John 13:3

Joh 13:3-6. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, &c. — That is, although he was conscious of his own greatness, as being invested with the government of all things, and as having existed in heaven before he appeared on earth, and as being sure of returning to heaven again to reign there; yet he humbled himself in the manner here related, descended to the mean office of a slave, and washed the feet of his own disciples; an action which might justly excite our wonder, if we had not proofs of his much greater humiliation, in making himself of no reputation for the great work of man’s redemption. He riseth from supper — This implies, that in some sense supper was begun. Probably the ante-past had been taken, which is mentioned by the Jews as preceding the eating of the paschal lamb, and they tell us, that it was then usual for the master of the family to wash his hands, a custom which, it is said, the Jews continue still. And laid aside his garments — Namely, his upper garments, which would have hindered him. After that, he poureth water into a basin — A large vessel, usually placed for this very purpose wherever the Jews supped. Then cometh he to Simon Peter — Namely, after he had washed the feet of those who sat nearest to him; and Peter saith, Lord, dost thou wash — Dost thou purpose, or go about to wash; my feet? — Thou who art the Son of God, the Messiah, and consequently the king of the Jews, shalt thou wash my feet, who am thy disciple, a poor fisherman, and, what is still more degrading, an unworthy sinner.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John

THE SERVANT-MASTER

Joh 13:3 - Joh 13:5.

It has been suggested that the dispute as to ‘which was the greatest,’ which broke the sanctities of the upper chamber, was connected with the unwillingness of each of the Apostles to perform the menial office of washing the feet of his companions. They had come in from Bethany, and needed the service. But apparently it was omitted, and although we can scarcely suppose that the transcendent act which is recorded in my text was performed at the beginning of the meal, yet I think we shall not be wrong if we see in it a reference to the neglected service.

The Evangelist who tells us of the dispute, and does not tell us of the foot-washing, preserves a sentence which finds its true meaning only in this incident, ‘I am among you as He that serveth.’ And although John is the only recorder of this pathetic incident, there are allusions in other parts of Scripture which seem to hint at it. As, for instance, when Paul speaks of ‘taking upon Him the form of a servant’; and still more strikingly when Peter employs the remarkable word, which he does employ in his exhortation, ‘Be ye clothed with humility.’ For the word rendered there ‘clothed’ occurs only in that one place in Scripture, and means literally the putting on of a slave’s costume. One can scarcely help, then, seeing in these three passages to which I have referred echoes of this incident which John alone preserves to us. And so we get at once a hint of the harmony and of the incompleteness of the Gospel records.

I. Consider the motives of this act.

Now that is ground upon which the Evangelists very seldom enter. They tell us what Christ did, but very rarely do they give us any glimpses into why He did it. But this section of the Gospel is remarkable for its full and careful analysis of what Christ’s impelling motives were in the final acts of His life. How did John find out why Christ did this deed? Perhaps he who had ‘leaned upon His bosom at supper,’ and was evidently very closely associated with Him, may, in some unrecorded hour of intimate communion during the forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension, have heard from the Master the exposition of His motives. But more probably, I think, the long years of growing likeness to his Lord, and of meditation upon the depth of meaning in the smallest events that his faithful memory recalled, taught him to understand Christ’s purpose and motives. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,’ and the liker we get to our Master and the more we are filled with His Spirit, the more easy will it be for us to divine the purpose and the motives of His actions, whether as they are recorded in the Scripture or as they come to us in the experience of daily life.

But, passing that point, I desire for a moment to fix your attention on the twofold key to our Lord’s action which is given in this context. There is, first of all, in the first verse of the chapter, a general exposition of what was uppermost in His mind and heart during the whole of the period in the upper room. The act in our text, and the wonderful words which follow in the subsequent chapters, crowned by that great intercessory prayer, seem to me to be all explained for us by this first unveiling of His motives. ‘When Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.’

