John 13-21

Christopher Boyd Brown, Christopher Boyd Brown

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780830839094
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

After he had washed the disciples' feet, Jesus said, "Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."The second half of the Gospel of John, sometimes called the most "theological" of the Gospels, includes John's account of Jesus' final night with his disciples, his betrayal and arrest, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his appearances to his disciples.When the Reformers of the sixteenth century turned to the fourth Gospel, they found a multitude of theological treasures: a clear affirmation of the full divinity of Christ; insights into the relationships among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and guidance for the church in their time. For example, John Calvin claimed, "This Gospel is a key to open the door for understanding the rest; for whoever shall understand the power of Christ, as it is here strikingly portrayed, will afterwards read with advantage what the others relate about the Redeemer who was manifested."In this volume of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, church historian Christopher Boyd Brown guides readers through a diversity of early modern commentary on chapters 13–21 of the Gospel of John. Readers will hear from familiar voices and discover lesser-known figures from a range of theological traditions, including Lutherans, Reformed, Radicals, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. Drawing upon a variety of resources—including commentaries, sermons, treatises, and confessions—much of which appears here for the first time in English, this volume provides resources for contemporary preachers, enables scholars to better understand the depth and breadth of Reformation commentary, and seeks to encourage all those who desire to love as Jesus loves.

COMMENTARY ON JOHN 13–21

13:1-11 JESUS WASHES THE DISCIPLES’ FEET

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²During supper, when the devil had 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 back to God, ⁴rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “LORD, do you wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “LORD, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,a but is completely clean. And youb are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

OVERVIEW. The reformers note that the focus of John’s narrative shifts decisively in chapter 13 from Jesus’ public ministry, which included his teaching and miracles, to the passion—the suffering—and crucifixion of Christ. With this shift, Jesus speaks openly about what is about to happen. Commentators note that much of this involves a great mystery shrouded in allegory, which was not immediately clear to the disciples.

As Jesus neared the time of his arrest, he prepared his disciples to face what would come next. John omitted the story of the Last Supper. The reformers reason that this omission was due in part because the other Evangelists had recorded it or because its liturgical celebration had already become well known to John’s audience. John is also the only Evangelist to record the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, which some reformers see as a judgment on its importance. Others see this event as an important signifier of Jesus’ imminent passion. They understand the example of Jesus humbly washing the disciples’ feet like a servant to be not only a preparation for the disciples but also an example for contemporary minsters and laity alike.

Amid the reformers’ commentary on the footwashing, questions arise as to whether Jesus began washing with Judas or possibly with Peter and what implications the story has for the church, its ministry, and its discipline. Although there is no clear consensus about the order in which Jesus washed the disciples, there is general agreement that Jesus demonstrated an extravagant love by washing the feet of both Judas, who would soon betray him, and Peter, who initially rejected the footwashing and would soon deny him. Moving beyond the historical event, many reformers understand this episode to signify a continual washing that is available even now to believers, while some reflect on the sacramental nature and implications of Jesus’ act. Juxtaposed to this love, however, is the working of Satan within Judas, a member of the inner circle. Commentators are keen to discuss how Satan acted in this instance in relationship to the authority of God. They understand that Satan worked in subjection to God, who brought about his plan by allowing Satan and Judas to do their impious deeds. This leads them to warn their audience that if one of Jesus’ disciples could fall, then all Christians should beware.

Commentators emphasize Jesus’ foreknowledge about his impending death and how he warned his disciples, and others as well, of his suffering. These passages demonstrate to the reformers that Christ continued to hold all power even as his passion neared and as he humbled himself to wash his disciples’ feet. Those, like Peter, who rejected the footwashing, also rejected the scandal of the cross. For the reformers, this scene is important not only because of the historical narrative but also because it points to the continual washing away of the sins of Christ’s followers, who remain sinners but are nonetheless justified and loved by God. Just as Christ washed Judas’s feet and allowed him to remain until he departed on his own, so also does he give to everyone the opportunity to repent and return to him.

Introductory Comments

LAST SUPPER DISCOURSES. ALEXANDER ALESIUS: [In] this the second part of [John’s] Gospel . . . the Evangelist sets (by way of preface) a summary of Christ’s discourses at the Supper. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.1

CAREFUL AND SWEET WORDS. JOHANN WILD: John writes with such careful and serious words that the Catholic Church justly gives thanks to the Holy Spirit because such riches of grace and truth have been poured out from the mouth of the fullness of Christ into the boundless memory of this Evangelist, which he maintained by such completeness. He poured out in the opportune time, so that assuredly the church may be made safe from the heretics by this Gospel alone.

And now that the unbelieving crowd had been dismissed, Christ turned to the disciples for two reasons: First, he knew they would be extremely saddened by his death, and so he fortified them against the impending calamity. Second, because he desired the gospel to be preached to the whole world by them, therefore he took pains to root out from their minds by that pure gospel ruin, jealousy, hatred, greed, arrogance, and flattery and to implant the opposite dispositions—namely humility, gentleness, and so on before separating from them.

Therefore, those things that we have heard up to now, honor and wealth are assuredly the dwelling of God, but much more important are the following, for we are accustomed to open the secrets of the heart completely among friends rather than enemies. Indeed, these things said from here all the way to the yoke of the cross are nothing other than the recitation of the Testament, which our Father wrote . . . and the designation of the inheritance, which he delegated by wonderful love to his little children in his own struggle with death.

Therefore, just as the words are accustomed to be sweet to the pious and well-loving brothers and to abide more deeply in the memory . . . [they] are to be defended by a humble spirit, and faithful memory. Disciples who do not go astray there may stand, and this John, who was present, lies in between, as if reciting in faithful shorthand. And they may more surely hear, whenever they hope in their inheritance, and in the meantime they may look for the Paraclete and protector, and the worldly person, who attends to each word of the Testament, imitates them in order that they do not miss them, because they belong to them. COMMENTARY ON JOHN.2

JOHN’S GOSPEL IS SELECTIVE. CASPAR CRUCIGER: Just as throughout his history John deliberately passes over narratives that are preserved in the writings of the other Evangelists, so too he here leaves out the eating of the [Passover] lamb and the institution of the Supper for the church to observe, and he recounts only the washing of the feet and the exceedingly sweet discourses that were delivered afterward. INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.3

WHY JOHN NEGLECTS THE LAST SUPPER. JOHANNES BRENZ: John only mentions the Supper, rather than describing it, because it had already been described in sufficient detail by the other Evangelists. EXEGESIS ON THE DIVINE GOSPEL OF JOHN.4

JOHN HAD ALREADY INTRODUCED THE EUCHARIST. MARTIN BUCER: The remaining Evangelists set the account of the holy Supper in this place. . . . But because John has already recalled the discourse of the Lord concerning true communion with him in chapter 6, above, he here passes over the narration of the Supper. For the ceremony of the Eucharist had already begun to be very familiar to all Christians. . . . A little before, offering the bread and the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for the Reformation Commentary on Scripture
• Title Page
• Reformation Commentary on Scripture
• InterVarsity Press
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• A Guide to Using this Commentary
• General Introduction
• Introduction to John 13–21
• Commentary on John 13–21
• Map of Europe at the Time of the Reformation
• Timeline of the Reformation
• Biographical Sketches of Reformation-Era Figures and Works
• Sources for Biographical Sketches
• Bibliography
• Author and Writings Index
• Subject Index
• Scripture Index
• Notes
• About the Author
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press
• Copyright