John 13:15 (YLT)

Passage

`For an example I gave to you, that, according as I did to you, ye also may do;

Nearby Context

John 13:13 ye call me, The Teacher and The Lord, and ye say well, for I am;

John 13:14 if then I did wash your feet--the Lord and the Teacher--ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

John 13:15 `For an example I gave to you, that, according as I did to you, ye also may do;

John 13:16 verily, verily, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his lord, nor an apostle greater than he who sent him;

John 13:17 if these things ye have known, happy are ye, if ye may do them;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "example" and "gave". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "example" and "gave", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "if then I did wash your feet--the..." into verse 16's "verily verily I say to you a...", so "example" and "gave" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "example" and "gave" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.