John 13:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

NIV: Jesus replied, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.'

NASB: Jesus answered and said to him, 'What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.'

CSB: Jesus answered him, "What I'm doing you don't realize now, but afterward you will understand."

NLT: Jesus replied, 'You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.'

KJV: Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

NKJV: Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”

Many lessons taught to the disciples are introduced long before they are understood. In some cases, these men need to see how Jesus' role as Messiah will be fulfilled in order to put together all the pieces (John 2:19–22). In other cases, like this, they need a drastic dose of humility. Jesus has surprised them by performing a servant's task: washing the disciples' feet. Later, He will explain the example this should set (John 13:12–20).

For now, the disciples are too concerned with power (Luke 9:54), prestige (Mark 9:34), and the thrill of recent events (John 12:12–13). Only after they see the extent to which Jesus humbles Himself (Philippians 2:8) will they grasp the significance of this foot washing. Peter, especially, will mature from this night's arrogance (John 13:37) into someone deeply aware of the need for humility (1 Peter 5:5).

"You don't understand now, but you will" is a clear response to Peter's objection. But Peter has always been too hard-headed to listen the first time around (Mark 8:31–33). He will reply with a flat-out, absolute rejection of what Jesus is attempting to do (John 13:8), then completely reverse direction and once again fall short of full understanding (John 13:9).

John 13:1–11 begins the ''private'' phase of John's gospel, as Jesus meets with the disciples for a Passover meal. As usual, John skips details covered in other Gospels in order to add his own memories. Jesus performs the task of a lowly servant: washing others' feet. Jesus reassures everyone that this task will make more sense later. Peter is offended by his master acting like a slave, but Jesus responds that washing is necessary for those who follow Him—and not all of those present are clean. That subtly points to Judas, who has already made plans to betray Jesus. A ''full-body'' washing only needs to happen once, while ''foot washing'' needs to be done more frequently. This helps explain the difference between once-for-all salvation, and routine confession of sin.

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.