Bible Study series: John 13:1-20. Now begins the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus sets the right attitude. Be a servant.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together how to apply these truths to our lives.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
For the Greek text, click here:
At that link, I provide a lot more commentary.
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 13:1-20
1 Before the Feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to go from this world towards the Father. And having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 While supper was taking place, and after the devil tossed it into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, that he would hand him over, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father gave him all things into his hands and that he came from God and was going to the Father, 4 got up from the supper and took off his outer garment and took a towel and tied it around himself. 5 Then he put water in the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel which was tied around.
6 Then he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you washing my feet?” 7 In reply, Jesus said to him, “What I do you do not know, but you will understand, after these things.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied to him, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash except his feet, but he is entirely clean. You also are clean, but not everyone.” 11 For he knew the one who was handing him over. This is why he said that not everyone is clean.
12 So when he washed their feet, he put on his outer garment and reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you rightly say it, for I am. 14 If then I, the Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example so that just as I have done for you, you also do. 16 I tell you the firm truth: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
18 I am not speaking about all of you. I know whom I have selected. But this was done so that the Scripture be fulfilled, ‘The one eating my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ [Ps. 41:9] 19 From now on I say to you before it happens, so that you may believe, when it happens, that I am. 20 I tell you the firm truth: the one receiving anyone whom I send receives me, and the one receiving me receives the one who sent me.” (John 13:1-20)
Comments:
See this table about the entire Passion Week.
| Passion Week | |
| Friday | Arrival in Bethany (Jn 12:1) |
| Saturday | Mary’s anointing of Jesus (Jn 12:2-8; Mt 26:6-13 // Mk 14:3-9) |
| Sunday | Triumphal Entry (Mt 21:1-11 // Mk 11:1-10 // Lk 19:28-38); surveying temple (Mk 11:11), return to Bethany (Mt 21:17 // Mk 11:11) |
| Monday | Clearing temple (Mt 21:12-17 // Mk 11:15-19 // Lk 19:45-48); cursing fig tree (Mt 21:18-22; // Mk 11:12-14); miracles and challenge temple (Mt 21:14-16); return to Bethany (Mk 11:19) |
| Tuesday | Disciples’ question about fig tree (Mk 11:20-21); debates with leaders of temple (Mt 21:23-22:46 // Mk 11:27-12:40 // Lk 20:1-44); Olivet Discourse (Mt 24-25; Mk 13; Lk 21:1-36); return to Bethany, but Lk 21:37 says he lodged on Mount of Olives |
| Wednesday | Little recorded in Gospel—Jesus and disciples apparently remain in Bethany; Judas arranges for Jesus’ betrayal (Mt. 26:14-16 // Mk 14:10-11 // Lk 22:3-6); I say he could be teaching in the temple or praying privately. |
| Thursday | Preparation for Passover (Mt 26:17-19 // Mk 14:12-16 // Lk 22:7-13); after sundown, Passover meal and Last Supper (Mt 26:20-35 // Mk 14:17-25 // Lk 22:14, 21-23, 15-20); Farewell Discourse (Jn 13-17); Gethsemane (Mt 26:30-46 // Mk 13:32-42 // Lk 22:40-46) |
| Friday | After midnight, betrayal and arrest (Mt 26:47-56 // Mk 14:43-52 // Lk 22:47-53);
Jewish trials—Annas (Jn 18:13-14); Caiaphas and partial Sanhedrin (Mt 26:52-75 // Mk 14:53-72 // Lk 22:54-71); full Sanhedrin (Mt 27:1-2); Roman trials—Pilate (Mt 27:2-14 // Mk 15:2-5 // Lk 23:2-5); Herod Antipas (Lk 23:6-12); Pilate (Mt 27:15-26 // Mk 15:6-15 // Lk 23:17-27); Mocked by soldiers (Mt 27:27-31 // Mk 15:16-20); Road to Golgotha (Mt 27:32 // Mk 15:21 // Lk 23:26-32); Crucifixion 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. / 15:00h (Mt 27:27-56 // Mk 15:22-41 // Lk 23:33-49); Burial (Mt 27:57-61 // Mk 15:42-47 // Lk 23:5-56) |
| Grant R. Osborne, Matthew: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Zondervan, 2010), who got it from Michael J. Wilkens, Matthew: NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan, 2004). I modified it. | |
Jesus ended his public ministry in Jerusalem and elsewhere, and now he is teaching his disciples in a more intimate setting. The Synoptic Gospels say that he is in an upper room. He says in John 15:13 that no man has greater love than to lay down his life for his friends, and John proclaims that Jesus loves those who were his own to the end or uttermost. God loves the whole world (John 3:16), and the disciples were transitioning from the whole world to being consecrated to Jesus.
