John 13:1-17: "1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, do you wash my feet?' 7 Jesus answered him, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.' 8 Peter said to him, 'You shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.' 9 Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!' 10 Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.' 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, 'Not all of you are clean.'
"12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, 'Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.'"
Philippians 2:5-8: "5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
2 Corinthians 8:9: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."
1 John 4:9-11: "9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
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The Biblical sources for the first half of the hymn are easily identifiable. The first two verses summarize John 13:4-5, and the third comes from the Philippians 2 passage. Verse three ends with the lines "On the cross poured out like water / To fulfill the Father's plan," which uses an image from Psalm 22:14: "I am poured out like water."
The fourth verse mentions a "great reversal," namely: "Christ, the sinless for the sinners, / For the many dies the One." This seems to be drawn from 2 Corinthians 8:9, although the hymn states it plainly, without using metaphorical language.
"'Show My love to one another, / Do as I have done for you'" in the fifth verse seems to combine 1 John 4:11 ("Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.") and John 13:14-15 ("'If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.'").
The fourth verse mentions a "great reversal," namely: "Christ, the sinless for the sinners, / For the many dies the One." This seems to be drawn from 2 Corinthians 8:9, although the hymn states it plainly, without using metaphorical language.
"'Show My love to one another, / Do as I have done for you'" in the fifth verse seems to combine 1 John 4:11 ("Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.") and John 13:14-15 ("'If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.'").
