Everyone Will Know
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
INSIGHT
I always believe scripture is best understood with context. So, I want to zoom out a bit to better understand what was happening when Jesus spoke this command. John, the author of this book in the Bible, was a disciple of Jesus that fully believed Jesus was God’s son sent to the world as The Savior. The book introduces Jesus and lays a foundation of who He was and then walks through the miracles and signs that Jesus performed. It then goes into detail about Jesus’ last days before his crucifixion and resurrection.
Today’s verses from John 13 are just after Jesus has washed His disciples’ feet when they are gathered for the Passover meal, which was Jesus’ last meal before He was arrested. Jesus explains to the disciples that He will be betrayed by Judas and that it is time for God to be glorified. Jesus tells them He is going away and then speaks today’s verses; He gives them a new command: to love one another.
When I first read this, I thought it was funny because Jesus had lived His whole life loving others. At this point, was it really a “new commandment” that He was telling people to love one another? I tried to put myself in John’s shoes to better understand what Jesus was saying.
John was with Jesus; he had given up everything to follow Him and he deeply loved Jesus. Jesus had just explained that one of their close friends was going to betray Him and that God would be glorified. John had to be feeling a lot of emotions at this point. Then Jesus explains that people have known John, and the other disciples, because they had been WITH Jesus. People had seen them together and knew they believed in Jesus. But now is the time for Jesus to go and the disciples cannot go with Him, so Jesus gives them a new commandment. Love one another.
John would now need to show his faithfulness to Jesus through how he treated others. In Jesus’ absence, love for one another is what would bind the disciples together and bind them to Jesus. To be a disciple is more than a claim to agree with a Christian movement. To be a true disciple, we have a change of heart, prompted by the Holy Spirit working in us. Moving forward, people would know if John followed Jesus by his love for other people.
The same is true for us today. People will know if we follow Jesus by how we love our friends, our neighbors and even our enemies. Jesus is telling us and the disciples that love confirms that our profession of faith is real.
Here is the reality. Jesus isn’t simply calling us to imitate Him. He is calling us to participate in a relationship with God that spills over into every area of our life. We love like He loved because through the Holy Spirit, we are able to love with His love. We are called to serve. We are called to lay down our lives and our privileges. We are called to love those young and old, those like us and unlike us. Jesus told us to love one another as He has loved us, but He didn’t leave us to figure that out on our own. He called us to abide in Him and love one another with His love.
REFLECTION
How is your connection with Christ fueling your love for others?
PRAYER
God, thank you for sending Your Son, the Holy Spirit, and Your Word. I pray that I would not merely conjure up the ability to love others, but that I would lean into You and that You would break my heart and open my eyes to see others as You see them. Help me to depend so clearly on You that Your love spills out into the way I love others. Amen.
Katie Robinson, Children's Ministry Home Coordinator, wrote today's devotional.
