John 13. The Revelation to the Disciples.
John 13:1-11. The Agape and the Foot Washing. According to Jn. the events of the Passion are the voluntary sacrifice of Love. He loved His own to the end. At the meal which took place before the Passover, an intentional (?) correction of the earlier accounts, He gave them proof of the completeness of His love. Where the others record facts about the Eucharist, our author dwells on the origin of the Agape. Christ's love is contrasted with the treachery to which Satan had already persuaded Judas. To wash the feet was regarded as the typical work of slaves (cf. 1 Samuel 25:41). Peter's first remonstrance is met by the promise that the future will make all plain, his second by words which convince him that the act is symbolical. The sudden change is true to his character as depicted in all the NT. The Lord answers in the words of a homely proverb, He that has bathed need not wash (mg.). He is clean as a whole, even if the stains of travel need removing, for the slighter shortcomings of even a good man's life must be dealt with. But the Lord's mind is full of the coming tragedy. He cannot say of all what He says of Peter.