thou knowest not now, but thou shalt P know hereafter.
8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
Jesus answered him, h 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; there-
fore said he, Ye are not all clean. 12 So after he had
washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was

1 Matt. xxiii.
8, 10. Luke

vi. 16. 1 Cor. set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have 131 Ye call me Master and Lord and ye

6: xii.

S. Phil. ii.

11.

done to you?
for so I am.
well;

m Luke xxii.

27.

say

14 m If I then, your Lord and

n Rom. xii. 10.

Galvi. 1.2. Master, have washed your feet; "ye also ought to wash

1 Pet. v. 5.

g ver. 12.

h ch. iii. 5.

1 Cor. vi. 11.
Eph. v. 20.
Tit. iii. 5.
Heb. x. 22.

i ch. xv. 3.

k ch. vi. 04.

P render, understand afterwards.

a better, hath been bathed hath no need: see note.

8

rrender, yet.

t

better, for this cause.

our

vv. 9, 10. (3) The great Act of Love, the
laying aside My glory, and becoming in
the form of a servant, that the washing of
the Holy Spirit may cleanse men.
afterwards] Taking up again the numbers
used in the last note, (1) was known very
soon, but (2) and (3) not till after the
Spirit was given. 8.] The rash and
self-opinionated Apostle opposes to
Lord's afterwards his own never (literally,
no, not for ever). In interpreting our
Lord's answer, we must remember, that
He replies more to the spirit of Peter's
objection, than to his words. The same
well-meaning but false humility would pre-
vent him (and does prevent many) from
stooping to receive at the hands of the
Lord that spiritual washing which is ab-
solutely necessary in order to have any
part in Him, Rom. viii. 9, If I wash thee
not, thou hast no part with Me;' but the
affirmative proposition, that those who are
washed, have a part in Jesus, is not equally
true; witness the example of Judas, who
was washed, but yet had no part with Jesus.
In the spiritual sense of washing, this is
not so. Whoever is washed by Jesus, has
part in Him. We are here in the realm
of another and deeper logic: the act being
no longer symbolic, but veritable.
9.] The warm-hearted Peter, on learning
that exclusion would be the consequence
of not being washed, can hardly have
enough of a cleansing so precious. There
surely is implied in this answer an in-
cipient apprehension of the meaning of our

"

or,

him that was betraying.

Lord's words. The expression, if I wash
thee not, has awakened in him, as the
Lord's presence did, Luke v. 8, a feeling
of his own want of cleansing, his entire
pollution. 10.] Reference appears
to be made to the fact that one who has
bathed, after he has reached his home,
needs not entire washing, but only to have
his feet washed from the dust of the way.
This bathing, the bath of the new birth,
but only yet in its foreshadowing, in the
purifying effect of faith working by love,
the Apostles, with one exception, had;
and this foot-washing represented to them,
besides its lesson of humility and brotherly
love, their daily need of cleansing from
daily pollution, even after spiritual re-
generation, at the hands of their divine
Master. See 2 Cor. vii. 1: James i. 21:
Acts xv. 8, 9: 2 Pet. ii. 22.
On ye
are clean, see note, ch. xv. 3.
12-20.] This act, a pattern of self-
denying love for His servants.

12. Know ye what I have done to
you?] These words are uttered, not so
much in expectation of an answer, as to
direct their attention to the following.
14.] The command here given must
be understood in the full light of intelli-
gent appreciation of the circumstances,
and the meaning of the act. Bengel re-
marks, that one intent of our Lord's wash-
ing the feet of His disciples must neces-
sarily be absent from any such deed on our
part: viz. its symbolic meaning, pressed
by our Lord on St. Peter, "If I wash

an example, o
16 P Verily,

do q James i. 25.

one another's feet. 15 For I have given you that ye should do as I have done to you. verily, I say unto you, u The servant is not greater than his lord: neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 9 If ye know these things, y happy are ye if ye them. 18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that P. x9. eateth bread with me [a hath] lifted up his heel against me. 19 s b Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is sch. xiv. 20: come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. 20 t Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me: and he that receiveth me receiveth

r

Matt. xxvi. 23. ver. 21.

xvi. 4.

u Matt. xxvi. him that sent me. 21 u When Jesus had thus said, he

21. Mark

xiv. 15. Luke was troubled in d spirit, and testified, and said, Verily,

xxii. 21.

X ch. xii. 27.

y Acts i. 17.

verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting z ch. xix. 26:7, of whom he spake. 23 Now there was leaning on Jesus'

e

xx. 2:

20, 24.

bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, g that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25 He then h 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 a And 1 after the sop Satan entered into him. m Then said Jesus

e render, reclining at meat in.

a Luke xxii. 3. ch. vi. 70.

d render, his spirit.

frender, maketh a sign.

