A New Kind of Love

Loving One Another

John 13:31-38

‌Introduction

We are still looking at Relationships in our Vision Series. It may well be the most difficult subject we have address yet. This week the main passage is John 13:31-38

31 When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him right away. 33 Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ now I tell you the same.

34 “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!

Called to love our Brothers and Sisters first.

It is worth mentioning at this point that most often when we are told to love one another, it is referring to us as a family of God. For Israel, it was fellow Israelites. For the church it is fellow believers. This does not mean we are not to love those outside the church, but we must begin by showing God’s love for one another.

Jesus Gave A New/Old Command

In v34 Jesus said he was establishing a new command. However, on the surface, this was not new, it was a reiteration of an Old Testament command in Leviticus 19:18

18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.

In fact, when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan, he had reminded the expert in religious law of this in Luke 10:27

27 The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.”

So if the law to love one another already existed, why would Jesus say it was new?

The Old but Impossible to Keep Law

When that Old Testament command was given, there were only two ways that the people could obey it. One was by strictly following a legal requirement, attempting to display love by doing what was required by law. The other was to rely on their emotions towards the other person.

Neither of these approaches worked, as we see from the many times Israel got it so wrong. The legal experts enforced every tiny aspect of the Law making life impossible for people to live.

Those who relied on emotion to love others ended up simply loving some and hating others.

As far as Israel was concerned they ended up behaving and reacting like every other nation around them, making it almost impossible for those surrounding nations to recognise anything different about them, other than of course their rhetoric.

‘As I have Loved You’

One of the Church Fathers, John Chrysostrum explained that it was the phrase that Jesus said next that made it new.

“Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

This became the new understanding of the old law. Jesus had given his disciples an example to follow, not a dry book of laws.

Follow my Leader

Like the rest of humanity, the disciples found it easier to follow the example of the person they were following whilst he was there. However, Jesus was telling them that he was about to leave them, but that they were to carry on living in the way he had shown them.

For the mission that God rebooted in Jesus to be continued, the disciples had to continue loving as he had done.

Jesus’ Love was the Model

Jesus loved his disciples more than he loved himself, so much so that he laid down his life for them. But, he also loved his Father more than himself, as we see later in the Garden of Gethsemane.

John shows at the beginning of this chapter how Jesus, the Son of God, had washed the feet of his disciples, including the feet of the one who would betray him. He then goes on the tell the disciples of his death.

‌The love they, and us, were to show one another was to be strong enough even in the face of death. It was not some sort of ‘spiritual love’ detached from human emotion, rather it would evoke huge emotion.

Genuine Engagement with Others

How can we weep with those who weep if we don’t experience the same pain they are going through? How can we be joyful with those who are rejoicing if we don’t experience that joy.

When Jesus called us to love one another, he meant with our whole being, even to the point of death.

What are the Implications for us!

So what are the implications for us here today?

If you look to the person sitting next to you, do you know their fears and their joys, their hopes and their dreams? Do you just relate to them in a superficial way on a Sunday morning, or are they part of your life?

The Trinity Held Nothing Back

When the Trinity embraced humanity into their unity, they held nothing back. There were no secret parts of their relationship, there was no selfishness or deceit. When God came amongst humanity as Jesus, fully God and fully human, we experienced that vulnerability and openness. That Love experienced the pain of the Widow of Nain, or the loss of Lazarus as a brother. It experienced the cruelty of humanity against itself and above all it experienced the rejection of Love when Jesus was crucified.

We are to be Vulnerable and Open

To love our brothers and sisters in Christ requires us to be vulnerable and honest about our weakness and failures to one another James 5:16

16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.

Because, as we are honest and vulnerable, it allows them to be open and vulnerable to us.

Jesus was vulnerable in the Garden of Gethsemane when he asked the disciples to keep him company as he went through the mental and physical torment he was facing. Even though he was God, he shared the pain just as he had shared the miracles with the disciples.

There is a Cost

There is a cost to ourselves when we love as Jesus loved. We open ourselves up to experiencing pain we may want to avoid. We may well loose our control over our lives as we let others in, just as Isaiah told us Jesus did,

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. he was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Isaiah 53:7

If we want to see a change in Highley and the world we live in, then they need to see us love one another as Jesus loved us. That comes with a cost.

Is that a price you are prepare to pay - to truly live the life we talk about?