13
Jesus washed the feet of his followers
1-2 It was just before the Jewish Passover ceremony, and Jesus and his followers sat down to eat together. Jesus knew that it was nearly time for him to leave this world and go back to his father. While he was in the world, he always showed his followers that he loved them. And he kept on loving them right to the end of his time on earth.
Before this time, the devil, the boss over the bad spirits, gave one of Jesus’s followers the idea of turning against Jesus. That follower’s name was Judas. He was the son of a man called Simon Iscariot.
Jesus and his followers were sitting at the table,
3 and Jesus knew that God gave him power over everything so that he can do anything. And he knew that he came from God and that he was going back to God again soon.
4 Then he stood up from the table, took off his coat, and tied a towel around himself.
5 Then he put some water in a bowl, and he started to wash the feet of his followers and dry them with the towel.
6 He got to Peter, and Peter said, “Sir, it’s not right for you to wash my feet.”
7 Jesus said, “You don’t yet understand what I am doing, but one day you will.”
8 Peter said, “No. I can never let you wash my feet.”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you will not be in my family.”
9 Then Peter said, “Well, sir, don’t just wash my feet. Wash my hands and head too.”
10 Jesus said, “After you have a bath, all of your body is clean. You might walk around and get your feet dirty again, so then you just have to wash your feet. Most of you mob are like that, you are clean, but one of you is not clean.”
11 You see, Jesus knew that Judas was going to turn against him, so he said, “One of you is not clean.”
12 After Jesus finished washing everyone’s feet, he put on his coat and sat down again. Then he said, “Do you understand why I washed your feet?
13 You all call me your teacher, and your leader, and you are right. I am both of those things for you.
14 Yes, I am your teacher and leader. I am not your worker, but I washed your feet anyway. In the same way, you have to wash each other’s feet.
15 I washed your feet to show you how you have to treat each other.
16 Listen to this, it’s true. A worker is not more important than their boss, and the person that takes a message is not more important than the person that sent them. Like that, you are not more important than me.
17 And I just showed you how to treat each other. So if you do that, God will make you happy.
18 But I know that one of you will not do it. So I am not talking about all of you. You see, I picked all of you to be my followers, but I knew that one of you will turn against me. A long time ago, God got one of his men to write about this, and it is in God’s book. He wrote,
‘A man ate with me, but then he turned against me.’
And now that will happen, just like that man wrote.
19 I am telling you about this now, so that after it happens you will understand that I am the special man that God sent.
20 Listen to this, it’s true. I am going to send you out to be my messengers. And anyone that is happy with my messengers and listens to them, that person is really listening to me and is happy with me. And anyone that is happy with me and listens to me, that person is really listening to my father and is happy with him, because he is the one that sent me here.”
Jesus’s followers asked him who will turn against him
21 After Jesus said that, he was really upset, and he said, “Listen, I’m telling you straight, one of you will turn against me and help my enemies to catch me.”
22 His followers looked at each other. They thought, “Who is he talking about?”
23 There was one follower that Jesus liked a lot, and he was sitting next to Jesus.
24 Peter moved his hand to make a sign to that follower, to get him to ask Jesus, “Who are you talking about?”
25 That follower leaned over closer to Jesus and asked, “Sir, who are you talking about?”
26 Jesus said, “I will put a bit of damper into the sauce, and then I will give it to the man that will turn against me.” Then Jesus put the damper into the sauce and gave it to Judas, the man whose father was called Simon Iscariot.
27 Judas took the damper, and straight away Satan, the boss over the bad spirits, went into him. Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do what you are going to do. And do it quickly.”
28 None of Jesus’s followers understood why he said that to Judas.
29 Some of them thought that Jesus told Judas to go and buy more food for the ceremony, because he looked after the money bag. And some of them thought that Jesus told him to go and give money to poor people.
30 As soon as Judas took the damper, he left them and went out into the night.
Jesus told Peter that he will say he doesn’t know Jesus
31 After Judas left, Jesus said, “You know that I am God’s special man from heaven. Well, now is the time for God to show everyone that I am really great and powerful. People will see me like that, and they will see that God is really great and powerful.
32 And when they see me really great, like that, they will know that God did it, and they will say that he is really great. God is going to do that now.
33 My friends, to me you are like my own little kids, but I will not be with you much longer. You can’t come with me to the place I am going. You will look for me, but you will not find me. I said that to the Jewish leaders, and now I’m telling you the same thing.
34 Listen, you have to love each other, just as much as I loved you. This is a new thing I’m telling you, and you have to do it.
35 People will see you loving each other, and they will know that you are my followers.”
36 Peter asked Jesus, “Sir, where are you going?”
Jesus said to him, “You can’t follow me yet to the place where I am going. But you will follow me later.”
37 Peter asked, “But, sir, why can’t I follow you now? I am ready to die for you.”
38 Jesus said, “Are you really ready to die for me, Peter? Listen, I’m telling you straight, tonight you will tell people that you don’t know me. You will say that 3 times before a chook yells out tomorrow morning, just like it always does before the sun comes up.”