“I give you a new commandment: love one another" John 13:34
“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 13:34-35).
In John Chapter 13, we see a very intimate picture of Jesus’s relationship with his disciples, and also of the relationship of the disciples to each other. The chapter begins with Jesus washing their feet. Jesus gently corrects an overzealous Peter in a way that shows he understands and appreciates Peter’s personality. After the washing is complete, Jesus very clearly instructs his disciples. “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13: 15). Later on Jesus is speaking cryptically, and we see Peter silently gesture an instruction to the “Beloved Disciple” to get the inside story. Jesus does tell the secret to this disciple, and then instructs Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:27). It was not a surprise to the disciples that Jesus would give separate instructions to Judas, and that he would leave to do an errand. So we see in this chapter, the unique roles of the disciples and their very close connection to Jesus and each other.
In this very private, and intimate setting, Jesus gives his disciplines “a new commandment”. All he really wanted them to remember is to “love one another.” First, he explained this in action with the foot washing. Then, he definitively commanded, “Love one another.” In other Gospels, Jesus sums up all the law and the prophets with two commands: Love God and Love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37). This “new commandment” essentially stresses the “love your neighbor” command that was originally found in Leviticus 19:18. “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” This law in Leviticus was written about 500 years before Jesus incarnated. Then Jesus made this his primary commandment to his disciples: “love one another”. Jesus explains, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The telltale sign that was to first show the Jewish people as different from other tribes in the Old Testament, was their love for one another. Jesus wanted the evidence of membership in his new tribe to be the “love for one another” that should have been clear to all who saw them. Unfortunately, Christians often are no different than anyone else. We gossip, back-stab, lie, and ladder-climb the same as people from other religions and even those with no religion. This strife and struggle among people defeats the whole purpose of Christ’s mission. As we see throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus came to heal, forgive, restore peace, and bring love to humanity. He said, “I have given you a model to follow.”
Father Richard Rohr explains in his book, The Universal Christ (2019, p.72):
“An eagerness and readiness to love is the ultimate freedom and future. When you’ve been included in the spaciousness of divine love, there is no room for human punishment, vengeance, rash judgement, or calls for retribution. We certainly see none of this small-mindedness in the Risen Christ after his own rejection, betrayal, and cruel death; we don’t even see it in his inner circle or in the whole New Testament...The Crucified and Risen Christ uses the mistakes of the past to create a positive future...People formed by such love are indestructible.”
In this particularly stressful, and uncertain Holiday season, it could be easy to lash out at people around us, and society at large. However, the way to a positive future--peace, health, and abundance-- is through love. Everyday we need to ask ourselves: How can I show love to myself? How can I show love to other people in my life? How can I show love to God? Love is Jesus’s primary command for us each day.