8 The text is in confusion: some ancient authorities reading as above, while others have, and saith unto him, Say, who it is of whom he speaketh?

h render, leaning back.

render, the.

not expressed in the original. 1 more strictly, after the sop, then Satan. m render, Jesus therefore said.

sideration of this dignity in all its privileges, as contrasted with the sad announcement just to be made, leads on to the troubling of our Lord's spirit in the next

verse.

21-30.] Contrast of the manifestations of love and hate. See notes on Matt. xxvi. 21-25. Mark xiv. 18-21. Luke xxii. 21-23. 21.] See above. This was one of those mysterious troublings of spirit, which passed over our Lord,-ch. xi. 33 and xii. 27.

The word testified implies the delivery of some solemn and important announcement. This was the first time He had ever spoken so plainly. All four Evangelists agree in the substance of the announcement. 22.] In Matthew and Mark they express their questioning in words. St. Luke's beginning to enquire among themselves would appear to imply the same. We seem called on here to decide a much-controverted question,-where, in St. John's narrative, the institution of the Lord's Supper is to be inserted? I believe certainly before this announcement, as in Luke: and if before it, perhaps before the washing of the disciples' feet: for I see no break which would admit it between our ver. 1 and ver. 21. 23.] Since the captivity, the Jews lay at table in the Persian manner,

on divans or couches, each on his left side
with his face towards the table, his left
elbow resting on a pillow and supporting
his head. Thus the second guest to the right
hand lay with his head near the breast
of the first, and so on. whom Jesus
loved] The disciple meant is John himself,
see ch. xxi. 20; also designated thus, ch.
xix. 26; xxi. 7 (see Introduction to John,
§ i. 6). 24-26.] See note on Matt. ver.
23. Peter characteristically imagines that
John, as the beloved disciple, would know:
but he, not knowing, asks of the Lord.
25. leaning back on Jesus' breast] I
understand it, that John, who was before
lying close to the bosom of Jesus, now
leaned his head absolutely upon His breast,
to ask the question. This escaped the
notice of the rest at the table:-see on
Matt. as above. 26.] This represents
Matt. ver. 23, Mark ver. 20.
the sop,
probably a piece of the unleavened bread,
dipped in the broth made of bitter herbs.
27.] Bengel observes that it was
after the sop, not with it, that Satan
entered into him. Observe the word sop,
in this sentence, stands for the act in
which it played a principal part. This
giving the sop was one of the closest tes-
timonies of friendly affection.

The

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 Phad the b ch. xii. 6.
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
sop went immediately out: and it was night.
31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said,
is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in

the

• i. e. What.

word then carries a graphic power and
pathos with it: at that moment.
Satan entered into him] See ver. 2 and
note. Satan entered fully into him, took
full possession of him,- - so that his will
was not only bent upon doing the deed of
treachery, but fixed and determined to do
it then and there. The words must be
understood literally, not as merely be-
tokening the decision of his mind in the
direction of the devil's counsels.

P render, kept.

What thou doest (art doing)...] These
words are not to be evaded, as being per-
missive or dismissive (this latter view is
taken by Chrysostom, who says, "The
words are not to be taken as commanding
or exhorting, but as reproaching, and inti-
mating that there was in him the wish to
act decidedly, but as he was undecided,
the Lord permits him to depart and do
it"). They are like the saying of God to
Balaam, Num. xxii. 20,-and of our Lord
to the Pharisees, Matt. xxiii. 32. The
course of sinful action is presupposed, and
the command to go on is but the echo of
that mysterious appointment by which the
sinner in the exercise of his own corrupted
will becomes the instrument of the pur-
poses of God. Thus it is not "What thou
art about to do," but-that which thou
art doing, hast just now fully determined
to put in present action, do quickly
reproving his lingering, and his pretend-
ing (Matt. ver. 25) to share in the
general doubt.
28.] Not even St.
John who knew he was the traitor, but
had no idea the deed was so soon to be
done. Stier supposes St. John to exclude
himself in saying "no man at the table,"
and that he knew. 29.] The first
supposition agrees with ver. 1,- that it
was before the feast of the passover.”
Had it been the night of the passover, the
next day being hallowed as a sabbath,
nothing could have been bought. On the
whole question see notes on Matt. xxvi.
17, and ch. xviii. 28. On the second sup-
VOL. I.

:

"6

с

Now e ch. xii. 23. him. dch. xiv. 13.

1 Pet. iv. 11.

q omit.

position, see ch. xii. 5. The gift to the poor might be, to help them to procure their paschal lamb. 30.] The remark, and it was night, seems to be added to bring the whole narrative from ch. xiii. 1 to ch. xviii. 3 into precision, as happening on one and the same night. It is perhaps fanciful to see, as many have done, an allusion to the darkness in Judas's soul, or to the fact expressed in Luke xxii. 53, "this is your hour, and the power of darkness;" though doubtless there the Lord alludes to its being also night but I quite feel, with Meyer, that there is something awful in this termination-it was night.

31-XVI. 33.] HIS LOVE IN KEEPING AND COMPLETING HIS OWN. And herein, 31-XIV. 31.] He comforts them with the assurance that He is going to the Father.

