John 13:7

7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand."

John 13:7 Meaning and Commentary

John 13:7

Jesus answered and said unto him
Christ replies,

what I do, thou knowest not now:
Peter knew that he was about to wash his feet, and the rest of his disciples, but he did not know the meaning and mystery of it, what Christ designed by it, and what instruction they were to receive from it,

but thou shalt know hereafter;
as he did, when he had performed this service, and explained it to him. This may teach us, under dark providences, the meaning of which is not yet known by us, to wait the Lord's own time, to make things clear and plain to us, and in the mean time patiently submit to the divine will.

John 13:7 In-Context

5 Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.

6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?"

7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand."

8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me."

9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!"