Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of John
Chapter 13: Love One Another; As I Have Loved You
John 13 opens the upper room, where Jesus, knowing His hour had come, 'having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.' Though He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, He rose from supper, laid aside His garments, girded Himself with a towel, and washed the disciples' feet, the task of the lowest servant, done by the Lord of glory. To protesting Peter He says, 'If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me,' and to them all, 'I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.' He reveals that one would betray Him, and gives the sop to Judas, who goes out into the night. Then, with the traitor gone, He speaks of His glory and gives 'a new commandment... That ye love one another; as I have loved you,' the badge of His disciples: 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' And He foretells Peter's threefold denial. The chapter shows us the humility of God stooping to serve, the love that loved to the end, and the new commandment that marks the people of Christ.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of John chapter 13. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus washes the disciples' feet, gives the example of humble love, identifies His betrayer, and gives the new commandment. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
He Washed Their Feet
The Lord of glory takes the servant's place to wash His own.
Do As I Have Done
He gives a pattern of lowly, loving service to one another.
It Was Night
Judas takes the sop and goes out into the darkness.
Love One Another
Love is the badge by which all men know His disciples.
I Have Given You an Example (John 13:1-17)
The Lord of glory rises from supper and washes His disciples' feet, giving the pattern of humble, cleansing love.
If I Wash Thee Not, Thou Hast No Part With Me
"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. And supper being ended, the devil having now 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 was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 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. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter 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 know 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 washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. 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? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 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. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
Word Study
"example," Greek hupodeigma (ὑπόδειγμα). The word means a pattern, a model, a sample set before others to be copied or imitated. "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." Jesus does not merely command service; He shows it, kneeling as the pattern His people are to reproduce. The washing of feet illustrates the whole shape of Christian love: humble, practical, lowly service of one another, refusing no task as beneath us because our Lord refused none. It also pictures cleansing, for as He washed their feet, so He washes His own from the defilements of daily walking through this world. The Lord and Master who stooped to the basin sets the abiding pattern: greatness among His people is the greatness of the servant.
Explanation
On the last night, "having loved his own... he loved them unto the end," Jesus rises from supper, girds Himself with a towel, and washes the disciples' feet -- the task of the lowest slave performed by the Lord of glory. It is a living parable of the incarnation and the cross: the One who "was come from God, and went to God" stoops to the dust to cleanse His own. Peter's protest -- "thou shalt never wash my feet" -- is answered by "if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," for we are cleansed only by letting Him serve us. Then He commands, "ye also ought to wash one another's feet," making His self-humbling the pattern of all Christian love.
Gospel Focus
John opens the upper room with a window into the heart of Christ: "having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end", to the uttermost, all the way to the cross. And into this scene of love comes a staggering act. "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God", precisely because He knew His full authority and divine origin, He "riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel," and washed His disciples' feet. This was the task of the lowest household slave, and no disciple had stooped to do it. The Lord of glory, conscious of His deity, takes the servant's place. Here is the humility of God made visible. Peter recoils: "Lord, dost thou wash my feet?" and then, "Thou shalt never wash my feet." But Jesus answers, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." There is a cleansing only Christ can give, and without it we have no share in Him; our pride must yield to be washed by His grace. Peter, ever impulsive, then wants a full bath, but Jesus distinguishes: "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." The one bathed by Christ is wholly clean, justified, needing only the daily washing of the feet, the cleansing from the defilements picked up in walking through the world. "And ye are clean, but not all", a shadow over Judas, who was never truly washed. Then Jesus draws out the lesson: "Ye call me Master and Lord... for so I am." He does not deny the titles; He owns them, and then adds, "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet." The One who is rightly called Lord commands His people to serve one another as He served them. "I have given you an example." Greatness in the kingdom is not being served but serving; the servant is not above his Lord, and if the Lord washed feet, no task of love is beneath His followers. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." The blessing is not merely in knowing but in doing; those who take up the towel and serve in humble love walk in the joy of their Master.
That Ye May Believe That I Am He (John 13:18-30)
Jesus foretells and identifies His betrayer, and Judas goes out into the night.
He Then Having Received the Sop Went Immediately Out: and It Was Night
"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. Now I tell you before it come, 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 spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? 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. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 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. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night."
