What is the role of Peter in this story? Of Judas? How is John positioning them in the story of Jesus’ life?
There’s no cup of wine or broken bread. Considering John is often speaking in abstraction or metaphor, what do you make of this omission? How does this compare to the other gospel accounts of the Last Supper?
Imagine yourself in John’s account of the Last Supper? Where are you in the story? What kind of sensory details can you pick up from John’s description?
Applying the Text:
What do you make of the lack of any account of the “eucharist” in the story of the Last Supper? How important is the bread and wine found in the other accounts of the Last Supper to your understanding of this moment in Jesus’ ministry?
Is there a difference between Jesus’ stress in John 13:34 on loving one another and the command in the other gospels to love not only the neighbor but the enemy? How do you understand Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you?”
How does the story of the foot washing relate to the command to love one another at the end of chapter 13? What does this teach us about how we should act?