"

31-38.] Announcement of the factits effect on Peter. Here commences that solemn and weighty portion of the Gospel (ch. xiii. 31-xvii. 26) which Olshausen not without reason calls the most holy place.' He beautifully remarks, These were the last moments which the Lord spent in the midst of His own before His Passion, and words full of heavenly meaning flowed during them from His holy lips-all that His heart, glowing with love, had yet to say to His own, was compressed into this short space of time. At first the conversation with the disciples takes more the form of usual dialogue: reclining at the table, they mournfully reply to and question Him. But when (ch. xiv. 31) they had risen from the supper, the discourse of Christ took a higher form: surrounding their Master, the disciples listened to the Words of Life, and seldom spoke (only ch. xvi. 17, 29). Finally, in the sublime prayer of the great High Priest, the whole Soul of Christ flowed forth in earnest intercession for His own to His Heavenly Father.' Olsh. ii. 329. 31. Now is the Son of man glori

Q Q

him

32 [er If God be glorified in him,] God shall also glorify
in himself, and 'shall straightway glorify him.
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye
shall seek me: 8 and as I said unto the Jews, Whither
I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
34 h A new
commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another;

ch. xv. 12,
17.

Eph. v. 2.

1 Thess. iv.

9. James

8. Pet. as I [t have] loved you, that ye also love one another.

i. 22. 1 John

ii. 7, 8: iii. 35i By this shall all men

11, 23: iv. 21.

11 John 5: if ye have love one to

iv. 20.

e ch. xvii. 1, 4, 5, 6.

fch. xii. 23.

g ch. vii. 34: viii. 21.

h Lev. xix. 18.

romitted by many of the most ancient authorities: but probably by mistake in transcribing, from the two similar endings, in him . . . in him.

tomit.

I render, saith.

8 render, is.
u better, perceive.

know that ye are my disciples, 36 Simon Peter said

another.

fied] It was not that the presence of Judas, as some have thought, hindered the great consummation imported by this glorification, but that the work on which he was gone out, was the ACTUAL COMMENCEMENT of that consummation. "Now at length," says Lampe, "as if an obstacle were broken down, the rushing rivers of grace flow from the lips of Jesus." It is true that Judas's presence hindered the expression of these gracious words. The glorification is spoken of by anticipation, as if accomplished, because the deed was actually in doing, which was to accomplish it. The glorifying spoken of here, and in ver. 32, is not the same. This is the glorifying of God by Christ on earth, in His course of obedience as the Son of Man, which was completed by His death ("he became obedient even unto death," Phil. ii. 8). And His death was the transition-point between God being glorified in Him, and He being glorified in God-manifested to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection, and received up to the Father, to sit at the right hand of God. This latter (ver. 32) is spoken of by Him here as future, but immediate (straightway) on His death, and leads on to the address in ver. 33. 32.] in himself is in God (the Father), not in Christ. The word himself reflects back on the subject of the sentence: and in does not mean by means of,' but keeps its literal force;-by the resurrection of Him into that glory, which He had indeed before, but now has as the Son of Man, with the risen Manhood; so "glorify thou me with thyself," ch. xvii. 5. Grotius compares 1 Sam. ii. 30, which stands in the LXX, "them that glorify me I will glorify." Origen remarks, The Father recompenses to Him more than the Son of

·

66

Man hath done."
33. Little chil-
dren] This term, here only used by
Christ,-affectingly expresses His not only
brotherly, but fatherly love (Isa. ix. 6) for
His own, and at the same time their im-
mature and weak state, now about to be
left without Him.
as I said unto the
Jews] "He would not say this to his
disciples before, but to those who rejected
Him." Bengel. But naturally the two
clauses, Ye shall seek Me and not find
Me, and shall die in your sins,' also spoken
to the Jews (ch. vii. 33; viii. 21), are here
omitted and by this omission the con-
nexion with ver. 34 is supplied ;-'Ye shall
be left here: but, unlike the Jews, ye shall
seek Me and shall find Me, and the way is
that of Love,-to Me, and to one another

"

:

forming (ver. 35) an united Body, the Church, in which all shall recognize My presence among you as My disciples.' 34.] The newness of this commandment consists in its simplicity, and (so to speak) unicity. The same kind of love was prescribed in the Old Test. (see Rom. xiii. 8): -'as thyself' is the highest measure of love, and it is therefore not in degree that the new commandment differs from the old, nor in extent, but in being the commandment of the new covenant,-the firstfruit of the Spirit in the new dispensation (Gal. v. 22); see 1 John ii. 7, 8 (and note), where the word new is commented on by the Apostle himself. 35.] all men,all the world,-and the object is to be, not mere vain praise or display before the world, but that men may be attracted by the exhibition of the Spirit of Christ, and won over to Him. The world, notwithstanding this proof of His presence among them, shall hate them: see 1 John iii. 10-15. But among all men they themselves are also included-brotherly love is