Word Study
"I am he," Greek ego eimi (ἐγώ εἰμι). "That ye may believe that I am he." The Greek is simply ego eimi, "I AM", the very words God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, "I AM THAT I AM," and the name by which the LORD revealed Himself. Throughout John's Gospel Jesus takes this divine name to Himself. Here He tells the disciples of the betrayal beforehand so that, when it comes to pass, they may believe that He is the great "I AM," the LORD, who knows and declares the end from the beginning. His foreknowledge of the betrayal is proof of His deity: only God knows all things and foretells them. So even the dark hour of treachery becomes a testimony that Jesus is none other than the eternal I AM come in flesh.
Explanation
Jesus is "troubled in spirit" as He announces that one of the Twelve will betray Him, and identifies Judas by handing him the sop -- a final gesture of intimacy and appeal even to His betrayer. But Judas takes the morsel, Satan enters him, and he goes out: "and it was night." John's brief note is heavy with meaning -- the man who leaves the Light of the world steps into darkness. Jesus is not a victim caught off guard; He foretells the betrayal "that... ye may believe that I am he," sovereignly in command even of His own delivering up. The plot advances only because He permits it, for the hour has come.
Gospel Focus
Jesus turns to the shadow among them. He has chosen the twelve, yet one would betray Him, fulfilling the Scripture, "He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me", the treachery of a table-companion, foretold in the Psalms. Jesus tells them beforehand, "that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he." His foreknowledge is meant to strengthen their faith in His deity: He is the I AM who declares things before they happen. He affirms too the dignity of those He sends, "He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me", the same chain of union running through John: to receive Christ's messengers is to receive Christ, and to receive Christ is to receive the Father, for the Father is in Him. Then, "troubled in spirit," Jesus states it plainly: "one of you shall betray me." The disciples are bewildered, looking at one another. The beloved disciple, leaning on Jesus' breast, asks at Peter's prompting, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answers by giving the sop, a morsel dipped and handed as a gesture of honour and friendship, to Judas, a final appeal of love to the traitor's heart. But Judas is set in his course: "after the sop Satan entered into him." The man who would not be washed clean now opens fully to the enemy. Jesus says, "That thou doest, do quickly", not commanding the sin but releasing Judas to the path he has chosen, for the hour has come. The others do not understand, thinking Judas is sent on an errand. And then one of the most weighted lines in Scripture: "He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night." Judas passes from the light of Christ's presence into the outer darkness, and John's simple "it was night" is more than a note of time; it is the deepest night of a soul that turned from the Light of the world. The betrayer is revealed, love's last appeal is refused, and the machinery of the cross begins to turn, even as the Lord who foretold it all is proven to be the great I AM.
By This Shall All Men Know That Ye Are My Disciples (John 13:31-38)
Jesus gives the new commandment of love as the mark of His people, and foretells Peter's threefold denial.
A New Commandment I Give Unto You
"Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. 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. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 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. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice."
Word Study
"love," Greek agapao (ἀγαπάω). The word is the great New Testament word for love: not mere affection or attraction, but the deliberate, self-giving love that seeks the good of another, the love that God is and that God pours out on the unlovely. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you." The newness is not that love was never commanded, for the law said "love thy neighbour," but in the standard and the source: "as I have loved you." The measure of this love is Christ's own love, love unto the end, love to the washing of feet and the giving of His life. Such love is possible only because He first loved us and pours His love into our hearts. And this agape is the badge of discipleship, the visible mark by which the world knows we belong to Him.
Explanation
With Judas gone, Jesus speaks of His death as glory -- "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him" -- for the cross is the hour His true glory shines. He gives "a new commandment... That ye love one another; as I have loved you," and makes this love the badge of discipleship before the watching world: "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples." The love is measured by His own -- the towel and the cross. Then He foretells Peter's confident denial, tempering the disciples' self-assurance: even their best resolve will fail, and only His grace will restore them.
