I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
- KJV For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
- BSB I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.
- NKJV For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
- NASB For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus says He has given them an example to imitate. It makes His humble service a pattern for all His disciples.
Overview
The foot-washing is explicitly held up as a model for Christian conduct. Believers are to reproduce the same humility and love their Lord displayed. While faithful Christians differ over whether foot-washing should be a literal ordinance, all agree the heart of the example is sacrificial service to others.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Matt 11:29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
- 1 Jn 2:6he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.
- 1 Pet 3:17–18For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil.
- 1 Pet 2:21For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,
- Eph 5:2Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
- Rom 15:5Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 13:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.