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It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.
John 13:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
  • KJV Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
  • NKJV Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
  • NASB Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
  • NLT Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.

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

Knowing His hour to return to the Father had come, Jesus loved His own to the very end. It introduces the upper room with the theme of His full, sacrificial love.

Overview

John marks the transition to the passion: Jesus, fully aware of His coming death and exaltation, pours out love on His disciples to the uttermost. 'To the end' means both 'to the last' and 'completely,' pointing toward the cross. This verse sets the tone for the Farewell Discourse and frames all that follows as the expression of Christ's perfect love.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 39

  • John 12:23But Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
  • 1 Jn 4:19We love because He first loved us.
  • John 13:34A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
  • John 13:3Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.
  • John 16:28I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
  • Rev 1:5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
  • John 18:4Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”
  • John 17:1When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.
  • Eph 5:25–26Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
  • John 15:9–10As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.
  • John 17:16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
  • 1 Cor 1:8He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Heb 6:11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
  • John 17:5And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
  • Matt 26:45Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
  • 1 Pet 1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
  • Heb 3:14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.
  • John 11:9–10Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world.
  • John 17:9–11I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.
  • John 17:26And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”
  • Mark 14:1–2Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.
  • Jer 31:3The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
  • John 11:55Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.
  • Luke 22:1–2Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,
  • Luke 9:51As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
  • John 14:28You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
  • John 17:13–14But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.
  • Matt 26:2–5“You know that the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
  • Luke 13:32–33But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’
  • John 15:13–14Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
  • Luke 22:53Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this hour belongs to you and to the power of darkness.”
  • Rom 8:37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
  • John 7:30So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
  • John 7:6Therefore Jesus told them, “Although your time is always at hand, My time has not yet come.
  • John 16:5–7Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
  • John 6:4Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.
  • Heb 3:6But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.
  • Matt 28:20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
  • John 8:20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 13:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 13:1 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.