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a.
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"Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his
hands . . . ." (v.3). This is Exodus 29:9: "Thou shalt consecrate (mg: fill the
hands of) Aaron and his sons...." Also Leviticus 8 :27: "And he (Moses) put all
upon Aaron's hands, and upon his son's hands. . . ." This was their consecration
for the priesthood.
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b.
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Jesus "girded himself" : the same word is used of the girding
of the high priest (Lev.8 :7 LXX).
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c.
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"Not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." Peter had
evidently recognized now the further meaning behind this strange action of
Jesus, and proceeded characteristically to press for a complete consecration
like that of the high priest who was anointed with the sacrificial blood on the
tip of his great toe, the thumb of his right hand and the tip of his right ear
(Lev.8:24).
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d.
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"He that is bathed (as the priests were: Lev.8:6, same word in
LXX) needeth not save to wash his feet," like the priests busy in the tabernacle
or temple (Ex.30 :19). The Levitical priest had to wash hands also, to cleanse
them from the blood of the sacrifice, but this new priesthood need offer no more
sacrifice for sin (Heb.10 :U).
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e.
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"After... he had taken his garments . . . ." This divesting of
garments and taking them again suggests either Zechariah 3 :4,5, where another
Jesus is both type and prophecy of a greater high priest, or else the action of
the High Priest on the Day of Atonement (Lev.16:23,24).
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f.
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"I have left you an example." The word is really "a
type".
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g.
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The high priest had in his bosom the Urim and Thummin by which
guilty men were identified by divine decision (e.g. Josh.7:16-19). Is there a
counterpart to this in John lying on Jesus' breast (Jn. 13:25 has the same word
as Ex. 28:23,26 LXX, and apparently, a deliberate change from 13:23)? And he
elicited from him a pronouncement as to who was the guilty one.
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h.
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John 14 continues the idea with its reference to "my Father's
house" (always the sanctuary), and to "abiding places" in it; this must
be an allusion to the rooms for the priests on duty, which were an integral part
of the sanctuary. "I go to prepare a place for you", anticipates the double work
of Christ's sacrifice and priesthood without which the believer's priestly
service cannot possibly be acceptable.
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i.
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John 17 is the Lord's high-priestly prayer,
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j.
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A remarkable parallel with John 13 and context can be traced
in Hebrews 10:21-29:
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v.22:
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"Bodies washed with pure water"
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v.23:
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"Hold fast the profession of your faith"—cp. the
warning: "All will deny me."
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v.24:
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Consider one another to provoke unto good
works'—
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"Do as I have done to you."
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v.24:
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"Love and good works'— the Agape: "He loved them unto
the end" (see Study 190).
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v.25:
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"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together'—
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"Judas went out and it was night."
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v.26:
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"If we sin wilfully ... no more sacrifice for
sins'—
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"Better for that man that he had never been born."
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v.29:
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"Trodden underfoot the Son of God . . . counted the blood of
the covenant an unholy thing'— Judas again.
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v.21:
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"Having an high priest over the house of God."
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k.
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In Matthew 26 also, Jesus blessing the Bread and Wine
exercised the function of the priest blessing the sacrifice (1 Sam. 9:13; Ps.
132:15).
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l.
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"I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine. . ." —a
priest on duty was not to drink wine (Lev.11 :9). Thus Jesus proclaimed his own
priesthood.
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m.
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"This is the blood of the new covenant . . . ." Compare Moses
and the blood of the first covenant (Ex. 24:8; Heb. 9:18-24; 8:13).
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n.
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Note that in Gethsemane the four groups had relative nearness
to God-Jesus, me three disciples, the rest of the twelve, and the hostile world
outside; then compare the high priest, the ordinary priests, the Levites, and
the ordinary people; and also: the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, the Outer
Court, and the outside world. (Study 211).
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o.
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"Watch with me." It is the word used in LXX for "keeping the
charge" of the sanctuary: e.g. Num. 3:28,31,32.
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p.
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"He prayed the third time . . . ." On the Day of Atonement the
high priest went three times into the Holy of Holies:
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1.
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with incense.
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2.
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with the blood of the bullock of his own sacrifice.
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3.
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with the blood of the goat for the sins of the
people.
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q.
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The coat of Jesus, without seam, appears to be carefully
described in this way so as to invite comparison with the seamless robe worn by
a priest (Jn.19:23).
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