The New Commandment

The New Commandment
John 13:31-35
31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. 33 “Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

v31 “Now the Son of Man is glorified, Now with the works that He has done, in the Fathers name, and the Father’s approval of Him, Christ has been glorified. Luke 3: 21, 22. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” And again on the Mount of Transfiguration, Luke 9:35, and a voice came out of the cloud saying “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” These are a few examples of Christ being glorified by God, and yet there is one that all mankind will see and hear. Romans 14:11 tells of a time when Christ will be glorified before all mankind. “For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” All mankind and Satan himself will bow at the judgment seat of Christ and confess that Christ is indeed the Son of God, and in this Christ will be glorified.
Christ also says in Verse 31 that, God is glorified in Him. God is glorified in Christ, and in us, when we do the will of the Father. John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but of the will of Him who sent Me.” and again in John5:30 “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” When we not only seek the will of the Father, but walk in the will of the Father, God is glorified as a just and true God. We are to glorify God by giving thanks for revealing His will for our lives and accomplishing His will through us. In this way we are to draw attention away from our accomplishments and give God all the glory. For if we seek our glory for God’s working in us, here on earth, than we have received all the glory we will receive, giving God the glory than releases God to glorify us before the host of heaven and during the final judgment at the throne of Christ. Where Christ will be glorified in full for the faithfulness that He had in walking in the will of the Father, and we will receive our glory for walking in His will as well. I used to say, “Lord it is enough to just sit in a corner of your kingdom, as long as I am there.” This is not the will of the Father, but I am to allow Him to work through me to bring others to the saving knowledge of Christ.
V. 32 “and glorify Him immediately.” as He did, not only in the miracles at His death, but also in John 18:6, when the crowd came to seize Him and they drew back and fell to the ground.
V. 33 Jesus addresses His disciples with great tenderness and affection, telling them that soon He will no longer be with them. Now that Judas had gone out to betray Him, He had but a few more hours to spend with his disciples, and they would be scattered.
“You will seek Me;” If the disciples had witnessed His death in the coming days how would they seek Him? They knew Him to be the Son of God, The Messiah; the One told of in the Word of God, so they would question themselves and God, as to if they had followed Him in vain. They would call out to Him but He would not answer. They would be left in the darkness of doubt and faith at the same time, wondering if it all had been in vain. We too are left with these times when the glory of God is revealed in the answer to prayer, or a great spiritual moment, only to have Satan rush in and cause us to doubt if God had been in work in our lives or not. We by faith and the experiences with God that we share, walk in the knowledge that God does indeed work in our lives and through the hearts of men, glory be to His name.
He goes on to say, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” This reminds me of a child with their nose pressed against the window, watching as their parent pulls out of the drive leaving them behind as they go to work. They long to go, just to see what takes them away from home. To enjoy in what seems like fun, if it would take their parent away from them for hours each day, little do they know. We long to be where Jesus is, to walk the streets of gold, by the crystal sea, but alas our time has not yet come. We shall die in the truth, but since the truth lives in us, we shall awaken in glory, where we shall indeed be where Christ is.
V.34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;” If Jesus already said In Mark 12:31, that there was no greater commandment than to love God, and love your neighbor as your self, and that there was no greater commandment than these, how can He now say I give you a new commandment? He finishes the verse with; “as I have loved you.” Christ was looking to the cross, and that He had forgotten all earthly desire and was about to give His life for them. It is a self sacrificing love that He talks about. Not just a love that sacrifices for those who love us, but one that sacrifices for those who we don’t even know, or even for those who dislike us. Paul stresses this point in Romans 5:7,8 ‘For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ Christ wants us to imitate Him; to be ready to lay down one’s life for each other.
We pray that Christ will not ask us to die for another Human being, but this also means that we are to set our own wants and needs aside for the wants and needs of others. Whether it is a homeless man who needs a hand, or your wife who simply wants you to sit and talk with her. It is forgetting about ones self and remembering that others have needs as well. Contrary to popular believe it is not “All about me”, But it is all about Christ, which leads us to verse 35.
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Like it or not man will look to the church as an example of Christ, for we are to be. I try and tell others to look not at man, but to look at Christ and what He did for you. Still man will judge Christianity by Christians. So what are we showing them? I received an email that I feel demonstrates what some are showing the world, and I would like to share it with you.
One day, a man went to visit a church.
He got there early, parked his car, and got out.
Another car pulled up near and the driver got
out and said,” I always park there!
You took my place!" The visitor went inside for
Sunday school, found an empty seat and sat down.
A young lady from the church
approached him and stated,
"That's my seat! You took my place!"
The visitor was somewhat distressed
by this rude welcome, but said nothing.
After Sunday School, the visitor went
into the sanctuary and sat down.
Another member walked up to him and said,
"That's where I always sit! You took my place!"
The visitor was even more troubled by this
treatment, but still He said nothing.
Later as the congregation was praying
for Christ to dwell among them,
the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change.
Horrible scars became visible on
his hands and on his sandaled feet.
Someone from the congregation
noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?"
The visitor replied, as his hat
became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye,
"I took your place."
When we love one another with pure hearts, than it shall fully appear that we are indeed the Church that Christ desire us to be. We will become disciples of the one who laid down His life for us, and became a ransom for all. If one person looks at the life of a Christian and says I want the love that they have in their hearts, than the goal of Christ’s death is reached. They will know you by your love.