I am,” probably an allusion to Christ’s deity (8:58), which was displayed in His foreknowledge of men’s sinful choices (Isa. 41:4; 43:10–13).

13:23 leaning. Reclining at a supper table was common practice in Jesus’ day. whom Jesus loved. The disciple John, the author of this gospel.

13:26 sop. A piece of unleavened bread dipped into a dish of sauce made of different fruits.

13:27 Satan entered into him. Judas’s refusal to repent even after Christ warned of the coming betrayal (v. 21) opened him to Satan’s complete control. do quickly. Christ sovereignly dismissed the demonized betrayer, setting in motion the events of His arrest and death on the Passover, according to God’s eternal purpose.

13:28 no man . . . knew. The other disciples did not suspect Judas.

13:30 night. A suggestion of the power of spiritual darkness at work (Luke 22:53).

13:31–32 the Son of man glorified. God’s appointed Mediator-King was about to take His eternal kingdom over all (Dan. 7:13–14), yet through humiliation (Now). God conquered the world and revealed His glory by the death and exaltation of Jesus (7:39; 12:23–24,27–28; 17:1,4–5). Thus Christ’s sufferings both concealed and revealed His glory. straightway. Immediately.

13:34–35 The highest duty of Christians is to love one another. This is the best mark of grace (know that ye are my disciples) and the surest way to impact the world (17:21,23). Though an old commandment (Lev. 19:18), the obligation to love each other was revealed with new brilliance by the example of Christ (as I have loved you) in His sacrifice (Eph. 5:2; 1 John 3:16–18; 4:9–11).

13:36 whither. Where. Peter does not understand where the Lord is going. But by and by Peter will follow the Lord to the heavenly Father’s house above (14:2; 2 Peter 1:14).

13:37–38 I will lay down my life. Peter has not yet learned how weak he is.

Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship: Chapter 13

1. As Christ looked beyond the cross to the crown, which He was soon to wear, so believers should look beyond their earthly trials to the glory to be theirs at last. How can this hope empower you to humbly serve others as Christ did?
2. God is in control of every situation. Judas had his covetous eye on the money promised to him, but God’s purpose was to save a multitude of sinners through Christ’s shed blood. How profound are Peter’s words in his sermon on the day of Pentecost: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). If God can even use a traitor to provide salvation, how are you motivated to trust Him with your trials now?
3. A Christian may have much to learn about his own weakness. Mercifully, God is ready to forgive all who have true faith. Peter was a true child of God, yet he fell through overconfidence; Judas was no true child of God but a hypocrite, and he went to his own place. Let every man search his own heart and ask, “Lord, is it I?”