We now enter upon the second main division of the Gospel. The Evangelist has given us thus far a narrative of Christ's Ministry presented to us in a series of typical scenes (John 1:18 to John 12:50). He goes on to set forth the Issues of Christ's Ministry (John 13:13-20). The last chapter (John 13:... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now before the feast of the passover_ These words give a date not to any one word in the verse, whether -knew" or -having loved" or -loved," but to the narrative which follows. Their most natural meaning is that some evening before the Passover Jesus was at supper with His disciples. This was proba... [ Continue Reading ]
_supper being ended_ There are two readings here, but neither of them means -being ended," moreover the supper is not ended (John 13:26). The common reading would mean -supper having begun," and the better reading, -when supper was at hand," or, -when supper was beginning." "It was the custom for sl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus knowing_ The Greek is the same as of -when Jesus knew" in John 13:1, and may have either of the two meanings given there. Here also -because He knew" is better. _given all things_ Comp. Ephesians 1:22; Philippians 2:9-11. _and went to God_ Better, _and_ IS GOING _to God_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He riseth from supper_, &c. Or, _from_ THE _supper:_the article perhaps marks the supper as no ordinary one. "This is the realism of history indeed.… The carefulness with which here, as in the account of the cleansing of the temple, the successive stages in the action are described, proclaim the ey... [ Continue Reading ]
_into a bason_ Better, _into_ THE _bason_, which stood there for such purposes, the large copper bason commonly found in oriental houses. _began to wash_ Began is not a mere amplification as in the other Gospels (Matthew 11:7; Matthew 26:22; Matthew 26:37; Matthew 26:74; Mark 4:1; Mark 6:2; Mark 6:7... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cometh he_ Better, _He cometh_therefore, i.e. in consequence of having begun to wash the feet of each in turn. The natural impression is that S. Peter's turn at any rate did not come first. But if it did, this is not much in favour of the primacy of S. Peter, which can be proved from other pas... [ Continue Reading ]
_What I do thou knowest not_ Here both pronouns are emphatic and are opposed. Peter's question implied that he knew, while Christ did not know, what He was doing: Christ tells him that the very reverse of this is the fact. On -now" see note on John 16:31. _hereafter_ Literally, _after these things_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt never wash my feet_ The negative is the strongest form possible; -thou shalt certainly not wash my feet for ever." See on John 8:51, and comp. Matthew 16:22. _no part with me_ The Greek is the same as in Matthew 24:51 and Luke 12:46. The expression is of Hebrew origin; comp. Deuteronomy... [ Continue Reading ]
_not my feet only_ The impetuosity which is so marked a characteristic of S. Peter in the first three Gospels (comp. especially Luke 5:8 and Matthew 16:22), comes out very strongly in his three utterances here. It is incredible that this should be deliberate invention; and if not, the independent au... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that is washed_ Rather, _He that is_ BATHED (comp. Hebrews 10:22 and 2 Peter 2:22). In the Greek we have quite a different word from the one rendered -wash" elsewhere in these verses: the latter means to wash part of the body, this to bathe the whole person. A man who has bathed does not need to... [ Continue Reading ]
_who should betray him_ Or, _him that was betraying Him_. The Greek construction is exactly equivalent to that of -He that should come" (Matthew 11:3; Luke 7:19); in both cases it is the present participle with the definite article -the betraying one," -the coming one." _therefore_ Or, FOR THIS CAU... [ Continue Reading ]
_was set down_ The Greek verb occurs frequently in the Gospels (and nowhere else in N.T.) of reclining at meals. It always implies a _change_of position (see on John 13:25, and comp. John 6:10; John 21:20; Matthew 15:35; Mark 6:40: Luke 11:37). _Know ye_ -Do ye recognise the meaning of it?" (see on... [ Continue Reading ]
_Master and Lord_ Or, THE _Master_(_Teacher) and_ THE _Lord_. These are the ordinary titles of respect paid to a Rabbi: -Lord" is the correlative of -servant," so that -Master" might be a synonym for that also; but the disciples would no doubt use the word with deeper meaning as their knowledge of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_your Lord and Master, have washed_ Rather, THE _Lord and_the _Master_, WASHED. For the construction comp. John 15:20 and John 18:23. _ye also ought to wash one another's feet_ The custom of -the feet washing" on Maundy Thursday in literal fulfilment of this typical commandment is not older than th... [ Continue Reading ]
_as I have done to you_ Not, - _what_I have done to you," but - EVEN AS I have done:" this is the spirit in which to act self-sacrificing humility whether or no it be exhibited precisely in this way. Mutual service, and especially mutual cleansing, is the obligation of Christ's disciples. Comp. Jame... [ Continue Reading ]
_The servant is not greater than his lord_ This SAYING occurs four times in the Gospels, each time in a different connexion: (1) to shew that the disciples must expect no better treatment than their Master (Matthew 10:24); (2) to impress the Apostles with their responsibilities as teachers, for thei... [ Continue Reading ]
_happy are ye if ye do them_ Better, BLESSED _are ye_, &c. It is the same Greek word as is used in John 20:29 and in the Beatitudes both in S. Matthew and in S. Luke. Comp. Luke 11:28; Luke 12:43; Matthew 7:21; Revelation 1:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I speak not of you all_ There is one who knows these things, and does not do them, and is the very reverse of blessed. _I know whom I have chosen_ The first -I" is emphatic: - _I_know the character of the Twelve whom I CHOSE; the treachery of one has been foretold; it is no surprise to Me." Comp.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now_ Better, as the margin, FROM HENCEFORTH (comp. John 1:51; John 14:7; Revelation 14:13). Hitherto Christ had been reserved about the presence of a traitor; to point him out would have been to make him desperate and deprive him of a chance of recovery. But every good influence has failed, even th... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that receiveth_, &c. The connexion of this saying, solemnly introduced with the double -verily," with what precedes is not easy to determine. The saying is one with which Christ had sent forth the Apostles in the first instance (Matthew 10:40). It is recalled at the moment when one of them is be... [ Continue Reading ]
