Love should come naturally to a group of people who experienced the grace of God in their lives
John 13:34-35
After washing the disciples’ feet and declaring that He would be betrayed, Jesus announces that He is going to be leaving them. Jesus spent three years with His disciples, a good amount of time to teach and prepare them to carry on His ministry, but hours before He is taken to be crucified, He reminds them of a central principle that is so easily overlooked: to love one another.
A NEW COMMANDMENT
The love of Jesus is compelling. His tenderness with the broken, gentleness with the weak, and attention for the overlooked resonates with our hearts. We all want to be understood and loved, and Jesus does both. He knows everything about us and He graciously loves us all the same.
The disciples were often harsh in dealing with the people that wanted to be close to Jesus. They would turn the little children away, ignore the Samaritans and gentiles, complain about the massive crowds, ward off the sick and hurting, call down fire on anyone who opposed their leader, and argue about which of them was the greatest. Although they had been learning from Jesus’ teaching, they had missed His heart.
Jesus tells them to love one another and to do so by remembering how they had been loved. When we reflect on how much Jesus has loved us, it changes how we think about other people.
THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC
Love should come naturally to a group of people who experienced the grace of God in their lives, but like the disciples, we often see our personal conversion in isolation from those around us. We ought to recognize the unity that we have with other believers. We all cry out to God to save us from our sins. This should humble us, not only in our relationship with God, but in our relationships with others.
Love is the mark of disciples because it is the overarching characteristic of Jesus. Those outside the Church are looking for love, but it is not always self-evident in our churches. We need to be quick to squash gossip, defend others, and appeal to grace. A community of believers without love for each other repels the world.
OUTDO ONE ANOTHER
This theme of love is picked up by the Apostles in their teaching on the unity of the Church. Worshipping with people from different backgrounds and cultures requires sacrifice, commitment, and, most of all, love.
A huge impediment to discipleship is that no one wants to follow. In my early 20’s, I spent a year on a ministry team with 11 other men, all longing to work in Christian ministry. You would think that we would have been pretty effective, but, like the disciples, we were constantly bickering and we fought so much that we couldn’t complete simple tasks. Everyone wanted to be in charge and nobody wanted to follow.
In order to follow Jesus we must take up our cross. This means that we have to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and outdo one another in showing honor. This is the model that Jesus has set for us in His death on the cross, the humility of His humanity, and His intercession on our behalf to the Father.
REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE
It is easy to be like the disciples and accept the love of God while missing the heart of Christ. Like the Ephesian Church in the letter of Revelation, we can passionately defend our doctrine, while losing the essence of the gospel. We need to remember the weight of our sins that Jesus bore on the cross and keep repenting so that we do not lose sight of how much we depend on His grace. The gospel needs to always be in our ears and before our eyes so that it will be ever on our minds and in our hearts.
To be a disciple of Jesus means to capture and follow His heart. It seems like such a simple thing, yet it is often overlooked. Nothing else distinguishes us as Christians quite as distinctly. When we remember how much we have been loved, we will love others and they will see that we belong to Christ.