The New Command

John 13:34-35. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Then Jesus adds that by this everyone will know they are his disciples.

Love for neighbor was not new. It was in the law of Moses. What is new is the measure. The disciples are no longer to love as they love themselves but as Jesus has loved them, and he has just shown them what that looks like with a towel and a basin, and is about to show them on a cross. The standard has moved from the self to the Savior.

The second half of the passage is the part that should give a church pause. Jesus does not say the world will recognize his people by their doctrine, their buildings, or their moral positions, though all of those have their place. He says the world will recognize them by how they treat each other. On a summer Saturday, most of us will see fewer people than on a workday. The ones we do see are likely to be those closest to us. That is where this command is tested first.