And then the words of my text, which apply more specifically to the single incident with which they are brought into connection, tell us in addition why this one manifestation of Christ’s love was given. ‘Knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God.’ There, then, are two explanations of motive, the one covering a wider area than the other, but both converging on the incident before us.

The first of these is just this-the consciousness of impending separation moved Christ to a more than ordinarily tender manifestation of His love. For the rendering which you will find in the margin of the Revised Version, ‘He loved them to the uttermost,’ seems to me to be truer to the Evangelist’s meaning than the other, ‘He loved them unto the end.’ For it was more to John’s purpose to tell us that the shadow of the Cross only brought to the surface in more blessed and wonderful representation the deep love of His heart, than simply to tell us that that shadow did not stop its flow. It is much to know that all through His sorrow He continued to love; it is far more to know that the sorrow sharpened its poignancy, and deepened its depth, and made more tender its tenderness.

How near to the man Christ that thought brings us! Do we not all know the impulse to make parting moments tender moments? The masks of use and wont drop off; the reticence which we, perhaps wisely, ordinarily cultivate in regard to our deepest feelings melts away. We yearn to condense all our unspoken love into some one word, act, look, or embrace, which it may afterwards be life to two hearts to remember. And Jesus Christ felt this. Because He was going away He could not but pour out Himself yet more completely than in the ordinary tenor of His life. The earthquake lays bare hidden veins of gold, and the heart opens itself out when separation impends. We shall never understand the works of Jesus Christ if we do as we are all apt to do, think of them as having only a didactic and doctrinal purpose. We must remember that there is in Him the true play of a human heart, and that it was to relieve His own love, as well as to teach these men their duty, that he rose from the supper, and prepared Himself to wash the disciples’ feet.

Then, on the other hand, the other motive which is brought by the Evangelists more immediately into connection with this incident is, ‘knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God.’

The consciousness of the highest dignity impels to the lowliest submission. ‘All things given into His hands,’ means universal and absolute dominion. ‘That He was come from God,’ means pre-existence, voluntary incarnation, an eternal divine nature, and unbroken communion with the Father. ‘That He went to God,’ means a voluntary departure from this low world, and a return to ‘His own calm home, His habitation from eternity.’

And, gathered all together, the phrases imply His absolute consciousness of His divine nature. It was that that sent Him with the towel round His loins to wash the foul feet of the pedestrians who had come by the dusty and hot way from Bethany, and through all the abominations of an Eastern city, into the upper chamber.

This was He who from the beginning ‘was with God, and was God.’ This was He who was the Lord of Death, Victor over the grave. This was He who by His own power ascended up on high, and reigns on the throne of the universe to-day. This was He whose breast the same Evangelist had seen before he wrote his Gospel, ‘girded with the golden girdle’ of priesthood and of sovereignty; and holding, in the hands that had laid the towel on the disciples’ feet, the seven stars.

Oh, brethren! if we believed our creeds, how our hearts would melt with wonder and awe that He who was so high stooped so low! ‘Knowing that He came from God, and went to God,’ and that even when He was kneeling there before these men, ‘the Father had given all things into His hands,’ what did He do? Triumph? Show His majesty? Flash His power? Demand service? ‘Girded Himself with a towel and washed His disciples’ feet’!

The consciousness of loftiness does not alone avail to explain the transcendent lowliness. You need the former motive to be joined with it, because it is only love which bends loftiness to service, and turns the consciousness of superiority into yearning to divest oneself of the superiorities that separate, and to emphasise the emotions which unite.

II. The detailed completeness of the act.

The remarkable particularity of the account of the stages of the humiliation suggests the eye-witness. John carried them all in his mind ineffaceably, and long, long years after that memorable hour we hear him recalling each detail of the scene. We can see the little group startled by the disturbance of the order of the meal as He rose from the table, and the hushed wonder and the open-lipped expectation with which they watched to see what the next step would be. He rises from the table and divests Himself of the upper garments which impeded movement. ‘What will He do next?’ He takes the basin, standing there to be ready for washing the apostles’ feet, but unused, and not even filled with water. He fills it Himself, asking none to help Him. He girds the towel round Him; and then, perhaps, begins with the betrayer; at any rate, not with Peter.

