A New Commandment

​In the book of John chapter 13, Jesus is nearing the end of His ministry here upon the earth, and we read about how He starts to prepare Himself and his disciples for His going away. And He turns to His disciples to give them a new commandment:

John 13:34-35 (NLT) So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Now the key to understanding this passage, and to understanding today’s sermon is understanding what that new commandment is. The new commandment is not to love, that command had already been given. No, the new commandment is to love each other like Jesus has loved us.

Disciples

Jesus could only give His disciples this commandment towards the end of His time here on earth, because it was only then that his followers could understand how Jesus had loved them. By this point, the disciples had spent up to 3 years living under Jesus’ ministry, following Him, being taught by Him, watching how He lived and what he did. They had got to know Him and understand Him and His love. This is why they were called His disciples.

To be a disciple means to be a follower. A disciple does more than just intellectually learn something, they are actually trained and transformed into the image of the one they are following. A great way of understanding what a disciple is to think of apprentices. If you undertake an apprenticeship you do more than just sit in a classroom learning theory, instead you work alongside someone and they train you by not just by telling you the job but by demonstrating it then getting you to reproduce what they do. You don’t just learn the theory about a job, you actually do it.

The disciples were Jesus’ apprentices. They didn’t just learn his words in a classroom, Jesus demonstrated to them how to live. To be a true Christian, one not just in name but in deed means that we too must become disciples.  We need to be people who do more than merely profess Christianity as our religion, and we need to be more than just church goers, we need to become disciples of Jesus, someone who follows Him, who learn from Him and are changed by Him.

Jesus clearly defines the distinction between being a cultural christian or a church goer and a real disciple:

John 8:31-32 (NLT) Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If you remain faithful to my teachings, then you will be my disciples. Jesus makes it so clear what His standards are and what he expects of us.

One of the reasons we are part of a church one of the reasons that we are here this morning and why we listen to teachings is not just to increase our intellectual understanding of God, but to learn what it is to follow Him, and how to become more like him. We want to understand Jesus’ teaching and then follow Him ourselves. Listening to Jesus’ teachings alone is not enough, they have to have an effect upon our lives.

I want to do more than learn,  I want to be changed, to be transformed into the image of Christ, because this is our ultimate goal. All the teaching, the worship and everything else that we do has that one purpose, that we might be more like Him and less like our old self. And we need to be careful, because it is possible to learn all there is about God and yet still not know Him.

Jesus Himself warns us of this 

Matthew 7:21 (NLT) “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

This is a sobering passage that we have to take seriously. Calling Him Lord is not enough, saying we’re a Christian or going to church is not enough. We have to follow it through by doing His will.

When Jesus or the Bible gives us commandments, they’re not optional parts of our walk with Him, it is Jesus telling us exactly what His father’s will is, what he is looking for from us, what He expects of us if we are to be His  disciples.  This command to love each other like Jesus loved is so important that Jesus said it will be used as proof to the world of whether we are or not a disciple of Christ.  Only a real disciple of Jesus, only somebody who really knows Him will understand how it is that He loved us and will in turn will be able to give that love to others. People from outside the church will recognise us as being genuine or not according to whether we display Jesus’ love and character, because if we can do that then we must be a real disciple of Jesus.

The sad reality is that there has been a lot of abuse on many different levels within churches, sexually, emotionally, financially, and the world looks at that and recognises that that has nothing to do with the real God. I think the world spots what is wrong in the church before we do. But Similarly when they look at a church that loves beyond anything that they have experienced before they will know that we are followers of the one true God.

Jesus Loved us

The question we need to ask if we are to understand how to love like Jesus loved is how has Jesus loved us? If we know that, then we will know how we need to love each other. His love for us is so much deeper than anything the world understands, we can only know it and model it by knowing Him

He served us. 

Matthew 20:25-28 (NLT) “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Christianity is unique compared to how the world acts. In the world, if you are a king then you are in a position of power. People serve you, run around after you looking after your every need. But it’s not just true of kings, it’s true of all positions of power. Be that business leaders, politicians, or leaders at every level. People crave power because they want to be served, they want to be the boss and tell everybody else what to do and to feel important and to get all the benefits of that.

This even goes on in churches. Even in churches people fight and argue for power, because they want to be the “one.” I’ve witnessed this in many places throughout the world. They don’t understand that leadership in Christianity is so different from leadership in the world. Having a position such as a pastor or any other church position is not so you can be served, but it so you can serve. The bigger a church you have, the more the responsibility to serve and to put the needs of others over yourself.

Jesus was the King of all Kings the Lord of Lords and yet how did He act upon the earth? He came as a servant, a servant to all mankind, even to the point of torture and death. That is what leadership in the Kingdom of God means, and that is the example that we are called to model.

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV) As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Whatever gift that we have, and we have so many varied gifts amongst us today note that it says that our gifts have been received from god, we use it to build others, as stewards of what god has given us. For those of us on the platform, these gifts that we have are to serve others, to bless them and to lead them to Jesus. They are never to draw people to ourselves or to what we are doing, they are to lead men to him.

