arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
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John 13:4-6 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God, arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
Parallel Translations
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arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist.
Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
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he rose from supper and layde a syde his vpper garmentes and toke a towell and gyrd him selfe.
After that poured he water into a basyn and beganne to wash his disciples fete and to wype them with the towell wherwith he was gyrde.
Then came he to Simon Peter. And Peter sayde to him: Lorde shalt thou wesshe my fete?
Show all 3 translations
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He riseth from supper, and layeth aside his vpper garments, and tooke a towel, and girded himselfe.
After that, hee powred water into a basen, and began to wash the disciples feete, and to wipe them with the towell, wherewith he was girded.
Then came he to Simon Peter, who sayd to him, Lord, doest thou wash my feete?
Cross-references (35)
- Luke 7:44 (v5) Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she…
- Psalms 51:2 (v5) Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 (v4) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty…
- 1 Timothy 5:10 (v5) being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet,…
- Genesis 18:4 (v5) Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
Show all 35 cross-references
- Genesis 19:2 (v5) and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go…
- Luke 22:27 (v4) For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn’t it he who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
- Luke 12:37 (v4) Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you that he will dress himself, make them…
- Philippians 2:6-8 (v4) who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a…
- Leviticus 14:8 (v5) “He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that…
- 1 Samuel 25:41 (v5) She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, “Behold, your servant is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of…
- 2 Kings 3:11 (v5) But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?” One of the king of Israel’s servants…
- Acts 22:16 (v5) Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 (v5) Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the…
- Ephesians 5:26 (v5) that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
- Titus 3:3-5 (v5) For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating…
- Hebrews 10:22 (v5) let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed…
- Revelation 7:14 (v5) I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.They washed their robes, and made them…
- 2 Kings 5:10-13 (v5) Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be…
- Ezekiel 36:25 (v5) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.
- Zechariah 13:1 (v5) “In that day there will be a spring opened to David’s house and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
- Luke 7:38 (v5) Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his…
- Luke 17:7 (v4) But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say when he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and…
- John 13:12-14 (v5) So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?…
- John 19:34 (v5) However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
- 1 John 1:7 (v5) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses…
- 1 John 5:6 (v5) This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and the blood. It is the Spirit who…
- Exodus 29:4 (v5) You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water.
- Isaiah 1:16 (v5) Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.
- Matthew 3:11-14 (v6) I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will…
- John 1:27 (v6) He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.”
- Revelation 1:5 (v5) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and…
- Luke 5:8 (v6) But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
- John 13:8 (v5) Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
- John 13:10 (v5) Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. And layeth aside his garments. The meaning is,…
4. And layeth aside his garments. The meaning is, that he laid aside his upper garment, not his coat; for we know that the inhabitants of Eastern countries wore long garments
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 In that he is said to rise, it argueth…
In that he is said to rise, it argueth that there was a space between the ceremonies of the Passover, and this washing of feet, at what time it seemeth that the Supper was instituted.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his…
4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Ver. 4. He riseth from supper] So the rite of the Paschal supper required; as Beza showeth in his annotations upon Mat 26:20.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4–6 He riseth from supper. What supper? Is the question.…
He riseth from supper. What supper? Is the question. We are told, that the Jews had two suppers upon the paschal night, which was the 14th day of the month Nisan. The first was the passover supper, which was a religious rite in obedience to the law. The second, a common supper (as on other nights); to which our Saviour added a third, which was the Lord’s supper. To me it seemeth rather that their common supper was first, then the passover supper; and that Christ arose from this common supper to do this act. Augustine understood it of the common supper; so doth Beza, Heinsius, Tarnovius, and others; which seemeth to me most probable, though others understand it of the passover supper. Whatever supper the evangelist meaneth, Christ rose up from it before it was done. Calvin, Pareus, Beza, Petargus, Tossanus, and divers others amongst the protestant interpreters; Tolet, Maldonate, and Jansenius, amongst the papists; do agree a common supper this night, besides the paschal supper, and the Lord’s supper: from which it is most probable that Christ, as is here said, rose up, and laid aside his garment; that is, his outward loose garment, (for such they used), which servants were wont to gird up when they waited at table, Luk 17:8; Christ laid one aside, and girdling up the other, takes a towel.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Observe here, The admirable humility and great self-denial of…
Observe here, The admirable humility and great self-denial of our Lord and Master: he arises from supper, whilst his disciples sat still, and he that came in the form of a servant, performs all the offices of the meanest servant to his disciples; he lays aside his upper garments, he girds himself with a towel, pours water into a basin, and begins to wash and wipe their feet, which lay out behind them, as they leaned at the table, all which was a most servile employment.