The self-excommunication of the traitor 21. _he was troubled in spirit_ Once more the reality of Christ's human nature is brought before us (comp. John 11:33; John 11:35; John 11:38; John 12:27); but quite incidentally and without special point. It is the artless story of one who tells what he saw... [ Continue Reading ]
_looked one on another_ -Began to enquire among themselves" (Luke 22:23). The other two Evangelists say that all began to say to Him -Is it I?" They neither doubt the statement, nor ask -Is it _he?_" Each thinks it is as credible of himself as of any of the others. Judas asks, either to dissemble, o... [ Continue Reading ]
_there was leaning on Jesus" bosom_ Better, _there was_ RECLINING ON JESUS" LAP. It is important to mark the distinction between this and the words rendered -lying on Jesus" breast" in John 13:25. The Jews had adopted the Persian, Greek, and Roman custom of reclining at meals, and had long since exc... [ Continue Reading ]
_that he should ask … spake_ The better reading gives, AND SAITH TO HIM, SAY WHO IT IS OF WHOM HE SPEAKETH. S. Peter thinks that the beloved disciple is sure to know. The received reading, besides being wanting in authority, contains an optative mood, which S. John never uses.... [ Continue Reading ]
_lying on Jesus" breast_ Our version does well in using different words from those used in John 13:23, but the distinction used is inadequate. Moreover the same preposition, -on," is used in both cases; in the Greek the prepositions differ also. In John 13:23 we have the permanent posture; here a ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it_ The text here is uncertain, but there is no doubt as to the meaning. Perhaps the better reading is, FOR WHOM I SHALL DIP THE MORSEL AND GIVE IT TO HIM. Copyists have possibly tried to correct the awkwardness of -for whom" and -to him." In any case... [ Continue Reading ]
_Satan entered into him_ Literally, AT THAT MOMENT _Satan entered into him_. At first Satan made suggestions to him (John 13:2) and Judas listened to them; now Satan takes full possession of him. Desire had conceived and brought forth sin, and the sin full grown had engendered death (James 1:15). Sa... [ Continue Reading ]
_no man … knew_ Even S. John, who now knew that Judas was the traitor, did not know that he would act at once, and that it was to this Jesus alluded.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For some of them_ Shewing that they could not have understood. _had the bag_ See on John 12:6. _against the feast_ This agrees with John 13:1, that this meal precedes the Passover. _to the poor_ Comp. John 12:5; Nehemiah 8:10; Nehemiah 8:12; Galatians 2:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He then having received the sop_ Better, _He_ THEREFORE _having received the_ MORSEL. The pronoun here and in John 13:27 (_ekeinos_) indicates that Judas is an alien. Comp. John 7:11; John 9:12; John 9:28. The last two verses are a parenthetical remark of the Evangelist; he now returns to the narra... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore, when he was gone out_ Indicating that the presence of Judas had acted as a constraint, but also that he had gone of his own will: there was no casting out of the faithless disciple (John 9:34). _Now_ With solemn exultation: the beginning of the end has come. _the Son of man_ See on Joh... [ Continue Reading ]
John 13:31 TO JOHN 15:27. Christ's Love in keeping His own 31 35. Jesus, freed from the oppressive presence of the traitor, bursts out into a declaration that the glorification of the Son of Man has begun. Judas is already beginning that series of events which will end in sending Him away from them... [ Continue Reading ]
_If God be glorified in him_ These words are omitted in the best MSS., and though they might easily be left out accidentally owing to the repetition, yet they spoil the balance and rhythm of the clauses. _God shall also glorify him_ Better, AND _God shall glorify Him_. This refers to the heavenly g... [ Continue Reading ]
_Little children_ Nowhere else in the Gospels does Christ use this expression of tender affection (_teknia_), which springs from the thought of His orphaned disciples. S. John appears never to have forgotten it. It occurs frequently in his First Epistle (1 John 2:1; 1 John 2:12; 1 John 2:28; John 3:... [ Continue Reading ]
_A new commandment_ The commandment to love was not new, for -thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Leviticus 19:18) was part of the Mosaic Law. But the motive is new; to love our neighbour because Christ has loved us. We have only to read the -most excellent way" of love set forth in 1 Corinth... [ Continue Reading ]
_By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples_ This is the true -Note of the Church;" not miracles, not formularies, not numbers, but _love_. "The working of such love puts a brand upon us; for see, say the heathen, how they love another," Tertullian, _Apol._xxxix. Comp. 1 John 3:10; 1 John 3... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord, whither goest thou?_ The affectionate Apostle is absorbed by the declaration -Whither I go, ye cannot come," and he lets all the rest pass. His Master is going away out of his reach; he must know the meaning of that. _thou shalt follow me afterwards_ Alluding probably not merely to the Apost... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will lay down my life_ St Peter seems to see that Christ's going away means death. With his usual impulsiveness (see on John 13:9) he declares that he is ready to follow AT ONCE even thither. He mistakes strong feeling for moral strength. On the phrase -lay down my life" see last note on John 10:... [ Continue Reading ]
_I say unto thee_ In the parallel passage in S. Luke (Luke 22:34) Christ for the first and only time addresses the Apostle by the name which He had given him, -I tell thee, _Peter_;" as if He would remind him that the rock-like strength of character was not his own to boast of, but must be found in... [ Continue Reading ]