The presence of the Word will be taken from them and return to the Father. But the way back to the Father is through the cross. He is to set his seal upon the disciples who remain in the world.
“What a remarkable way to complete what we call life! Death has been robbed f its terror and made the passage to our eternal home. Waiting for us is the One whose love bridged the gulf created by our sin. We are prodigals returning home, and he is the Father who rushes out to meet us. This world has been a place of hostility and heartache. Death is the entrance into joy eternal and inexpressible” (Mounce, comment on v. 1).
“One of the most remarkable things about Jesus from a human point of view is that there is no disparity between his words and his life. What he taught he lived” (Mounce, comment on v. 1).
2:
The supper was going on. Luke 22:3 says that Satan entered Judas, and John uses the active verb to indicate this satanic influence. Satan put into Judas’s heart to betray Jesus. We saw in 12:6 that Judas used to help himself to the money, so maybe his human vice opened the door to satanic influence. Never underestimate how vice can open the door to Satan in your life as well.
Another way to translate the Greek is that “Satan resolved that Judas should betray him” or “Satan made up his [Judas’s] mind to betray him.” Judas had already entered a devilish bargain with Satan.
3-5:
Jesus’s knowledge of God giving him everything reminds me of this verse: “Jesus came up to them and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matt. 28:18).
The supper, as noted, was still progressing when Jesus surprisingly got up from the table and took off his outer garment and wrapped a towel around himself. The towel was big enough to wrap around him and have enough left to dry their feet. The beautiful statement that Jesus realized that the Father had given him everything in his hands just before he prepared to wash the disciples’ feet is stunning. He was fully aware of his origins, which necessarily implies that he was aware of his destiny, back to his Father. Jesus’s authority, received from the Father, corresponded to his humility.
I like what 1 Peter 5:5-6 says:
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.” [Prov. 3:34]
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (1 Pet. 5:5, NIV)
Peter’s memory may have been jarred to remember Jesus’s act of humility with the towel and taking off the outer garment.
Luke 22:24-27, which also is placed in the upper room at the Last Supper, echoes the action parable here in John’s Gospel and the upper room during the Last Supper:
24 But a dispute took place between them, which was about who of them thinks he is greater. 25 But he said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. 26 You are not like that, but the greater one among you becomes as the younger and the leader as the servant. 27 For who is greater? The one who reclines at table or the one who serves? Isn’t it the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27)
The last line is the more relevant: Jesus is among them as one who serves.
I also believe this passage is also relevant:
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name … (Phil 2:7-9, NIV)
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
I exegete those verses at the above link.
Jesus took on the form of a servant. The form of God was exchanged for the form of a servant (Bruce, comment on vv. 3-5). It would not surprise me one little bit if the “form of a servant” entered the memory of the early church from verses like Luke 24:27 and this action parable here in John’s Gospel and also a statement in Mark 10:45, which says that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve (see also Matt. 20:28). Dear ambitious disciples who are eager for public attention: the way up is down.
“Since no two human beings have ever known the joys of a perfect father-son relationship, none of us can grasp fully the infinite beauty of that intimate association. Jesus had come from God; yet in one sense he had never left him. Now he returns to God and at the same time never really leave us. Such a mystery of the divine presence, the continuing fulfillment of his name ‘Immanuel—which means “God with us”!’ (Mt. 1:23)” (Mounce comment on v. 3).
