John 13:1 1Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, having known that his hour had come in order that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
John now recounts one of his unique reflections on an event not found in the other Gospels. The episode of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet likely fits in during the Last Supper described in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 14:12; Luke 22:15). There is a difference between the Johannine chronology and the Synoptic timing of the meals described. Some Bible interpreters have looked at certain verses and concluded that John’s “last supper” recorded in chapters 13-16 took place on Wednesday evening (looking at verses such as 13:1, 27; 18:28; 19:14, 31, 36, 42), which would be different than what is read in the Synoptics with the supper on Thursday as the Passover meal. However, John’s account can be interpreted that the last supper was likely shared on Thursday evening, meaning all four Gospels can be lined up, though looking at the event in different ways.
The chapters that follow highlight the reason Jesus came and prepare for his death and resurrection. Verse 1 serves as a transition and introduction to the second half of the Gospel. It introduces three significant ideas. The first is the time as the Feast of the Passover. The Passover was one of the most important holy days for the Jews and called them to remember God’s saving grace from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 12). The meal that was about to take place came before the Passover and was not necessarily the Passover meal of the Last Supper. If this possibility is true, then there need not be a contradiction between the Synoptics and John. However, John may simply be marking the general time of another one of the Jewish feasts like he has done several times in his book up to this point. Many significant themes and ideas are references in this Gospel in relation to the Passover (2:13, 23; 6:4; 11:55; 12:1; cf. 18:28, 39; 19:14). More significant than any scholarly debate is that the Passover included the sharing of a meal and the sacrifice of a lamb. Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world (1:29; 36; see also Revelation 5:6; 7:17; 14:10; 15:3; 19:6, 9; 21:23; 22:1, 3). He was the perfect and final Passover Lamb.
The second point builds on the first. This Jewish holiday was the perfect time for Jesus to face the cross and fulfill the Father’s plan. The timing was perfect, and Jesus knew this timing. He knew his hour had come. The word hour occurs in John’s Gospel with an ominous sense of impending suffering and death. Before this point, Jesus had said his hour had not yet come (2:4; 7:8), but things change with chapter 13. The focus of the coming hours and days was Jesus’ departure from this world. The world (kosmos) has a negative sense in John’s Gospel and represents the created order that desperately needs God’s intervention and grace. The word is used forty times in the next four chapters, showing that it is the focus of why Jesus came (3:16). Disciples are saved out of this world but are called to go into it with the same message of salvation Jesus brought.
Third, Jesus’ departure will happen because he will have shown the extent of his love. His own represents those who put their faith in him and so receive eternal life. They are the saved ones because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The phrase also expresses relationship. Those who believe have a special place in God’s plan and purpose for humanity. The invitation is open to all, but as John has written in many ways up to this point, some people will not believe–even with evidence, and so they will face judgment. Jesus’ own were part of the world but have been taken out of the world’s influence and are now citizens of God’s kingdom, even while they are bound to this earthly existence until death and Jesus’ second coming. The world no longer has influence over those who put their faith in Jesus.
The grammatical structure of the verse highlights the fourth point. Two participles, having known (eidōs) and having loved (agapēsas), depend on and modify the finite verb of the sentence: he loved (ēgapēsen). These participles express how Jesus expressed his love and what led up to his sacrificial death on the cross. To the end could be a reference to how Jesus loved even to his last breath as he hung on the cross. It could also be more open-ended to represent the end of his time on earth, but John does not write about the ascension like Luke does in Acts 1, so it is more likely a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross that confirmed the extent of his love. Jesus emphasized this point later their gathering in 15:13, that the greatest way to show love is to die for another person. That is what Jesus did for “the world.”
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