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John 13 — Commentary 4

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Benson Commentary John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, 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. John 13:1 . Now before the feast of the passover — That is, before they began the passover-supper; when Jesus knew — Greek, ????? ?????? , Jesus having known; that his hour was come — The hour which he had long expected; sometimes called his enemies’ hour, the hour of their triumph; sometimes his hour, the hour of his suffering, and of his triumph also; that he should depart out of this world — In which he had sojourned for a while; unto the Father — With whom he had glory, and who had loved him, before the world was, John 17:5 ; John 17:24 . Having loved his own — Not ?? ???? , his own things, as John 1:11 ; but ???? ?????? , his own persons; that is, as the expression here means, his apostles; which were in the world — Which were to remain for some time in the world, in a state of trial and suffering, after he was taken from them; he loved them unto the end — Of his life; and therefore would omit nothing which might be for their advantage. The sense is, that although he knew his own sufferings were at hand, the prospect of them did not make him forget his disciples. They rather quickened his friendship; for he indulged the tenderest feelings of love on this occasion, and after the manner of a departing friend, expressed his kindness in the most affectionate manner. John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son , to betray him; John 13:2 . And supper being ended — Or, as ??????? ????????? should rather be translated, supper, or supper-time, being come, or, while they were at supper, as Dr. Campbell renders it. Thus, John 21:4 , ?????? ????????? , when morning was come. Acts 12:18 ; Acts 16:35 , ?????? ????????? , when day was come; and Acts 21:40 , ????? ????????? , when silence was made: in all which places, and in many more, which might easily be collected from the Greek writers, it would be absurd to translate the word, ended. “When ????????? ,” says Dr. Campbell, “is joined with ?????? , ????? , ?????? , or with any term denoting a precise portion of time, it invariably signifies that the period denoted by the noun is begun, not ended.” Of this he produces several incontrovertible examples. “That this was the passover-supper, may be proved by four arguments: 1st, In John’s history of this supper we are told, when Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet he sat down again at table, and explained the meaning of the action, John 13:12 ; and then declared that one of them should betray him, John 13:18-21 . This occasioned the beloved disciple first, and after him the other disciples, to inquire which of them should do the horrid deed, John 13:23 . But, by the consent of all the evangelists, that declaration and inquiry were first made while they were eating the last passover. 2d, At this supper, mentioned by John, Jesus declared that Peter should deny him, John 13:38 ; and the words of his declaration are not, The cock shall not crow the next, the third, or the fourth day, but, The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice: therefore the declaration must have been made on the night of the denial; and consequently the supper, at which it was made, must have been the paschal-supper, for all the evangelists agree that Peter denied his Master the night in which that supper was celebrated. 3d, The connection in which John’s supper stands with the subsequent facts mentioned by him shows plainly that it was the paschal-supper. For the discourse, (John 14,) being intended to give the disciples consolation, was delivered by Christ immediately after he had foretold Peter’s denial, and the cowardice of the rest. Having ended that discourse, Jesus went out of the house, ( John 14:31 ,) and delivered the allegorical sermon, (John 15.,) which, from the subject of it, seems to have been preached in a place where there were many vines growing, probably on the mount of Olives, whither, as the other evangelists inform us, he retired after the paschal-supper. Immediately after the allegorical sermon, he spake that which is contained in the 16th and 17th chapters, and then went with his disciples over the brook Cedron, into the garden of Gethsemane, where he was apprehended. From this series of facts it appears, that the supper was the paschal-supper, because, between it and Jesus’s crucifixion, there is not the least chasm in John’s history, where the passover can be brought in. 4th, We are told, (chap. John 13:27-30 ,) that after Jesus had ordered Judas to do quickly what he was about to do, he went out; upon which Jesus mentioned the near prospect he had of being glorified, to intimate that he knew Judas was gone out to betray him. From this time forth there is nothing said of Judas by John till he appeared with the armed band. Nevertheless, by the accounts of the other evangelists, Judas was present at the institution of the sacrament of the supper, after the passover. Wherefore the passover being celebrated before Judas went out, the supper mentioned by John must have been that solemnity.” — Macknight. The devil having now put it into the heart of Judas to betray him — By this version the English reader would be led to apprehend, that it was at this paschal-supper that the devil first tempted Judas to betray Christ: but the original expression may be properly rendered, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas, &c., for the participle ?????????? is of the perfect tense, and denotes an action done at some time past, and the particle ??? , rendered now, often signifies already, or before: so that what Christ says here concerning Judas, may refer to what had passed between him and the chief priests, after the reproof given him in the supper at Bethany. And therefore when John says afterward, ( John 13:27 ,) that after the sop was given him, Satan entered into Judas, the meaning must be, that he was then again incited by the devil to execute the treachery which he had before resolved upon, by a like instigation of the same evil spirit. John 13:3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; John 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. John 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. John 13:5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. John 13:6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? John 13:7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. John 13:7-11 . Jesus said, What I do thou knowest not now — Thou dost not now know what I intend by this action, but thou shalt know hereafter, a declaration which we may apply on many occasions, for many of his works (whether of creation, providence, or grace) are now great mysteries to us, and known to us, either not at all, or very imperfectly. It is sufficient that we can love and obey now, and that we shall know hereafter what now appears mysterious to us, and what we cannot comprehend. Peter saith, Thou shalt never wash my feet — Words rashly and sinfully spoken. Jesus answered — And by his answer caused him to change his mind, and retract what he had uttered; for when the mistake of his understanding was rectified, the corrupt resolution of his will was soon altered. Jesus answered, If I wash thee not — If thou dost not submit to my will; thou hast no part with me — Thou art not my disciple. In a more general sense the clause may mean, If I do not wash thee from the guilt of thy past sins in my blood, and purify thee from the power and pollution of sin, and all the depravity of thy mind and heart by my Spirit, thou canst have no communion with me, nor any share in the blessings of my kingdom. Peter saith, Lord, not my feet only, &c. — Being now convinced that he had spoken rashly, and that the washing intended was an act of Christ’s authority and grace, he readily consents to it, having before refused it, because it seemed only to be an act of Christ’s humiliation. As if he had said, Lord, if this washing be necessary, in order to my having a part with thee, and be an emblem, or token thereof, I most gladly acquiesce in it, and am not only heartily willing, but desirous, that thou shouldest wash my whole person, not my feet only, or the defilement I may contract while I am endeavouring to walk in the way of duty, but all my executive and intellectual powers; yea, that I may be sanctified throughout, body, soul, and spirit, and that my whole man may be dedicated to, and employed in, thy service. Jesus — Willing to lay hold on an expression which gave him an opportunity of pursuing a useful thought; saith to him further, He that is washed — Greek, ?????????? , he that hath been bathed, whose whole body hath been washed in water; needeth not — After that, to wash any part thereof, except his feet — Which, in coming out of the bath, may have been defiled. As the ??????????? , says Clarius, or room in which they dressed themselves after bathing, was different from that in which they bathed, their feet might be so soiled in walking from one to the other, as to make it necessary immediately to wash them again. Or, as Dr. Campbell thinks, there may be “an allusion in the words to the custom of the times; according to which, those who had been invited to a feast, bathed themselves before they went; but, as they walked commonly in sandals, and wore no stockings, it was usual to get their feet washed by the servants of the family, before they laid themselves on the couches. Their feet, which would be soiled by walking, required cleaning, though the rest of their body did not.” The spiritual meaning of our Lord’s words evidently is, that persons truly converted, that is, justified and regenerated, do not, after this, unless they fall from grace, stand in need of experiencing an entire change of their state and nature; but only to cleanse themselves by renewed acts of repentance and faith, from the smaller pollutions which they may inadvertently contract, through infirmity and carelessness, and which, in some degree, are inseparable from the weakness of human nature. For that our Lord spake of a spiritual washing, is evident from his adding, and ye are clean, but not all — Ye are accepted as sincere and upright, as penitent and believing, and therefore as pardoned and renewed sinners, but you are not all such. For he knew who should betray him — He was perfectly acquainted with the secret dispositions of their hearts, and with the hypocrisy and wickedness of the traitor, that his heart was polluted with reigning sin, yea, and was so far enslaved to the power of Satan, as to have consented to the perpetration of one of the vilest acts of wickedness ever committed. John 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. John 13:9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. John 13:10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. John 13:11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. John 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? John 13:12-15 . So after he had washed their feet, &c. — After he had given them such a striking proof of his humility, condescension, and love, by performing to them the office of the meanest slave; he said, Know ye what I have done to you? — Know ye the meaning of what I have done? for the action was emblematical. Ye call me Master, and Lord — ? ?????????? ??? ? ?????? , the master, or teacher, and the Lord. “The article prefixed to each appellation, and the nominative case employed, where in common language it would have been the accusative, give great energy to the expression, and show that the words are applied to Jesus in a sense entirely peculiar.” — Campbell. And ye say well — I am really what you call me, being the Son of God, and Saviour of the world, If I, then, your Lord, &c., have washed your feet — Have condescended to so mean an office, and in all other instances have shown my readiness in love to serve you; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet — And why did they not? Why do we not read of any one apostle ever washing the feet of any other? Because they understood their Lord better. They knew he never designed that this should be literally taken. He designed to teach them the great lesson of humble love, as well as to confer inward purity upon them. And hereby he teaches us, 1st, In every possible way to assist each other in attaining that purity. 2d, To wash each other’s feet, by performing all sorts of good offices to each other, even those of the lowest kind, when opportunity serves, and the necessity of any calls for them. For I have given you an example that ye should do — On all proper occasions to one another; as I have done to you — As if he had said, I have set you a pattern of humility, to recommend it to you: and it must be acknowledged that nothing shows us more effectually the necessity of this grace, than its being recommended to us by so high an example; a recommendation which, in the present circumstances, was peculiarly seasonable, for the disciples having heard Jesus say that the kingdom of God was at hand, ( Luke 22:18 ,) their minds were so fired with ambitious passions, that, before they arose from supper, they fell into a hot contention about sharing the principal posts in the kingdom. John 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. John 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. John 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. John 13:16-20 . Verily, the servant is not greater than his lord — And therefore ought not to think much either of doing or suffering the same things. If ye know these things — Therefore, knowing your duty in this particular, ye are happy if you practise it. I speak not of you all — When I call you happy; nor do I expect that all of you will hearken to me; I know whom I have chosen — I know there is one among you whom no instruction will profit, and that I should have called such a one to the apostleship need not surprise any of you, for I was well acquainted with the dispositions of each of you when I made choice of you, and did not make choice of a traitor to be my apostle through ignorance of his character; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled — Particularly Psalm 41:9 ; He that eateth bread with me — And has been nourished by my care and favour; hath lifted up his heel against me — Like an ungrateful brute, that kicks at the kind master who feeds him. Such treatment David met with from those whom he trusted, and such I know that I am to expect. Now I tell you before it come — I give you this intimation before I am betrayed; that when it is come to pass — That when what I thus foretel is accomplished, you may be so far from doubting of the truth of my mission on that account, that, on the contrary, you may more firmly believe that I am he — That I told you I was, even the true Messiah. Verily, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me — I put my own honour upon you, my ambassadors; and assure you that he who receives in faith, love, and obedience, the doctrine of you my apostles, or of any other messengers whom I send to preach the word of eternal life, receives mine, and he who receives mine, receives that of him who sent me. Whatsoever therefore I shall suffer, let not your zeal to carry on my cause be lessened, but steadfastly persevere in your adherence to it, with a firm persuasion that I will support you in it; for in this view I look upon your interest as my own. See on Matthew 10:40 ; Luke 10:16 . John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. John 13:18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. John 13:19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he . John 13:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. John 13:21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. John 13:21-22 . When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit — To think of so ungrateful and impious a design in one so near him, and so much obliged to him; and testified — As they sat together, and were eating the paschal-supper, Mark 14:18 ; Verily, one of you shall betray me — Verily, how incredible soever what I now say may appear to you, one of you, who is eating with me in this friendly and intimate manner; even one of you, my apostles and constant followers, shall, or will betray me, to those that thirst for my blood. None, indeed, could be said to betray him but those in whom he reposed confidence, and were the witnesses of his retirement. This did not lay Judas under any fatal necessity of committing the sin here spoken of; for though the event followed according to the prediction, yet it was not caused by the prediction, but would have equally happened if no such prediction had been uttered. Our Lord’s speaking thus indefinitely at first, and only saying, one of you, was profitable to them all, as leading them all seriously to examine themselves. Then the disciples looked one on another — For some time, in silence, and with great astonishment; doubting of whom he spake — And studious to observe in whose countenance they might read any peculiar confusion, which