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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - John 13:1-17

It has generally been taken for granted by commentators that Christ's washing his disciples? feet, and the discourse that followed it, were the same night in which he was betrayed, and at the same sitting wherein he ate the passover and instituted the Lord's supper; but whether before the solemnity began, or after it was all over, or between the eating of the passover and the institution of the Lord's supper, they are not agreed. This evangelist, making it his business to gather up those... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 13:1-17

13:1-17 Before the Festival of the Passover, Jesus, in the knowledge that his hour had come to leave this world and to go to the Father, although he had always loved his own people in the world, decided to show them what his love was like in a way which went to the ultimate limit. The meal was in progress; and the devil had already put it into his heart that Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, should betray him. Well knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 13:1-17

There is more in the background of this passage than even John tells us. If we turn to Luke's account of the last meal together, we find the tragic sentence: "A dispute also arose among them, which of them was to be regarded as greatest" ( Luke 22:24 ). Even within sight of the Cross, the disciples were still arguing about matters of precedence and prestige. It may well be that this very argument produced the situation which made Jesus act as he did. The roads of Palestine were unsurfaced... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 13:1-17

We have already seen that in John we have always to be looking for two meanings, the meaning which lies on the surface and the meaning which is beneath the surface. In this story there is undoubtedly a second meaning. On the surface it is a dramatic and unforgettable lesson in humility. But there is more to it than that. There is one very difficult passage. At first Peter refuses to allow Jesus to wash his feet. Jesus tells him that unless he accepts this washing, he will have no part with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 13:1

Now before the feast of the passover ,.... This feast was instituted as a memorial of the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and was an eminent type of Christ; and this passover was what Christ had greatly desired, it being his last, and when he was to express his great love to his people, mentioned here, by dying for them. It was two days before this feast, so the Persic version reads this text, at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, that the things recorded in this... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 13:1

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew, etc. - Or, as some translate, Now Jesus having known, before the feast of the passover, that his hour was come, etc. The supper mentioned in John 13:2 ; is supposed to have been that on the Thursday evening, when the feast of the passover began; and though, in our common translation, this passage seems to place the supper before that feast, yet, according to the amended translation, what is here said is consistent with what we read in... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 13:1

Verse 1 1.Before the feast of the passover. John intentionally passes by many things which, he knew, had been related by Matthew and others. He undertakes to explain those circumstances which they had left out, one of which was the narrative of the washing of feet. And though he will afterwards explain more clearly for what purpose Christ washed the feet of his disciples, yet, before doing so, he states, in a single word, that the Lord testified, by this visible sign, that the love with which... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 13:1

Now before the Feast of the Passover ; a phrase far more applicable to the 13-14th of Nisan than to the 14-15th, even though the Lord was desiring then to eat the Passover with a great desire before he suffered; therefore "before" the Passion, which would coincide with it. This supplies a chronological note, which is not exhausted by the mysterious and pathetic act which is described, but embraces the entire communion of soul with his disciples, and with the Father in their presence,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 13:1

Christ's constancy of love. If there is any time when a man's attention is presumed to be necessarily and properly directed to himself, that time is the time when danger is present and when death approaches. But when our Savior's hour was come, when the shadow of the cross fell athwart his path, he seems to have been signally unselfish in all his actions, and disinterested in his very thoughts. Humiliation, suffering, and death were immediately before him; but it is beautiful, instructive,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 13:1

Jesus loving to the end. Notice— I. THE SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST . This was the knowledge respecting his death. Its speciality lies, not in his knowing the fact that he would die, but in certain circumstances connected with it, the knowledge of which was calculated to pain and discourage him. 1. He knew the time of his death . This is wisely hid from us; but he knew the hour and the minute. 2. He knew that the time of his death had already come . "Knew... read more

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