Cannot you see them, as they look? Do not you feel the solemnity of the detailed particular account of each step?

And may we not also say that all is a parable, or illustration, on a lower level, of the very same principles which were at work in the mightier fact of the greater condescension of His ‘becoming flesh and dwelling among us’? He ‘rose from the table,’ as He rose from His place in ‘the bosom of the Father.’ He disturbed the meal as He broke the festivities of the heavens. He divested Himself of His garments, as ‘He thought not equality with God a thing to be worn eagerly’; and ‘He girded Himself with the towel,’ as He put on the weakness of flesh. Himself He filled the basin, by His own work providing the means of cleansing; and Himself applied the cleansing to the feet of those who were with Him. It is all a working out of the same double motive which drew Him downwards to our earth. The reason why He stooped, with His hands to wash the disciples’ feet, is the same as the reason why He had hands to wash with-viz., that knowing Himself to be high over all, and loving all, He chose to become one with us, that we might become like unto Him. So the details of the act are a parable of His incarnation and death.

III. And then, still further, note the purpose of the deed.

Now although I have said that we never rightly understand our Lord’s actions if we are always looking for dogmatic or doctrinal purposes, and thinking of them rather as being lectures, and sometimes rebukes in act, than as being the outgush of His emotions and His human-divine nature, yet we have also to take into account their moral and spiritual lessons. His acts are words and His words are acts. And although the main and primary purpose of this incident, in so far as it had any other purpose than to relieve Christ’s own love by manifesting itself, and to comfort the disciples’ hearts by the tender manifestation, was to teach them their duty, as we shall presently see, yet the special aspect of cleansing, which comes out so emphatically and prominently in the episode of Peter’s refusal, is to be carried all along through the interpretation of the incident. This was the reason why Jesus Christ came from heaven and assumed flesh, and this was the reason why Jesus Christ, assuming flesh, bowed Himself to this menial office-to make men clean.

I venture to say that we never understand Jesus Christ and His work until we recognise this as its prominent purpose, to cleanse us from sin. An inadequate conception of what we need, shallow, superficial views of the gravity and universality and obstinacy of the fact of sin, are an impenetrable veil between us and all real understanding of Jesus Christ. There is no adequate motive for such an astounding fact as the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God, except the purpose of redeeming the world. If you do not believe that you-you individually, and all of us your brethren-need to be cleansed, you will find it hard to believe in the divinity and atonement of Jesus Christ. If you have been down into the depths of your own heart, and found out what tremendous, diabolic power your own evil nature and sin have upon you, then you will not be content with anything less than the incarnate God who stoops from heaven to bear the burden of your sin, and to take it all away. If you want to understand why He laid aside His garments and took the servile form of our manhood, the appeal of man’s sin to His love and the answer of His Divine condescension are the only explanation.

Again, let me remind you that there is no cleansing without Christ. Can you do it for yourselves, do you think? There is an old proverb, ‘One hand washes the other.’ That is true about stains on the flesh. It is not true about stains on our spirits. Nobody can do it for us but Jesus Christ alone. He kneels before us, having the right and the power to wash us because He has died for us. Kings of England used to touch for ‘the king’s evil,’ and lay their pure fingers upon feculent masses of corruption. Our King’s touch is sovereign for the corruption and incipient putrefaction of our sin; and there is no power in heaven or earth that will make a man clean except the power of Jesus Christ. It is either Jesus Christ or filthiness.

