John 13:23

This is John’s first reference to himself as the beloved disciple (cf. John 19:26-27; John 20:2-9; John 21:1; John 21:20-25; Mark 14:47; Mark 14:51). He enjoyed an intimate relationship with Jesus similar to the one Jesus enjoyed with His Father (cf. John 1:18). John was not claiming that Jesus loved him more than the other disciples by describing himself this way. Rather the description reveals his appreciation for God’s grace in loving him as He did. He focused the reader’s attention on Jesus more forcefully by omitting his own name.

"Like the other John at the very beginning of the Gospel, the first witness to Jesus, he is only a voice. The identity of the speaker does not matter: what matters is the witness that he gives." [Note: L. Newbigin, The Light Has Come: An Exposition of the Fourth Gospel, p. xiii.]

"It was customary to sit at most meals. Reclining at table, a hellenistic custom, was reserved for special meals. When first introduced into the Jewish world, it was probably a sign of extreme decadence (Amos 6:4-7), but by New Testament times it was normal at important banquets and feasts, and therefore was virtually required at the Passover celebration, almost as a mark of unhurried celebration and freedom, in self-conscious contrast with the haste with which the first Passover was eaten on the night of the exodus (Exodus 12:11; cf. B. Pesahim 108a; NewDocs 1. § 1; 2. § 26). In short, the posture of Jesus and his men is a small indicator that they were in fact eating the Passover meal . . ." [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 473. "B. Pesahim" refers to the Pesahim section of The Babylonian Talmud, and "NewDocs" is an abbreviation for G. H. R. Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, vols. 1 and 2, sections 2 and 26 respectively.]