CHAPTER 13

(A.D. 33)

THE LAST PASSOVER

¹Now before the Feast of the Passover (refers to the preparation day of the Passover, our Tuesday sunset to Wednesday sunset, with Wednesday being the day of the Crucifixion), when Jesus knew that His hour was come (refers to the Crucifixion, which was the purpose for which He came) that He should depart out of this world unto the Father (refers to the Resurrection and the Ascension), having loved His Own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end (presents not so much an expression of time as of degree).

²And supper being ended (actually refers to the preparation for the Supper being ended, not the Supper itself; it was just beginning), the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simons son, to betray Him (a short time before Satan did this thing);

HUMILITY

³Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His Hands (portrays two things in His Heart as He girded Himself, His conscious Deity and the heartless conduct of Judas), and that He was come from God, and went to God (was something that He knew, at least from the time that He was twelve years old);

⁴He rose from supper (He rose from the table when the preparation had been completed), and laid aside His garments (physically, His outer robe; spiritually, He laid aside the expression of His Deity, while never losing the possession of His Deity); and took a towel (refers to the action of the lowliest slave or servant in a household; it represents the servant spirit possessed by Christ), and girded Himself (wrapped Himself in the towel; spiritually speaking, it refers to His Human Body provided for Him by the Father [Heb. 10:5] in order to serve as a Sacrifice on the Cross for sin).

⁵After that He poured water into a basin (spiritually, it referred to the Holy Spirit, which would pour from Him like a River [7:38-39]), and began to wash the Disciples feet (presenting the servant principle which we are to follow, but even more particularly the cleansing guaranteed by the Holy Spirit concerning our daily walk, which comes about according to our Faith in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross), and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded (refers to the Incarnation, which made possible His Death on Calvary that atoned for all sin and made cleansing possible for the human race).

PETERS RESPONSE

⁶Then cometh He to Simon Peter (seems to indicate it was Peter to whom He first approached): and Peter said unto him, Lord, do you wash my feet? (The flesh cannot understand spiritual realities; it is too backward or too forward, too courageous or too cowardly; it is incapable of ever being right, and it is impossible to improve, consequently, it must die.)

⁷Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do you know not now; but you shall know hereafter (when Peter was filled with the Spirit, which he was on the Day of Pentecost).

⁸Peter said unto Him, You shall never wash my feet (the Greek Text actually says, Not while eternity lasts; Calvin said, With God, obedience is better than worship). Jesus answered him, If I wash you not, you have no part with Me (the statement as rendered by Christ speaks to the constant cleansing needed regarding our everyday walk before the Lord, which the washing of the feet [our walk], at least in part, represented).

⁹Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head (Chrysostom said, In his deprecation he was vehement, and his yielding more vehement, but both came from his love).

¹⁰Jesus said to him, he who is washed needs not save to wash his feet (as stated, pertains to our daily walk before God, which means that the Believer doesnt have to get Saved over and over again; the head refers to our Salvation, meaning that we do not have to be repeatedly Saved, while the hands refer to our doing, signifying that this doesnt need to be washed because Christ has already done what needs to be done; all of this is in the spiritual sense), but is clean every whit (refers to Salvation, and pertains to the Precious Blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin; the infinite Sacrifice needs no repetition): and you are clean, but not all (refers to all the Disciples being Saved with one exception, which was Judas).

¹¹For He knew who should betray Him (portrays Him knowing this quite some time earlier); therefore said He, You are not all clean (actually presents Jesus making another appeal to Judas).

¹²So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His Garments, and was set down again (now He is their Teacher and Lord), He said unto them, Do you know what I have done to you? (Reynolds said, There was no affectation [pretense] of humility about it; the purpose of the Lord was distinctly practical and ethical.)

¹³Ye call Me Master and Lord (presents a double title which was not given except to the most accredited teachers): and you say well; for so I am (He is also telling them that, even though He has washed their feet, in no way does this diminish His position as the Lord God of Glory; we will not be diminished by such activity either, but rather exalted).

¹⁴If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet (speaks of and proclaims the example set); you also ought to wash one anothers feet (is not meant to be taken literally, but is to serve as an example of the Servant Principle).

¹⁵For I have given you an example (meaning that foot washing is not meant to be a Church Ordinance, such as the Lords Supper, etc.), that you should do as I have done to you (were it mere ceremony, they would have instantly known what He was doing).

¹⁶Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord (Jesus, Who is Lord, has set the example that we must follow); neither he who is sent greater than He who sends him (He must ever increase, as we must ever decrease).

¹⁷If ye know these things, happy are you if you do them (knowing and doing are often perilously divorced).

