Text -- John 13:34-38 (NET)

13:34 “I give you a new commandment– to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 13:35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples– if you have love for one another.” 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” 13:37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” 13:38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Joh 13:34

¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

² sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1, 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16, 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.

NET Notes: Joh 13:35

¹ tn Grk “All people,” although many modern translations have rendered πάντες (pantes) as “all men” (ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV). While the gender of the pronoun is masculine, it is collective and includes people of both genders.

NET Notes: Joh 13:36

¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”

NET Notes: Joh 13:37

¹ tn Or “I will die willingly for you.”

NET Notes: Joh 13:38

¹ tn Or “Will you die willingly for me?”

² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”