If I might pass from my text for one moment, I would remind you of the episode which immediately follows, and suggest that if Jesus Christ is not cleansing us He is nothing to us. ‘If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in Me.’ I know, of course, that it is possible to have partial, rudimentary, and sometimes reverent conceptions of that Lord without recognising in Him the great ‘Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.’ But I am sure of this, that there is no real, living possession of Jesus Christ such as men’s souls need, and such as will outlast the disintegrating influences of death, unless it be such a possession of Him as appropriates for its own, primarily, His cleansing power. First of all He must cleanse, and then all other aspects of His glory, and gifts of His grace, will pour into our hearts.

No understanding of Christ, then, without the recognition that cleansing is the purpose and the vindication of His incarnation and sacrifice; no cleansing without Christ; no Christ worth calling by the name without cleansing.

IV. And so, lastly, note the pattern in this act.

You will remember that it is followed by solemn words spoken after He had taken His garments and resumed His place at the table, in which there blended, in the most wonderful fashion, the consciousness of authority, both as Teacher of truth and as Guide of life, and the sweetest and most loving lowliness. In them Jesus prescribed the wonderful act of His condescending love and cleansing power as the law of the Christian life. There are too many of us who profess to be quite willing to trust to Jesus Christ as the Cleanser of our souls who are not nearly so willing to accept His Example as the pattern for our lives; and I would have you note, as an extremely remarkable point, that all the New Testament references to our Lord as being our Example are given in immediate connection with His passion. The very part of His life which we generally regard as being most absolutely unique and inimitable is the fact in His life which Apostles and Evangelists select as the one to set before us for our example.

Do you ask if any man can copy the sufferings of Jesus Christ? In regard to their virtue and efficacy, No. In regard to their motive-in one aspect, No; in another aspect, Yes. In regard to the spirit that impelled Him we may copy Him. The smallest trickle of water down a city gutter will carve out of the mud at its side little banks and cliffs, and exhibit all the phenomena of erosion on the largest scale, as the Mississippi does over half a continent, and the tiniest little wave in a basin will fall into the same curves as the billows of mid-ocean. You and I, in our little lives, may even aspire to ‘do as I have done to you.’

The true use of superiority is service. Noblesse oblige! Bank, wealth, capacity, talents, all things are given to us that we may use them to the last particle for our fellows. Only when the world and society have awakened to that great truth which the towel-girded, kneeling Christ has taught us, will society be organised on the principles that God meant.

But, further, the highest form of service is to cleanse. Cleansing is always dirty work for the cleaners, as every housemaid knows. You cannot make people clean by scolding them, by lecturing them, by patronising them. You have to go down into the filth if you mean to lift them out of it; and leave your smelling-bottles behind; and think nothing repulsive if your stooping to it may save a brother.

The only way by which we can imitate that example is by, first of all, participating in it for ourselves. We must, first of all, have the Cross as our trust, before it can become our pattern and our law. We must first say, ‘Lord! not my feet only, but also my hands and my head,’ and then, in the measure in which we ourselves have received the cleansing benediction, we shall be impelled and able to lay our gentle hands on foulness and leprosy; and to say to all the impure, ‘Jesus Christ, who hath cleansed me, makes thee clean.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 13:3. Εἰδώς, inasmuch as He knew) The consciousness of His own glory, and the servile office of washing feet, wonderfully meet together. The preface intimating His glory is equivalent to a protestation beforehand, lest the Lord should be regarded as having done something unworthy of Him, in washing the feet of His disciples.—πάντα, all things) The nearer that Jesus Christ came to His passion, Joh 13:2, the more He Himself thinks of, and the more clearly the Scripture speaks of, His glory. So also at Joh 13:30-31, “He, Judas, having received the sop, went immediately out; therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” The Father, as it were, said this to the Son, All things, which have revolted from Me, I give to Thee: conquer what Thou wilt; claim to Thyself [assert Thy claim to] what Thou wilt: ch. Joh 17:2-3, “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 13:3 . (4) εἰδὼς … χεῖρας , this consciousness on the part of Jesus is mentioned to bring out the condescension of the action to be related. (5) So too is the accompanying consciousness, ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ … ὑπάγει . It was not in forgetfulness of His true dignity but because conscious that He was supreme and God’s ambassador that He did what He did. [“All things,” says Melanchthon, “condere testamentum promissum in Scripturis”: “omnia, adeoque peccatum et mortem”.]