JUDAS

¹⁸I speak not of you all (we are about to be presented with another attempt to bring Judas back from the crumbling edge, but sadly without success): I know whom I have chosen (the Holy Spirit told Him whom to choose as His Personal Disciples): but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me (in effect, He is saying, I am the Person spoken of in Ps. 41:9).

¹⁹Now I tell you before it come (proclaims Him knowing exactly what is going to happen, at least according to what the Scripture has foretold), that, when it is come to pass, you may believe that I am He (once again, proclaims Himself as being the One spoken of in Ps. 41:9).

²⁰Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who receives whomsoever I send receives Me (in effect, says that we might be hated and betrayed as He the Master was, yet like Him our mission is Divine); and he who receives Me receives Him Who sent Me (proclaims the fact that acceptance or rejection reaches all the way to the Throne of God).

²¹When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit (proclaims a strong expression used of the sorrows of Christ), and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me (proclaims Jesus saying plainly that which He had previously hinted).

²²Then the Disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spoke (Judas was not suspected, showing that his actions of the past had not been those of treachery).

²³Now there was leaning on Jesus bosom one of His Disciples (presents the manner in which they then reclined when dining; meals were then much more formal than now), whom Jesus loved (pertains to John the Beloved who wrote this Gospel).

²⁴Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him (to John), that he should ask who it should be of whom He spoke (refers to Peter sitting far enough away from Jesus that he could not whisper to Him personally, so that others would not hear and would, therefore, ask John to do so for him).

²⁵He then lying on Jesus breast said unto Him, Lord, who is it? (This proclaims none suspecting Judas.)

²⁶Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it (in its normal sense, this was a mark of honor for the guest who received it; it was another appeal to Judas). And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon (Verse 21 records Jesus appealing to the conscience of Judas, and now appealing to his heart, all to no avail!).

²⁷And after the sop Satan entered into him (he yielded to Satan). Then said Jesus unto him, That you do, do quickly (it was quickly done, but the results were not quickly done, as such results are never quickly done).

²⁸Now no man at the table knew for what intent He spoke this unto him (the remaining Eleven little knew, it seems, what was actually happening).

²⁹For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag (Judas was the treasurer of the group), 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 (it seems they gave to the poor quite regularly).

³⁰He then having received the sop went immediately out (this means that Judas was not present when Jesus gave His discourse as given in the next four Chapters, which immediately followed the Supper): and it was night (dark as was the night upon Judas head, there was a blacker night in his heart; all was darkness in his soul).

A NEW COMMANDMENT

³¹Therefore, when he was gone out (refers to the fact that Jesus could not give His discourse to the Disciples, which now follows, until the traitor had left), Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man Glorified, and God is Glorified in Him (Christ Glorified God in Death, and God Glorified Him in Resurrection).

³²If God be Glorified in Him (refers to the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ as the Second Man, i.e., Last Adam), God shall also Glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway (immediately) Glorify Him (the Son of Man was Glorified on the Cross in a much more admirable way than He will be by the Millennial Glories attaching to that title; for on the Cross as the Son of Man, He displayed all the Moral Glory of God).

³³Little children, yet a little while I am with you (He would only be with them for about another forty-four days before the Ascension). You shall seek Me (simply made reference to the fact that He would be gone): and as I said unto the Jews, Where I go, you cannot come (referring to Heaven, at least at that particular moment); so now I say to you (presents an entirely different statement than that given to the faithless Jews).

³⁴A new Commandment I give unto you, That you love one another (is beyond the Old Commandment in Lev. 19:18, you shall love your neighbor as yourself); as I have loved you, that you also love one another (in effect, He is saying, I have loved each of you unto death; and in loving one another you are loving Me; you are loving an Object of My tender Love).

³⁵By this shall all men know that you are My Disciples (not only proclaims this Love as the foundation of the New Covenant, but, as well, proclaims it as the basis for recognition that one is truly in the New Covenant), if you have love one to another (this type of Love is the God-Kind of Love, and is impossible for anyone to have without accepting Christ as ones Saviour; as well, Love and the Cross are indivisible).

DENIAL

³⁶Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, where are you going? (As stated, the Disciples had no idea as to what Jesus was saying regarding His departure.)Jesus answered him, Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow Me afterwards (He assures them that where He is going, they would follow later, which they did!).

³⁷Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow You now? (Their immaturity was so obvious at this time, but would change after the Day of Pentecost.)I will lay down my life for Your sake (Peter thought himself ready to die for His Lord, before His Lord had died for him).

³⁸Jesus answered him, Will you lay down your life for My sake? (This is a question that does not really expect an answer, because the answer was already known.)Verily, verily, I say unto you, The rooster shall not crow, till you have denied Me thrice (proclaims a coming terrible moment in the life of Peter, and one which was the very opposite of what he was claiming).