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Bible chapter guide
John 13
Before the Passover Jesus washes his disciples' feet and tells them to do the same for one another. He foretells that Judas will betray him and Peter will deny him, and gives them a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
Before the feast of the Passover, during supper, Jesus gets up, lays aside his outer garments, ties a towel round his waist and washes the disciples' feet. Peter refuses until Jesus tells him that unless he is washed he has no part with him, and afterwards Jesus tells them to wash one another's feet as he has done. Troubled, he says that one of them will betray him; Peter signals to the disciple whom Jesus loved, reclining next to him, to ask who, and Jesus answers by dipping a piece of bread and giving it to Judas. Judas goes out at once, and it is night. Jesus gives them a new commandment, to love one another as he has loved them, and tells Peter he will deny him three times before the rooster crows.
What the lab shows, and where to look
Open the Last Supper stop: its first moment is John's foot washing, with Jesus' outer garment laid aside and a towel tied round him. Then look at where everyone lies. The tables stand in a U and the diners recline on their left elbows; the beloved disciple is just in front of Jesus, Judas close enough on his other side to be handed the bread, and Peter across the corner, near enough to signal. The Gospels give only these hints, and the lab marks the plan as a reconstruction. The second moment, the bread and the cup, comes from the other Gospels: John 13 has no words over the bread and wine.
- The Last Supper · Holy Week in Jerusalem
- The Last Supper: The bread and the cup · Holy Week in Jerusalem
Questions people ask
Where did the disciples sit at the Last Supper?
They did not sit but reclined, lying on their left side around low tables as at a Greek or Roman banquet. John 13 gives the only clues to the places: the beloved disciple lay just in front of Jesus, so that leaning back he was at his chest (13:23, 25); Judas was close enough to be handed the bread (13:26); Peter had to signal across the table (13:24). The U-shaped table and every other place are reconstruction.
Why did Jesus wash the disciples' feet?
He explains it himself: if he, their Lord and Teacher, has washed their feet, they ought to wash one another's, because he has given them an example (13:13–15). Washing a guest's feet after the dusty roads was usually left to the guest or done by a servant, which is why Peter protests. John frames the whole scene with the words that Jesus loved his own to the end (13:1).
Was the Last Supper a Passover meal?
Matthew, Mark and Luke present it as the Passover meal. John sets it before the feast (13:1), has the leaders on Friday morning still waiting to eat the Passover (18:28), and puts the crucifixion on the day of Preparation. Proposed answers include John using 'Passover' for the whole week-long feast, Jesus holding the meal a day early, and the two accounts following different calendars; none has settled the question.
See it in the Labs
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe Last Supper · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe Last Supper: The bread and the cup · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Strongly supported
They reclined, not sat: diners lay on cushions or couches on their left side around low tables, leaning on the left elbow, as at a Greek or Roman banquet. The disciple Jesus loved lay next to him.
The Gospels use the Greek words for reclining at table; the Mishnah says that on Passover night even the poorest must recline.
- Plausible
Who lies where: the disciple Jesus loved is just in front of him, so that leaning back he is at Jesus' breast; Judas is near enough on his other side to be handed the piece of bread; Peter is across the corner of the tables, facing them, near enough to signal to John. The Gospels give only these hints.
John 13:23-26: the beloved disciple reclines next to Jesus and leans back on his breast, Peter beckons to him, and Jesus dips the piece of bread and gives it to Judas. Which side each lay on, and where Peter was, is read from these verses; they do not say it.
- Plausible
Was the Last Supper a Passover meal?: Matthew, Mark and Luke present the supper as the Passover meal. John has the leaders avoiding defilement on Friday morning so that they could still eat the Passover, and places the crucifixion on the day of Preparation of the Passover. Proposed answers: John's "Passover" can mean the whole week-long feast and "Preparation" the Friday of that week (plausible); Jesus held the meal a day early, knowing he would die (plausible); the two accounts follow different calendars, for example the one used at Qumran (speculative). Either way, John shows Jesus dying as the Passover lambs were being prepared.
- Plausible
Once or twice?: In Mark, Jesus says Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows twice, and the rooster crows a second time at the end; Matthew, Luke and John speak of the rooster crowing once. Mark gives the fuller detail; the others keep the main point.