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Into his power.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, &c.--This verse is very sublime, and as a preface to what follows, were we not familiar with it, would fill us with inexpressible surprise. An unclouded perception of His relation to the Father, the commission He held from Him, and His approaching return to Him, possessed His soul.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Knowing that the Father had given, c.] Our Lord, seeing himself almost at the end of his race, and being about to leave his apostles, thought it necessary to leave them a lesson of humility exemplified by himself, to deliver them from the bad influence of those false ideas which they formed concerning the nature of his kingdom. On all occasions previously to this, the disciples had shown too much attachment to worldly honours and dignities: if this ambition had not been removed, the consequences of it would have been dreadful in the establishment of the religion of Christ as after his death, it would have divided and infallibly dispersed them. It was necessary therefore to restrain this dangerous passion, and to confirm by a remarkable example what he had so often told them,-that true greatness consisted in the depth of humility, and that those who were the willing servants of all should be the highest in the account of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Jesus, knoweth that the Father had given all things into his hands. I am of opinion that this was added for the purpose of informing us whence Christ obtained such a well-regulated composure of mind. It was because, having already obtained a victory over death, he raised his mind to the glorious triumph which was speedily to follow. It usually happens, that men seized with fear are greatly agitated. The Evangelist means, that no agitation of this sort was to be found in Christ, because, though he was to be immediately betrayed by Judas, still he knew that the Father had given all things into his hand. It may be asked, How then was he reduced to such a degree of sadness that he sweat blood? I reply, both were necessary. It was necessary that he should have a dread of death, and it was necessary that, notwithstanding of this, he should fearlessly discharge every thing that belonged to the office of the Mediator.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands . . .—This explains the act of humility which follows. With the full consciousness of His supreme power and divine origin, and’ of the divine glory to which He was about to return; yes, because He was conscious of all this, He left the disciples an example of the self-denial which is the necessary outcome of love. “Subsisting in the form of God, He thought it not a thing to be grasped at to be equal with God, but emptied Himself by taking upon Him the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Php_2:6). (Comp. for the thought of the gift of all things, Notes on 1Co_15:25; Eph_1:22.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. Jesus knowing] The Greek is the same as of ‘when Jesus knew’ in Joh_13:1, and may have either of the two meanings given there. Here also ‘because He knew’ is better.

given all things] Comp. Eph_1:22; Php_2:9-11.

and went to God] Better, and is going to God.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus knowing that the Father,.... These words express the sense Christ had of his own greatness and dignity as Mediator:

had given all things into his hands; all the persons of the elect, all blessings both of grace and glory for them, and power and authority over all other persons and things, to make them subservient to his purposes:

and that he was come from God; had his mission and commission, as man, from God; did not come of himself, but he sent him:

and went to God; or was going to him in a very little time, to sit at his right hand, to have a name above every name, and to have angels, authorities, and powers subject to him; which, as it shows his high esteem with his Father, and his exalted character as Mediator, so it greatly illustrates his wonderful humility, that in the view, and under a sense and consideration of all this, he should condescend to wash the feet of his disciples; of which an account is given in the following verses.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

Ver. 3. Jesus knowing, &c.] This is prefaced to the washing of his disciples’ feet, to show that he did it not rashly, or out of baseness of spirit, as forgetting the dignity of his person and place, as Ahaz did, 2Ki 16:7, and those, Isa 57:9, and David also in the court of Achish. There is a το πρεπον, a comeliness to be kept in every condition.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus knowing ... - With the full understanding of his dignity and elevation of character, he yet condescended to wash their feet. The evangelist introduces his washing their feet by saying that he was fully conscious of his elevation above them, as being intrusted with all things, and this made his humiliation the more striking and remarkable. Had he been a mere human teacher or a prophet, it would have been remarkable; but when we remember the dignity of his nature, it shows how low he would stoop to teach and save his people.

