Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end.
the feast.
John 6:4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
Matthew 26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
Mark 14:1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
knew.
John 7:6,30 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready…
John 8:20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.
John 11:9,10 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world…
depart.
John 13:3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
John 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
John 16:5-7,28 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? …
having.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 15:9,10,13,14 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love…
John 17:9,10,14,16,26 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine…
unto.
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 3:6,14 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end…
and Jesus knew that His hour had come
The "hour" refers to the appointed time for Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of His "hour" as a divinely appointed time (John 2:4, 7:30, 12:23). This moment marks the culmination of His earthly ministry and the fulfillment of His mission to redeem humanity. It signifies a transition from His public ministry to the passion narrative.
to leave this world and return to the Father
This phrase indicates Jesus' awareness of His impending death, resurrection, and ascension. "Leaving this world" refers to His physical departure through death, while "return to the Father" emphasizes His divine origin and destination. It reflects the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, a recurring theme in John's Gospel (John 1:1, 17:5). This return signifies the completion of His earthly mission and the restoration of His pre-incarnate glory.
Having loved His own who were in the world
"His own" refers to Jesus' disciples and, by extension, all believers. This phrase highlights the special relationship and commitment Jesus has to those who follow Him. The love mentioned here is agape love, characterized by selflessness and sacrifice. This love is demonstrated throughout Jesus' ministry and is about to be exemplified in the ultimate act of sacrifice on the cross. The phrase also contrasts the spiritual realm ("His own") with the physical world, emphasizing the believers' place in a world that often opposes them.
He loved them to the very end
This phrase underscores the completeness and perseverance of Jesus' love. "To the very end" can be understood both temporally and qualitatively, indicating that Jesus' love extends to the end of His earthly life and is perfect in its nature. This love is demonstrated in the subsequent chapters through acts of service, teaching, and ultimately, His sacrificial death. It fulfills the prophetic and typological roles of the suffering servant (Isaiah 53) and the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), who lays down His life for the sheep.
“It was now just before the Passover Feast…” (John 13:1a)
• Passover, first commanded in Exodus 12:3-14, commemorates God’s deliverance through the blood of the lamb; that backdrop spotlights Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
• Earlier, Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem for Passover (John 2:13), and now, three years later, the climactic feast approaches.
• Luke 22:1 reminds us “the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,” setting the same stage.
• The timing underscores divine precision—“when the fullness of time had come” (Galatians 4:4)—and tells us the cross will coincide with Israel’s great redemption celebration, making His sacrifice unmistakably deliberate.
“…and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father.” (John 13:1b)
• All through the Gospel, Jesus speaks of “my hour”:
– At Cana: “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
– In the temple courts: “His hour had not yet come.” (John 8:20)
– Here, the hour finally arrives (see also John 12:23; 17:1).
• His foreknowledge shows absolute sovereignty; nothing takes Him by surprise (John 10:18).
• “Leave this world” points to the cross, resurrection, and ascension. John 16:28 echoes, “I came from the Father and have come into the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
• The phrase anchors believers’ hope: as He returned to the Father, so will we (John 14:2-3; Colossians 3:4).
“Having loved His own who were in the world…” (John 13:1c)
• “His own” identifies a particular people:
– The disciples present (John 17:6).
– All who hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:14-16).
• “In the world” acknowledges the hostile environment where faith is lived out (John 15:18-19).
• Christ’s love is personal and covenantal: “Just as the Father has loved Me, I too have loved you.” (John 15:9)
• Ephesians 5:2 confirms, “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us,” tying love directly to sacrificial action.
“…He loved them to the very end.” (John 13:1d)
• “The very end” signals completeness and intensity:
– From the basin and towel in this chapter (John 13:4-5)
– To the cry “It is finished!” on the cross (John 19:30).
• Romans 5:8 celebrates that ultimate expression: “God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Hebrews 7:25 assures His continuing ministry: “He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him.” His love did not stop at Calvary; it persists eternally.
• For every believer facing failure or fear, the promise stands—nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
John 13:1 situates the upper-room scene at Passover, signals Jesus’ conscious embrace of His appointed hour, highlights His particular love for His disciples amid a fallen world, and affirms that His love is exhaustive and enduring. From the lamb of Exodus to the Lamb of God, from foreknowledge to finished work, the verse invites us to rest in a Savior who knows, plans, loves, and completes everything necessary for our redemption.