might look like an indication of guilt. John 13:22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. John 13:23-26 . There was leaning on Jesus’s bosom — That is, sitting next to him at table. This phrase only expresses the then customary posture at meals, where the guests all leaned sideways on couches, and each was said to lie in the bosom of him who was placed next above him; one of the disciples whom Jesus loved — This was John, the memory of whose sweet disposition, and other amiable qualities, is perpetuated in the peculiar love which Jesus bare to him. He always avoids with great care the expressly naming himself. Perhaps our Lord now gave him the first proof of his peculiar love, by disclosing this secret to him. Simon Peter, therefore — Not daring to ask Jesus himself; beckoned to him — The word ????? , thus rendered, might be more exactly translated, nodded, namely, he intimated his desire by a motion of his head; that he should ask him privately who it should be — Peter was probably desirous to know, not only that he might be sure it was not himself, but that, knowing who it was, he and the other disciples might withdraw from him, and guard against him, as also, if possible, prevent his design. It may appear to us a desirable thing to know who, in the church, will deceive us, yet let this suffice: Christ knows, though we do not. He then, lying on Jesus’s breast — That is, leaning backward, and secretly whispering; saith, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered — In his ear: so careful was he not to offend (if it had been possible) even Judas himself; He it is to whom I shall give a sop — ?? ?????? , the sop, which he took up while he was speaking; and when he had dipped the sop — In a thick kind of sauce made of dates, raisins, and other ingredients beaten together and properly diluted; he gave it to Judas Iscariot — Who took it readily enough, not suspecting the design of Christ’s giving it to him. See note on Matthew 26:20-25 . The Jews still retain the use of such a sauce, which they call haroseth, made of such kind of ingredients, about the consistence of mortar, to represent the clay in which their forefathers wrought while they were under bondage to the Egyptians. John 13:24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. John 13:25 He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? John 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it . And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. John 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. John 13:27-30 . And after the sop Satan entered into him — More fully; “non secundum substantiam,” says Jerome, “sed secundum operationem,” not as to his substance, but as to his operation; as he is said to do when man’s will is fully inclined to obey his motions. Then said Jesus, That thou doest, do quickly — This is not a permission, much less a command. It is only as if he had said, If thou art determined to do it, why dost thou delay? Hereby showing Judas that he could not be hid, and expressing his own readiness to suffer. No man at the table knew why he said this — That is, none except John and Judas, for John does not here include himself, but speaks of the other disciples; for though they could know nothing of the matter, in all probability he must have comprehended the meaning of Christ’s words to the traitor. Some thought because Judas had the bag — Had the keeping of the common purse, on which they were to subsist during their stay at Jerusalem; that Jesus had said, Buy that which we have need of against the feast — That is, the seven ensuing days of the feast; or that he should give something to the poor — These meanings were what first occurred to the disciples. But being in great perplexity on account of his declaration concerning the treachery of one of their number, they did not think much upon what he now said to Judas. The declaration which engrossed their attention had not pointed at any of them in particular, and the discovery of the person was made to John only. They were therefore swallowed up in grief, and each of them would fain have cleared himself, inquiring of Jesus, one by one, Lord, is it I? Matthew 26:22 ; Mark 14:19 . Judas himself even, conscious as he was of his guilty purpose, also inquiring, with unparalleled impudence, Master, is it I? He then, having received the sop — With the awful words of his Master (giving him to know that his intentions were not concealed) sounding, as it were, in his ears; went immediately out — To the chief priests, or, went out soon, without any further reply, as ?????? , here rendered immediately, sometimes signifies: for it seems he stayed till the Lord’s supper was instituted: being so utterly abandoned as to be capable of committing his intended horrible crime, even with this aggravation; and it was night — Which was the time he had appointed to meet those who were consulting how to execute their purpose against the life of Jesus, and under the cover of it he went to them, and fulfilled his engagement in a little time, by delivering his Master into their hands. John 13:28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. John 13:29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. John 13:30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. John 13:31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. John 13:31-32 . When he was gone out — Having quitted the place in a mixture of rage and confusion, as being marked out both by Christ’s actions and words; Jesus said — To the rest of the disciples, as they sat at the table with him; Now — While I speak this; is the Son of man glorified — Or, is just on the point of being glorified; and God is glorified in him — Or, is about to be immediately glorified by the signal and extraordinary circumstances of his abasement and exaltation. And if God be glorified, &c. — Or, as ?? ? ???? ???????? may be rendered, seeing God is glorified in him; God shall also glorify him, &c. — That is, Seeing that he has already done great honour to God by the past actions of his life, and is about to honour him yet further by his sufferings and death, which will display the divine perfections, particularly God’s infinite love to men, in the most astonishing and amiable light; he is, in his turn, to receive glory from God; meaning, that in his human nature he was to be exalted to the highest dignity and power, or, as he himself expresses it, ( Matthew 28:18 ,) to all power, or authority, in heaven and in earth; and that his mission from God was immediately to be supported by irrefragable attestations. John 13:32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. John 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. John 13:33-34 . Little children — An expression intended to signify both their weakness and his tenderness and compassion; as if he had said, Ye whom I love with parental tenderness, and whom my heart pities under all your trials and sorrows; yet a little while, &c. — That is, It is but a very little while longer that I am to continue with you: a few hours more will part us; and ye shall seek me — Shall wish for my presence and converse when I am gone; and as I said to the Jews, (see John 7:34 ; John 8:21 ,) Whither I go ye cannot come — Not yet, being not yet prepared for it. A new commandment — As if he had said, But observe my parting words, and let them be written on your very hearts; for I give you what I may properly call a new commandment, enjoining a higher degree of mutual love than has generally been possessed and manifested among pious people to each other; a command which I press upon you by new motives, and a new example, and which from henceforth I would have you to consider as confirmed by a new sanction, and to keep ever fresh in your memories. The expression, which, says Dr. Doddridge, “signifies much more than merely a renewed command, is a strong and lively intimation, that the engagements to mutual love, peculiar in the Christian dispensation, are so singular and so cogent, that all other men, when compared with its votaries, may seem uninstructed in the school of friendship, and Jesus may appear, as it were, the first professor of that divine science.” “He called this a new commandment,” observes Dr. Macknight, “not because mutual love had never been enjoined on mankind before, but because it was a precept of peculiar excellence, for the word new in the Hebrew language [often] denotes excellence and truth, as appears from Psalm 33:3 ; Mark 1:27 ; Revelation 2:17 ; and because they were to exercise it under a new relation, according to a new measure, and