John 4:53

4:53 Then the father realized that it was the very time ¹  Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household.

John 13:10

13:10 Jesus replied, ²  “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, ³  but is completely ⁴  clean. ⁵  And you disciples ⁶  are clean, but not every one of you.”

John 19:23

19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified ⁷  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ⁸  and the tunic ⁹  remained. (Now the tunic ¹⁰  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ¹¹ 

[4:53]  ¹ tn Grk “at that hour.”

[13:10]  ² tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[13:10]  ³ tn Grk “has no need except to wash his feet.”

[13:10]  ⁴ tn Or “entirely.”

[13:10]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[19:23]  ³ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ⁴ sn Four shares, one for each soldier. The Gospel of John is the only one to specify the number of soldiers involved in the crucifixion. This was a quaternion, a squad of four soldiers. It was accepted Roman practice for the soldiers who performed a crucifixion to divide the possessions of the person executed among themselves.

[19:23]  ⁵ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[19:23]  ⁶ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). See the note on the same word earlier in this verse.

[19:23]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.