A study on the book of John Chapter 13

JOHN 13:1 – 38  

Bible Study Notes                                                                                                        Rev. Betsy Perkins

The Passover Meal

• Have you ever participated in a foot washing service? What was it like to have your feet washed by someone else?

Jesus Washing the Disciples’ Feet  (13:1-17)

Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 1:32:35 – 1:37:00

• What do you imagine the atmosphere of the gathering was like as they gathered for this meal? What might the disciples be feeling?  What might Jesus be feeling?
• How is Jesus’ knowledge of who he was and what is about to happen, guide his decision to take the role of the servant at the beginning of the meal?

The footwashing – and the crucifixion itself, to which it pointed – was Jesus’ way of showing who God was and is. ~ N.T. Wright

• Who are ones referred to as “his own” in verse 13:1? What does it mean that Jesus “loved them to the end”?
• In what way does evil creep in, even as Love is going to the ultimate limit?
• What is Simon Peter’s first reaction to being served by Jesus? Why is it so difficult for him to accept Jesus’ service?
• Why would Peter have no part of Jesus if he refused to allow Jesus to wash him? How does this apply to us today – do we have to allow Jesus to wash us in some way?
• What long-term impact do you think Jesus’ actions had on the disciples?
• Have you ever been inspired by seeing a fellow believer do some act of humble service?
• How are we to follow Jesus’ example and do as he did? What are the undesirable tasks today?  What are some practical things you can do this week to meet the needs of others?

What if we serve and no one notices? What if we help and no one seems to care? What if we offer to serve and are rejected? Welcome to the servant’s world. Jesus never predicted how the servees would respond; he simply placed his actions before us as an example. We need to pray for alertness to the opportunities God presents to us to serve and the wisdom to respond as Jesus would. At the same time, we need to learn to express gratitude to Jesus for his immeasurable act of service in going to the cross for us.  ~  Max Lucado

The Bread of Betrayal  (13:18-30):

Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 1:37:00 – 1:38:15

• Read Psalm 41:7-9. Why does Jesus quote this psalm of David?
• Why was it important for the disciples to be aware of the coming betrayal?

Jesus informs his disciples about Judas’ impending betrayal of him with the goal of enabling them to see, after the event, that Jesus was neither the pawn of a cheap plot nor a sad victim. Rather, Judas’ treachery serves the redemptive purposes of the mission on which the Father sent Jesus. Such knowledge with settle the disciples’ faith.  ~  NIV study notes

• How does the knowledge of the coming betrayal make Jesus feel?
• Were any of the disciples aware of Judas’ treachery? Had Jesus treated him any differently that we are aware of?

Dipping a piece of bread in the dish and passing it to someone was the sign of a special friendship.  That was the sign Jesus employed to tell the beloved disciples not only that it was Judas who was going to do the awful deed, but what the deepest dimension of that deed would be. It was a betrayal of intimate, close trust and friendship.  ~  N.T. Wright

• The word ‘satan’ in Hebrew means ‘accuser’. It is a legal term for someone who brings a charge against someone else.  How does Judas act as an ‘accuser’?
• What time of day is it as Judas leaves? Why does John include that detail?

The door opens on to the dark night, in every sense and at every level, and Judas disappears into it. In the middle of the picture we have Jesus, flanked by love and betrayal. Perhaps it is always like this. Perhaps they always go together in this life, the joy and the agony, the intimacy and the knife in the back. Maybe Jesus’ openness to the one meant that he was bound to be open to the other as well. Maybe it is like that for us too.  ~  N.T. Wright

Love and Denial   (13:31-38):

• Why does Judas’ departure prompt Jesus to speak again about being glorified? Is Jesus’ tone still one of sadness or do you sense his mood has changed?
• As Jesus senses the urgency of diminishing time with the disciples, what does he give them?
• What is it that is ‘new’ about this command?
• What do you imagine Peter is thinking and feeling as he responds to Jesus?
• How do you imagine Jesus’ tone and expression to be as he speaks to Peter in verse 38?

‘Will you really, Peter?’ replies Jesus, and we can see the soft, sad smile as he says it. ‘Is it really you that’s going to lay down your life for me? Have you forgotten what I said about the shepherd and the sheep? Actually Peter, I hate to say it, but what you are about to do is something rather different…’  We love Peter because he is so like the rest of us. And we love Jesus because he is so gentle with him, so loving, even within the sadness and the challenge and the glory that is to come. And once again we pause and reflect on how, in the strange purposes of God, love and betrayal, glory and denial, go so closely together.  ~  N.T. Wright

In light of this passage and our discussion, what one truth about God and about yourself stand out as something to “take to heart” this week?

Are there steps you will take, by God’s grace, to more fully apply it to your life?

Resources: NIV Zondervan Study Bible, 2015

N.T. Wright, John for Everyone, 2002

Max Lucado, Life Lessons from John, 2018

Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 2014