Learn hence, That the wonderful humility of Jesus Christ inclined him to do he meanest office of service unto his people, even to become a servant to them in the day of his humiliation; and though now glorified in heaven, he retains the same compassionate heart towards them, as when here on earth; hereby instructing us, that it is our duty, in whatever station Providence shall place us in the world, to stoop to the lowest offices of love and service towards our fellow brethren.
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Lord! thou hast left the most amzing instance of self-denial for our encouragement and example.
Question. But how far doth this example bind us?
Answer. It does not oblige to the individual act, but to follow the reason of the example; that is, after Christ’s example, we ought to be ready to perform the lowest and meanest offices of love and service to one another.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–6 He riseth from supper,.... In the midst of the…
He riseth from supper,.... In the midst of the entertainment, and which no doubt was considerable, his mind being intent on something else; and it being his meat and drink to do his Father's will, he rises and leaves his disciples sitting to finish their meal; and whilst they were murmuring at the waste of the ointment poured on his head, and were filled with indignation at it, as they all of them were, see Mat 26:8; he rises up to wash their feet; amazing patience and humility!
And laid aside his garments; not all his garments, only his upper ones, that he might better dispatch the business he was going about; and which was an emblem of his laying aside, as it were for a while, his glory and dignity as the Son of God, and of his appearing in the form of a servant.
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And took a towel; or "linen cloth", the same with in the Jerusalem Talmud (r):
and girded himself; with the towel, or linen cloth, which served both for a girdle, and after he had washed his disciples' feet, to wipe them with. This was a servile habit; so servants used to stand at the feet of their masters, girt about with a linen cloth (s); and shows, that the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.
(r) Sabbat, fol. 3. 1. & 12. 1. (s) Suetonius in Caligula, c. 26.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4–5 Layeth aside his garments - That part of them…
Layeth aside his garments - That part of them which would have hindered him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Verse 4. He riseth from supper] Not from eating,…
Verse 4. He riseth from supper] Not from eating, as Bishop Pearce has well observed, but from his place at table; probably the dishes were not as yet laid down, though the guests were seated. According to the custom of the Jews and other Asiatics, this washing must have taken place before the supper. See Clarke on Joh 13:2.
Laid aside his garments] That is, his gown or upper coat, with the girdle wherewith it was girded close to his tunic or under coat; and, instead of this girdle, he tied a towel about him:
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1. that he might appear in the character of a servant; and
2. that he might have it in readiness to dry their feet after he had washed them.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4–6 He riseth from supper - Evidently while they were…
He riseth from supper - Evidently while they were eating. See Joh 13:2.
Laid aside his garments - His outer garment. See the notes at Mat 5:40. This was his mantle or robe, which is said to have been without seam. It was customary to lay this aside when they worked or ran, or in the heat of summer.
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Took a towel and girded himself - This was the manner of a servant or slave. See the notes at Luk 17:8.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv4–6 He riseth from supper; that is, after supper was…
He riseth from supper; that is, after supper was done, or ended, as it is here said, (ver. 2. and 1 Corinthians xi. 25.) girded himself like a servant, to wash and wipe the feet of his apostles. (Witham) --- If we compare the text of the four evangelists, it will appear that the washing of the feet preceded the institution of the blessed Eucharist, of which St. John is silent. (Bible de Vence)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–6 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments--outer…
He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments--outer garments which would have impeded the operation of washing.
and took a towel and girded himself--assuming a servant's dress.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. Riseth from supper—Interrupts the meal to interpose the…
4. Riseth from supper—Interrupts the meal to interpose the lesson.
Laid aside his garments—His outside raiment, in order to perform his task without impediment.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 4. He riseth from supper, &c.] Or, from the…
4. 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 eye-witness.” S. p. 216. One is unwilling to surrender the view that this symbolical act was intended among other purposes to be a tacit rebuke to the disciples for the ‘strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest’ (Luk_22:24); and certainly ‘I am among you as he that serveth’ (Joh_13:27) seems to point directly to this act. This view seems all the more probable when we remember that a similar dispute was rebuked in a similar way, viz. by symbolical action (Luk_9:46-48). The dispute may have arisen about their places at the table. That S. Luke places the strife after the supper is not fatal to this view; he gives no note of time, and the strife is singularly out of place there, immediately after their Master’s self-humiliation and in the midst of the last farewells. We may therefore believe, in spite of S. Luke’s arrangement, that the strife preceded the supper. “One thing is clear, that S. John, if he had read S. Luke’s Gospel at this point, has not copied or followed it. He proceeds with the same peculiar independence which we have noticed in him all through.” S. p. 215.
his garments] Or, His upper garments, which would impede His movements.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4–6 (4) He riseth from supper, and laid aside’ his…
(4) He riseth from supper, and laid aside’ his garments.—Comp. Notes on Luke 22 et seq. We there read of “a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest.” It is placed by St. Luke after the Supper; but our Lord’s words, “I am among you as he that serveth,” point almost certainly to a connection with this parabolic act. There had been, we may well think, some self-assertion in acts or omissions, which He by His act rebukes. They may have claimed, each above his brother, the place of honour at the table, or it may be that no one had offered the customary refreshment of water for the feet, before sitting down to meat (Luk_7:44). “We cannot say what was the immediate cause which suggested His act, but if we attempt to realise the whole scene, we must believe that there was in the disciples themselves some such cause. The garment laid aside would be the outer garment, which would impede His action, leaving the tunic, which was the ordinary dress of a servant.
And took a towel, and girded himself.—This was itself a mark of the servant’s position, and was meant to signify His assumption of the servant’s work. The successive minute details of this picture carry with them their own authenticity.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Commentators differ as to the motive which induced our…
Commentators differ as to the motive which induced our Lord to perform this menial act, to adopt the gesture, girding, and duties of the doulov , to divest himself of his imatia or upper garments, and to appear and veritably to act as a slave. Strauss regards it as a mythical representation of one of our Lord"s discourses on humility. Lange, with much pertinence, believes it to correspond to the pain, which he manifested, at the very last Supper, with the unseemly contest for preeminence among the apostles. (cf. Luk_22:27, "Whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? I am among you as he that serveth Others, like Meyer, see no such reference, and require the presence of no such motive. It is remarkable that at such a season this dispute could have arisen at all. I-laving undoubtedly broken out on more than one occasion, our Lord chose the midst of this feast, when we learn from other sources there was such an outbreak, for this emphatic revelation of the royalty of service. Wunsche ("Erl.," p. 550) says that both "before" and "alter" the Passover festival it was customary, in order to demonstrate the equality and liberty of the guests, to practice mutual interchanges of the ordinary menial service of hand-washing ("Pesachin," fol. 108). In this verse every sentence is a distinct picture. He riseth from the supper, and layeth down his upper garments, and when he had taken a towel, he girded himself (Edersheim and Wunsche both give proof that the Talmud repeatedly Grecizes the word here rendered "towel," lention , "linen cloth," by the word lentith or alen-tith) after the fashion of the humblest slave; then he poureth water into the washing-basin (nipthra), the article of furniture in the room ("Nihil ministerii omittit," says Grotius. Thus he discharges every part of the duty, while the disciples wonder at the new revelation). And he began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Westcott refers to the rabbinic commentators on Eze_16:9, Among men, the slave washes his master, but with God it is not so." So then the inversion of all human social relations forced on John"s mind the deep truth that we are here face to face with the Divine with the Divine-human. John here strains his words to give some conception of what passed in his own mind when he saw our Lord"s face, and witnessed this great revelation of his character. Though this evangelist did not record the Transfiguration," there were moments in Christ"s history which produced a still pro-founder impression upon him, and in which he veritably saw the glory of the Only Begotten of God in his Master"s form. On this occasion the highest conception of his Divine Personality, origin, and destiny, was blended with the deepest descent of the Lord"s entire humanity to the level of weakness, pollution, and sin. The greatest manifestation of God was in the revelation of the exceeding limits, the infinite depth, which love could compass. We may see a little farther on what were the special steps our Lord took to give this sense of love to the uttermost" on the part of him to whom all the universe had been entrusted, who had come from, and was going back to, the Father.
