It was just before the Passover feast. Jesus knew that his hour had come — the time for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them to the very end.[1]
2 They were having supper. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to hand him over. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God. 4 So he got up from the meal, laid aside his outer clothes, and wrapped a towel around himself.[2] 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered, “You don’t understand what I’m doing right now, but later you will.”
8 Peter said, “You will never wash my feet — ever.”
Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Simon Peter said, “Lord, then not just my feet, but my hands and my head too!”
10 Jesus said to him, “A person who has bathed only needs to wash his feet — he’s completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 He knew who was going to hand him over. That’s why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When he had washed their feet and put his outer clothes back on and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you understand what I’ve done for you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you’re right — that’s what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet too. 15 I’ve given you an example, so that you should do just as I did for you. 16 Amen, amen, I tell you: a slave is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you’re fortunate if you do them.
18 “I’m not talking about all of you. I know the ones I’ve chosen. But this is so the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘The one who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’[3] 19 I’m telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he. 20 Amen, amen, I tell you: whoever receives anyone I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
21 After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled in spirit. He spoke plainly: “Amen, amen, I tell you: one of you will hand me over.”
22 The disciples looked at each other, at a loss — who was he talking about? 23 One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining right next to him.[4] 24 Simon Peter motioned to him to ask who Jesus meant. 25 So that disciple leaned back against Jesus and said, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It’s the one I give this piece of bread to after I’ve dipped it.” He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son.[5] 27 And as soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
Jesus said to him, “What you’re going to do, do quickly.”
28 No one at the table understood why he said this to him. 29 Since Judas held the money bag, some thought Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.[6] 30 So after taking the piece of bread, Judas went out immediately. And it was night.
31 When he had gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and will glorify him right away. 33 Little children, I’m with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jews — ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’ — so now I say it to you.
34 “I’m giving you a new command: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples — if you have love for one another.”
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I’m going, you can’t follow me now — but you will follow later.”
37 Peter said, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Jesus answered, “You’ll lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I tell you: before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
Notes
Note 1. John places this supper before the festival proper, and later times the crucifixion to when the Passover lambs were being killed. That differs from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who present the meal itself as the Passover supper. The gap has been debated for centuries. ↩
Note 2. Washing a guest’s feet — grimy from unpaved roads and open sandals — was the task of the lowest-ranking household slave. ↩
Note 3. This quotes Psalm 41:9, where a trusted friend who shares the speaker’s bread turns on him. “Lifting the heel” is the image of betrayal by a table companion. Sharing food created a bond of loyalty. ↩
Note 4. The Greek says this disciple lay “in the bosom” (ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ) of Jesus. At a formal meal guests reclined on their left elbows around a low table; the one just in front of the host, able to lean back against his chest, held the place of honor. ↩
Note 5. Diners ate from a common dish, and the host could dip a morsel and hand it to a particular guest. Ruth 2:14 shows the same gesture at a shared meal. ↩
Note 6. The word here (γλωσσόκομον) originally meant a case for the mouthpieces of wind instruments, and came to mean any small box or purse. ↩