John 13:34. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
It is Thursday of Holy Week. Jesus is back in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover and, as only he realizes, for the giving of his life. Much will happen tonight. Jesus will wash the Disciples’ feet (John 13). He will give us some of the most glorious teaching in scripture about the Trinity and the coming Holy Spirit (John 14-16). He will offer his priestly prayer for himself, for his disciples, and for us (John 17). And he will give us a new commandment, the commandment to love one another as he has loved us. This is where we get the name “Maundy Thursday.” Maundy means mandate or command. The command to love.
But Jesus didn’t just throw this command out there as a new law for us to keep. His words weren’t just a rebooting of the Torah’s “love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus’ washing of the Disciple’s feet isn’t just an example for us to follow or a visualization of the commandment. There is more. There is more to this Thursday night.
There is a meal.
Luke 22:14-23. 14And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 21But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”23And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.
Jesus is re-interpreting the Passover Seder. Or we might say he is showing us what Passover pointed to all along – our Exodus from sin. In the Seder four cups of wine are drunk. Luke shows us two of the four. The first is the “cup of blessing” (v.17). Jesus took this cup, likely said the traditional blessing, and had the Twelve each drink from the cup to demonstrate their unity in him.
Next, Jesus took the bread. In the Seder it was the “bread of our affliction.” Jesus, however, makes the bread his body given for you. It is now the bread of his affliction. Christ’s body will be broken and torn in pieces for Israel and all mankind.
Then Luke gives us the cup after they had eaten the meal. This is the third cup of Passover – the “cup of redemption.” But now Jesus has made it the cup of the New Covenant in his blood. His blood (his life) poured out (his death) so that we might enter into a New Covenant of total forgiveness and complete cleansing with God.
Hebrews 8:10-12. 10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
Two words jump out from Jesus’ reinterpretation of the Passover meal: for you.
My body for you. My blood for you.
This is why the new commandment to love one another is not just another commandment added to the list of 613 commands they already had. It’s not just a new law to keep or a just a reinterpretation of an old law. In giving of his life for us, Jesus has fulfilled the law. He has kept it for us. In our place.
This truth alone is what empowers us to now keep the new commandment and to love one another – the truth that Christ has first loved us.
Until you receive the love of Christ, you will never love like Christ. Until you receive the forgiveness of Christ, you will never forgive like Christ. Until you are cleansed by Christ, you can never cleanse another.
Love is not just a law to be kept, it’s a life to be lived. And it’s a life that has already been lived. By Jesus. For you. In your place. When you really believe this, you will keep the commandment to love joyfully, willingly, and naturally.
You: Do you love others willingly, joyfully, naturally?
You in Christ: How does knowing that Jesus has “washed us” us from sin allow us to more easily love and forgive others?
Christ in you: Is there someone specific that needs you to pour yourself out for them today?
Prayer: God, the order is important: you loved us first, so that we could love you and others. Jesus, I believe that your life of love lives in me. Your mandate to love is now my life, my nature, my very being. Thank you for living for me and loving for me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 