John 13:31-35--A New Commandment

John 13:31-35
English Standard Version

A New Commandment
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

---

Jesus again begins focusing the disciples' attention on the glory that will be given to God the Father and God the Son through the events that are about to happen and that the timing for these events is right and that Jesus knows what is coming.  With that said, Jesus tries to prepare them because it's going to be scary for them and hard for them when He is going to "go away" for a time, first at the time of His death, and then at the time of His ascension.

Jesus said to them just like He said to the Jews, "Where I go, you cannot come," though Jesus has a different meaning for the disciples than He had for the Jews, because He makes a promise to them that if He goes, He will come back for them that where He is, there we may be also and that He goes to prepare a place for us.  We do not need to be without hope for we know that Jesus will return for us.

Now for the part we're going to focus in on today.  What is this "new commandment" that Jesus gives His disciples.  Is the new commandment that they love one another?  That seems like an old commandment to me as this is the way that Jesus answered the lawyer who tried to test Him by asking Jesus which was the greatest commandment.


Matthew 22:36-40
English Standard Version

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 when He answers this question, so these commandments are very "old," and Jesus has been telling them that they need to love one another for a long time.  I think it is the "just as I have loved you" part that makes this command new, because Jesus loved us even to the point of death.  We've also seen how He loved His disciples by His serving them and becoming like the lowest of servants in the household, but Jesus is once again telling them if they are truly His disciples then they will follow His example and walk in His footsteps, even if that leads to lackluster service, humiliation, persecution and death.

Jesus says that this is going to be our identity and our nature and that it's going to be the way that we identify each other and that those who are of the world will look at us and know that we are different and that we belong to another King and another Kingdom.  It should be like us talking with a foreign accent to them and their saying, "You're not from around these here parts." (or something similar to that).  Does your love for other Christians make you stand out?  Is it an identifying characteristic so that without you telling people that you are a Christian, you just show it to them and everyone knows?  Would you say that you love the Church in the kind of way that Jesus did?  What about the world?  Don't love the world system or the things of the world, but remember that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  God loved us even when we were His enemies  Romans 12 expounds on this commandment:


Romans 12
English Standard Version

A Living Sacrifice
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Gifts of Grace
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.