John 13:34-35 (ESV Strong's)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
A New Standard of Love
In the above passage we are in the final words of Jesus to His disciples. He is about to give His life for them and is giving them His final teaching and/or instruction. They might be asking, after hearing the above passage, “In shan’t we is this instruction new?” Take a look at what God told Moses to write in Leviticus 19:18.
Leviticus 19:18 (ESV Strong's)
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Not only did God tell them about loving others way back in Moses’ day, but Jesus, himself, had already preached the sermon on the mount, telling them to love each other. He also told them that they ought to love each other like he did (He washed their feet). But, this is “new” in the sense that He would soon die for them. That was the ultimate standard of love that has not been mentioned. In Moses’ word we are to love each other like we love ourselves. That is not the same, in our minds, as dying for someone. However, that is what is new in Jesus’ instructions. He is giving them a new standard of loving others in the community of faith. IF and/or WHEN we were to love in this way, Jesus goes on to say that people will know that we are His children when they see this type of love being carried out in our lives. The reason for this thought is that the world would never think this way. They would not lay their lives down for others. Maybe for family members, but not for others they don’t really know. The philosopher and Christian apologists, Francis Sheffer, once said, “The church is to be a living people in a dying culture.” The world is dying and we are the living. But, we show we are the living by being willing to be the dying for our brothers and sisters of faith. This is God’s new standard of love.
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