Reflecting on John 13:31-38“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
How is this a new command if the summary of the OT Law to love God and others?
What makes this command new is in how we are to love: as Jesus has loved us.
Jesus demonstrates radical love, a love for enemies and sinners.
Though the OT Law pointed toward this, it did not explicitly command it.
And the people read it as, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” (Matthew 5:43)
God reveals the glorious goodness of His radical love to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7.
Jesus shows us what this radical love looks like, thus revealing God’s glory.
When we strive to love like Jesus, we show the world that we are with God and Jesus.
This command is the most important command for a Jesus follower.
When we love like Jesus, we are fulfilling the Law of loving God and others.
I no longer read the 10 Commandments as the best expression of God’s Law.
OT Israel had these commands, and still felt permission to hate their enemies.
Jesus’s love is inclusive of everyone, including enemies and sinners.
The best expression of God’s Law is love one another as Jesus loved us!
If churches made this their focus, it would be clear that they were Jesus’s disciples.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, it is not the right preaching, or the right sacraments, or the right exercise of discipline that marks Your followers. It is radical self-giving other serving love. May I be known as Your disciple by the way I seek to love everyone like You did.