No Greater Love—in Service

13 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end.^[a]

² By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

³ Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴ He got up from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”

⁸ Peter told him, “You will never, ever, wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Lord, not just my feet,” Simon Peter replied, “but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Jesus told him, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, but his body is completely clean. And you^[b] are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ Indeed, he knew who was going to betray him. That is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. ¹⁴ Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you.

³⁴ “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another.