Had given all things ... - See the notes at Mat 28:18.

Was come from God - See the notes at Joh 8:42.

Went to God - Was about to return to heaven. See Joh 6:61-62.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Our translating the Greek participle ειδως, knowing, (which properly signifies having known), createth a difficulty, viz. How Christ’s knowledge of this, that the Father had given all things into his hand, should be assigned as a reason of, or motive to, his subsequent action of washing the feet of his disciples? The sense therefore must certainly be, though he knew; and so it doth not import a reason of his following action, but only signifieth Christ’s great humiliation and condescension. Though he well enough knew, that all power was given him in heaven and earth, as in Mat 28:18; that he was his disciples’ Lord, that he came from God, and was now going to God again; yet to show how much he loved his disciples, and to set them a pattern of humility, and teach them brotherly love, and that he came not in the estate wherein he yet was to be ministered unto, but to minister, Mat 20:28.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Went to God—That departure which the crime of Judas is preparing, and for which Jesus is now to prepare his disciples.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Knowing a significant hint of the complex wonder of the Lord"s Person. John felt at this moment that the consciousness of Jesus was receding into the eternal self-consciousness of the Logos when he thus ventures to speakthat the Father in the great act of his generationgave all things into his hands, and that he came forth (apo) from God, and was going back (or, away) to God, in the glory of his incarnation and the mystery of his death and resurrection. The whole of the incarnate ministry of Jesus was a separation, to some extent, from God, just as the close of it, in the death and resurrection, was a return to the glory which he had with the Father before all worlds. We must admit the extraordinary quality of the evangelist"s assertion. He here throws back into the majestic manner of the Christ the hints which the subsequent discourse of our Lord must have given him of the Divine greatness which flashed at times from his sacred Person, and conferred a boundless significance on the subsequent act of humiliation. Christ gave the highest proof of his Divine self-consciousness in this display of his condescending love, this voluntary abasement to the lowest place in the household of faith. The use of eidwv twice ever (vers. 1 and 3) is contrasted with the gnwsh of ver. 7. The vast confessions here made are declared to be matters of absolute intuitive knowledge, not the results of long experience. Christ did not "come to know;" he "knew" all these facts about himself. It must not be supposed that this was a theological idea which came into the writer"s mind afterwards. St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Philippians, (Php_2:6-8) had adequately grasped the same thought long before St. John penned this Gospel. (cf. 2Co_8:9)

Christ"s consciousness of his mission.

The occasion upon which our Savior is said by his friend and apostle John to have had a vivid consciousness of hi mission is deserving of attention.

It was just before his Passion, in the upper room where he was about, by act and language, to inculcate great lessons upon his disciples, and whence he was to take his way to Gethsemane and Calvary. In such circumstances the confidence of a human leader might well have wavered, and his purposes might well have faltered. But Jesus could look forward to what he was about to endure with a touching equanimity, because he knew whence he had come, whither he was going, what was the nature and authority of his mission.

I CHRIST"S CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS ORIGIN. He was aware:

1. Of his Divine nature.

2. Of his Divine mission.

3. Of his Divine qualifications.

II CHRIST"S CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS DEPARTURE AND DESTINATION. He knew that he was not going into annihilation, into oblivion; that he was not to fail in his work, though he was to die in its execution.

1. His departure was to secure the accomplishment of God"s will.

2. And the achievement of man"s redemption, which was the special purpose of the Father.

3. And the manifestation of the Father"s acceptance. He went to God to be received as God"s beloved Son; and he was raised from the dead, and taken to heaven, that it might be evident to all the world that the Father approved his work.

III CHRIST"S CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS UNIVERSAL AUTHORITY.

1. In the hour of his suffering and humiliation he knew full well that his hands were all-comprehending and all-powerful, that all power was given to him in heaven and on earth, that his was a supreme and universal sway.

