The Model of Love

If you have your Bibles, open them to John 13. Today and next week we are going to reflect on this theme of love as it becomes a major part of Jesus’ final words to His disciples. In John’s gospel, chapters 13-17 seem to happen in one night. In those five chapters, Jesus mentions love 34 times in various forms. Sometimes it’s listed as a command to do. Sometimes it’s referenced as something that exists between the Father and the Son. Sometimes it’s something to remain in.

Three of those 34 times are in the verse that we’re considering today:

John 13:34 ESV

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.

As we reflect on this verse today, we’re going to consider it in two parts - first the mandate, second the model. So let’s begin where Jesus does…

The Mandate: love one another (34a)

Jesus essentially gives them…

A New Commandment

John 13:34 (ESV)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:

How many commandments are there?

Charles Spurgeon, when he preached on this text shared the story of the Archbishop Usher and the Rutherford family.

The Archbishop had heard of the family’s devotion - how they were welcoming and hospitable, how they were devout and dedicated.

He disguised himself and made it seem like he was a poor traveler.

He knocked on the door on a Saturday night and asked if they might have a spare room.

Mrs. Rutherford welcomed him in, showed him to the room.

During the evening meal, as was her habit, Mrs. Rutherford was catechizing or teaching or discipling her children. As with all of her guests who would come at that time, she included the poor traveller in this time of discipleship.

She asked each of the children questions on the commandments.

She came to the man and asked him - “How many commandments are there?”

He replied “Eleven.”

She replied “Ah!, what a sad thing that a man of your age, whose hair is sprinkled with grey, should not even know how many commandments there are, for there is not a child above six years old in our parish, who does not know that.”

He remained silent and continued to eat his porridge and went to bed.

He arose to listen to the midnight prayer that Rutherford offered and made himself known to his hosts as the Archbishop of Usher.

The next day, he asked for a better coat to borrow and was invited to preach for Mr. Rutherford At church.

Mrs. Rutherford asked him what text he would preach.

the archbishop smiled in reply: “A new commandment I give unto you”

She smiled in response and realized that she had been lovingly rebuked.

Now, when Mrs. Rutherford asks the question, how many commandments are there, she expects the answer to be 11 - not 10.

It’s unclear if Jesus is thinking about the other commandments when he gives this commandment to his disciples. He certainly hasn’t referenced the commandments in the previous parts of their conversation - and yet this command to love is given.

Why a new commandment?

As we’ve discussed, there were already 10 commandments - 4 directed toward God, 6 oriented toward others, not to mention the countless specific, religious commands - some 600+.

In addition to this, a couple of days before this encounter, Jesus had summarized all of the commandments into loving God and loving others:

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

(see also Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27)

So why a new commandment?

Well, let’s look at the context

Humble Service

Earlier on this very night, Jesus washed their feet. This was a degrading and humiliating act. Something that none of them had offered to do for him. Typically this was something that a servant would do. And yet in this act, Jesus charged them to serve each other. And yet, could it be that they viewed this service as an obligation? Maybe you remember what it’s like when a your mom or dad or a teacher or an employer asked you to do something that you didn’t really want to do. Maybe you gripe and moan or harrumph your way to getting it done. But there is no joy in the act of service - taking out the trash, doing the dishes, writing that report, working up that policy.

How often does our service to each other or our service in the church look like something we have to do rather than something we get to do?

How often do we prefer the seat of honor rather than the position of service?

I wonder if Jesus’ command to love was designed to get beneath the surface of service. He was transforming their hearts, not just their hands.

Not only do we see Jesus demonstrating humble service to his disciples, but a bit earlier in this passage we learn that…

Betrayal

Judas departed to betray Jesus - and yet the disciples didn’t quite know that yet. They thought he was leaving to do something else. They would soon find out just how much they would need this command - one of their own would betray their Lord - costing Jesus his life. Of course, within hours or days of Jesus’ crucifixion Judas would take his own life - so he never had a chance to experience his brothers’ obedience to Jesus’ command to love.

(not sure how or whether to use this part)and yet they would also begin to understand just how much they needed Jesus’ sacrificial death, burial and resurrection. Jesus referred to Judas as a “son of destruction” (17:12) - just a little later that night as he prayed to the Father - because he was foretold to be lost.

