The Gospel of John, conceived 44

In those days, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, showed by His deeds that, having loved His own in the world, He loved them to the end. And at the time of supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot of Simon to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was departing to God, arose from the supper, took off His outer garment, and, taking a towel, girded Himself. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. He came up to Simon Peter, and he said to Him, "Lord! Do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not know now, but you will understand later." Peter said to Him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and head. Jesus said to him, "He who has been washed only needs to wash his feet, because he is completely clean; and you are pure, but not all. For He knew His betrayer, therefore He said, "Not all of you are pure."

John 13:1–11

Holy Thursday, 1 Gospel at the washing of the feet.

The Gospel of John, conceived 45

In those days, when Jesus had washed the disciples' feet and put on His garments, He sat down again, and said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for I am exactly that. Therefore, if I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, then you also must wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than he who sent him. If you know this, blessed are you when you do it.

John 13:12–17

Holy Thursday, 2 Gospel at the washing of the feet.

The Gospel of John, conceived 46

The Lord said to His disciples, "Today the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him." If God is glorified in Him, then God will glorify Him in Himself, and will soon glorify Him. Children! I will not be long with you. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, that where I am going you cannot come, so I say to you now. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord! where are you going? Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot now follow Me, but after that you will follow Me." Peter said to Him, "Lord! why can't I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thee. Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for me?" verily, verily, I say unto thee, The shall not crow until thou hast denied Me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, and believe in me. In My Father's house there are many mansions. And if it were not so, I would say to you, I am going to prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that you also may be where I am. Thomas said to Him, "Lord! we do not know where you are going; and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, "Lord! show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, "How long have I been with you, and you do not know me, Philip?" He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then do you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak of myself; The Father who dwells in Me, He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; and if not, believe Me according to your very works. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works which I do, he shall do also, and greater than these, for I am coming unto My Father. And if you ask the Father anything in My name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him and does not know Him; but you know Him, for He is with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while, and the world will see Me no more; but you will see me, for I live, and you will live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My commandments and keeps them loves Me; but whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and appear to him myself. Judas, not Iscariot, said to Him: "Lord! what is this, that You want to reveal Yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever loves me will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; but the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father who sent me. This I have said to you while I was with you. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, and let it not be afraid. Ye have heard that I said unto you, I am coming from you, and I will come unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I said, I go to the Father; for My Father is greater than I. And behold, I told you these things before it came to pass, that you might believe when it came to pass. It is a little longer for Me to speak to you; for the prince of this world is coming, and in me he has nothing. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, so do I do: arise, let us go hence. I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch of Me that does not bear fruit He cuts off; and every one that beareth fruit, He cleanses, that it may bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed through the word I have preached to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of its own accord unless it be on the vine, so also are you, unless you are in Me. I am the vine, and you are the branches; whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch, and will wither; but such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. By this my Father will be glorified, if you bear much fruit and be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. This I have said to you, that my joy may abide in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you all that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you, and ordained you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give unto you. This I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word which I have spoken to you, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also; if you have kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things will be done to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them works which no one else had done, they would have had no sin; but now they have seen and hated me and my Father. But let the word be fulfilled which is written in their law, They have hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me; and ye also shall bear witness, for ye are with me first. This I have said to you, that you may not be offended. They will drive you out of the synagogues; even the time comes when everyone who kills you will think that he is serving God. They will do this, because they have not known either the Father or Me. But I have told you these things, that when that time comes, you may remember what I have told you about these things; but I did not say these things to you at first, because I was with you. But now I go to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, Where are you going? But because I have told you these things, your heart is filled with sorrow. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I should go; for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you, and when he comes, he will rebuke the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, that I go to My Father, and see Me no more; but of judgment, that the prince of this world is condemned. I have yet much to say to you; but now you can't contain it. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare things to you to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take of Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I have said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. Soon you will not see Me, and again soon you will see Me, for I am going to the Father. Then some of His disciples said one to another, "What is this that He says to us, Soon you will not see Me, and again soon you will see Me, and I am going to the Father? So they said, "What is this that He says, 'Quickly'? We don't know what he says. And when Jesus understood that they wanted to ask him, he said to them, "Do you ask one another that I said, A little while you will not see me, and again a little while you will see me?" Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye shall weep and mourn, but the world shall rejoice; you will be sad, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, suffers sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to a child, she no longer remembers sorrow for joy, because a man was born into the world. So now you also have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. and in that day you will not ask me anything. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, he shall give it unto you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be complete. Hitherto I have spoken unto you in parables; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in parables, but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day ye shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I will ask the Father for you: for the Father himself loves you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I have come from God. I came forth from the Father and came into the world; and again I leave the world and go to the Father. His disciples said to Him, "Behold, now Thou speakest plainly, and speakest no parable." Now we see that Thou knowest all things, and that Thou hast no need that anyone should ask Thee. Therefore we believe that Thou hast come from God. Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now?" Behold, the hour is coming, and it is already come, that ye shall be scattered each in his own direction, and ye shall leave Me alone; but I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. This I have said to you, that you may have peace in me. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world. After these words, Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven and said: Father, forgive them! The hour has come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, for Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that all that Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. But this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified You on earth, I have done the work that You have commissioned Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me with Thee with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. I have made thy name known unto the men whom thou hast given me out of the world; they were thine, and thou hast given them unto me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have understood that all that Thou hast given Me is of Thee, for the words which Thou hast given Me I have delivered unto them, and they have received, and have truly understood that I have come forth from Thee, and have believed that Thou hast sent Me. I pray for them: I pray not for the whole world, but for those whom you have given me, because they are yours. And all that is Mine is Yours, and Yours is Mine; and I was glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father! keep them in Thy name, those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are. When I was at peace with them, I kept them in Thy name; those whom thou hast given me I have preserved, and none of them have perished except the son of perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled. But now I come to Thee, and I say these things in the world, that they may have in them My perfect joy. I have delivered to them Thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from evil. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them with Thy truth; Thy word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And for them I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. And I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in Me according to their word, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given unto them: that they may be one, even as We are one. I am in them, and you are in me; that they may be made one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father! whom Thou hast given Me, I desire that where I am, they also should be with Me, that they may see My glory, which Thou hast given Me, because Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father! and the world did not know Thee; but I have known Thee, and these have come to know that Thou hast sent Me. And I have made thy name known unto them, and I will reveal it, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Having said this, Jesus went out with His disciples beyond the Kidron Stream, where there was a garden, into which He and His disciples entered.

John 13:31b–18:1

Great Friday, 1 Gospel at Matins.

The Gospel of John, conceived 47

The Lord said to His disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, and believe in me. In My Father's house there are many mansions. And if it were not so, I would say to you, I am going to prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that you also may be where I am. Thomas said to Him, "Lord! we do not know where you are going; and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, "Lord! show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, "How long have I been with you, and you do not know me, Philip?" He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then do you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak of myself; The Father who dwells in Me, He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.