6-9:
Jesus tells the disciples that they would not understand the full importance of what he is doing until afterwards, that is, after his death and resurrection and ascension. They must not be attention seekers, but follow his example and wash each other’s feet, if not literally, then morally and spiritually.
To have a part is regularly used of inheritance (see Luke 15:12), and in Jewish thought it can refer to participation of an eschatological blessing (see Matt. 24:51; Rev. 20:6) (Carson, comments on vv. 8-9). I add: if a disciple wants eternal life in the kingdom, he must be washed from his sins.
Here we have four verses that are really wonderful, for Peter has spoken up and insists on directing Jesus on how to wash feet. In Matt. 16:22 Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, after Jesus had predicted his death (and resurrection) in Jerusalem. Not so, Lord! Jesus wheeled on him and rebuked him right back. Here in these four verses, Peter is not as strident, but instead shows humility. It’s as if he says, “It’s too much for me to bear that you would wash my feet!”
This humility reminds me of his humility early on their encounter, right after the miraculous catch of fish.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Depart from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For fear overcame him and everyone with him at the catch of fish which they caught. (Luke 5:8-9)
Peter is more mature in the upper room, so he is not fearful, but he considers himself unworthy to have Jesus kneel before him and wash his feet.
But Jesus corrects him gently. If he does not wash his feet, he would have no part or share of him. So something consequential is going on, which we will look at in the next verses.
Then Peter, enthusiastically, says that Jesus should wash not only his feet but also his hands and head. Once again, he directs Jesus on how he should do this foot washing.
10-11:
There is a manuscript dispute, but we don’t need to discuss it. Specialist scholars have settled on the Greek verse as I have translated it.
If a man has already had a bath, he does not need to clean his body again, but if he walks around, his feet will need to be washed again, though his body will not need to be washed. John 15:3 says that the word or message cleanses the disciple. In this context, what does it mean to have the body cleansed or bathed and the feet rebathed or rewashed?
(1).. One interpretation says it is sacramental: the once and for all cleansing is the initial baptism, including the inward grace as well as the outward sign. This initial baptism is unrepeatable. The washing of the feet is equal to penance (doing acts of righteousness to absolve sins and discipline the repentant sinner).
(2).. Another interpretation says that it is not sacramental. The bathing corresponds to the cleaning of guilt and sin by regeneration (Titus 3:5), while the other continual cleansing of the feet corresponds to removal of sins done each day (or so) by confessing and consecration. It is the sanctification process.
I like Bruce’s interpretation:
When once a man has received the cleansing benefits of Christ’s passion [suffering, particularly on the cross] he cannot receive them all over again. The salvation effected by his death is complete, and no supplementation is either necessary or possible. This salvation, these cleansing benefits, the disciples have received—prospectively?—by faith, with the exception of that one of their number whose treachery was to reveal his lack of faith. The foot-washing is thus seen as a parabolic action pointing to the sacrifice of the cross. Whereas in common belief crucifixion and Messiahship were utterly incompatible, Jesus’s words to Peter show his crucifixion, symbolized by the servile ministry of foot-washing, to not only his uniquely saving act but by the same token to be conclusive proof of his Messiahship. (comments on vv. 10-11)
Mounce says it is sanctification, or the act or process of making you holy. “Believers, through continued contact with the uncleanness of a world separated from God and prone to act out of their old nature, need to be continually cleansed from their daily contact with sin” (comment on v. 10).
12-15:
Jesus seemingly casually put his outer garment back on and reclined at table again and asked them a question, of which he did not expect an answer. He answers it himself. Basically, his foot-washing says that he knew he had come from the Father and was going back to the Father and the Father had given him everything. He took the form of a servant and humbled himself even by becoming a man. Now he humbled himself by washing their feet. This humility expressed itself most clearly by his death on the cross. Then, secondly, his action parable of foot-washing was exemplary or practical. He expected his disciples to follow this example. Recall Luke 22:24-27, quoted under vv. 3-5. The connection of the two themes—theological and natural—fits perfectly in John’s purposes in his Gospel.
