John 13:34

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

This command by Jesus to “love one another” came at perhaps the most perfect time in human history to leave a profound and lasting impression upon the disciples.  It was the evening of the Last Supper and Jesus was preparing Himself to be handed over to be crucified.  Men would literally torture, abuse and kill Jesus, beginning in just a few hours.  In addition, Jesus tells the disciples that one of them will betray Him that very night and reveals to Peter that even he will deny that he ever even knew Him.  Despised, rejected, hated, betrayed, and abandoned.  This was the moment when Jesus would experience every relationship pain a man could know, all in one evening.  And what does Jesus say to His followers in the midst of all of this?  To “love one another as I have loved you.”  If there was ever a time to hate one another, this would be it.  If there was ever a time to become bitter, resentful, and suspicious of others Jesus was living it at this moment.  But Jesus does not give us permission to give in to the fleshly desire for resentment and revenge.  He renews the command to love one another.  No matter what.  But what makes this a new commandment?  The command to love one another had been around since the giving of the Old Covenant Law.  What makes this commandment new is that we are not to simply love one another, but to love one another as Christ has loved us!  This is a command to strive for perfect love among the brethren.  Let us, for a moment, consider how Jesus loved His disciples.  He spoke and dealt kindly and gently towards them, he concerned Himself with their well-being.  He gently instructed, counseled, and comforted them in time of struggle and need.  Jesus often prayed with them and for them.   He stood by their side when they were ridiculed, took pity on them when they were tired and weary.  He forgave them when they misunderstood and even mistreated Him.  And what’s more than all of this, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, publicly declared them to be even dearer to Him than mother, or sister, or brother.  He understood their failures and their foolishness, and even corrected them when they stumbled.  He dealt with them compassionately, and bore with their failures and even their betrayals. This is how Jesus had loved them.  And even on the night when all of them would betray Him, deny Him, and flee in terror of being associated with Him, He washed their feet.  But Jesus was not done, His love would culminate into the greatest expression of love ever known.  He gave the ultimate sacrifice of His love for them; His own life.  This is how Jesus loved!  Oh, how far we have to go in our love for each other!   While we will most likely never be called upon to give up our very life for another, we still must follow in Jesus’ example of love.  How?  Our love to one another must be freely given and ready at a moment’s notice.  It must be costly; to give more love than we receive.  It must be constant and unending.   And what is our motive and driving force behind loving each other this way?  “As I have loved you.”  As Jesus has loved us!  If Jesus can suffer so much hatred and betrayal at the hands of man and still love unconditionally, then it is our duty to follow in the footsteps of our Lord.  Loving unconditionally is never easy, that is why only a true Believer is capable of doing it.  It doesn’t come from the strength of our flesh; the ability to love comes directly through the work of the Holy Spirit.  If you are struggling to love the way that Jesus has commanded you to, my prayer this week is that you humble yourself before the Lord and before the brethren and seek to restore those relationships that the enemy has so effectively brought into question and suspicion.  Love for the Brethren is one of the greatest expressions of Godly love in all the world.  Let us all remember this week that to love this way has never been a suggestion, it is a command.  A command that, if obeyed, will fill our lives with joy, humility, peace, grace, and hope.  This Christian life is filled with many great things, but never forget, that the greatest of those things is love.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John