2. He knew, too, that his power should be exercised for the salvation of his people. They should scatter and flee, but he should rally them. He was to be their High Priest, and at the same time their King.

APPLICATION. Learn:

1. The security of those who trust in One so wise and so mighty.

2. The strength of those who work for such a Master.

3. The hope which is before those who seek and wait for his salvation.

4. The encouragement which all who need his countenance and help are at liberty to take from him. T.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 3-5. A last act of love.

It must not be supposed that the act of Jesus here was a purely symbolic act, an act useless in itself. Probably Jesus and his disciples had been walking about most of the day, and the washing of the feet would be very grateful to tired and sandaled wayfarers. Jesus was rendering a real service, however slight a one. Before they went out of the room, Jesus had to have much very earnest talk with them, and it was just as well for them to be comfortable while they were listening.

I AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE. John puts this first in the narrative. Those whose feet Jesus washed were not comparative strangers. Jesus loved them simply as human beings, knowing sin, suffering, and sorrow. But beyond all this was the added love coming from many days of close companionship. And now the very last day had come. To-morrow the Shepherd will be smitten, and the sheep scattered. Soon, very soon, according to the flesh, he would cease to know these disciples. They were to stop in the world and do his work. Years of toil, anxiety, and suffering were yet before them. But Jesus was going to the Father. A few more hours, and he would stiffer his last pain, know his last trial. We can easily imagine how, in years long after, and in lands far distant, when some of these apostles had finished a weary day of walking for Christ"s sake, and had got their travel-stained feet washed, their thoughts would go back to that last night, recollecting how the Master went from one to another in the little company, washing their feet, and looking in their faces with his own unutterable look of affection and interest.

II AN EXPRESSION OF STEADFASTNESS IN LOVE. Jesus was just on the point of stepping from humiliation to glory, just about to cast aside the veil of his flesh, and appear in all his heavenly splendor; but it made not the least difference in his gentle, unaffected way of treating his disciples. We reckon it one of the greatest things to be said in praise of any one who has risen in the world, that he remains just the same sort of man, not made proud by being lifted up. The washing was a kind of intimation that Jesus looked on himself as being a Minister as much as ever. They were servants to him, but he was Minister to them; they did his work, and he supplied the needs that made them fit for the work. He who in the flesh was ever at the beck and call of needy men and women, is at their beck and call still. His power to help is greater, but his willingness cannot be greater.

III A PRACTICAL ASSERTION FROM JESUS THAT MEN CANNOT DO WITHOUT HIM. Not only does he minister, but he must minister. Peter thought Jesus was not doing a fitting act. But it is perilous work criticizing what Jesus does. How should we find out, all at once, on the first glance, the full aim of any act of his? Jesus knows what he can do for us, what he ought to do for us, and what we, in all humility and obedience, ought to accept from him. If Jesus comes not to minister, what need is there for him to come at all? Jesus must cleanse every human being as far as he needs to be cleansed.

IV THE GREAT EXEMPLARY AIM IN THIS ACT. It is plain that Jesus recollected what disputings the disciples had among themselves as to which should be greatest; and just at this moment, when it is beginning to be settled conclusively that Jesus is far above them, he tries to show by his own example that the spirit of ministry is a part of real greatness. Distinction does not make happiness. God means all of us to be as happy as we can be. Jesus came to minister to us, in order that we might minister to others, and if we are not ministering lovingly, diligently, joyfully, then that is a proof that the ministry of Jesus himself has not yet been truly accepted by us. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus knowing - Though conscious of his own greatness, thus humbled himself.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

3. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. It was with a full consciousness of his divinity, of his divine power and majesty, of the glory that he had and would enjoy with God, that he stooped to the menial office that he was about to fill.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Verse 3 continues to tell us background information about what Jesus knew. The action in the story begins in verse 4. (See: Background Information)

Father

This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

had given everything over into his hands

Here "his hands" is a metonym for power and authority. AT: "had given him complete power and authority over everything" (See: Metonymy)

he had come from God and was going back to God

Jesus had always been with the Father, and would return there after his work on earth was finished.