The “teacher” and “Lord” titles were retained by the early Jewish Christian community. Bruce teaches me that mar in Aramaic means Lord, and it is found in 1 Cor. 16:22: maran tha (“Our Lord, come!”). So it was raised from a token of esteem to the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9-11; Acts 2:36).
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
I am reminded of this verse in Luke’s Gospel: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). “His washing their feet involved no diminution of his dignity, however much it embarrassed them to let him do it … his unselfconscious act of service was an involuntary enhancing of his dignity—a further manifestation of the divine glory which resided in the Word made flesh (cf. John 1:14)” (Bruce, comment on vv. 13-15).
An example: does this mean a repeated sacramental act? For me, this conclusion goes too far. His example simply means to follow the humility of serving others. 1 Tim. 5:10 says that a widow who is worthy to receive support from the church has washed the feet of others, but the context show hospitality and relieving the afflicted. A disciple should be willing to wash anyone’s feet who needs it. There is no need to turn it into a repeated ritual sacrament. Mounce points out that Jesus did not say that we should do what he did, but as he had done (comment on v. 14). So we should imitate the humility, not necessarily the foot-washing. But who am I to say that regular, ritualistic foot-washing is wrong in small groups or other forums? How can I read the hearts of the ones who do it?
16:
See v. 20 for more comments.
“If their Master and their Sender does lowly actions, then they, the slaves and the sent ones, should not consider menial tasks beneath their dignity” (Morris, comments on v. 16).
This verse reminds me of this one:
24 A disciple is not above the teacher, nor is the servant above his master. 25 It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. (Matt. 10:24-25)
A disciple is not above his teacher. But everyone who is completely trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)
I like how Jesus says it is possible for a servant to be thoroughly trained and then to like his teacher. If he learns to show humility, even by washing someone else’s feet when needed, he will be like Jesus and the example he gave them.
“servant”: The word servant here is doulos (pronounced doo-loss) and could be translated as slaves, but I chose servant because in Jewish culture a Hebrew man who sold himself into servitude to his fellow Jew was like an indentured servant whose term of service had a limit; he was freed in the seventh year. But then the indentured servant could stay with his family, if he liked his owner (Exod. 21:2-6; Lev. 25:38-46; Deut. 15:12-18). So there was a lot of liberty even in servitude, in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). See my post about Slavery in the Bible:
Slavery and Freedom in the Bible
It is a sure thing, however, that John’s Greek-speaking audience, knowledgeable about Greek culture, would have heard “slave” in the word doulos. So if you wish to interpret it like that, then that’s your decision. But culturally at that time slavery had nothing to do with colonial or modern slavery.
“I tell you the firm truth”: it literally read, “amen, amen, I tell you.” Truth” comes from the word amēn (pronounced ah-main and comes into English as amen). In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) Jesus says amen only once (“amen, I tell you”), but in John he very often says the word twice, so I translate the double word as “firm truth.” It expresses the authority of the one who utters it. The Hebrew root ’mn means faithfulness, reliability and certainty. It could be translated as “Truly, truly I tell you” or “I tell you with utmost certainty.” (Bruce has “indeed and truly I tell you”). Jesus’s faith in his own words is remarkable and points to his unique calling. It means we must pay attention to it, for it is authoritative. He is about to declare an important and solemn message or statement. The clause appears only on the lips of Jesus in the NT.
17:
This is a beatitude for those who obey. “You” is plural, so it includes the disciples. A beatitude comes from Latin beatitudo, “happiness, blessedness.” But John wrote in Greek, not Latin. The more common adjective, which appears here, is makarios (pronounced mah-kah-ree-oss) and is used 50 times. It has an extensive meaning: “happy” or “fortunate” or “privileged” (Mounce, pp. 67-71).
Jesus spoke the next words in Luke in a completely different context. A woman shouted out that the woman who nursed him was blessed. He replied: “On the contrary! Blessed are the ones who listen to the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28). This shows that Jesus can speak the same sayings over and over, in different contexts. But the meaning is the same. Obedience brings blessing.
