John 13:3

3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God.

John 13:3 Meaning and Commentary

John 13:3

Jesus knowing that the Father
These words express the sense Christ had of his own greatness and dignity as Mediator:

had given all things into his hands;
all the persons of the elect, all blessings both of grace and glory for them, and power and authority over all other persons and things, to make them subservient to his purposes:

and that he was come from God;
had his mission and commission, as man, from God; did not come of himself, but he sent him:

and went to God;
or was going to him in a very little time, to sit at his right hand, to have a name above every name, and to have angels, authorities, and powers subject to him; which, as it shows his high esteem with his Father, and his exalted character as Mediator, so it greatly illustrates his wonderful humility, that in the view, and under a sense and consideration of all this, he should condescend to wash the feet of his disciples; of which an account is given in the following verses.

John 13:3 In-Context

1 Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.

2 Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot's son, to betray Jesus.

3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God.

4 So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist.

5 Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing.