The Mark of Jesus
The last night Jesus spent with His disciples was a bitter-sweet experience for Him. He knew He would die the next day and knew how imperative it was for His disciples to stay together. If He had left them any time in the preceding three years, they would have scattered, and He knew that.
In between two statements about what is about to happen to Him (John 13:33 and 36), Jesus gives this command ‘Love one another’ (John 13:34). He calls it ‘a new command’ because the Old Testament only commanded love for God and love for your Jewish neighbours.
Jesus was telling His disciples to love each other. He then went on to call this kind of love the identifying mark for all His followers. The Jews had circumcision and their honouring the Sabbath and other special days as their identifying behaviour. But Jesus’ followers would be marked out differently.
Notice it wasn’t their time spent reading or quoting the Bible, their prayer life, or even the meetings they attended; it was their love for each other.
Do you want to make a difference to your world? I’m sure you do. Then ask God to give you His love for other Christians. Jesus at other times told His followers to love unbelievers, but in this passage the focus is on loving other Christians. People who don’t know Jesus are more likely to be convinced by your real love than by your many words.
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