Die Erzählung von der Fußwaschung Jesu. Joh 13,1–11 als narratives Christuszeugnis

The symbolic story of John 13:1–11 conveys in narrative form the point that Jesus' crucifixion, as the uppermost illustration of his love for his people, is both the necessary and the fully sufficient condition for their purification from sin. After the narrative describes the death of Jesus as a sacramentum that transforms human existence, the instructions to Jesus' disciples that follow in John 13:12–17 portray this death as an exemplum that unconditionally binds all believers. The sequence in which these two passages, 13:1–11 and 13:12–17, are presented clearly indicates that the significance of Jesus' death as a sacramentum is essential to and prioritized over its interpretation as an exemplum.