Philippians 2:3-8 (NLT) Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Philippians tells us that we must have the same attitude as Christ, who though He knew who he was, he gave all that up and instead took the position of a slave. That’s what the greatest King ever to be chose to do

In Matthew 23:11 (NLT) Jesus said that: The greatest among you must be a servant. 

Being great in the Kingdom of God and in the world are 2 different things. Greatness in the Kingdom, in God’s eyes only comes from serving and being a servant. That is how you can become great in the Kingdom.

Jesus demonstrated his love for us and set an example to us


John 13:1-17 (NLT) Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and  return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

In Jesus’ time in Israel the people walked in sandals in dusty roads, and before  people ate together they would wash their feet, or have a servant wash their feet. This job was reserved for the lowliest servant, and yet Jesus took it upon himself to do this job Himself. In fact this verse starts by saying that Jesus loved them until the end. He even washed Judas’ feet knowing what he had done and what he was going to do.

Jesus led by example. He didn’t live in a palace while commanding others to serve, He demonstrated what it was to serve, taking the very lowest place Himself. This is one of the things that made Him so unique as a leader, and so different to anyone who has come before or since. This King of Kings, this Lord of lords came to serve us first. Jesus also explains that this is the example that he requires His followers to copy, to serve one another. 


His Love Cost

Jesus’ love cost.

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT) Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

​True love carries a cost. In fact we can measure the depth of love by its cost. We can believe Christ’s love for us because it cost His entire life. If someone where to die for our sake we can be left in no doubt as to the genuineness of their love. It’s easy to do something for others when there is no cost involved for us, but it becomes harder when there is a cost, be that of our time, our effort or anything else.

John 15:13-14 (NLT) There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command

There is no greater price we can pay, or greater demonstration of love than to lay down our lives.  Again here Jesus reemphasises those who are His friends, and it is they who love. Love sometimes requires a sacrifice on our behalf for the sake of someone else. Love looks like something, it has an outworking in our and others lives. The greatest love that we can do is lay down our lives for someone else. This doesn’t just mean physically dying for someone, it also means dying to one’s self for the sake of others.

His Love is undeserved

What makes God’s love for us even more powerful is how little we deserved it

​Psalms 103:10-11 (NLT) He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

Had we had done something good to earn God’s love, then we would not have been shown as much love from God as when we deserved nothing.

So while we were at our least deserving, then God blessed us. And when we understand that, when we have a revelation of that then we can bless others no matter what they have done of even how they have treated us

Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT) “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbour’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

In the same way that we did not deserve Jesus’ love, our love is for those who do not deserve, even for those who hate and persecute us. Matthew tells us that God’s love falls on the just and the unjust alike, and so must ours, without prejudice.

His love builds up

Romans 12:10 (NLT) Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other.

Love looks to raise others higher than ourselves. It looks to increase others. While we take the lowest place, we want to build others up and see them raised up. We want to see them go further than us. We put the needs and honouring others above ourselves. Our job is to increase, but not increase ourselves, increase other people. This applies when we’re face to face to people or when we’re talking about them when they’re not present. Our talk should be edifying, building and uplifting.

His love was only ever the Father’s will. 

John 5:19 (NLT) So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing.
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Loving others and doing what is right for others is not always the same as doing their will. Jesus’ agenda was what was right, what was good. Which isn’t always the same as what we want. We must be careful not to mix up doing good with encouraging what is wrong. Just because humans desire something it does not mean it is good or right. True goodness, the goodness that we are to increase is goodness that comes from the Father, His will and his way.

Many churches and christians have fallen into the trap of not realising that true love has to be in line with the father’s will and has to be based on what is good. We only know what is good because of what Our father tells us. A good parent who loves correctly knows what is right and good, and is driven by that rather than what a person may want. For example, a child may want to eat chocolate cake for breakfast. A parent who truly loves that child will say no and put boundaries down out of love. Counterfeit love is centred on the will of people. Correct love is centred upon the truth and goodness of God. Children do not always know what is best for them, they only understand what they desire, and so they need an external figure to guide and train them. We are exactly the same. We’re God’s children and we need a Heavenly father to train us and lead is in the eways of righteousness.

A child sometimes confuses not being allowed to do what they want with hatred. Sometimes someone not being affirmed in doing wrong is mistaken for hate. But we have to remain people who hold onto the truth, because that is where goodness really comes from.

Conclusion

1 John 4:7-8 (NLT) Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

It’s that simple.

As a church, We may never have the big resources that some churches have or the space to host great meetings. We may not have the biggest worship team or most expensive resources.  But what we can offer is love. In fact, I will go further and say that this church is going to be built on love and grow in love.

Matthew 5:46-48 (NLT) If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Even non believers can do that! How does that make us any different? If we manage as a church to show love to people that we like then well done us! We’ve reached the same level as the pagans! The question isn’t how are going to love those people we like or are the same as us, but how do we love those who are different, how do we love those who are different, those who are a bit strange to us. That is the measure of our depth of love in God.

The love that the father gives us is for all people, it loves, honours and lifts up those who don’t deserve it

1 Corinthians 8:1 (NLT) … But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.



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