Beginning

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world. It was time for him to go to the Father. Jesus loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now loved them to the very end.

² They were having their evening meal. The devil had already tempted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. He had urged Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under his power. He also knew he had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴ So he got up from the meal and took off his outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples’ feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

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

⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with me.”

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

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “People who have had a bath need to wash only their feet. The rest of their body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are.” ¹¹ Jesus knew who was going to hand him over to his enemies. That was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes. Then he returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. ¹⁴ I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ What I’m about to tell you is true. A slave is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. ¹⁷ Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus Tells What Judas Will Do

¹⁸ “I am not talking about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But this will happen so that this passage of Scripture will come true. It says, ‘The one who shared my bread has turned against me.’ (Psalm 41:9)

¹⁹ “I am telling you now, before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe that I am who I am. ²⁰ What I’m about to tell you is true. Anyone who accepts someone I send accepts me. And anyone who accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

²¹ After he had said this, Jesus’ spirit was troubled. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. One of you is going to hand me over to my enemies.”

²² His disciples stared at one another. They had no idea which one of them he meant. ²³ The disciple Jesus loved was next to him at the table. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to that disciple. He said, “Ask Jesus which one he means.”

²⁵ The disciple was leaning back against Jesus. He asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is the one I will give this piece of bread to. I will give it to him after I have dipped it in the dish.” He dipped the piece of bread. Then he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” ²⁸ But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Judas was in charge of the money. So some of the disciples thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast. Others thought Jesus was talking about giving something to poor people. ³⁰ As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Peter Will Say He Does Not Know Jesus

³¹ After Judas was gone, Jesus spoke. He said, “Now the Son of Man receives glory. And he brings glory to God. ³² If the Son brings glory to God, God himself will bring glory to the Son. God will do it at once.

³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me. Just as I told the Jews, so I am telling you now. You can’t come where I am going.

³⁴ “I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. ³⁵ If you love one another, everyone will know you are my disciples.”

³⁶ Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going you can’t follow now. But you will follow me later.”

³⁷ “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will give my life for you.”

³⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Will you really give your life for me? What I’m about to tell you is true. Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me!

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me also. ² There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If this were not true, would I have told you that I am going there? Would I have told you that I would prepare a place for you there? ³ If I go and do that, I will come back. And I will take you to be with me. Then you will also be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus Is the Way to the Father

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. So how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father also. From now on, you do know him. And you have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father. That will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Don’t you know me, Philip? I have been among you such a long time! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father? Don’t you believe that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. The Father lives in me. He is the one who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say I am in the Father. Also believe that the Father is in me. Or at least believe what the works I have been doing say about me. ¹² What I’m about to tell you is true. Anyone who believes in me will do the works I have been doing. In fact, they will do even greater things. That’s because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do anything you ask in my name. Then the Father will receive glory from the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name. I will do it.

Jesus Promises That the Holy Spirit Will Come

¹⁵ “If you love me, obey my commands. ¹⁶ I will ask the Father. And he will give you another friend to help you and to be with you forever. ¹⁷ That friend is the Spirit of truth. The world can’t accept him. That’s because the world does not see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you, and he will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you like children who don’t have parents. I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore. But you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father. You will know that you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Anyone who has my commands and obeys them loves me. My Father will love the one who loves me. I too will love them. And I will show myself to them.”

²² Then Judas spoke. “Lord,” he said, “why do you plan to show yourself only to us? Why not also to the world?” The Judas who spoke those words was not Judas Iscariot.

²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. We will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. The words you hear me say are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “I have spoken all these things while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Father will send the Friend in my name to help you. The Friend is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things. He will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid.

²⁸ “You heard me say, ‘I am going away. And I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad I am going to the Father. The Father is greater than I am. ²⁹ I have told you now before it happens. Then when it does happen, you will believe. ³⁰ I will not say much more to you. The prince of this world is coming. He has no power over me. ³¹ But he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father. They must also learn that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me to do.

“Come now. Let us leave.

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain joined to me, just as I also remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵ “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶ If you don’t remain joined to me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸ When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

⁹ “Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your joy to be complete. ¹² Here is my command. Love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last. I also appointed you so that the Father will give you what you ask for. He will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ¹⁷ Here is my command. Love one another.

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸ “My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you. I said, ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ (John 13:16) If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’ (Psalms 35:19; 69:4)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. ²⁷ You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.