from new motives. They were to love one another in the relation of his disciples, and with that degree of love which he had shown to them, for they were to lay down their lives for the brethren, 1 John 3:16 . Withal they were to love from the consideration of his love, and in order to prove themselves his genuine disciples, by the warmth of their mutual affection.” So also Dr. Campbell: “Our Lord, by this, warns his disciples against taking for their model any example of affection whereunto the age could furnish them; or, indeed, any example less than the love which he all along, especially in his death, manifested for them.” John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35 . By this shall all men know that you are my disciples — Your loving one another sincerely and fervently, and in the manner and degree I now enjoin, will be the most acceptable and the most ornamental token of your relation to me, and the noblest badge of your profession. The reader will not need to be told how remarkably this new precept of our Lord was exemplified in the spirit and conduct of the first Christians, when he recollects their historian has attested, ( Acts 4:32 ,) that though they were a great multitude, consisting of many thousands, they were all of one heart and of one soul; insomuch that not any of them accounted any of the things which he possessed as his own, but they had all things in common. And the ancient apologists for Christianity inform us, that the persecuting heathen themselves could not help exclaiming in rapture, on observing the prevalence of this grace among them, See how these Christians love one another! John 13:36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. John 13:36-38 . Simon Peter saith, Lord, whither goest thou, &c. — The exalted virtue which our Lord had just inculcated, did not make so strong an impression on Peter’s mind, as the words which he had before spoken, concerning his going away to a place where his disciples could not come. He therefore replies by thus asking whither he was going. He seems to have supposed that Christ, in consequence of being rejected by the Jews, was about to go to some other part of the earth to erect his throne, where he might reign without disturbance, according to the gross notion which he had of Christ’s kingdom. Jesus answered, Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, &c. — Thou art too weak at present to follow me in my sufferings: but thou shalt be enabled to do it afterward. From this clause “we gather that the declaration, ( John 13:33 ,) Whither I go ye cannot come, is one of those general propositions whereof there are many in Scripture, which were spoken with a limitation not expressed. Here we are directed to add the limitation, thus, Whither I go ye cannot come NOW. For they were all, equally with Peter, to follow Jesus afterward, by suffering a violent death.” — Macknight. Peter said, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? — He was very unwilling to believe that he was so weak as Christ’s words intimated he was. He thought he was prepared to do or suffer any thing for his dear Master; adding, I will lay down my life for thy sake — As if he had said, Is there any road more terrible than the dark valley of the shadow of death? Yet through these black and gloomy shades I am willing to accompany

Expositors

Expositor's Bible Commentary John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, 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. VI. THE FOOT-WASHING. "Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing 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 during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself. Then He poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. So He cometh to Simon Peter. He saith unto Him, Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt understand hereafter. Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For He knew him that should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean. So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and sat down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call Me, Master, and, Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord; neither one that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them."-- John 13:1-17 . St. John, having finished his account of the public manifestation of Jesus, proceeds now to narrate the closing scenes, in which the disclosures He made to "His own" form a chief part. That the transition may be observed, attention is drawn to it. At earlier stages of our Lord's ministry He has given as His reason for refraining from proposed lines of action that His hour was not come: now He "knew that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father." This indeed was the last evening of His life. Within twenty-four hours He was to be in the tomb. Yet according to this writer it was not the paschal supper which our Lord now partook of with His disciples; it was "before the feast of the Passover." Jesus being Himself the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed on the day on which the Passover was eaten, and in this and the following chapters we have an account of the preceding evening. In order to account for what follows, the precise time is defined in the words "supper being served"[7] or "supper-time having arrived"; not, as in the Authorised Version, "supper being ended," which plainly was not the case;[8] nor, as in the Revised Version, "during supper." The difficulty about washing the feet could not have arisen after or during supper, but only as the guests entered and reclined at table. In Palestine, as in other countries of the same latitude, shoes were not universally worn, and were not worn at all within doors; and where some protection to the foot was worn, it was commonly a mere sandal, a sole tied on with a thong. The upper part of the foot was thus left exposed, and necessarily became heated and dirty with the fine and scorching dust of the roads. Much discomfort was thus produced, and the first duty of a host was to provide for its removal. A slave was ordered to remove the sandals and wash the feet.[9] And in order that this might be done, the guest either sat on the couch appointed for him at table, or reclined with his feet protruding beyond the end of it, that the slave, coming round with the pitcher and basin,[10] might pour cool water gently over them. So necessary to comfort was this attention that our Lord reproached the Pharisee who had invited Him to dinner with a breach of courtesy because he had omitted it. On ordinary occasions it is probable that the disciples would perform this humble office by turns, where there was no slave to discharge it for all. But this evening, when they gathered for the last supper, all took their places at the table with a studied ignorance of the necessity, a feigned unconsciousness that any such attention was required. As a matter of course, the pitcher of cool water, the basin, and the towel had been set as part of the requisite furnishing of the supper chamber; but no one among the disciples betrayed the slightest consciousness that he understood that any such custom existed. Why was this? Because, as Luke tells us ( Luke 22:24 ), "there had arisen among them a contention, which of them is accounted to be the greatest." Beginning, perhaps, by discussing the prospects of their Master's kingdom, they had passed on to compare the importance of this or that faculty for forwarding the interests of the kingdom, and had ended by easily recognised personal allusions and even the direct pitting of man against man. The assumption of superiority on the part of the sons of Zebedee and others was called in question, and it suddenly appeared how this assumption had galled the rest and rankled in their minds. That such a discussion should arise may be disappointing, but it was natural. All men are jealous of their reputation, and crave that credit be given them for their natural talent, their acquired skill, their professional standing, their influence, or at any rate for their humility. Heated, then, and angry and full of resentment these men hustle into the supper-room and seat themselves like so many sulky schoolboys. They streamed into the room and doggedly took their places; and then came a pause. For any one to wash the feet of the rest was to declare himself the servant of all; and that was precisely what each one was resolved he, for his part, would not do. No one of them had humour enough to see the absurdity of the situation. No one of them was sensitive enough to be ashamed of showing such a temper in Christ's presence. There they sat, looking at the table, looking at the ceiling, arranging their dress, each resolved upon this--that he would not be the man to own himself servant of all. But this unhealthy heat quite unfits them to listen to what their Lord has to say to them that last evening. Occupied as they are, not with anxiety about Him nor with absorbing desire for the prosperity of His kingdom, but with selfish ambitions that separate them alike from Him and from one another, how can they receive what He has to say? But how is He to bring them into a state of mind in which they can listen wholly and devotedly to Him? How is He to quench their heated passions and stir within them humility and love? "He riseth from the supper-table, and laid aside His garments, and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded." Each separate action is a fresh astonishment and a deeper shame to the bewildered and conscience-stricken disciples. "Who is not able to picture the scene,--the faces of John and James and Peter; the intense silence, in which each movement of Jesus was painfully audible; the furtive watching of Him, as He rose, to see what He would do; the sudden pang of self-reproach as they perceived what it meant; the bitter humiliation and the burning shame?" But not only is the time noted, in order that we may perceive the relevancy of the foot-washing, but the Evangelist steps aside from his usual custom and describes the mood of Jesus that we may more deeply penetrate into the significance of the action. Around this scene in the supper-chamber St. John sets lights which permit us to see its various beauty and grace. And first of all he would have us notice what seems chiefly to have struck himself as from time to time he reflected on this last evening--that Jesus, even in these last hours, was wholly possessed and governed by love. Although He knew "that His hour had come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, yet having loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end." Already the deep darkness of the coming night was touching the spirit of Jesus with its shadow. Already the pain of the betrayal, the lonely desolation of desertion by His friends, the defenceless exposure to fierce, unjust, ruthless men, the untried misery of death and dissolution, the critical trial of His cause and of all the labour of His life, these and many anxieties that cannot be imagined, were pouring in upon His spirit, wave upon wave. If ever man might have been excused for absorption in His own affairs Jesus was then that man. On the edge of what He knew to be the critical passage in the world's history, what had He to do attending to the comfort and adjusting the silly differences of a few unworthy men? With the weight of a world on His arm, was He to have His hands free for such a trifling attention as this? With His whole soul pressed with the heaviest burden ever laid on man, was it to be expected He should turn aside at such a call? But His love made it seem no turning aside at all. His love had made Him wholly theirs, and though standing on the brink of death He was disengaged to do them the slightest service. His love was love, devoted, enduring, constant. He had loved them, and He loved them still. It was their condition which had brought Him into the world, and His love for them was that which would carry Him through all that was before Him. The very fact that they showed themselves still so jealous and childish, so unfit to cope with the world, drew out His affection towards them. He was departing from the world and they were remaining in it, exposed to all its opposition and destined to bear the brunt of hostility directed against Him--how then can He but pity and strengthen them? Nothing is more touching on a death-bed than to see the sufferer hiding and making light of his own pain, and turning the attention of those around him away from him to themselves, and making arrangements, not for his own relief, but for the future comfort of others. This which has often dimmed with tears the eyes of the bystanders struck John when he saw his Master ministering to the wants of His disciples, although He knew that His own hour had come. Another side-light which serves to bring out the full significance of this action is Jesus' consciousness of His own dignity. "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth unto God," riseth from supper, and took a towel and girded Himself. It was not in forgetfulness of His Divine origin, but in full consciousness of it, He discharged this menial function. As He had divested Himself of the "form of God" at the first, stripping Himself of the outward glory attendant on recognised Divinity, and had taken upon Him the form of a servant, so now He "laid aside His garments and girded Himself," assuming the guise of a household slave. For a fisherman to pour water over a fisherman's feet was no great condescension; but that He, in whose hands are all human affairs and whose nearest relation is the Father, should thus condescend is of unparalleled significance. It is this kind of action that is suitable to One whose consciousness is Divine. Not only does the dignity of Jesus vastly augment the beauty of the action, but it sheds new light on the Divine character. Still another circumstance which seemed to John to accentuate the grace of the foot-washing was this--that Judas was among the guests, and that "the devil had now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him." The idea had at last formed itself in Judas' mind that the best use he could make of Jesus was to sell Him to His enemies. His hopes of gain in the Messianic kingdom were finally blighted, but he might still make something out of Jesus and save himself from all implication in a movement frowned upon by the authorities. He clearly apprehended that all hopes of a temporal kingdom were gone. He had probably not strength of mind enough to say candidly that he had joined the company of disciples on a false understanding, and meant now quietly to return to his trading at Kerioth. If he could break up the whole movement, he would be justified in his dissatisfaction, and would also be held to be a useful servant of the nation. So he turns traitor. And John does not whitewash him, but plainly brands him as a traitor. Now, much may be forgiven a man; but treachery--what is to be done with it; with the man who uses the knowledge only a friend can have, to betray you to your enemies? Suppose Jesus had unmasked him to Peter and the rest, would he ever have left that room alive? Instead of unmasking him, Jesus makes no difference between him and the others, kneels by his couch, takes his feet in His hands, washes and gently dries them. However difficult it is to understand why Jesus chose Judas at the first, there can be no question that throughout His acquaintance with him He had done all that was possible to win him. The kind of treatment Judas had received throughout may be inferred from the treatment he received now. Jesus knew him to be a man of a low type and impenitent; He knew him to be at that very time out of harmony with the little company, false, plotting, meaning to save himself by bringing ruin on the rest. Yet Jesus will not denounce him to the others. His sole weapon is love. Conquests which He cannot achieve with this He will not achieve at all. In the person of Judas the utmost of malignity the world can show is present to Him, and He meets it with kindness. Well may AstiŽ exclaim: "Jesus at the feet of the traitor--what a picture! what lessons for us!" Shame and astonishment shut the mouths of the disciples, and not a sound broke the stillness of the room but the tinkle and plash of the water in the basin as Jesus went from couch to couch. But the silence was broken when He came to Peter. The deep reverence which the disciples had contracted for Jesus betrays itself in Peter's inability to suffer Him to touch his feet. Peter could not endure that the places of master and servant should thus be reversed. He feels that shrinking and revulsion which we feel when a delicate person or one much above us in station proceeds to do some service from which we ourselves would shrink as beneath us. That Peter should have drawn up his feet, started up on the couch, and exclaimed, "Lord, do you actually propose to wash my feet!" is to his credit, and just what we should have expected of a man who never lacked generous impulses. Our Lord therefore assures him that his scruples will be removed, and that what he could not understand would be shortly