John 13:1

John 13:1. Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour was come that he should pass out of this world unto the Father, haying loved his own which were in the world, loved them to the full. In this verse we have first a chronological notice, and next a description in three particulars of one side of the circumstances of the scene.

The chronological notice, ‘before the feast of the Passover.' The Passover is that mentioned in John 12:1, and more particularly described in John 11:55 as ‘the Passover of the Jews.' It is significant that these last words, ‘of the Jews,' are dropped in the expression before us. Jesus will partake of ‘the Passover,' but not of ‘the Passover of the Jews;' of the great national ordinance of Israel, but not of an ordinance the true spirit and meaning of which had perished; and which, as celebrated by ‘the Jews,' had degenerated into an outward carnal form repulsive to the truly spiritual mind (comp. on John 2:13). The preposition ‘before' is indeterminate, and is as suitable to an event happening immediately, as to one happening days, before. (2) The circumstances of one side of the scene, three in number. First, the leading person in it, ‘Jesus, knowing that His hour was come,' etc. Certainly not ‘ although He knew,' as if His consciousness of the glory awaiting Him might have proved an obstacle to His present manifestation of Himself, had it not been overcome by love; but because He knew that He was about to be delivered from the toil and suffering of the world, and to be reunited to the Father in the blessedness of the most intimate communion with Him (comp. on chap. John 1:1). Second, the persons with whom He deals. They were ‘His own;' and they were ‘in the world,' amidst its dangers and difficulties and sorrows. Third, the feelings of the heart of Jesus, love, not the mere love of friendship, but a solemn, deep, divine love. Thus indeed He had always loved ‘His own,' but His love now gains additional intensity; He loved them ‘to the full.' The expression does not mean ‘to the end,' for which another phrase is always used (Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:14; Hebrews 6:11; Revelation 2:26). It is best explained by 1 Thessalonians 2:16, ‘to the uttermost:' the love of Jesus now reaches its highest point.

It may be well to remind our readers that we shall now ever and again, until at least we reach the dose of chap. 19, meet expressions having a bearing on the great controversy, not yet conclusively laid at rest, as to the day on which the Last Supper was eaten by Jesus and His disciples, as well as to that on which the crucifixion of Jesus took place. Here the first of these two points especially concerns us; and, without going into all the particulars which would be required for a fall discussion of the controversy, we would simply recall attention to the fact that the question is, Did Jesus eat the passover on the usual night, that appointed by the law, viz. the 14 th of Nisan, or did He eat it on the evening of the previous day? It will hardly be denied that the expressions here employed point most naturally to the regular, legal night. We have already said that with this view the word ‘before' in this verse is perfectly consistent.