John 13: 1-17 Synthetic Observations

John 13: 1-17

Synthetic Observations

John 13: 1-17 is presented in allegorical prose; the passage reads like an excerpt out of a story.

There are no noticeable differences between the NIV or NASB versions of the passage.

The selection describes the tense moments before Jesus's Last Supper, when Jesus foresaw the Judas' betrayal.

An underlying theme of John 13: 1-17 is the relationship between teacher or master and subject; because Jesus makes a point to wash Peter's feet he sets an example for how persons in power should conduct themselves.

As part of the New Testament, the genre is religious allegory. However, some readers might describe the genre as historical allegory.

The short excerpt establishes the setting for one of the key moments in the life of Jesus Christ: it is "just before the Passover feast," which readers know will turn out to be the Last Supper (John 13: 1).

In addition to establishing setting, the passage also creates a tense and suspenseful tone. Not only do most readers anticipate Judas' betrayal, but so too does Jesus himself. Ironically, he is the only one in the room who is aware of the impending doom.

II. Analytical Observations

A. Grammar

1. The author of the passage uses past tense, such as "Jesus knew," (John 13: 1). Verb tense remains constant throughout the passage.

2. The author also uses the past participle, such as "The time had come," or "When he had finished washing their feet," (John 13: 1; 12).

3. When necessary, the future tense is expressed using participial phrases, such as: "For he knew who was going to betray him," (John 13: 11).

4. When Jesus speaks, his dialogue and the dialogue of his conversation with Peter, is written in present tense: "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am," (John 13:13).

5. The author mostly uses the active voice. However, on occasion, he resorts to passive voice such as "The evening meal was being served," (John 13: 2).

6. The passage is grammatically sound except for one instance of an ambiguous pronoun reference in line 3: "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power." Here, it is unclear who the "he" refers to: Jesus or the Father.

7. The author fuses two sentences into one by using a semicolon, such as the semicolon between lines 3 and 4.

8. The passage is constructed using complex sentences with both dependent and independent clauses and participle phrases such as: "Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love," and "After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13: 1; 5).

9. All parts of speech are used, but adjectives and adverbs are kept to a minimum. A few exceptions include "outer clothing," (John 13: 4).

10. To add descriptive elements, the author occasionally uses modifying clauses rather than adjectives such as "the towel that was wrapped around him," (John 13: 5). However, in general the author relies on strong nouns and verbs to tell the story.

B. Composition

1. Verb choices are particularly strong and vibrant: the author uses words like "prompted," "wrapped," and "poured," which makes for a compelling and dramatic narrative and corresponds with the suspenseful atmosphere.

2. The author uses many complex sentences consisting of both dependent and independent clauses, but the author uses varied sentence structure to create rhythm.

3. The author uses subtle repetition: "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well," (John 13: 9).

4. The author uses parallelism also to create rhythm. For example, "he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist," (John 13:4).

5. Foreshadowing is one of the hallmarks of this passage. For example, "Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father," (John 13: 1).

6. As a result, there is some dramatic irony, as only Jesus is privy to the knowledge of his own death; the disciples are in the dark.

7. The dialogue between Jesus and Peter is filled with tension, enhancing the tone and mood of the passage.

8. In general, the use of dialogue elevates what would be mere religious teaching into an actual story or narrative. Dialogue is one of the most effective techniques in any work of prose.

9. The use of the word "clean" to describe the ritual washing of feet denotes the importance of spiritual purity and cleanliness, one of the central messages of John 13.

10. The writing style is at once formal and familiar. In general the passage is highly readable by modern audiences and has a pace similar to children's stories. On the other hand, the insertion of words like "shall" eliminates the sense of anachronism (John 13: 8).

III. Other observations

1. Line 16 is ambiguous: "I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him." What Jesus says seems obvious: of course no servant is greater than his master. If he had stated the opposite, then the line's meaning would be more apparent. However, it is unclear what Jesus is trying to say about the relationship between servant and master.