Think about how powerful that would be for Judas and for others to see the love that the disciples had for Judas. If they were truly given the opportunity to demonstrate the love that Jesus commands, what kind of impact could they have had?

Have we been in a similar situation? Have we been betrayed or hurt by someone? How have we responded? Have we shown love or bitterness?

Let’s think about the disciples for a moment. These guys had fairly clear…

Ideological differences

They are all Jews, yet from different socio-economic backgrounds - you have fishermen, accountants/tax agents, wealthy guys, doubting guys, violent guys. They have their own ideas on what they think should happen in their movement. Some were clamoring for Jesus to set up His kingdom and want to be on the thrones right next to him. Others took more of a back seat and sought to learn Jesus’ ways.

How often are we like that? It may be differences of opinion in how church works. Maybe it’s differences in how our town or our nation should work. How about our political parties - what role does Jesus’ command to love play in our politics? Our political environment is vitriolic. If we let our political ideologies supersede Jesus’ mandate to love, then we’ve failed our Savior. I fear that if we become so party minded that we lose our brother or sister in Christ, then we have compromised the message of the Gospel! What’s more, our political parties will change (they have changed) over the years, but Christ is still Lord no matter who is in charge.

Closely related to ideological differences is genuine distinctives.

Genuine distinctives

While each of these disciples may have had different views of the future, they also had different experiences in their pasts. Their careers, families, towns, and relationships all informed who they became.

In a similar manner, some of us may have grown up in the same country, or even in the same county, but our backgrounds and histories shape us uniquely. What we learn is that when we are united in Christ and love each other because of our distinctive differences, we get to see the beauty of God’s Kingdom more clearly.

(Chuck, love more and more, grateful for his perspective and his experiences, I love how God challenges me to be a better pastor, friend, brother in Christ through chuck.

I think Jesus gave this new command because he knew these guys, he knew what they would soon experience, he knew they would have a tendency to argue and fight. I think he also gave this command, because as we see in this passage…

Jesus’ departure

Jesus foretold his departure -

John 13:33 ESV

Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

He knew his time would be limited. He would have another 24 hours before the cross and about 40 days until his ascension. After his departure, this rag-tag group of guys would lead the movement, the church that Jesus started. They would need the command to love to guide them.

But this then challenges us to ask another question, what is love? What does love look like?

Thankfully, being the wise and all-knowing God that he is, Jesus gave his disciples and us - the model of love - himself.

The Model: Jesus (34b)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a life lived well would fill libraries (John 21:25). Jesus didn’t provide a definition, he provided an example.

John 13:34 (ESV)

just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

So let’s think about this for a moment, how did Jesus love the disciples? How did he show love to them? What in their experience would have come to their minds when they heard Jesus say “just as I have loved you”?

First of all, I think Jesus showed them genuine yet unique love.

Genuine Love

We have a few different accounts as to how Jesus called the disciples. Some came on the word of John the baptist and then brought others.

Peter experienced Jesus providing an abundant catch of fish. I wonder if one of Peter’s hesitations or maybe his idol was money? How would his family be provided for if he was on the road with Jesus? How could he leave all of his business? And yet Jesus seemed to assuage Peter’s fear and met his need in HUGE ways. He loved Peter uniquely and genuinely.

Think about Matthew - this tax collector who had been enlisted by the Romans to collect money from his people. The Romans may have seen him as necessary evil, a means to an end. His own people would have despised him as a cheat. Everybody looked at him with contempt. And yet Jesus looked at him in the eyes, saw potential. He saw him for who he is and said “come follow me.”

One of the most genuine and unique ways that Jesus demonstrated love was toward the women who were drawn to him. Think about the Samaritan woman (John 4). She was from a racially mixed background. Her people and the Jews did not like each other. She also had a questionable background - living outside of God’s design for marriage. Yet Jesus looked at her with dignity and love. He did not condone her actions, but neither did he condemn her as a lost cause. His genuine love for her resulted in a whole town of people hearing and responding the good news.

Jesus saw people for who they were - uniquely fashioned by God and yet fallen. He loved them for the purpose of helping them get beyond their fallenness, and led them into a life of purpose.

