Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 13:1

"Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto his Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end." — John 13:1 (ASV)

Now before the feast of the passover,—

Or, just as it was about to begin,—

When Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

That is a very beautiful description of Christ's death: His hour was that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, – just as though he was merely going on a journey, leaving one land for another. If this is a fair description of such a stormy passage as that of our Lord Jesus, who died for our sins upon Calvary's cross, it must with equal truth describe the death of any of the children of God.

There is also an appointed time for us to depart, and to be with Christ which is far better than remaining here. The loosening of the cable, the spreading of the sail, the crossing over the narrow sea, the coming to the eternal haven, and the abiding there – what Christian heart needs to dread this?

How much better it is even to look forward to it with ardent anticipation! Think much of the abiding love of Christ: Having loved his own – his by election, his by redemption, for he regarded that as already done which was about to be accomplished – Having loved his own which were in the world, – not yet in heaven, but still in the midst of trial, still imperfect, even as you and I are – he loved them unto the end, or "unto the perfection," as it might be rendered.

The Alpha of his love, which we find in eternity, bids us believe that we shall find the Omega of it nowhere but there.

Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Our Lord Jesus Christ had a clear foresight of all he had to endure. Future things are happily hidden from our eyes. We do not even know the moment when we shall die, nor how it will be. It is well that it is so, but our Lord was able to anticipate his sufferings by knowing all about them: Jesus knew that his hour was come.

It was all appointed, and nothing happens to any of us by accident; chance is banished from the believer's creed. There is an appointed "hour" for each one of us, and it will come in due season.

Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of the world unto the Father. What a beautiful way of describing death! Christ's death was certainly a more trying one than ours will be, so that this description may apply to ours as well as to his.