--- title: "John 13 - Study King James Bible with the church pulpit commentary" description: "Read John 13 with the church pulpit commentary commentary. 1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his o" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13" --- [ Read](/kjv/john/13)[ Commentary](/study/john/13)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/john/13) Audio 1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s *son*, to betray him; 3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe *them* with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 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. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also *my* hands and *my* head. 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. 11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. 12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for *so* I am. 14 If I then, *your* Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 18 ¶ I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am *he*. 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. 23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? 26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped *it*. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave *it* to Judas Iscariot, *the son* of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29 For some *of them* thought, because Judas had the bag, 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. 30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. 31 ¶ Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all *men* know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 36 ¶ Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. [John 12](/study/john/12) [John 14](/study/john/14) ## Commentary To verse 1 *PERFECT LOVE* ‘Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.’ [John 13:1](/kjv/john/13/1) The margin of the R.V. reads, ‘to the uttermost’: ‘He loved them to the uttermost.’ **I. Great crises, whether of joy or sorrow, reveal character and disposition**.—To-morrow Christ was to die. It was the evening hour, and oh! on what a morning was that setting sun to dawn! The time-table of his wondrous Life was before Him and He knew what was coming. But when the great crisis came it only revealed His Heart and displayed His Love. Others fail in the hour of need, He never. Why, if all the love-stories of all the Romeos and Juliets who have ever breathed were to be told, what would they be beside the romance of the Divine Love? **II. He loved ‘His own.’**—He had compassion for all the race. He wept over Jerusalem. But He had a special, complacent, unchanging love for ‘His own.’ He poured out the alabaster box of His love on them; on, on it flowed till He said, ‘As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you’ ( [John 15:9](/kjv/john/15/9)). The Agony and Bloody Sweat of Gethsemane, the red drops that fell on the dust of Calvary, those Seven dying Words, all tell that His love was love ‘to the uttermost.’ And we know ‘His own’ include all who shall believe on Him through their word ( [John 17:20](/kjv/john/17/20)). **III. They believed His Love**.—When a man believes in Christ it is the turning-point in his life, in Carlyle’s words he ‘was henceforth a Christian man; believes in God not on Sundays only, but on all days, in all places, and in all cases.’ So that, at any rate, after His Resurrection, they were willing to die for Him. Rev. F. Harper. (SECOND OUTLINE) *UNTO THE END* ****I. The love cherished**.** ** (*a*) *There was little in the disciples of that which usually attracts human love*. We love that which is *unselfish:* but which of the disciples rose to the height of self-sacrifice? St. Peter, the most generous, said, ‘We have left all and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore.’ We love that which is *humble;* but the disciples more than once were detected in a strife as to which should be greatest. *Boastfulness* is not an amiable quality; yet St. Peter declared that though all should provoke Christ, yet would not he, and protested with passionate vehemence that he was ready to lay down his life. That man or woman who does not *love little children* is not very lovely; yet the disciples rebuked them, and tried to drive them away. *Inexcusable ignorance* is not a lovable quality; yet when His mind could least bear the strain of reiterating what it had been His lifelong mission to teach, Jesus had to inform them who He was, and the meaning of what He did. *Cowardice* we love least of all: yet when He needed courage most it was wanting, they all forsook Him and fled. These were the men He loved—not helped, befriended, but loved. Do we wonder at it? And ask why He did not select the unselfish, the humble, etc.? Who are we that we should ask this question? Let those who are without sin amongst us cast the first stone. But let those of us who have harrowing recollections of selfishness, ambition, etc., wonder, with adoring gratitude, and with tears, that Christ loves us to the end.** ** (*b*) *Christ loved these men because they were His own*. The mother loves her fretful baby because it is her own. The father loves his wayward son because he is his own. The same perversity, or less, in the children of other people excites profound dislike. How were the disciples? how are *we* Christ’s own? Various senses: creation, redemption, conquest; but here doubtless in the sense employed an hour afterwards. ‘I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were and *Thou hast given them Me*.’ We are Christ’s own by Divine gift. A gift takes its preciousness from the giver. Who then can measure our preciousness to Christ? This will amply account for all Christ’s longsuffering and patient love. (*c*) *Christ loved His own because they were in the world*. They would have to encounter the world’s enmity; to drink Christ’s cup, and be baptized with His baptism. Their work was to evangelise the world, and to wear the crown of life through faithfulness unto death. His own were (*are*) menaced by hardship, peril, death; hence Christ’s unquenchable and everlasting love. **II. The love shown**. (*a*) *Completely*. Revised Version (margin): ‘To the uttermost.’ No quality necessary to perfect love, either in its essence or exhibition, was wanting. Christ’s love was perfectly pure, without admixture: perfectly *self-sacrificing;* ‘Greater love hath no man than this,’ etc. (*b*) *To the end of His life*. Notice the march of this love. Revelation of heaven; promise of Comforter; assurance of friendship and safety; Gethsemane, ‘If ye seek Me let these go their way,’ etc.; Calvary. (*c*) *To the end of their lives*. ‘Lo, I am with you alway.’ ‘This God is our God … He will be our guide even unto death.’ (*d*) *Throughout eternity*. [Revelation 7:9-17](/kjv/revelation/7/9-17). **Illustration** ‘In the days when Home was the mistress of the world (and the Roman army was the bravest ever known, it had an almost unbroken record of success for seven hundred years), if some one regiment were to be placed in the very jaws of death, and perhaps on that legion the fate of the empire rested, they knelt down on one knee in front of the assembled host and raising their hands to heaven took an oath to die for Rome.’ ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13","name":"John 13 - Study King James Bible with the church pulpit commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read John 13 with the church pulpit commentary commentary. 1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his o","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary","name":"the church pulpit commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john","name":"John"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/john/13","name":"13"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```