Vers. 4-11. The washing of the disciples" feet.
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This affecting incident occurred immediately after the controversy among the "disciples as to which of them should be accounted greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Luke 22).
I JESUS TAKES THE FORM OF A SERVANT. He washed the feet of his disciples, though it had been more their place to wash the feet of their Master.
1. His humility led him to stoop to the most menial offices in the day of his humiliation.
2. He has thus consecrated the most menial duties and offices of life for us, that we should not in our pride decline to discharge them.
3. His example does not bind us to do his very act for the custom was Oriental in its origin and meaning but to carry the spirit of his act into all our relations with brethren.
II PETER"S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT THE OFFERED SERVICE. "Lord, dost thou wash my feet?" The question originates:
1. In the apostle"s humility and reverence, for he feels that it is an inversion of all proper relations for Jesus to do this service to his disciples. He felt himself unworthy of our Lord and of his love.
2. In the apostle"s ignorance. He does not understand the symbolic meaning of the act. Therefore our Lord says, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." These words imply
(1) that there is always in our Lord"s acts much that we cannot understand;
(2) that our want of understanding does not neutralize the efficacy of our Lord"s act;
(3) that the want of understanding specially manifests itself in these acts of our Lord which affect ourselves;
(4) that our want of knowledge ought not to shake our faith in him;
(5) that there will come a time of revelation. The "hereafter" may be soon or late, but it will surely come.
III SEPARATION FROM CHRIST IS INVOLVED IN THE WANT OF SURRENDER TO RIM. "Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
1. There was a spirit of self-will in the apostles words. "Thou shalt not wash my feet." Our Lord"s words reprove Pear"s opinionativeness.
2. The first condition of true discipleship is self-surrender. The apostle is too impulsive to await the further knowledge in store for him.
3. Yet observe his sudden apprehension of our Lords true meaning. Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head." The revulsion of feeling is very characteristic of the apostle. He will not hold back any part of himself from a share in Divine blessing, nor decline to be identified with his Lord to the fullest extent.
4. Our Lord"s interpretation of his meaning. "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.
(1) The apostle"s words implied that he was wholly unclean head, hands, feet and every believer must repeat the same words.
(2) Christ washes all who have an interest in him.
(3) All who have an interest in him may be regarded as "clean;" for they are "washed, sanctified, justified, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
(4) Yet they all need a daily washing on account of their repeated acts of sin, just as a traveler needs to wash the stains of the road off his feet.
5. Our Lord"s insight into Judas. And ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
(1) Jesus did not regard Judas as a justified man.
(2) He shows the disciples that he is not the dupe of the traitor"s hypocrisy.
(3) Our Lord"s words might have warned Judas of the way upon which he was bent to his own utter undoing.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 4. He riseth from supper, and laid aside his…
4. He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments. Shortly after they had sat down to the table, he arose, laid aside his outer robe, girded a towel upon him, and began the lowly office of washing the feet of twelve men, without a word of explanation. Something more than ordinary must have caused so remarkable an act. The fact that the cause has been lost sight of, has caused many to misunderstand the significance, and to think the Savior was instituting a church ceremonial, rather than giving a deep, practical, spiritual lesson for all ages. I will endeavor to explain the circumstances: (1) The disciples still expected the immediate manifestation of the kingdom. When they sat down to this Supper they felt it was a kind of state occasion, and a strife arose among them for precedence. Each wanted the “chief seat at the feast.” An account of this unseemly controversy over the old question, “Who should be greatest?” is found in Luke 22:24–30. (2) Their sandals had been laid off according to custom. They sat down to the table with dry and dusty feet, but no one brought water to wash their feet, an eastern duty of hospitality made necessary by their hot, dusty climate. No apostle volunteered to attend to the office, the duty of a servant. (3) Then, while they were filled with their ambitious, envious feelings, and had engaged in strife right at the Lord's table, after waiting long enough to have it shown that no one would condescend to the menial, but needful duty, the Lord, full of conscious divinity, arose, girded on the towel, and began the office. A rebuke to their ambitious strife, far more powerful than words could have spoken: such a rebuke that never again do we see a hint of the old question, “Who should be greatest?” It was Christ's answer to their unseemly conduct, and a lesson to those Christians “who love the pre-eminence” for all time. It said, “Let him that would be greatest become the servant of all.”
