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So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. John 13:34 NLT
It’s still the night before His crucifixion. Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet. Then He gives them a new commandment: “Love each other” (John 13:34).
Imagine Jesus pausing to let those three words sink in. Of course, the more they sink in, the more His disciples must have wrinkled their foreheads. “Love each other.” That’s it?
You can almost hear Thomas muttering under his breath: “But Jesus, what’s new about that? Moses gave us the command to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ about fourteen hundred years ago. You can’t get much older than that.” Thomas would have a good point. That is, if Jesus meant only, “Love each other as you love yourselves.” But Jesus isn’t finished.
He goes on to say: “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34). In eleven words, Jesus radically changes what it means to love others. It’s no longer enough to love others as you love yourself. Instead, Jesus calls His disciples to love each other as much as He loves them.
Then He adds: “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). What could be better? What could be better, indeed!
Prayer: Lord, the full extent of Your love astounds me. How can I love like You? That’s right: by Your love flowing out of me.
It’s still the night before His crucifixion. Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet. Then He gives them a new commandment: “Love each other” (John 13:34).
Imagine Jesus pausing to let those three words sink in. Of course, the more they sink in, the more His disciples must have wrinkled their foreheads. “Love each other.” That’s it?
You can almost hear Thomas muttering under his breath: “But Jesus, what’s new about that? Moses gave us the command to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ about fourteen hundred years ago. You can’t get much older than that.” Thomas would have a good point. That is, if Jesus meant only, “Love each other as you love yourselves.” But Jesus isn’t finished.
He goes on to say: “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34). In eleven words, Jesus radically changes what it means to love others. It’s no longer enough to love others as you love yourself. Instead, Jesus calls His disciples to love each other as much as He loves them.
Then He adds: “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). What could be better? What could be better, indeed!
Prayer: Lord, the full extent of Your love astounds me. How can I love like You? That’s right: by Your love flowing out of me.
