John 13

Part of The Upper Room and Farewell Discourse📖 John introduction

Read the chapter

¹Now 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. ✦ ²And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, ✦ ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, ✦ ⁴rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. ✦ ⁵After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ✦ ⁶Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” ✦ ⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” ✦ ⁸Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” ✦ ⁹Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” ✦ ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” ✦ ¹¹For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” ✦ ¹²So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ✦ ¹³You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ✦ ¹⁴If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ✦ ¹⁵For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. ✦ ¹⁶Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. ✦ ¹⁷If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. ✦ ¹⁸“I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ✦ ¹⁹Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. ✦ ²⁰Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” ✦ ²¹When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” ✦ ²²Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke. ✦ ²³Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. ✦ ²⁴Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. ✦ ²⁵Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” ✦ ²⁶Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. ” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. ✦ ²⁷Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” ✦ ²⁸But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. ²⁹For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. ✦ ³⁰Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. ✦ ³¹So, when he 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 Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. ✦ ³³Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. ✦ ³⁴A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ✦ ³⁵By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” ✦ ³⁶Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” ✦ ³⁷Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” ✦ ³⁸Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied 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 →