When he* had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. [If God is glorified in him,] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:31-33A, 34-35 (NABRE)
*he = Judas Iscariot
The new commandment is simple yet demanding.
With this new commandment, Jesus gives the “action” that must be completed and the model to follow. Of course, love is more than a mere task. It is a theological virtue, one that is greater than the other two, faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13). Love is a choice. It is expressed and is not contained to the hot emotions of romantic passion or moving empathy.
Jesus commands us to love one another in His new commandment. Why is this such a simple commandment? It is almost (read: almost) anticlimactic, but once we get past our initial reaction and think, one can see that this commandment is paradoxically sufficient and overabundant. This is what we need to do, plainly put, but once we use Jesus as our model, then it becomes overabundant. The Word, almighty God, who created all things visible and invisible, became poor for us. He took on flesh and developed from conception until birth. He was born of a lowly Virgin and then was laid in a feeding trough for livestock (that’s kind of gross, to be honest). He spent the majority of His earthly life in some rando town in the boondocks of Galilee (c.f. Nathanael’s pretentious question in John 1:46) doing manual labor, and then spent three years during His public ministry as an itinerant preacher and worker of miracles and healings. Ultimately, He was executed on a Cross, descended into hell, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. All of that was for us. He lived a rough life as a member of the socioeconomically poor class of society. He came from Heaven to this wretched place and endured so much pain. He did this out of immense love for us. He did so to bring us salvation. And He did.
That’s the kind of love that Jesus wants to see from us. Love that is passionate. Love that helps others. Love that brings people to a place of security and happiness. Jesus taught and healed so many. He wants us to do the same in ways that we can. His grace will help us do this.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 