John 13:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’

NIV: I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: 'He who shared my bread has turned against me.'

NASB: I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’

CSB: "I'm not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: The one who eats my bread has raised his heel against me.

NLT: I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.’

KJV: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

NKJV: “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’

Earlier, Jesus referred to the difference between being "bathed" spiritually, to those who are spiritually "washed" (John 13:8–10). In context, the meaning is that salvation makes a person "clean," leaving only a need to maintain good fellowship with God through confession of sin (1 John 1:8–10). In that same statement, Jesus pointed out that not all of those present for the foot-washing were "clean." This was a reference to Judas, who has already begun the process of betraying Jesus to local religious leaders (Matthew 26:14–16).

Here Jesus refers to His prior comment about the happiness of obedience (John 13:17) by saying this does not apply to everyone present. In making this remark, Jesus also emphasizes that Judas' betrayal is not a surprise. Nor did Jesus make a mistake when adding Judas to the inner circle of twelve men. Jesus knew what He was doing and who He was choosing. That, in part, was meant to fulfill the prophetic statement of Psalm 41:9. An even deeper fulfillment of that prophecy will happen in the next moments, as Jesus literally shares food with Judas (John 13:26).

John 13:12–20 is Jesus' explanation of His humble act: washing the feet of the disciples. Christ freely accepts His role as Lord and master, using those concepts to drive home His main point. Those who claim the name of Jesus ought to follow His example. That means humility and service for others—if the Lord serves others, so too should those who follow Him. Jesus also points out that not everyone at this event truly follows Him. This prediction is given to strengthen the faith of true believers once everything has been revealed. The following passage expands on the impending betrayal.

Jesus meets with a smaller group, possibly only the twelve disciples, in a private setting. Before eating a meal, Jesus performs the work of a lowly servant, washing the feet of the disciples. He explains that this is an object lesson. Their Lord is willing to serve in humility, so they are obligated to do the same. Jesus also predicts His impending betrayal, subtly telling Judas to leave and complete His conspiracy. The disciples don't realize what's happened, however. Peter foolishly brags about his loyalty. Jesus responds with a cutting prediction: Peter will deny his relationship to Christ three times in the next few hours.

The first twelve chapters of the gospel of John describe the public ministry of Jesus. Starting in chapter 13, most of what John describes are the last private moments Jesus enjoys prior to His crucifixion. This begins with Jesus washing the disciples' feet, establishing both an example and a command for humble service. Jesus also predicts His impending betrayal and Peter's cowardly denials. Following chapters contain Jesus' last instructions to the disciples, including a rich collection of truths which are central to the Christian faith.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.