“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34 | NASB
When reading John chapter thirteen a day or so ago, my mind was soon focused upon the previous chapter where Jesus foretold His death. To disclose your own death is never seen as an easy disclosure. It is a challenge that rarely comes about. On that subject, I recently was told by my own nephew that he had been given just a few weeks to live due to cancer. The impact of such news requires understanding, compassion and empathy for those involved.
Generally speaking, as human beings, the older we get the more we realise the closer we are to death. Many of us have no doubt experienced this painful and sometimes unforeseen reality. Where Jesus is concerned, it helps us if we attempt to place ourselves in the position of a disciple who is trying to grasp the content as well as the ramifications of Jesus’ disclosure to the twelve. They had now been with Him for almost three years. A period that had witnessed miracles that went from seeing water being turned into wine, along with the resurrection of Lazarus and the healing of many infirmed people. The joy of witnessing such events impacts more people than we can comprehend.
Those self-same followers had recently witnessed Jesus entering Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, witnessed by a multitude who had taken the branches from palm trees and went out to meet Jesus and begun to cry out, ‘Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’ It was shortly after this event that Jesus shocked Andrew and Phillip by telling them that “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Without recognising the gravity of the moment, the disciples were now being prepared by Jesus to ‘let go of the old while grasping the importance of the new.’ For some disciples this news created tears while for others it was both tears and fears. Jewish history would have recognised the rise of Jewish renegades during the Maccabean revolt. This fact would have also been known by Rome who never tolerated any kind of challenge to its authority as neither did the Pharisees.
Jesus’ first task was to comfort His disciples. He had now come to the point when it was imperative to apply a new Commandment; one that would stay with His followers from here to eternity. In essence, Jesus was bringing change to the way His current and future followers needed to live their lives until such time that they were called up to their heavenly home. Two thousand years on, that mandate remains the same; that being to ‘love one another as I loved you.’ What a blessing it must have been to hear such news. How we long for such news bulletins that enter our own homes today.
The content of purpose from the time of His followers as well as our own new birth, Jesus’ mandate remains the same. It was simply so that they and us could lead a life of love. Firstly, to God and secondly to our neighbours. Everything about Jesus’ ministry was and still is countercultural. Regardless of denominational differences, this commandment to love one another is cast in stone. It is Agape love that is most often crowned as the highest form of Christian love. It is the kind of love that comes with action and empathy. It is bedrock that that is intended for everyone. It was this that enabled the transformative mission of Jesus to fulfil the task set before Him by His Father in Heaven.
We must also reflect as we enter the current period of Lent, as to what tasks have been set before us, yet still remain unfulfilled. Do we interpret Jesus’ new commandment in the same way that He presented it to His disciples? Jesus said to them; “for I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you; if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” The culmination of this love message is Jesus’ ultimate aim; “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” John 13:20 | NASB.
The endurance of love can at times seem like climbing a mountain with bare feet. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples including the one who would ultimately betray Him. Still, He would not allow the fulfilment of His father’s purpose to fail and nor should we. Jesus came to save the world through love. Two thousand years on, all to often we find ourselves looking through the eyes of modernity with all that it now promises us.
The Apostle Paul challenged those in Corinth, “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? The answer to that should be none. However, I have an old Bible that my wife found for me in a bookshop thirty years ago. The date inside is 1890; the list below was handwritten and provides us with some clarity that the idols of yesterday have now found a contemporary home today!
1: Gold, the idol of the market.
2: Pleasure, the idol of the world.
3: Fashion, the idol of society.
4: Fame, the idol of the forum.
5: Flattery, the idol of the church.
When looking at the ‘Why’ factor, it often allows us to understand the inner person of Jesus. His implementation of a new Commandment also reminds generations to come of the importance that we must follow the attitude of Christ towards the poor, the sick and those who suffer from injustice. His sermon on the mount, provides all people with a template for loving those who are the least among us. If we need to reflect on anything it is that the last will be first and the first will be last. It is this that is at the very heart of God. It is also a reason for letting go of our own misconceptions and replace them with the power of grace that allow us to fully embrace the new commandment of Jesus while sharing the love that He has for us with our neighbours.
David Conlon.
