John 13:11 — Community Reflections

JOHN 13:11 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.”

For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, 'Not all of you are clean' — John explicitly confirms what Jesus knew from the beginning: the betrayer is present at the very table where Jesus performs the supreme act of love. Judas receives the footwashing, his feet touched and dried by the Lord he will deliver to death. This is not an exemption from grace but a tragic refusal of grace; the washing does not cleanse him because his heart remains closed. The knowledge Jesus possesses is not punitive but sorrowful—he sees the beloved who will not be loved, the guest who will become betrayer.

Church Fathers on John 13:11

As a physician, who has many sick under his care, begins with those who want his attention most, so Christ, in washing His disciples’ feet, begins with the most unclean, and so comes at last to Peter, who needed the washing less than any: Then comes He to Simon Peter. Peter resisted being washed, perhaps because his feet were nearly clean: and Peter said to Him, Lord, do you wash my feet?
Origen · 3rd century

What is the meaning of you and my feet? It is better to think than speak of this; lest one should fail in explaining adequately what might have been rightly conceived.
Augustine · 4th century

Though Peter was the first of the Apostles, yet it is possible that the traitor petulantly placed himself above him; and that this may be the reason why our Lord first began to wash, and then comes to Peter.
Chrysostom · 4th century

Read all 24 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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