John 13:1

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

1 Now ^abefore the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that ^bHis hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He ^cloved them to the end.

2 And¹ supper being ended, ^athe devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,

3 Jesus, knowing ^athat the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He ^bhad come from God and ^cwas going to God,

4 ^arose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does John 13:1 Mean?

During the evening of Nisan 14 Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover. After the meal Jesus washed His disciples' feet and introduced the symbols of bread and wine. His call to self-denial follows His prediction of sacrificial death and He serves as the supreme model by denying any urge to avenge Himself. At the end of His method of teaching by God in the flesh He revealed a major extent of His love by sacrificing His life for those following to the last and highest degree possible. He was going to leave the earth to go to heaven to be back with the Father.

John 13:1-17

Jesus teaches self-denial to His disciples not only with His words but also by His actions. Notice that His call to self-denial comes immediately after predicting His own sacrificial death. He is the supreme model of the self-denial to which He calls others. He even denies Himself any urge to avenge Himself or to threaten His persecutors for what they had done to Him. In Jesus' example, we see that, by committing ourselves to God who judges rightly, we deny ourselves the temptation of worldly lusts.

Martin G. Collins
Overcoming (Part 5): Self-Denial

John 13:1-5

During the evening of Nisan 14, Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover, commonly known as the "Last Supper." After the meal was served, Jesus rolled up His sleeves, as it were, tied a towel around His waist and washed His disciples' feet. Later in the evening, after He predicted that one of the disciples would betray Him (verses 21-26), Jesus introduced the symbols of bread and wine as part of the Passover service (Mark 14:18-24). Following this example, the church places the footwashing ritual first in the annual service.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Footwashing

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing John 13:1:**

Exodus 12:8
Leviticus 23:5
1 Corinthians 11:23-25
1 Peter 5:5

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