The other day I was arrested by a small word in John 13:34. The word is “new.” Jesus says to his disciples, “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.” He adds, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Why did he call it a new commandment? As Jews they were familiar with the command recorded in Leviticus 19:18 – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” So what was new about Jesus’ commandment?
Most commentators I sampled, from contemporary all the way back to Augustine, locate this newness in the new standard and model of Jesus, who became a servant and sacrificed himself for others. True enough. The result, says commentator Lawrence Richards, is that “The Christlike love that permeates the new community of Christian brothers and sisters is a witness to the world that Jesus is real. Only Jesus’ living presence can explain such love for others.”1
That’s also true. But it doesn’t go far enough. One of our pet evangelical phrases is “the watching world.” Of course, “the watching world” is quick to criticize and ridicule us when we mess up, but we are fooling ourselves if we think “the watching world” is really paying attention to the positive things we do for one another in our religious enclaves. If homogeneous groups of Anglos or Blacks or Jews or Latinos or Asians are loving each other in Christlike ways, is that really remarkable to outsiders? Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them” (Luke 6:32). Read More
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