explained to him. He treats Peter's scruples very much as He treated the Baptist's when John hesitated about baptizing Him. Let Me, says Jesus, do it now, and I will explain My reason when I have finished the washing of you all. But this does not satisfy Peter. Out he comes with one of his blunt and hasty speeches: "Lord, Thou shalt never wash my feet!" He knew better than Jesus, that is to say, what should be done. Jesus was mistaken in supposing that any explanation could be given of it. Hasty, self-confident, knowing better than anybody else, Peter once again ran himself into grave fault. The first requirement in a disciple is entire self-surrender. The others had meekly allowed Jesus to wash their feet, cut to the heart with shame as they were, and scarcely able to let their feet lie in His hands; but Peter must show himself of a different mind. His first refusal was readily forgiven as a generous impulse; the second is an obstinate, proud, self-righteous utterance, and was forthwith met by the swift rebuke of Jesus: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me." Superficially, these words might have been understood as intimating to Peter that, if he wished to partake of the feast prepared, he must allow Jesus to wash his feet. Unless he was prepared to leave the room and reckon himself an outcast from that company, he must submit to the feet-washing which his friends and fellow-guests had submitted to. There was that in the tone of our Lord which awakened Peter to see how great and painful a rupture this would be. He almost hears in the words a sentence of expulsion pronounced on himself; and as rapidly as he had withdrawn from the touch of Christ, so rapidly does he now run to the opposite extreme and offer his whole body to be washed--"not my feet only, but my hands and my head." If this washing means that we are Thy friends and partners, let me be all washed, for every bit of me is Thine. Here again Peter was swayed by blind impulse, and here again he erred. If he could only have been quiet! If he could only have held his tongue! If only he could have allowed his Lord to manage without his interference and suggestion at every point! But this was precisely what Peter had as yet not learned to do. In after-years he was to learn meekness; he was to learn to submit while others bound him and carried him whither they would; but as yet that was impossible to him. His Lord's plan is never good enough for him; Jesus is never exactly right. What He proposes must always be eked out by Peter's superior wisdom. What gusts of shame must have stormed through Peter's soul when he looked back on this scene! Yet it concerns us rather to admire than to condemn Peter's fervour. How welcome to our Lord as He passed from the cold and treacherous heart of Judas must this burst of enthusiastic devotion have been! "Lord, if washing be any symbol of my being Thine, wash hands and head as well as feet." Jesus throws a new light upon His action in His reply: "He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all." The words would have more readily disclosed Christ's meaning had they been literally rendered: He that has bathed needeth not save to wash his feet. The daily use of the bath rendered it needless to wash more than the feet, which were soiled with walking from the bath to the supper-chamber. But that Christ had in view as He washed the disciples' feet something more than the mere bodily cleansing and comfort is plain from His remark that they were not all clean. All had enjoyed the feet-washing, but all were not clean. The feet of Judas were as clean as the feet of John or Peter, but his heart was foul. And what Christ intended when He girt Himself with the towel and took up the pitcher was not merely to wash the soil from their feet, but to wash from their hearts the hard and proud feelings which were so uncongenial to that night of communion and so threatening to His cause. Far more needful to their happiness at the feast than the comfort of cool and clean feet was their restored affection and esteem for one another, and that humility that takes the lowest place. Jesus could very well have eaten with men who were unwashed; but He could not eat with men hating one another, glaring fiercely across the table, declining to answer or to pass what they were asked for, showing in every way malice and bitterness of spirit. He knew that at bottom they were good men; He knew that with one exception they loved Him and one another; He knew that as a whole they were clean, and that this vicious temper in which they at present entered the room was but the soil contracted for the hour. But none the less must it be washed off. And He did effectually wash it off by washing their feet. For was there a man among them who, when he saw his Lord and Master stooping at his couch-foot, would not most gladly have changed places with Him? Was there one of them who was not softened and broken down by the action of the Lord? Is it not certain that shame must have cast out pride from every heart; that the feet would be very little thought of, but that the change of feeling would be marked and obvious? From a group of angry, proud, insolent, implacable, resentful men, they were in five minutes changed into a company of humbled, meek, loving disciples of the Lord, each thinking hardly of himself and esteeming others better. They were effectually cleansed from the stain they had contracted, and could enter on the enjoyment of the Last Supper with pure conscience, with restored and increased affection for one another, and with deepened adoration for the marvellous wisdom and all-accomplishing grace of their Master. Jesus, then, does not mistake present defilement for habitual impurity, nor partial stain for total uncleanness. He knows whom He has chosen. He understands the difference between deep-seated alienation of spirit and the passing mood which for the hour disturbs friendship. He discriminates between Judas and Peter: between the man who has not been in the bath, and the man whose feet are soiled in walking from it; between him who is at heart unmoved and unimpressed by His love, and him who has for a space fallen from the consciousness of it. He does not suppose that because we have sinned this morning we have no real root of grace in us. He knows the heart we bear Him; and if just at present unworthy feelings prevail, He does not misunderstand as men may, and straightway dismiss us from His company. He recognises that our feet need washing, that our present stain must be removed, but not on this account does He think we need to be all washed and have never been right in heart towards Him. These present stains, then, Christ seeks to remove, that our fellowship with Him may be unembarrassed; and that our heart, restored to humility and tenderness, may be in a state to receive the blessing He would bestow. It is not enough to be once forgiven, to begin the day "clean every whit." No sooner do we take a step in the life of the day than our footfall raises a little puff of dust which does not settle without sullying us. Our temper is ruffled, and words fall from our lips that injure and exasperate. In one way or other stain attaches to our conscience, and we are moved away from cordial and open fellowship with Christ. All this happens to those who are at heart as truly Christ's friends as those first disciples. But we must have these stains washed away even as they had. Humbly we must own them, and humbly accept their forgiveness and rejoice in their removal. As these men had with shame to lay their feet in Christ's hands, so must we. As His hands had to come in contact with the soiled feet of the disciples, so has His moral nature to come in contact with the sins from which He cleanses us. His heart is purer than were His hands, and He shrinks more from contact with moral than with physical pollution; and yet without ceasing we bring Him into contact with such pollution. When we consider what those stains actually are from which we must ask Christ to wash us, we feel tempted to exclaim with Peter, "Lord, Thou shalt never wash my feet!" As these men must have shivered with shame through all their nature, so do we when we see Christ stoop before us to wash away once again the defilement we have contracted; when we lay our feet soiled with the miry and dusty ways of life in His sacred hands; when we see the uncomplaining, unreproachful grace with which He performs for us this lowly and painful office. But only thus are we prepared for communion with Him and with one another. Only by admitting that we need cleansing, and by humbly allowing Him to cleanse us, are we brought into true fellowship with Him. With the humble and contrite spirit which has thrown down all barriers of pride and freely admits His love and rejoices in His holiness does He abide. Whoso sits down at Christ's table must sit down clean; he may not have come clean, even as those first guests were not clean, but he must allow Christ to cleanse him, must honestly suffer Christ to remove from his heart, from his desire and purpose, all that He counts defiling. But our Lord was not content to let His action speak for itself; He expressly explains ( John 13:12-17 ) the meaning of what He had now done. He meant that they should learn to wash one another's feet, to be humble and ready to be of service to one another even when to serve seemed to compromise their dignity.