Gospel Focus
With Judas gone into the night and the cross now certain, Jesus speaks of glory: "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him." Strikingly, He calls the approaching cross His glorification, for in laying down His life He would most fully display the glory of God, the glory of self-giving love, and God would glorify Him in turn through the resurrection and exaltation, "and shall straightway glorify him." Then, tenderly calling them "Little children," He prepares them for His departure: "yet a little while I am with you... Whither I go, ye cannot come." He is going by way of death to the Father, where they cannot yet follow. And in the shadow of His leaving, He gives them the commandment that would bind them together and mark them out: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." The command to love was old, but its new measure is Christ's own love, the love that had just knelt at their feet and would soon hang on the cross. And this love is to be the identifying mark of His people: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Not their knowledge, their gifts, or their zeal, but their love for one another would be the badge the watching world could read. Then Peter, fixed on the departure, asks, "Lord, whither goest thou?" Jesus tells him he cannot follow now but "shalt follow me afterwards", a hint of Peter's own future path, even to martyrdom. But Peter, overconfident, protests, "I will lay down my life for thy sake." He means it, but he does not yet know his own weakness. Jesus answers with sorrowful knowledge: "The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice." The same Peter who boasts of dying for Christ will deny Him before dawn. Yet even this is spoken by the One who had prayed for Peter and would restore him, and who now gives His people, then and now, the new commandment that is the enduring mark of all who belong to Him: love one another as He has loved us.
Chapter 13 in Review
John 13 opens the upper room with the love of Christ for His own, whom "he loved... unto the end." Knowing His full authority and divine origin, He rose, girded Himself with a towel, and washed the disciples' feet, telling Peter, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," and giving them all an example: "ye also ought to wash one another's feet." He foretold and identified His betrayer, that they might believe "that I am he," and Judas, after the sop, "went immediately out: and it was night." Then, calling the cross His glorification, He gave "a new commandment... That ye love one another; as I have loved you," the badge of His disciples, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples." And He foretold Peter's threefold denial before the cock's crow.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter unveils the humility of God and the heart of discipleship. The Lord of glory, conscious that all things were in His hands, knelt to wash feet, showing that the God who came in flesh is a God who stoops to serve, and calling His people to the same lowly, practical love, taking no task as beneath us that love requires. The foot washing pictures too the cleansing only Christ can give: the one bathed by Him is wholly clean, needing only the daily washing from the defilements of the world. His foreknowledge of the betrayal is a testimony to His deity, for He is the great I AM who declares the end from the beginning. And the new commandment sets the mark of His people for all time: not merely to love, but to love as He loved, with the self-giving love that washed feet and went to the cross, the love that the world can see and by which it knows whose we are. Even Peter's coming denial is held within the love of the Christ who prayed for him and would restore him. So take up the towel and serve, be washed and kept clean by Christ, believe on the great I AM, and above all love one another as He has loved you, for this is the badge of the disciples of Jesus.
- The Lord of glory stoops to wash feet: the humility of God who serves (13:4-5).
- Only Christ's cleansing gives us a part with Him (13:8).
- He gives an example: serve one another in humble love (13:14-15).
- His foreknowledge of the betrayal proves He is the great I AM (13:19).
- The new commandment: love one another as He has loved us (13:34).
- Love is the badge by which all men know His disciples (13:35).
Questions for Reflection
- Will you let Christ wash you, humbling your pride to receive His cleansing?
- Do you take up the towel to serve others in lowly love?
- Is your love for fellow believers the measure Christ set, "as I have loved you"?
- Can others tell you are Christ's disciple by your love?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The humility of Christ in service: Philippians 2:5-8; Luke 22:27; Mark 10:43-45. Cleansing by Christ: Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5; 1 John 1:7-9. The betrayal foretold: Psalm 41:9; John 6:70-71; Acts 1:16. The divine name I AM: Exodus 3:14; John 8:24, 58; Isaiah 43:10. The new commandment of love: John 15:12-13; 1 John 3:16, 4:7-11; Romans 13:8-10. Peter's denial foretold: Luke 22:31-34; Matthew 26:33-35. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The washing of the disciples' feet: John 13:1-17; Philippians 2:5-8; Luke 22:27.
- The betrayer revealed: John 13:18-30; Psalm 41:9; John 8:58.
- The new commandment and Peter's denial foretold: John 13:31-38; 1 John 3:16; Luke 22:31-34.