He got up from dinner and took off his outer clothing ... began to wash the feet of the disciples

Because the region was very dusty, it was customary for the host of a dinner to provide a servant to wash the feet of the guests.

translationWords

God

disciple

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. εἰδώς. ‘Because He knew,’ as in Joh 13:1. For πάντα ἔδωκεν see on Joh 3:35 and comp. Eph 1:22; Php 2:9-11. Note the order; and that it was from God He came forth, and unto God He is going. “He came forth from God without leaving Him; and He goeth to God without deserting us” (S. Bernard).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3.] See above. He did what follows with a full sense of the glory and dignity of His own Person. “Præfatio gloriæ est instar protestationis, ne quid indignum fecisse existimetur Dominus pedes suorum lavans.” Bengel.

The perfect, δέδωκεν, and present, ὑπάγει, are used indefinitely: of things fixed in the counsel of God: or perhaps, rather, as consistent with the historical presents, ἐγείρεται, τίθησιν, to give life and presence to the whole scene.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. After εἰδώς, AΘ add ὁ Ἰησοῦς for the sake of clearness; om. אBDLW. For ἔδωκεν (אBLW) the rec. has δέδωκεν with ADΓΔΘ.

εἰδώς, as in v. 1; but here it signifies that Jesus set Himself to the humble office of washing His disciples’ feet, with full consciousness of the majesty of His Person, and even because of it. He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that therefore He could evade the Passion which was impending, if He wished. Cf. 3:35 ὁ πατὴρ ἀγαπᾷ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πάντα δέδωκεν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. We cannot distinguish ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ in that passage from αὐτῷ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας in this. So at Dan 1:2 the LXX has παρέδωκεν … εἰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, where Theodotion has ἔδωκεν ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. ἐν and εἰς are not always to be distinguished.

Jn. says of Jesus that He knew ὅτι ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθεν. So Nicodemus was ready to admit, ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐλήλυθας διδάσκαλος (3:2); and on the night before the Passion the apostles made the same confession, ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθες (16:30). Jn. never makes Jesus speak thus of Himself. He does not say ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐξῆλθον, but always uses either παρὰ or ἐκ in such contexts. Yet, again, the distinction of prepositions cannot be pressed (see on 1:14, 44, 16:28).

καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὑπάγει, “and is going to God,” the historic present which vividly reproduces the situation. For ὑπάγειν, see on 7:33, 16:7, 10.

There seems to be a reminiscence of this teaching (see also 16:28) in Ignatius, Magn. 7, Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν ἀφʼ ἑνὸς πατρὸς προελθόντα καὶ εἰς ἕνα ὅντα καὶ χωρήσαντα. See on 1:18.

Introductory Note on the Last Supper

Before we examine Jn.’s narrative of the Last Supper, we set down what we conceive to have been the actual order of events. Although the Synoptists treat the Last Supper as the Paschal Feast, which Jn. pointedly does not do, there can be no doubt that Joh_13 is intended to describe the same supper as that of Mar_14, Mat_26, Luk_22. We cannot harmonise the various narratives precisely, but they have much in common. We place the incidents in order as follows:

3. Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, by His example rebuking their self-seeking, and bidding them remember that their Master was content to act as their slave (Joh 13:4-10; cf. Joh 13:15, Joh 13:16 and Luk 22:26, Luk 22:27).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Had given [δεδωκεν] . The best texts read edwken, gave, the aorist marking Jesus ' commission as given once for all.

Was come [εξηλθε] . This rendering would require the perfect tense. The aorist points to His coming as a historic fact, not as related to its result. See on 12 47. Rev., rightly, came forth.

Went [υπαγει] . Present tense : goeth; withdrawing from the scenes of earth. Note the original order : that it was from God He came forth, and unto God He is going.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.