[11] No disciple of Christ need go far to find feet that need washing, feet that are stained or bleeding with the hard ways that have been trodden. To recover men from the difficulties into which sin or misfortune has brought them--to wipe off some of the soil from men's lives--to make them purer, sweeter, readier to listen to Christ, even unostentatiously to do the small services which each hour calls for--is to follow Him who girt Himself with the slave's apron. As often as we thus condescend we become like Christ. By putting Himself in the servant's place, our Lord has consecrated all service. The disciple who next washed the feet of the rest would feel that he was representing Christ, and would suggest to the minds of the others the action of their Lord; and as often as we lay aside the conventional dignity in which we are clad, and gird ourselves to do what others despise, we feel that we are doing what Christ would do, and are truly representing Him. FOOTNOTES: [7] Compare Mark 6:2 , genomenou sabbatou ; and the Latin " posita mensa ." [8] See John 13:2 . [9] hypolyete, paides, kai aponizete . [10] The " tžsht " and " ibr”ek " of modern Palestine. [11] For the formal Foot-washing by the Lord High Almoner, the Pope, or other officials, see Augustine's Letters LV.; Herzog art. Fusswaschung ; Smith's Dict. of Christian Antiq. art. Maundy Thursday . John 13:18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. VII. JUDAS. "I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth My bread lifted up his heel against Me. From henceforth I tell you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me. When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in the spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. The disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spake. There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoneth to him, and saith unto him, Tell us who it is of whom He speaketh. He leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast saith unto Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answereth, He it is, for whom I shall dip the sop, and give it to him. So when He had dipped the sop, He taketh and giveth it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And after the sop, then entered Satan into him. Jesus therefore saith unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent He spake this unto him. For some thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus said unto him, Buy what things we have need of for the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went out straightway: and it was night."-- John 13:18-30 . When Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, apparently in dead silence save for the interruption of Peter, He resumed those parts of His dress He had laid aside, and reclined at the table already spread for the supper. As the meal began, and while He was explaining the meaning of His act and the lesson He desired them to draw from it, John, who lay next Him at table, saw that His face did not wear the expression of festal joy, nor even of untroubled composure, but was clouded with deep concern and grief. The reason of this was immediately apparent: already, while washing Peter's feet, He had awakened the attention and excited the consciences of the disciples by hinting that on some one of them at least, if not on more, uncleansed guilt still lay, even though all partook in the symbolic washing. And now in His explanation of the foot-washing He repeats this limitation and warning, and also points at the precise nature of the guilt, though not yet singling out the guilty person. "I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen; I have not been deceived: but it was necessary that this part of God's purpose be fulfilled, and that this Scripture, 'He that eateth bread with Me, hath lifted up his heel against Me,' receive accomplishment in Me." It was impossible that Jesus should undisturbedly eat out of the same dish with the man whom He knew to have already sold Him to the priests; it were unfair to the other disciples and a violence to His own feelings to allow such a man any longer to remain in their company. But our Lord does not name the traitor and denounce him; he singles him out and sends him from the table on his hateful mission by a process that left every man at the table unaware on what errand he was despatched. In this process there were three steps. First of all, our Lord indicated that among the disciples there was a traitor. With dismay these true-hearted men hear the firmly pronounced statement "one of you shall betray Me" ( John 13:21 ). All of them, as another Evangelist informs us, were exceeding sorrowful, and looked on one another in bewilderment; and unable to detect the conscious look of guilt in the face of any of their companions, or to recall any circumstance which might fix even suspicion on any of them, each, conscious of the deep, unfathomed capacity for evil in his own heart, can but frankly ask of the Master, "Lord, is it I?" It is a question that at once proves their consciousness of actual innocence and possible guilt. It was a kindness in the Lord to give these genuine men, who were so shortly to go through trial for His sake, an opportunity of discovering how much they loved Him and how closely knit their hearts had really become to Him. This question of theirs expressed the deep pain and shame that the very thought of the possibility of their being false to Him gave them. They must at all hazards be cleared of this charge. And from this shock of the very idea of being untrue their hearts recoiled towards Him with an enthusiastic tenderness that made this moment possibly as moving a passage as any that occurred that eventful night But there was one of them that did not join in the question "Lord, is it I?"--else must not our Lord have broken silence? The Twelve are still left in doubt, none noticing in the eagerness of questioning who has not asked, each only glad to know he himself is not charged. The second step in the process is recorded in the 26th chapter of Matthew, where we read that, when the disciples asked "Lord, is it I?" Jesus answered, "He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me." It was a large company, and there were necessarily several dishes on the table, so that probably there were three others using the same dish as our Lord: John we know was next Him; Peter was near enough to John to make signs and whisper to him; Judas was also close to Jesus, a position which he either always occupied as treasurer and purveyor of the company, or into which he thrust himself this evening with the purpose of more effectually screening himself from suspicion. The circle of suspicion is thus narrowed to the one or two who were not only so intimate as to be eating at the same table, but as to be dipping in the same dish. The third step in the process of discovery went on almost simultaneously with this. The impatient Peter, who had himself so often unwittingly given offence to his Master, is resolved to find out definitely who is pointed at, and yet dare not say to Christ "Who is it?" He beckons therefore to John to ask Jesus privately, as he lay next to Jesus. John leans a little back towards Jesus and puts in a whisper the definite question "Who is it?" and Jesus in the ear of the beloved disciple whispers the reply, "He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it." And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot. This reveals to John, but to no on

Illustrator

