John 13:13

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Ye call me Master and Lord—i.e., Master in the sense of Teacher. The word in the original is not “Rabbi.” (Comp. Note on John 11:28.) The Jewish pupils called their teachers “Rabbi” and “Mar” (Teacher), and it was not permitted to any pupil to call his teacher by his proper name (Sanhedr., fol. 100, §1). The word “Master” here refers to His position as their Teacher; the word Lord to the reverence which they paid to Him. These were the common titles of everyday life which He here asserts for Himself.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:1-17 Our Lord Jesus has a people in the world that are his own; he has purchased them, and paid dear for them, and he has set them apart for himself; they devote themselves to him as a peculiar people. Those whom Christ loves, he loves to the end. Nothing can separate a true believer from the love of Christ. We know not when our hour will come, therefore what we have to do in constant preparation for it, ought never to be undone. What way of access the devil has to men's hearts we cannot tell. But some sins are so exceedingly sinful, and there is so little temptation to them from the world and the flesh, that it is plain they are directly from Satan. Jesus washed his disciples' feet, that he might teach us to think nothing below us, wherein we may promote God's glory, and the good of our brethren. We must address ourselves to duty, and must lay aside every thing that would hinder us in what we have to do. Christ washed his disciples' feet, that he might signify to them the value of spiritual washing, and the cleansing of the soul from the pollutions of sin. Our Lord Jesus does many things of which even his own disciples do not for the present know the meaning, but they shall know afterward. We see in the end what was the kindness from events which seemed most cross. And it is not humility, but unbelief, to put away the offers of the gospel, as if too rich to be made to us, or too good news to be true. All those, and those only, who are spiritually washed by Christ, have a part in Christ. All whom Christ owns and saves, he justifies and sanctifies. Peter more than submits; he begs to be washed by Christ. How earnest he is for the purifying grace of the Lord Jesus, and the full effect of it, even upon his hands and head! Those who truly desire to be sanctified, desire to be sanctified throughout, to have the whole man, with all its parts and powers, made pure. The true believer is thus washed when he receives Christ for his salvation. See then what ought to be the daily care of those who through grace are in a justified state, and that is, to wash their feet; to cleanse themselves from daily guilt, and to watch against everything defiling. This should make us the more cautious. From yesterday's pardon, we should be strengthened against this day's temptation. And when hypocrites are discovered, it should be no surprise or cause of stumbling to us. Observe the lesson Christ here taught. Duties are mutual; we must both accept help from our brethren, and afford help to our brethren. When we see our Master serving, we cannot but see how ill it becomes us to domineer. And the same love which led Christ to ransom and reconcile his disciples when enemies, still influences him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye call me Master - Teacher.

And Lord - This word is applied to one who rules, and is often given to God as being the Proprietor and Ruler of all things. It is given to Christ many hundred times in the New Testament.

Ye say well ... - Matthew 23:8, Matthew 23:10.

So I am - That is, he was their Teacher and Instructor, and he was their Sovereign and King.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. Ye call me Master—Teacher.

and Lord—learning of Him in the one capacity, obeying Him in the other.

and ye say well, for so I am—The conscious dignity with which this claim is made is remarkable, following immediately on His laying aside the towel of service. Yet what is this whole history but a succession of such astonishing contrast from first to last?

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The disciples in their ordinary discourses called Christ

Master and Lord; nor was it a name improper for him, for he was their Master to instruct them, their Lord to rule, guide, and govern them: now, saith our Saviour, disciples ought to obey their master, servants ought to obey their lord, and disciples also ought to imitate their master.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Ye call me Master and Lord,.... and "Master" and "Lord", were dignified titles among the Jews, which they frequently (y) gave to their doctors and men of learning, and are often to be met with in their writings: hence the disciples called Christ by these names, not out of flattery, but reverence of him, and esteem for him; nor are they blamed, but commended for it:

and ye say well, for so I am; though he had acted the part of a servant in such a surprising manner, by washing their feet; yet he had not dropped and lost, but still maintains his place and authority as a "Master" to teach and instruct them, and as a "Lord" to rule and govern them.

(y) Vid. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 3. 1. Derech Erets, c. 6. fol. 18. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 13:13. ὑμεῖς φωνεῖτέ με, “ye call me,” in addressing me (φωνεῖν, not καλεῖν), ὁ διδάσκαλος καὶ ὁ κύριος “Teacher” and “Lord”; the nominativus tituli, see Winer, 226. Perhaps “Rabbi” would convey better the respect involved in διδάσκαλος. καὶ καλῶς λέγετε, εἰμὶ γάρ. Jesus, humble and self-suppressing as He was, clearly recognised His own dignity and on occasion asserted it. Here the point of the lesson lay in His consciousness of being their Lord.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. Master and Lord] Or, The Master (Teacher) and the Lord. These are the ordinary titles of respect paid to a Rabbi: ‘Lord’ is the correlative of ‘servant,’ so that ‘Master’ might be a synonym for that also; but the disciples would no doubt use the word with deeper meaning as their knowledge of their Master increased. In the next verse the order of the titles is reversed, to give emphasis to the one with this deeper meaning.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 13:13. Ὁ διδάσκαλος) The Nominative for the Vocative, which is extant at Luke 6:46 [με καλεῖτε, Κύριε, Κύριε].—καί, and) They sometimes used to call Him Master, sometimes Lord: and thereby they were professing themselves to be His disciples and servants.—ὁ Κύριος, Lord) John 13:6; John 13:9; John 13:25; John 13:36-37; ch. John 14:5; John 14:8; John 14:22.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Ye name me the Teacher and the Lord. "Rabbi and Mara," the names of reverence which disciples of the Hebrew teachers were accustomed to offer to their masters. Φωνεῖν means to name, and the two nominatives are used appellatively, not as vocatives. Tholuck regards them as vocatives. Scholars dared not address their teachers without some marks of respect. Διδάσκαλος is John's equivalent for רבי, my Master (see John 1:29; John 20:16). And ye say well; for so I am. At this supreme moment he does not repudiate this high function, nor abate any of his lofty claims. He was most obviously the highest in his condescending love. He had given no more amazing proof of the originality and supremacy of his nature than this inversion of all ordinary relations. So I AM - more, indeed, than "the Teacher," "the Savior," more than "the Master," as Peter said on a memorable occasion, "God was with him," and he was Immanuel - "God with us," and "Lord of all" (Acts 10:37, 38). John 13:13

Vincent's Word Studies

Master (ὁ διδάσκαλος)

Literally, the Teacher. Teacher and Lord were used, according to the Jewish titles Rabbi and Mar, corresponding to which the followers were disciples or servants.