(1)LOVE MANIFESTED IN HUMILIATION (John 13:1-30).(a)The washing of the disciples' feet (verses
(b)The spiritual interpretation of this act (John 13:12-28).
(c)The Betrayal. Hatred passes from the presence of love (John 13:21-30). ]
(1) Now before the feast of the passover.--Comp. John 12:1; John 12:12; John 12:36, and Excursus F: The Day of the Crucifixion of our Lord. . . .
Verses 1-17. -1. Love in humiliation. Verse 1. - Now before the Feast of the Passover; a phrase far more applicable to the 13-14th of Nisan than to the 14-15th, even though the Lord was desiring then to eat the Passover with a great desire before he suffered; therefore "before" the Passion, which would coincide with it. This supplies a chronological note, which is not exhausted by the mysterious and pathetic act which is described, but embraces the entire communion of soul with his disciples, and with the Father in their presence, detailed in John 13-17. Commentators have differed greatly as to the reference of this phrase - whether to the εἰδώς, as Kling and Luthardt, or to the ἀγαπήσας, as Wieseler and Tholuck; both these interpretations limit the meaning of the passage. Christ's knowledge that his hour was come was not kept from him till that moment, nor was his love to his own disciples limited or qualified by the advent of the Passover. It is far better, with Westcott, Coder, Meyer, and Lange, to take the phrase, πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἐορτῆς, with the principal verb, ἠγάπησεν. This becomes mere obvious if εἰς τέλος be taken, as it generally is taken, in Greek, to mean "unto the uttermost," "absolutely" "perfectly." Godet and Lucke add to the idea of ἀγαπάω here the manifestation, or proof, of the intensity and tenderness of the Divine love. Meyer doubts this signification of ἀγαπάω. The whole of the intervening sentence is in apposition with the subject of the sentence. The evangelist was eye-withes of the manner and look of his Lord, and ventured to say what was passing in his mind. He was justified by what followed, and threw back into the spirit of this strange and solemn action the account which the Lord afterwards gave of himself. Throughout the whole passage we detect; the extraordinary blending of Divine and human of which John was the witness. Jesus knowing (as he did know) that the hour was come - an hour for which he had been long waiting, and to which frequent reference has been made. The crisis has arrived, the breach with the authorities was final, the disciples themselves were trembling in doubt, the great law had been uttered, the glorification of the Son of man must now be accomplished by departure rather than by longer ministry, by death rather than by universal acclaim - that - ἵνα here notes the Divine purpose, or what is not infrequently introduced by ἵνα, "the contemplated result" (see Canon Evans on "the use of ἵνα in the New Testament," Expositor, vol. 3, 2nd series) - he, Jesus, the Son of man, should depart out of this world (this is one theme of the following discourse, one of its key-notes, John 14:12; John 16:28; John 17:11, and many other passages) unto the Father. If so, death was not an ending of life, but a departure to the Father - a coming into closer and more intimate relations and communion with the Father than was possible, even for him, in this sinful and evil world. Frequently the demonstrative pronoun is used to designate this transitory, perilous, sad state of being. Further, Jesus having loved his own, his very own, whom the Father had given him, who were and would continue in the world, and have tribulation there (see John 15:18-20; John 16:1-4, 33; John 17:11, 14, 18), and all the more so because of his departure and the cessation of his earthly manifestation and ministry. Here the sentence ends with the climacteric expression, He loved them utterly; i.e. he manifested, and that before the Paschal Lamb should be slain for them, his absolute, extreme, unutterable love. Archdeacon Watkins has made an interesting suggestion, that εἰς τέλος represents, in Greek, the Hebrew idiom of the repetition of the action of the verb; whereas the LXX. often presents this Hebraism in literal Greek, as Genesis 20:17, yet in Amos 9:8 a similar reduplication is Grecized by the phrase εἰς τέλος; and that what St. John, a Hebrew writing in Greek, meant by the use of it was simply," He loved them with a fullness of love." This usage is confirmed by 1 Thessalonians 2:16, by later Greek and by classical usage. It probably means in Luke 18:5 "at last," but not necessarily so even there. Margin of Revised Version gives "to the uttermost."
Parallel Commentaries ...