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,
John 13:1-2
John 12 [44.] Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me. He who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness. If anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn’t believe, I don’t judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day. For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.”
John 13 [1.] 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?”
John 13 [7.] Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.”
Meaning:
These two verses open the second half of John’s Gospel. The first twelve chapters show Jesus’ public signs and teaching; from chapter 13 onward John slows down and spends five chapters on a single evening, the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples before his arrest. John sets the scene with three things: the time (the Passover), the motive (love), and the threat (the betrayal already planned by Judas).
- “Now before the feast of the Passover”
The Passover remembered the night when God brought Israel out of Egypt and the blood of a lamb protected each household from judgment. John has marked several Passovers in his Gospel, and this is the last. Earlier he noted that “the Passover of the Jews was at hand” and crowds went up to Jerusalem to purify themselves (John 11:55). Now the feast arrives, and Jesus himself is about to become the true Passover sacrifice. Paul later wrote, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
- “Knowing that his time had come”
Throughout John’s Gospel people tried to seize Jesus, but “his hour had not yet come” (John 8:20). When the Greeks came seeking him, Jesus announced, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). Jesus was not caught off guard by the cross. He knew the hour had arrived for him to “depart from this world to the Father.” John describes his death as a journey home, the completion of the mission on which the Father had sent him.
- “Having loved his own... he loved them to the end”
This is the heart of the passage. “His own” are the disciples who had received him, in contrast with the people who “didn’t receive him” (John 1:11). Jesus had loved them throughout his ministry, and he loved them “to the end.” The phrase can mean both to the last moment of his life and to the uttermost degree. Both are true. In the hours that followed he washed their feet, taught them, prayed for them, and finally gave his life for them. As John later wrote, “By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16).
- “The devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot”
Love and betrayal sit side by side at the same table. The plan to hand Jesus over had already formed in Judas’ heart. Mark records that Judas “went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them” (Mark 14:10). John had earlier shown Judas as a thief who stole from the money box (John 12:4-6), and Jesus had said, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). The devil worked through a heart that had already opened itself to greed. Yet Judas remained responsible, and later that night “Satan entered into him” (John 13:27).
The Significance of John 13:1-2
- Love that does not give up
Jesus knew that within hours one disciple would betray him, another would deny him, and all would flee. He still loved them to the end. His love for his people does not depend on their strength or faithfulness; it holds firm when they are weak.
- The cross as a homecoming
Jesus saw his death as departing “to the Father.” For believers, too, death is not the end of the story but a going home. Jesus would soon tell them, “In my Father’s house are many homes” (John 14:2).
- A warning about the heart
Judas walked with Jesus for years, yet allowed greed and disappointment to grow until the devil could use him. Being close to holy things is not the same as belonging to Christ. Each disciple is called to guard the heart and bring hidden sins into the light.
Cross-References:
1 Corinthians 5:7: "For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place." Jesus dies at Passover as the true Lamb.
John 12:23: "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Jesus announces that his hour has arrived.
1 John 3:16: "By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us." The love that went "to the end."
Mark 14:10: "Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them." The betrayal already under way.
Conclusion: John opens the account of the last supper by showing that Jesus knew his hour had come to leave the world and return to the Father. Even with betrayal already planted in the heart of Judas, Jesus loved his own to the end. Everything that follows in these chapters, from the foot washing to the cross, flows from that steadfast love.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible