John 13

Part of The Upper Room and Farewell Discourse📖 John introduction

Read the chapter

¹It 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. ✦ ²The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ✦ ³Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. ✦ ⁴So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist. ✦ ⁵After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him. ✦ ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?” ✦ ⁷Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ✦ ⁸“Never shall You wash my feet!” Peter told Him. Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” ✦ ⁹“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” ✦ ¹⁰Jesus 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.” ✦ ¹¹For He knew who would betray Him. That is why He said, “Not all of you are clean.” ✦ ¹²When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you? ✦ ¹³You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am. ✦ ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ✦ ¹⁵I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you. ✦ ¹⁶Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ✦ ¹⁷If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. ✦ ¹⁸I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ✦ ¹⁹I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He. ✦ ²⁰Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.” ✦ ²¹After Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit and testified, “Truly, truly, I tell you, one of you will betray Me.” ✦ ²²The disciples looked at one another, perplexed as to which of them He meant. ✦ ²³One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side. ✦ ²⁴So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus which one He was talking about. ✦ ²⁵Leaning back against Jesus, he asked, “Lord, who is it?” ✦ ²⁶Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this morsel after I have dipped it.” Then He dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. ✦ ²⁷And when Judas had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” ✦ ²⁸But no one at the table knew why Jesus had said this to him. ²⁹Since Judas kept the money bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor. ✦ ³⁰As soon as he had received the morsel, Judas went out into the night. ✦ ³¹When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. ✦ ³²If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify the Son in Himself—and will glorify Him at once. ✦ ³³Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ✦ ³⁴A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. ✦ ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” ✦ 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.” ✦ ³⁷“Lord,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.” ✦ ³⁸“Will you lay down your life for Me?” Jesus replied. “Truly, truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 13 ·26 John 17 ·17 Luke 22 ·14 Matt 26 ·13 John 12 ·10 John 11 ·10 John 15 ·9 Mark 14 ·8

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 13YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 13David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 13Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← John 12 John 14 →