John 13 - CSB Study Bible for Women

13:1-30 Jesus’s strong sense of identity and mission moved Him to perform this extraordinary act of service. The washing of feet clad only with sandals and filthy from walking miles on dusty, dirty roads was a common practice for a host to offer to those who had been guests invited for a meal (v. 5). However, the slaves or lowest-ranking servants of the house were responsible for this mundane task. None of the disciples volunteered to do what needed to be done. Jesus dramatically assumed the posture of a servant, showing in vivid reality His own humility and setting the pattern for His disciples as they would minister to one another in His absence (v. 2).

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, He was met first with an emphatic refusal from the impetuous disciple: You will never wash my feet (Gk ou mē, a double negative construction that is, in Gk, grammatically emphatic: “absolutely never,” v. 8). Jesus replied, just as emphatically, that to be a partaker in the gospel, Peter must share this experience.

The only other mention of footwashing in the NT involved devout widows who were to offer hospitality and loving service to the saints, especially the poor (1Tm 5:10). Most evangelicals do not prescribe footwashing or pedilavium (Lat, “foot bath”) since the act is nowhere prescribed or commanded as an ordinance in the NT. Common observance in the early church was an act of hospitality and a way of expressing love and offering service to one another. Those who have experienced regeneration needed only to have cleansing from daily sins since regeneration was once and forever (Jn 13:10). John set Jesus’s ultimate act of love and service in stark contrast with Jesus’s prediction of Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial.

John’s use of veiled language would seem appropriate. Although reclining close beside Jesus (lit. “reclining on the bosom of Jesus”) would be a natural description of the one next to Jesus since customarily all reclined around a low table during meals, but certainly a person next to Jesus would have a place of honor and would enjoy more intimate conversation with Him.

Judas, a common name, was probably from Kerioth (Hb, “cities”), once a fortified city of Moab (Jr 48:24,41; Am 2:2), which would explain the descriptor Simon Iscariot’s son (vv. 2,26). As the keeper of the group’s money, John noted that Judas had stolen a portion for himself (12:5-6). Perhaps John used the transitional phrase it was night (v. 30) to underscore the spiritual darkness into which Judas was catapulting himself.

13:31-38 The new command was in contrast to the old (Lv 19:18; Lk 10:27) in the sense that Jesus introduced a new motive and dimension. “New” denotes a fresh and improved approach. Jesus used an affectionate vocative or familiar address, children (Gk teknia), to express His loving concern as He delivered an important admonition to His disciples (v. 33). Peter had genuine affection for Jesus (v. 37), but he was impetuous and impatient. Jesus knew that Peter was not yet ready to stand in the line of fire (v. 38).

Roosters were so reliable with their crowing that tradition says the Roman guards changed their shifts according to this reliable time indication, usually crowing at midnight and then at three in the morning. Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny Him three times before dawn.