Love for One Another

John 13: 31 – 35 (May 2, 2010)

1) The Text

31When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

2) The Context

John is the fourth gospel. Its author makes no attempt to give a chronological account of the life of Jesus (which the other gospels do, to a degree), but rather "...these things are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." John includes what he calls signs, stories of miracles, to help in this process.

In chapter 13, Jesus is preparing his followers for his departure. After the Last Supper, he has washed the feet of his disciples, a symbol of servanthood. Peter has misunderstood Jesus’ action; Jesus has told him that to share in Christ requires that Jesus be his servant as well as his master. Peter will understand “later” (v. 7): when Jesus is on the cross. Jesus has said, “you are clean, though not all of you” (v. 10). Then, generalizing, he says that, per his example, each Christian is to be a servant to every other (v. 14). Jesus has predicted his betrayal (vv. 18, 21); he has shown Peter and the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (v. 23) who this will be. Judas (“he”, v. 31) has gone out into the “night” (v. 30) – a symbol of the dark deed he is about to commit.

The glorification (revelation of the essence of) the “Son of Man” (v. 31), the ideal human, Jesus, is already in progress; the Father is already being revealed in him. The Father has been revealed (“glorified”, v. 32) in Jesus, so Jesus is a way of seeing God now (“at once”). In John and 1 John, Jesus calls his faithful followers “little children” (v. 33). Jesus tells them that his time on earth with them is very soon to end. They cannot join him in heaven now, but he “will come again and will take you to myself” (14:3). Judaism required one to love one’s neighbour as oneself (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus’ commandment is “new” (v. 34) in that, in his self-offering, he is model of, motive for, and cause for, loving one another. Mutual love will show who follows Christ.

3) Interpretation

Love one another

Jesus tells us that the distinguishing mark of the Christian community is love. Not just warm feelings toward others in the church, but a compassionate self-giving toward the needs of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Such is cross-bearing love. The problem is that such love is a rare thing in the Christian church. Tertullian said of his generation that the heathen held his congregation in high regard. "'See', they say, 'how they love one another.'" Do they say that of us? In truth, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to work up loving relationships with brothers and sisters in our church fellowship. Sometimes there are hurts to get over, racial, cultural and economic differences, problems of social status..... So it is not always easy to find the emotional energy required to put ourselves out for the spiritual welfare of a brother or sister. Their eternal salvation needs to be paramount in our thinking, yet our own needs often take precedence over those of our brothers.

The fact is that Jesus' death and resurrection did not just serve as an example of how to love, but actually freed us and empowered us to love. On the one hand we are freed from the selfish and stifling power of the sinful self. The sinful self was crucified with Christ, thus we are freed to be the person we were designed to be, freed to care for God and each other. On the other hand we are empowered to love. We were raised with Christ and through his indwelling presence we are impelled to love as he loves. His character of love resides within, shaping us toward love.

So then, love, or better compassion, is not so much a matter of doing, but rather of receiving. Love is activated in our lives when we rest upon Christ's completed work. The prayer of faith, based upon a recognition of the indwelling power we possess in Christ, activates our loving and so sets us apart as disciples of Christ.

How did Jesus love?

A commandment is neither an option nor a suggestion. It is an order; it is a commissioning, a mission, and a framework for living. We are called to love like Jesus loved. So, how did Jesus love? Through unconditional acceptance and unconditional dignity. Through uncompromising service and complete and total sacrifice.

In Scripture the word “Agapé is used in reference to the type of love Jesus both offers us and commissions us to offer others. There were four words for love in the Greek language, agapé was a complete love that had no selfishness or conditions attached to it. It is one of the most frequently used terms in the Gospels.

One of the greatest defects in our society is that we do not know how to love “like Jesus loved.” We are more prone to “performance-based acceptance,” than we are to offering others “unconditional dignity.” This simply means treating another with dignity regardless of how they behave towards me. This is why Jesus speaks about service and love as inherently united. He uses foot-washing as an example, and says that we are most free when we are most able to serve, then he “orders” his followers to love in this self-abandoning manner.

This is our new model for living and washing one another’s feet is the way that Jesus displays it. In the reversed values of God’s kingdom, it is the one who serves who is liberated. Jesus’ ministry begins with the mission, “I have come to be good news to the poor,” and ends it with the commission, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He begins with love and ends with service.

4) Thought Exercise

How can we better love the way Jesus loved?

What kinds of service can come from this new model for living?