Yohanes 10:11

10:11 “I am the good ¹  shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life ²  for the sheep.

Yohanes 10:17-18

10:17 This is why the Father loves me ³  – because I lay down my life, ⁴  so that I may take it back again. 10:18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down ⁵  of my own free will. ⁶  I have the authority ⁷  to lay it down, and I have the authority ⁸  to take it back again. This commandment ⁹  I received from my Father.”

Yohanes 13:1

Washing the Disciples’ Feet

13:1 Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time ¹⁰  had come to depart ¹¹  from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. ¹² 

[10:11]  ¹ tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).

[10:11]  ² tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”

[10:11]  sn Jesus speaks openly of his vicarious death twice in this section (John 10:11, 15). Note the contrast: The thief takes the life of the sheep (10:10), the good shepherd lays down his own life for the sheep. Jesus is not speaking generally here, but specifically: He has his own substitutionary death on the cross in view. For a literal shepherd with a literal flock, the shepherd’s death would have spelled disaster for the sheep; in this instance it spells life for them (Compare the worthless shepherd of Zech 11:17, by contrast).

[10:17]  ³ tn Grk “Because of this the Father loves me.”

[10:17]  ⁴ tn Or “die willingly.”

[10:18]  ⁵ tn Or “give it up.”

[10:18]  ⁶ tn Or “of my own accord.” “Of my own free will” is given by BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμαυτοῦ c.

[10:18]  ⁷ tn Or “I have the right.”

[10:18]  ⁸ tn Or “I have the right.”

[10:18]  ⁹ tn Or “order.”

[13:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “his hour.”

[13:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that he should depart.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause in Koine Greek frequently encroached on the simple infinitive (for the sake of greater clarity).

[13:1]  ¹² tn Or “he now loved them completely,” or “he now loved them to the uttermost” (see John 19:30). All of John 13:1 is a single sentence in Greek, although in English this would be unacceptably awkward. At the end of the verse the idiom εἰς τέλος (eis telos) was translated literally as “to the end” and the modern equivalents given in the note above, because there is an important lexical link between this passage and John 19:30, τετέλεσται (tetelestai, “It is ended”).

[13:1]  sn The full extent of Jesus’ love for his disciples is not merely seen in his humble service to them in washing their feet (the most common interpretation of the passage). The full extent of his love for them is demonstrated in his sacrificial death for them on the cross. The footwashing episode which follows then becomes a prophetic act, or acting out beforehand, of his upcoming death on their behalf. The message for the disciples was that they were to love one another not just in humble, self-effacing service, but were to be willing to die for one another. At least one of them got this message eventually, though none understood it at the time (see 1 John 3:16).