Love One Another - John 13: 31-35

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little 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.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Commentary

The story in our scripture today occurs at the Passover meal that Jesus and his disciples had in the upper room on Good Friday evening. Jesus has just disclosed that it is Judas Iscariot who will betray him. Jesus says to Judas “That, that thou doest, do quickly” and Judas then leaves the room. The “he” in Verse 31 of our reading is Judas. Jesus himself will soon go out into the night to have his encounter with the temple guards, leading to his arrest, his appearance before Pilate, and ultimately his execution.

But right now Jesus is left in the room with the rest of his disciples. This is the last time he gets to talk to them, and his message is very simple. “Love one another as I have loved you!” A few chapters back we heard what Jesus meant by love. He washed their feet. In a society where every one got everywhere by walking in open sandals on dusty roads. Foot washing was normally the duty of a servant. Peter is appalled. For him, for Jesus to wash his feet is for Jesus to denigrate himself. But Jesus' definition of love leaves no room for social hierarchy. For Jesus, love is all consuming, it is offered equally to everyone, and it is the ONE thing that will distinguish someone as being his disciple.

So, the question for us is how much do we want to be disciples? Are we willing to wash each others feet?

I want you to congratulate yourselves this afternoon. I want you to acknowledge what a message you can bring to your family, your friends, and everyone who takes the time to really look at how you are living. Here you are, living side by side with a bunch of people who were originally strangers. Some of you have irritating habits. Some of you make irritating demands. And yet you meet each other with patience and understanding. You live together in peace, and in the process you find joy. Jesus loves you!

So where do you go next? In spite of the fact that I have been visiting weekly for a few months now, I really know very little about your daily routine. It seems like you are pretty wedded to your own house and even within that to your own group. I suspect that is part of the glue that makes this place work. Still, we are ALWAYS asked to go into the world with love. Even after we are 80. So, I suggest you look around you to see the outsiders. Who is here living right in your path, and yet remaining somehow outside of your circle. Can you reach out to them somehow? If they are on the outside, they are probably prickly in some way. So reaching out successfully will not be easy. That is a given. But we can all be a little prickly in our own way. Yet we are surrounded by once strangers, who have managed to kindly break into our shells and melt a little space in our hearts. This is the opportunity before you presented by those who might still be on the outside.

Jesus commands us to love each other as He has loved us.

Amen