John 11:32

11:32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

John 11:44

11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, ¹  and a cloth wrapped around his face. ²  Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him ³  and let him go.”

John 13:8

13:8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” ⁴  Jesus replied, ⁵  “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁶ 

John 13:10

13:10 Jesus replied, ⁷  “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, ⁸  but is completely ⁹  clean. ¹⁰  And you disciples ¹¹  are clean, but not every one of you.”

John 13:12

13:12 So when Jesus ¹²  had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table ¹³  again and said to them, “Do you understand ¹⁴  what I have done for you?

[11:44]  ¹ sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.

[11:44]  ² tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”

[11:44]  ³ tn Grk “Loose him.”

[13:8]  ¹ tn Grk “You will never wash my feet forever.” The negation is emphatic in Greek but somewhat awkward in English. Emphasis is conveyed in the translation by the use of an exclamation point.

[13:8]  ² tn Grk “Jesus answered him.”

[13:8]  ³ tn Or “you have no part in me.”

[13:10]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[13:10]  ² tn Grk “has no need except to wash his feet.”

[13:10]  ³ tn Or “entirely.”

[13:10]  ⁴ sn The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet. A common understanding is that the “bath” Jesus referred to is the initial cleansing from sin, which necessitates only “lesser, partial” cleansings from sins after conversion. This makes a fine illustration from a homiletic standpoint, but is it the meaning of the passage? This seems highly doubtful. Jesus stated that the disciples were completely clean except for Judas (vv. 10b, 11). What they needed was to have their feet washed by Jesus. In the broader context of the Fourth Gospel, the significance of the foot-washing seems to point not just to an example of humble service (as most understand it), but something more – Jesus’ self-sacrificial death on the cross. If this is correct, then the foot-washing which they needed to undergo represented their acceptance of this act of self-sacrifice on the part of their master. This makes Peter’s initial abhorrence of the act of humiliation by his master all the more significant in context; it also explains Jesus’ seemingly harsh reply to Peter (above, v. 8; compare Matt 16:21-23 where Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan”).

[13:10]  ⁵ tn The word “disciples” is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb. Peter is not the only one Jesus is addressing here.

[13:12]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:12]  ² tn Grk “he reclined at the table.” The phrase reflects the normal 1st century Near Eastern practice of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position.

[13:12]  ³ tn Grk “Do you know.”