A New Commandment

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him,* God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.”

‘34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ John 13:31-35

The New Commandment? The question might be, “Does this supersede all the Old Commandments?” And who is this guy declaring a “New Commandment” anyway? We can imagine that these and many other questions were asked by the Jewish audience hearing this for the first time. Today we may take for granted that the speaker is Jesus who is the Messiah, the second person of the Trinity. The same God who delivered the Old Commandment has proclaimed this New Commandment. This was a hard truth to fathom for these first Century Jewish people.

We are blessed with a couple of thousand years of saints, theologians and church doctrine to enlighten us on this truth. But even though we might ‘get’ this radical concept, do we really understand the freedom we’ve been given? Yes, the Old Commandment is still valid, but in Christ we are no longer bound by the chains of the Law. God’s love has been revealed in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We are to proclaim this Good News by simply loving one another. Imagine what the world could be if we ALL actually practiced this simple Command. Imagine your world, your life if you lived out this command in a fresh, new… radical way. I think this is what Jesus had in mind.

See You Sunday,
Missy