A New Command?

“A new command I give you: Love one another.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

            Have you ever wondered why Jesus would tell the disciples to love one another and then call it a new command?

What was so new about loving one another?

I thought that command was around forever?

I believe the key lies in the very next verse when Jesus says: “As I have loved you.”

We are told in Romans that God demonstrated His love for us.

How did He do that?

Through Jesus, the Word made flesh.

Jesus became a living display, a demonstration of the Fathers’ love.

The love of the Father, as revealed through His Son, had not been seen before.

So Jesus links together for us the new command of not simply loving one another but loving one another as Jesus loves us.

His love was evident by His actions.

His love was to lay down His life for us.  

Not simply to surrender it to a force greater than His but to voluntarily lay it down.

That was a new command indeed.

Under the law, I might be persuaded to leave some crops in the field for the poor to glean but certainly not lay down my life for those less fortunate than me, not to mention laying it down for my enemies!

And yet, Jesus demonstrated the love of the Father, while we were yet sinners.  

In other words, Jesus displayed Gods’ love to His enemies – He extended Gods’ love to His enemies – including you and me.

A hot topic in the job market now is personal branding.

Labeling and marketing yourself in a way that sets you apart from everyone else.

What ‘brands’ you and makes you unique?

As disciples, we should be ‘branded’ by our love.

Love for the Lord, love for one another, love for our neighbor and love for our enemies. 

In doing this we make a personal declaration to the earth that we belong to Christ.

“A new command…As I have loved you…”