John 13 - ESV Study Bible

13:1–20:31 The Farewell Discourse and the Passion Narrative. The second half of John’s Gospel consists of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse (Chs. 13–17) and the passion narrative (Chs. 18–20). Now that Jesus has been rejected by the Jews, he turns his attention to his new messianic community. After the community is cleansed and instructed, Jesus prays, is arrested, and is subjected to Jewish and Roman trials, crucified, and buried. This is followed by the resurrection, resurrection appearances, and Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples. The section concludes with a purpose statement (20:30–31).

13:1–17:26 The Cleansing and Instruction of the New Messianic Community and Jesus’ Final Prayer. In the second major section of John’s Gospel, Jesus prepares his new messianic community, represented by the Twelve (minus Judas), for the time subsequent to his exaltation to the Father. The community is first cleansed both literally and symbolically through the footwashing (13:1–17), and then figuratively through the removal of the betrayer (13:18–30). The Farewell Discourse proper extends from 13:31 to 16:33 and contains Jesus’ final instructions to his followers before his arrest and crucifixion. The discourse (unique to John’s Gospel) concludes with Jesus’ final prayer (Ch. 17).

13:1 Jesus’ own are now the Twelve, the representatives of his new messianic community (cf. 1:11). Though Jesus was about to die an agonizing death, he continued to love his disciples. to depart out of this world. In several places John says that Jesus is leaving the world and going to the Father (see 13:3; also 7:33; 16:28; 17:11). Yet in other places Jesus can say that he will always be present with his disciples, even after his ascension into heaven (see 14:23; Matt. 18:20; 28:20; Rev. 3:20). Both are true: Jesus in his human nature is no longer here on earth but has returned to heaven and will come again one day, but in his divine nature Jesus is omnipresent and is with believers “always” (Matt. 28:20).

13:1–17 With his crucifixion imminent, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet as a final proof of his love for them, setting an example of humility and servanthood and signifying the washing away of sins through his death. In a striking demonstration of love for his enemies, Jesus washes all of his disciples’ feet, including those of Judas. Jesus’ act is all the more remarkable, as washing people’s feet was considered to be a task reserved for non-Jewish slaves. In a culture where people walked long distances on dusty roads in sandals, it was customary for the host to arrange for water to be available for the washing of feet. Normally, this was done upon arrival, not during the meal.

13:7 Another instance of misunderstanding (cf. notes on 6:52; 12:16).

13:8 To have no share with Jesus means that one does not belong to him. Here the footwashing symbolizes the washing necessary for the forgiveness of sins, in anticipation of Jesus’ death for his people, by which sins are washed away.

13:9–11 Jesus applies the footwashing in another way. Those who have been washed through Jesus’ once-for-all death also need daily cleansing of their sins (symbolized by their frequent need to wash their feet). It is apparent that Jesus applies the footwashing figuratively since he says not all are clean, referring to Judas, but clearly he cleaned Judas’s feet as well. Because Judas is not spiritually cleansed, unlike Peter, he does not have a “share” (v. 8) with Jesus.

13:12–17 The disciples will understand fully only after the cross, though they do grasp in part Jesus’ amazing humility, which serves as a model for all of his disciples.

13:14 Footwashing continues as a regular ceremony in a number of modern denominations, which literally obey Jesus’ command, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Others believe the language is figurative for the importance of serving one another, and that the act itself is not required.

13:16 messenger (Gk. apostolos). This is one of a few places in the NT where this Greek word does not refer to the office of “apostle of Jesus Christ” but simply to a “messenger” in general (it is also used this way in 2 Cor. 8:23 and Phil. 2:25).

13:18 I know whom I have chosen does not refer to choosing for salvation but to Jesus’ choosing of the Twelve, including Judas, to be disciples (this is the same sense given to “choose” in 6:70, where it clearly includes Judas). Jesus cites Ps. 41:9, dealing with Absalom’s rebellion against King David; the “faithless friend” there may be Ahithophel (2 Sam. 16:23). Judas’s lifting his heel against Jesus brings out the treacherous and faithless nature of Judas’s deed.

13:19 Jesus’ statement is one of several references to his foreknowledge in this section (cf. 14:29; 16:1,4,32,33; see also previous note). The statement I am he very likely has overtones of a claim to deity (see note on 8:24; also 8:28,58; 18:5,6,8).

13:20 The one I send refers first of all to the disciples whom Jesus would specifically send out at 20:22. But more broadly it applies to all messengers of Christ, in every age, who bring the gospel of Christ to others. receives. To truly “receive” such a messenger is to accept and believe the gospel and to trust in Christ. (The same word for “receive” [Gk. lambanō] is also used in 1:12; 3:32–33; 5:43; 12:48.) This and similar verses (e.g., 20:22; Luke 18:17; Rom. 3:25) give the basis for using the language of “receiving Christ as Savior” in reference to hearing the gospel message and believing it.

13:21 troubled in his spirit. See note on 12:27; cf. also Ps. 31:9–10; 38:10; 55:2–14.

13:22 uncertain of whom he spoke. Judas’s outward behavior conformed so nearly to that of the other disciples that they did not immediately assume that Jesus was talking about Judas.

13:23 This is the first reference to the disciple whom Jesus loved (see Introduction: Author and Title). On reclining, see note on 12:2. In such a situation it would be easy for John to lean back a bit and whisper privately to Jesus, as he does in 13:25. See also 21:20.

13:27 Satan entered into him. Though Satan had earlier put the desire to betray Christ into Judas’s heart (see v. 2), Satan himself now enters into Judas, suggesting a more dominant influence in the actions to follow.

13:30 And it was night strikes an ominous note (cf. Luke 22:53: “this is your hour, and the power of darkness”). See also Matt. 26:20; Mark 14:17; 1 Cor. 11:23.

13:31–32 The passage echoes Isa. 49:3. Again Jesus’ glorification is tied to his death.

13:34–35 Love must be the distinguishing mark of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus’ “new command” takes its point of departure from the Mosaic commands to love the Lord with all one’s powers and to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Lev. 19:18; cf. Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:28–33), but Jesus’ own love and teaching deepen and transform these commands. Jesus even taught love for one’s enemies (Matt. 5:43–48). The command to love one’s neighbor was not new; the newness was found in loving one another as Jesus had loved his disciples (cf. John 13:1; 15:13). In light of Jesus’ subsequent death, just as implies a love that is even willing to lay down one’s life for another (see 15:13).

13:38 the rooster will not crow. See also Matt. 26:34; Mark 14:30; Luke 22:34. In a number of manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel, though not all, Mark mentions the rooster crowing “twice” (Mark 14:30,68,72), but roosters could crow a number of times separated by a few minutes. Mark specifies the first two individual crowings (as evidently Jesus did), while Matthew, Luke, and John focus on the shameful fact of Peter’s denial. They therefore drop this detail and report Jesus as referring to the entire set of crowings as the time the rooster crows.