The New Command

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Scripture

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
(John 13:34 NASB)
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:35 NASB)

 

Observation


Here we find the closing moments of dinner on that fateful night before Jesus is arrested. As Jesus speaks to his disciples he wants them to know that he has a final command for them, which is a new command. It is a command which reveals the very core of God's nature, which is love! In the past everything had hinged on the law, but Jesus says that the new command is love. The command wasn't just about loving Jesus, because that tends to be easier than loving the people who are around us so, the challenge was that they were to love one another. This was the beginning of understanding the type of community which God was hoping to form on the earth. The church would become the very bride of Christ here on this earth and the members were to love one another. That was the way in which the world would see that they were different -- they were to follow this new command and love one another.

 

Application


When we think about society we realize that most of the problems develop when we do not love another. Self-centeredness and corruption develop when we love ourselves and see others as simply people to be used to our particular advantage. That's been humanity's problem from the time of Cain and Abel. Things quickly deteriorated when it came to relationships. The history of humanity is filled with stories of war and violence because this command to love one another goes cross-wise with our sinful nature.

Jesus knew that he was headed to the cross and there he would deal with the sin problem and that's why he knew that there would be power to love one another. Once the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost everything changed within this little band of followers and they grew into a force which eventually changed the whole world. They developed communities of faith in which people loved one another.

Sometimes I think that this command seems hardest to follow for those who are a part of the church, or who have been in church for many years. Somehow the command to love one another becomes lost and the old sinful nature takes over and we begin to have fights over what "we" want. We forget that church is about God and about us revealing Him to the world.

May God help us to keep our focus on that "new" commandment and remember that this was what it was all about. Can you imagine what would happen if ALL of God's people would work at loving one another? It would really and truly change the world.

 

Prayer


Lord, please help me to love those around me today and may the world see that those of us in the church truly do love one another -- and we love the rest of humanity too! Amen.

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