John 13:34-35 – jeffersonvann

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

John 13:34-35 NET.

³⁴ “I give you a new commandment — to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples — if you have love for one another.”

For several years now, we have been studying the commands of Christ. I plan to finish that major study this year. But it seems odd that we are at this point in the history of Christ and his message as represented in the Gospels, and it is here that we find Jesus giving a new commandment. After all, the commands we have studied tore down traditions and upset the whole nation of Israel. But there must be a sense in which everything that Jesus had said up to this point is not new.

First, let’s look at the context of the commandment (John 13).

Last time, we witnessed a a foot-washing. Jesus got together with the twelve and took a towel. He washed the feet of all the disciples. They sat there in amazement and were probably quite embarrassed. He wanted them to follow his example. As I mentioned before, Jesus was not establishing a new ordinance. He was just meeting a real need that all of the disciples had. He wanted to teach them that meeting the needs of other Christians is a high priority for the life of every believer. His taking up the towel was an illustration of that truth. It was also something that neither of them would ever forget.

This chapter also records three predictions that Jesus made at this time. First, he predicted a betrayal. He said it mysteriously. He had just told the disciples that they were now clean because he had just washed their feet. Then he added, “But not every one of you.” He told them that he knew the ones he had chosen but that a prophecy made in the Old Testament had to be fulfilled. The prophecy is found in Psalm 41:9, which says, “Even my close friend whom I trusted, he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.”

The disciples were trying to understand that prophecy. They knew that each of them had disappointed Jesus. There were times when they just seemed to stumble all over themselves and fail him constantly. But this was something different. This was a betrayal. This was joining the other team. This was selling out to the enemies of Christ who wanted him dead. Naturally, everyone wanted to know who the betrayer was.

Jesus identified Judas as the betrayer, but only to let Judas himself know that he knew. Then Jesus told Judas to do what he was going to do quickly. The other disciples had no idea that the mission Jesus had sent him on was the very act of betrayal that he had just predicted.

The second prediction Jesus makes in this chapter is even more earth-shattering. He predicts that he is going to go somewhere that none of the twelve can follow. They seem to sense that he is once again predicting his death.

Peter boldly announces that even if everyone else might abandon him, he will follow even to death itself. That is when Jesus makes his third prediction: Peter is going to deny him.

Now we know the context in which these two verses of Scripture are found. It seems an extraordinary place to put a new commandment. But Jesus has his reasons for everything he does. Judas had been the leavened loaf. Once he left to go about his business of betrayal, the crew that was left was the pure symbol of the body of Christ. They were now ready for his new commandment. Jesus wanted his true church to love one another.

Now, let’s look at the standard of the commandment (34).

Jesus had previously taught his disciples to love their neighbor. We read the command in Matthew 19:19, but it was itself a quote from the Old Testament.

In Leviticus 19:17-18, we read, “You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Jesus’ command for his kingdom citizens to love their neighbors was not a new commandment. It had its basis in the Old Testament Law. It was basically a command not to hate other people. Hating others would bring about guilt and lead to sin. The standard of the Old Testament was the love of self. It was in the best interest of those under the Mosaic Law to love their neighbors because if they did not, they would be harming themselves. God demanded neighbor love, and failing to do so would bring contamination and sin-debt.

Jesus had expanded the concept of neighbor love to include those who had not previously been seen to be neighbors. He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-45). This is still the Old Testament requirement; only the scope of the command is changed to include those who were not understood initially as targets of neighbor love. So, this is still the old commandment, even though it is an expansion of its scope. The standard is still the same. We should love our enemies as we love ourselves.

But with this new commandment, the standard changes. Jesus tells his disciples to love one another just as he has loved them. The standard is no longer how much we love ourselves; it is how much Jesus loves us.

This is the mature love that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 13. It is a love that goes beyond what we learn from our parents and our politicians. It is not self-serving love. It is sacrificial love. It is patient, It is kind, it is not envious. It does not brag; it is not puffed up. It is not rude; it is not self-serving; it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. We now love for a whole new reason. We love because he first loved us and showed us how to love others.

Now, let’s consider the purpose of the commandment (35).

Jesus said that when we love each other sacrificially, the rest of the world will have no trouble seeing the difference between the true disciples and the lookalike goats. He said that if we love one another, everyone will know that we are his disciples. This solves the question of Christian identity.

Notice that Jesus did not say that if we profess the right doctrine, then the world will know we are authentic. We have fought wars among ourselves over the question of right or orthodox doctrine. But the result was that the world looked at us and saw us hating one another and concluded that either Jesus is not real, or we are not, or both. You cannot hate yourself into the kingdom of God. You certainly cannot hate your enemies into the kingdom.

I am distressed to find that even my own denomination seems to be circling the wagons and seeking to exclude others on the basis of doctrinal purity. I understand the desire to proclaim the truth and the need to be biblical. But I fear that we are failing to live up to the new commandment. Jesus said this new kind of love will demonstrate our Christian identity.

If you look closely at what Jesus commanded, you will find a new kind of love that demonstrates three principles—first, the principle of mutuality. Jesus didn’t say that only some of us could measure up to this new love standard. He said it was to be the measure of all true believers. Love is not the work of an elite team. It is the identifying mark of the whole kingdom.

The second principle is equality. Since we are all called to love each other, none of the things that other people see as a basis for hatred and exclusion are to matter to us anymore. Paul told the Galatians that “in Christ Jesus (we) are all sons of God through faith, for all of (us) who were baptized into Christ have clothed ourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek (so no ethnic superiority or inferiority), there is neither slave nor free (so no social or financial superiority or inferiority), there is neither male nor female (so no gender superiority or inferiority)— for all of (us) are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28). Since we are all equal in Christ, we are free to love each other on the basis of that unity.

The third principle is reciprocity. We are to love not just our best and brightest, not just our leaders, but each other. The Apostles who wrote the epistles in the rest of the New Testament took hold of this principle of reciprocity and taught that reciprocal love implies:

thanksgiving for each other (Ephesians 5:20),
encouraging and building up each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11),
belonging to one another (Romans 12:5),
being devoted to one another and honoring one another (Romans 12:10),
living in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16),
welcoming one another (Romans 15:7),
greeting one another (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20),
having mutual concern for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25),
serving one another (Galatians 5:13); (1 Peter 4:10),
carrying one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2),
bearing with one another (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13),
being kind, compassionate, and forgiving one another (Ephesians 4:32),
submitting to one another (Ephesians 5:21),
treating one another as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3),
confessing to and praying for one another (James 5:16),
being hospitable to each other (1 Peter 4:9),
being humble toward one another (1 Peter 5:5).

All these reciprocal commands are ways of obeying the one new commandment that Jesus gave us – to love one another. It is how we identify ourselves as disciples of Christ. It is also how we go about accomplishing the mission that he has given us to make more disciples.

Jesus wants us to demonstrate this radical new love and so draw the lost to him. If we love each other, the lost will seek our Savior. If we hate each other, they will look elsewhere. Our love of each other is a means of proclaiming God’s love to the world.