Finally, v. 17 brings to mind these verses in the Sermon on the Mount:
24 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them shall be like a prudent man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down and the flood came and the winds blew and beat upon that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (Matt. 7:24-25)
Doing and putting the word into practice brings stability and security in the kingdom. Showing enough humility to wash the feet of a visitor to a disciple’s house or to the Christian community is to follow the example of Jesus.
18-19:
For v. 18, Mounce says that lifting the heel comes from the idea of a horse lifting the hoof, about to kick.
John 6:70 says that Jesus chose the twelve, yet one of them was a devil. Even a bad person has a role to play in fulfilling God’s plan, in this case betrayal and crucifixion.
Jesus says in v. 19 that when he predicts something and it happens, then they will know that he is or “I am.” This again refers to Exod. 3:14 and the “I am” statement there, which in Greek reads: “the LORD says, ‘I AM THE BEING ONE.’ Or “I AM HE WHO EXISTS.” Or he may be referring to the verses in Is. 40-55 where God says, “I am he!” All translations are from the NIV, and emphasis added.
Who has done this and carried it through,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—with the first of them
and with the last—I am he.” (Is. 41:4)
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord,
and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?” (Is. 43:10-13; see v. 25)
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Is. 46:4)
“Listen to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called:
I am he;
I am the first and I am the last.
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they all stand up together. (Is. 48:12-13)
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mere mortals,
human beings who are but grass,
13 that you forget the Lord your Maker,
who stretches out the heavens
and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction? (Is. 51:12-13)
This is high Christology.
It refers to his deity. This is high Christology in John’s Gospel.
What was he about to predict. In the immediate context, it is Judas’s portrayal (vv. 21-30). John has already prepared his readers for Judas’ treachery: 6:71; 12:4; 13:3.
A little theology: It is not as if God pushed Judas to fulfill the Scripture. Judas was inspired by Satan; and in following the path of treachery, he fulfilled Scripture. I like Bruce here: “This does not mean that Judas in particular was driven to his act of treachery by a decree of fate against which it would have been fruitless to struggle. Even if Jesus’ betrayal by one of his intimate companions was foreseen, it was by Judas’ personal choice that he, rather than anyone else, eventually filled that role” (comment on vv. 18-19). As a matter of fact, those Scripture did not have to be fulfilled through Judas or anyone else. If Judas had minded himself, Jesus could have been arrested by some other means, like a nighttime arrest in or near the Garden of Gethsemane. If people live righteously, judgment does not have to come. Please read Jer. 18:7-10.
7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (Jer. 18:7-10)
Those verses say that promises of blessing or threats of doom are conditional—if. If people walk or live in disobedience, doom. If they repent and walk righteously, then the predicted doom is withdrawn and the good promises are implemented. But in any case, Judas continued to walk in disobedience, so this particular set of Scriptures was fulfilled; we don’t need to speculate beyond that.
As for John quoting Ps. 41:9, as usual, the Gospel writers often approximated the exact words. But that verse does fit the context. An intimate at table fellowship, particularly at the time of Passover, made the betrayal especially grievous.
20:
This verse is repeated in the Synoptic Gospels.
The first passage promises reward for people who welcome kingdom missionaries:
40 Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive the reward of a prophet. And he who welcomes a righteous person because he is a righteous person shall receive the reward of a righteous person. 42 And whoever gives just a cold drink to one of these little ones because they are disciples—I tell you the truth: he shall in no way lose his reward. (Matt. 10:40-42; see Mark 9:37 and Luke 10:16)
The context here in 13:20 is also the commissioning of the disciples in John 20:21. The Father is the one who sent Jesus. Recall that in v. 16 that the one who is sent is not greater than the one who sends. Jesus is equal to the Father in essence, but in his role, he is subordinate to the Father. The Father is the sender; Jesus is the one who is sent. The disciple is the one who is sent, and Jesus is his sender. But the source comes from the Father.
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
GrowApp for John 13:1-20
1. Back in the Jesus Movement we sometimes washed each other’s feet in a Bible study. Have you ever participated in a foot-washing ceremony? What was that like?
2. You are blessed if you obey. Can you tell your story of a blessing for obedience?
RELATED
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel
4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel
3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 