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v6 The objection of Peter:
The objection of Peter:
v. 6. Then cometh He to Simon Peter; and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?
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v. 7. Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
v. 8. Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash, my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.
v. 9. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
v. 10. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean, but not all.
v. 11. For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean.
It is a most realistic picture which the evangelist here draws: the Lord In the role of the humblest of servants, performing the work of the house-slave; the disciples sitting around in silent stupefaction, really unable to make anything of the entire matter. But Jesus went right on down the line, omitting none. When He came to Peter, however, He met with opposition. With his usual impetuousness, Peter declared, half in the form of a question, half in that of an emphatic statement: Lord, surely Thou shalt not wash my feet! It was a mixture of relevance and self-will which prompted Peter to make this declaration; he still lacked the true understanding of his Master in many respects. The Lord tells him, in return, that he did not know, did not understand at that time, what the real significance of Christ’s humble task was. But the time would come when the meaning should be brought to him and the full realization given him. A part of the meaning Jesus explained to His disciples that very evening, but the full enlightenment did not strike them until after Pentecost. Note: This word of Jesus finds its application to the many and various vicissitudes of a Christian’s life, when there is a tendency to stand in helpless confusion before some words and works of the Lord which are at the time beyond one’s understanding. But there is always the comfort: whatever is not revealed and made clear to us in this life will be fully explained in the great hereafter, 1Co 13:9-12.
Still Peter was not satisfied. He asserts: To all eternity nevermore shalt Thou wash my feet! His love for his Master was apt to show itself in peculiar ways. But Jesus sternly rejoins: If I do not wash Thee, thou hast no part with Me. The evidence is clearly pointing to some connection with Christ not conditioned by the mere external washing. The act of Jesus was symbolical and represented the close union and communion between Christ and those that are His. Only he whom Christ washes and cleanses from sins can have part with Christ. See Psa 51:4. This great benefit and blessing of the Lord, the cleansing from sins, the disciples did not realize and appreciate fully till after Pentecost. But Peter immediately became over-enthusiastic and violently eager, desiring to have more than his share of the Lord’s service, thinking it depended upon the extent of the outward washing, how close and certain the inward union and communion with Christ would be. But Jesus curbs his eagerness about having also his hands and his head washed. Since the washing was symbolical only, it was not necessary that the whole body be washed with water. He whom the cleansing and sanctifying power of Jesus in His redemption has touched is altogether clean and holy in the sight of God. His disciples were clean; they had, by faith, accepted the redemption in His blood. They were justified from their sins. And the sanctification of their lives must continue, as the washing of feet indicated; they must ever wash away and remove the filth of the sins that would persist in clinging to them and in soiling their flesh and their conscience. All believers have daily need of this cleansing from sins, it is necessary for them all, to lay aside the sin which does so continually beset them, Heb 12:1.That is the significance of the washing of feet. And in making the declaration, Jesus deliberately makes one exception. One there was, the man that would betray Him, who was not clean, who had spurned the redemption and sanctification of his Savior, who had denied the faith completely by planning to deliver his Master into the hands of the unbelievers.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 Lord, are you going to wash my feet?
Lord, are you going to wash my feet?
Peter's question shows that he is not willing for Jesus to wash his feet. AT: "Lord, it is not right for you to wash the feet of me, a sinner!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
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If I do not wash you, you have no share with me
Here Jesus states two negatives to convince Peter to allow him to wash his feet. Jesus implies that Peter must let him wash his feet if he wants to continue being a disciple. AT: "If I wash you, you will always belong with me" (See: Double Negatives and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Peter
lord
understand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v4 13:4-5 Foot washing, common in the Hellenistic and Jewish…
13:4-5 Foot washing, common in the Hellenistic and Jewish cultures as a daily routine and as a gesture of hospitality (see Luke 7:36-50), was a lowly, menial task reserved for servants. When Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet, he took the posture of a slave.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.