How are we doing loving people genuinely? Do we expect them to fit into our own box? Do we show genuine love even when they might not live up to our expectations or God’s expectations?

Beyond loving genuinely, Jesus demonstrated…

Gracious Love

In other words, undeserved love.

In John 8 we learn of a woman caught in adultery. She was dragged before a crowd of men who had already cast judgment on her. She was brought before Jesus not as a woman but as a trap. Jesus, again, did not condone her sinful behavior, but showed her gracious love by standing up for her. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” One by one the men dropped their stones. Jesus, the only one in the group without sin, looked at her and said “go and sin no more.” She was guilty, but he was gracious.

Or consider the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume and dried his feet with her hair. One of the gospels referred to her as a sinful woman. Again, Jesus defended her. He was not repulsed by her sin. Some around responded that he should have had her sell the perfume to give it to the poor. And yet he graciously welcomed her act of worship and responded with forgiveness. (Luke 7:36-50; John 12:3ff; Mark 14:3-9; Matthew 26:6-13).

Or even the tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Like Matthew, he was despised by his own people, and yet Jesus graciously dined with him. Tax collectors were lumped in with other sinners in the eyes of the religious, and yet Jesus was gracious toward him - and it made a difference. Luke 19:8-10

Luke 19:8–10 ESV

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Do we love the way that Jesus graciously loved? He made time for people that others deemed unworthy. Do we?

Jesus also demonstrated a…

Generous Love

Feeding thousands with just a few fish and loaves of bread. We may not be able to multiply food, but can we make space in our budgets to help those in need?

Water to wine - we may not be able to change the substance of liquids, but do we give our best in loving others as Jesus did in that wedding, or we give our leftovers?

Miracles - among the blind/leprous/lame/dead/unclean - There are so many places where Jesus generously moved beyond what the religious leaders would have seen as acceptable - and generously loved by healing. He even identified with the those he was healing by risking his own ceremonial cleanness for the sake of their well-being. Are we generous with our time and even our reputation in how we love others?

We could be here all day reflecting on the ways that Jesus modeled love in order to help his disciples fulfill the mandate to love, but let’s consider one more way that Jesus showed love. He demonstrated..

Gratuitous Love

I think the disciples saw this a bit - Jesus seemed to go over the top at times in how he loved. He welcomed children when others wanted to push them away. He made time to talk with women, when others wouldn’t give them the time of day. He loved the outcast and rebuked the religious. He loved without any expectation of compensation or obedience. He loved because his character is marked by love.

Probably the most gratuitous way that Jesus loved was on the cross. Frankly, the disciples wouldn’t get to see that for a few days, but because we have the benefit of the entirety of Scripture, we get to see that example clearly. Here on the cross, he allowed his perfect life to be beaten and bruised. He allowed his holy existence to become stained with the sin of humanity. His immortality died a mortal death - in love.

Elsewhere, the Apostle John described the gratuitous nature of his love:

1 John 4:10 ESV

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, allowed his divine crown to be replaced with a crown of thorns. He exchanged his majestic robe of glory with the shame of our sin. He took our death on himself so that we might have life in him.

Beloved, do you gratuitously love others like Jesus did? Do you willingly go over the top in your love for those who are far from God? Do you sacrifice your own comfort or well-being in how you love?

Friend, if you’re not yet a follower of Christ, or maybe if you think that coming to church makes you a Christian, have you responded to Jesus’ gratuitous love for you? Have you repented of your sin and received his forgiveness?

Let’s pray

The Lord’s Supper

Benediction

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Questions for reflection and discussion

Read: John 13:31-35

How did you feel about our time of combined worship this week?

What stood out to you in the text or the sermon?

Why did Jesus give the disciples a new commandment?

What was that commandment?

How does love impact our service?

How did Jesus model love? We discussed a few ways that he did this in the sermon, are there other ways that he modeled love that we did not discuss?

What does it look like for us to love in similar ways?

Kids Connection Questions:

Topic: The Armor of God - the Helmet of Salvation

Text: Ephesians 6:10-12, 17; Acts 16:25-40

What is salvation?

Why do you think it is thought of as a helmet?

How do helmets protect us?

How does salvation protect us?

Sources:

Spurgeon, C. H. “Christ’s ‘New Commandment.’” In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, 51:241–252. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1905.

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