Now before the feast of the Passover. John 13:1-19 A three-fold marvel T. Whitelaw, D. D. I. A MARVELLOUS LOVE: that of Christ for His own. Marvellous in respect of — 1. Its time.(1) Before the feast of the Passover, when His thoughts might have been occupied with its memories.(2) Before His departure, when He might have been absorbed in the contemplation of death or the heaven beyond.(3) Before His exaltation, when the vision of the coming glory might have fixed His Spirit's eye. 2. Its intensity — "unto the end."(1) To the uttermost, or in the highest degree, with a love passing knowledge ( Ephesians 3:19 ), which many waters (of affliction) could not quench, nor floods (of sorrow) drown ( Song of Solomon 8:9 ).(2) To the latest moment of His life, with a love which, as it had been without beginning, so also would it be without end ( Jeremiah 31:8 ).(3) At the last, surpassing every previous demonstration and stooping even unto death for its objects ( John 15:13 ; 1 John 3:16 ; Romans 5:8 ). 3. Its reason. While He was departing from, they were remaining in the world, exposed to the enmity and evil He was escaping. The thought of their feebleness and defencelessness, and their sufferings and imperfections, added fuel to the fire of His affection ( Hebrews 4:15 ). II. A MARVELLOUS DEED (ver. 5). An act of — 1. Amazing condescension, considering —(1) Its nature — the work of a slave ( 1 Samuel 25:41 ).(2) His dignity — the Incarnate Son, conscious of His heavenly origin and destiny (ver. 3), on the eve of grasping the sceptre of the universe ( Matthew 28:18 ).(3) The objects — frail and erring men and one of them a traitor. Had Christ been only man He would have spurned Judas: being God, He loved him and even washed his feet. 2. Sublime significance. Symbolic —(1) Of Christ's self-abasement who, in order to effect the spiritual cleansing of His people, laid aside the form of God, assumed the garment of humanity, and poured His purifying blood from the cross ( Philippians 2:7, 8 ; 1 John 1:7 ).(2) Of the working of regeneration through which sin's defilement is removed ( Ephesians 5:26 ; Titus 3:5 ).(3) Of the daily cleansing which the renewed need ( Psalm 51:7 ; 1 John 1:9 ). III. A MARVELLOUS OBLIGATION (vers. 14, 15). Christ's example calls His disciples to — 1. Personal humility. If the Lord and Master could stoop and wash the feet of a Judas, it ill became them to be puffed up with thoughts of their own greatness ( Romans 12:3 ; Luke 22:27 ; Matthew 9:29 ; 1 Peter 5:5 ). 2. Loving service. Not that Christ instituted a new religious service. The Pope is Christ's ape rather than His imitator. Christ's example is to be followed spiritually in ministering to necessity and practising Christian kindness ( John 15:17 ; Matthew 25:34-40 ; Romans 12:9, 10 ; Romans 13:8 ; Galatians 5:13, 14, 22 ; Galatians 6:2 ; Ephesians 5:2 ; 1 Timothy 5:10 ). 3. Brotherly forgiveness. Christ had washed and therefore forgiven them; they were to practise the charity which covers a multitude of sins ( Matthew 6:12 ; Mark 11:28 ; Luke 17:3, 4 ; Ephesians 4:32 ; Colossians 3:13 ).Learn — 1. The supreme Divinity of Christ. 2. The diabolical depravity of the fallen heart. 3. The imperfections of even Christ's followers. 4. The absolute necessity of Christ as a Saviour. 5. Christ's perfect knowledge of men. 6. The duty of taking Christ as our example. 7. Obedience the royal road to happiness. ( T. Whitelaw, D. D. )

Matthew Henry

13:1-17 Our Lord Jesus has a people in the world that are his own; he has purchased them, and paid dear for them, and he has set them apart for himself; they devote themselves to him as a peculiar people. Those whom Christ loves, he loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ. We know not when our hour will come, therefore what we have to do in constant preparation for it, ought never to be undone. What way of access the devil has to men's hearts we cannot tell. But some sins are so exceedingly sinful, and there is so little temptation to them from the world and the flesh, that it is plain they are directly from Satan. Jesus washed his disciples' feet, that he might teach us to think nothing below us, wherein we may promote God's glory, and the good of our brethren. We must address ourselves to duty, and must lay aside every thing that would hinder us in what we have to do. Christ washed his disciples' feet, that he might signify to them the value of spiritual washing, and the cleansing of the soul from the pollutions of sin. Our Lord Jesus does many things of which even his own disciples do not for the present know the meaning, but they shall know afterward. We see in the end what was the kindness from events which seemed most cross. And it is not humility, but unbelief, to put away the offers of the gospel, as if too rich to be made to us, or too good news to be true. All those, and those only, who are spiritually washed by Christ, have a part in Christ. All whom Christ owns and saves, he justifies and sanctifies. Peter more than submits; he begs to be washed by Christ. How earnest he is for the purifying grace of the Lord Jesus, and the full effect of it, even upon his hands and head! Those who truly desire to be sanctified, desire to be sanctified throughout, to have the whole man, with all its parts and powers, made pure. The true believer is thus washed when he receives Christ for his salvation. See then what ought to be the daily care of those who through grace are in a justified state, and that is, to wash their feet; to cleanse themselves from daily guilt, and to watch against everything defiling. This should make us the more cautious. From yesterday's pardon, we should be strengthened against this day's temptation. And when hypocrites are discovered, it should be no surprise or cause of stumbling to us. Observe the lesson Christ here taught. Duties are mutual; we must both accept help from our brethren, and afford help to our brethren. When we see our Master serving, we cannot but see how ill it becomes us to domineer. And the same love which led Christ to ransom and reconcile his disciples when enemies, still influences him. 13:18-30 Our Lord had often spoken of his own sufferings and death, without such trouble of spirit as he now discovered when he spake of Judas. The sins of Christians are the grief of Christ. We are not to confine our attention to Judas. The prophecy of his treachery may apply to all who partake of God's mercies, and meet them with ingratitude. See the infidel, who only looks at the Scriptures with a desire to do away their authority and destroy their influence; the hypocrite, who professes to believe the Scriptures, but will not govern himself by them; and the apostate, who turns aside from Christ for a thing of naught. Thus mankind, supported by God's providence, after eating bread with Him, lift up the heel against Him! Judas went out as one weary of Jesus and his apostles. Those whose deeds are evil, love darkness rather than light. 13:31-35 Christ had been glorified in many miracles he wrought, yet he speaks of his being glorified now in his sufferings, as if that were more than all his other glories in his humbled state. Satisfaction was thereby made for the wrong done to God by the sin of man. We cannot now follow our Lord to his heavenly happiness, but if we truly believe in him, we shall follow him hereafter; meanwhile we must wait his time, and do his work. Before Christ left the disciples, he would give them a new commandment. They were to love each other for Christ's sake, and according to his example, seeking what might benefit others, and promoting the cause of the gospel, as one body, animated by one soul. But this commandment still appears new to many professors. Men in general notice any of Christ's words rather than these. By this it appears, that if the followers of Christ do not show love one to another, they give cause to suspect their sincerity. 13:36-38 What Christ had said concerning brotherly love, Peter overlooked, but spoke of that about which Christ kept them ignorant. It is common to be more eager to know about secret things, which belong to God only, than about things revealed, which belong to us and our children; to be more desirous to have our curiosity gratified, than our consciences directed; to know what is done in heaven, than what we may do to get thither. How soon discourse as to what is plain and edifying is dropped, while a doubtful dispute runs on into endless strife of words! We are apt to take it amiss to be told we cannot do this and the other, whereas, without Christ we can do nothing. Christ knows us better than we know ourselves, and has many ways of discovering those to themselves, whom he loves, and he will hide pride from them. May we endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to love one another with a pure heart fervently, and to walk humbly with our God.