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265. A New, Old Command

John 13:31-35, 1 Corinthians 13
Key Verse: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
John 13:34

Earlier in the week Jesus had been asked the question, "What is the greatest commandment?" Jesus had responded as any good Jew would, "To love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind." Then Jesus tacked on the additional, "and your neighbor as yourself," (Leviticus 19:18) prompting a smug lawyer to ask further, "Ah, but who is my neighbor?"

Now, after the cup of the new covenant has been shared, after Jesus has proposed to His bride, He issues a new commandment, which is really His old commandment, but now, He adds clarification so that there can be no doubt what Jesus wants from those who will claim to follow Him. "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34B-35) Love is to be the distinguishing mark of His followers. Not just any kind of love either, but the kind of love that He had demonstrated as He walked among them.

What kind of love was this? This was a love that allowed others to walk away in disagreement without bearing a grudge. This was a love that cared for the less fortunate and outcast of society. This was a love without barriers of nationality or race. This was a love that offered forgiveness. This was a love that could endure while washing the betrayer's feet.

We think of love as a feeling, but in Christ, it is not. Love is an action. Consider this: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Cor. 13:4-7) There are no feelings in that description. There are actions, doing what is right no matter how one feels.

That is the love that Jesus displayed toward others, including Judas. That is the love that kept Him on the cross. That is the love that He calls us to. Then, God is glorified as Jesus said. Are you amazed at Jesus’ response after Judas left the room that, instead of fretting or running after him Jesus praised God for the opportunity that was coming for the Father to be glorified by Judas' actions? Only true love could respond that way. This is not human love. It is beyond us in ourselves. But if we are His followers, He puts this kind of love in us so that by our love, "all men will know that we are His disciples." There could be no other explanation for such unearthly love.

What Jesus asks of us is not within our own power to accomplish. We need Him within us to make this love possible. However, when you consider that we collectively are one body, His body, His bride, His church, what He is calling forth from us makes sense. If a body does not love itself, it is sick. There can be cancer, an unhealthy growth out of control. There can be disease or any number of irregularities. When all the parts of the body work together, however, there is unity and strength. This is what Christ charges us to be, One in Him, loving each other, not warring. Only by behaving this way will we genuinely display who God truly is. "By this, all will know that we are His, and that our greatest desire is to see that His Will be done."

Hymn: "The Gift of Love"

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