Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.”
- KJV Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
- NKJV Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
- NASB Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.”
- NLT Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
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 tells Peter he cannot understand now but will understand later. It points to a meaning that only the cross and resurrection would make clear.
Overview
Jesus acknowledges that the full significance of the foot-washing, especially as it pictures His cleansing death, lies beyond Peter's present grasp. Understanding would come after the passion and the Spirit's later teaching (cf. 14:26; 2:22). The verse counsels trust in Christ even when His ways are not yet understood.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Dan 12:8I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
- John 12:16At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.
- John 14:26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
- Jas 5:7–11Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- John 13:10–12Jesus told him, “Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”
- Dan 12:12Blessed is he who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.
- John 13:36“Lord, where are You going?” Simon Peter asked. Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.”
- Hab 2:1–3I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the ramparts. I will watch to see what He will say to me, and how I should answer when corrected.
- Jer 32:24–25See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
- Jer 32:43And fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.’
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 13:7 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.