They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love—Lectionary Reflection for Easter 6C (John 13)
John
13:31-35 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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Many
churches, including the ones I’ve served, sing the chorus “They will know we
are Christians by our love.” Unfortunately, polls suggest otherwise. Although
Jesus embraced two commands drawn from Torah—the commands to love God with
heart, soul, and might (Deut. 6:5),
along with the command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Lev. 19:18)—then he declared: “On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40; also Mk12:30-31; Luke 10:27). On these two love commandments hang everything found in
the Torah, including the Ten Commandments. Do these two things, and you fulfill
every law. Unfortunately, we struggle to fulfill these two seemingly simple
commands.
As we
continue our journey through Eastertide, celebrating along the way the
resurrection of Jesus, the Revised Common Lectionary, which has been focusing
on readings from the Gospel of John, takes us back to the night before Jesus’
execution. We read Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples here in John
13. Contextually, Jesus has been sharing a final meal with his disciples.
He has already washed the feet of the disciples. He has shared bread with his
disciples, including Judas, who has left the room on his way to betray Jesus to
the authorities.
It is
at this point in the story that Jesus speaks of what is about to take place,
which is the connector of this passage to Eastertide. He tells those who
remained in the room, whether the eleven or a larger group. The size of this
gathering is unknown, though tradition suggests Jesus had gathered for this
meal with the twelve (DaVinci helps with the visuals). I’ve long thought that
there were more people gathered, but that is not relevant to the message here.
Jesus tells the disciples that “The Son of Man has been glorified, and God has
been glorified in him.” Yes, if “God has been glorified in him, God will also
glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.” If that sounds a bit convoluted,
perhaps Eugene Peters’ translation can clear things up a bit: “When he had left, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son
of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God
is seen in him, God’s glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself
is glorified—glory all around!’” I like that version. When we see God in Jesus,
then God’s glory is on display. Where do we see that glory on display? Reading
this in Eastertide, we are invited to respond—His glory is on display in the
resurrection of Jesus. We read this word about glory after Jesus washes the
feet of his disciples, an act of deep humility, for this is a servant’s job. With
this in mind, perhaps Jesus is speaking not only of the glory of the
resurrection but of the cross as well. The clue here is Judas’ departure. Judas’
betrayal sets in motion the events that will reveal God’s glory in the death and
resurrection of Jesus. Regarding the cross and the revelation of God’s glory,
Marianne Meye Thompson writes: “John
describes crucifixion as ‘glorification’ to counter the perception that it was
a shameful or dishonorable means of death. Jesus will not be discredited; he
will not bring shame upon his Father as he faces an ignominious death at the
hands of Roman occupiers. To the contrary, the Father will honor or glorify
Jesus through his death on the cross.” [Thompson, John (New Testament Library) (Kindle p.
299)]. So, it’s not just the glory of Easter, it’s the glory of Good Friday as
well.
Jesus’
message continues with Jesus reminding the disciples that his departure was at
hand. He tells them that they will look for him but won’t find him because
where he is going, they cannot come. Where that place lies, Jesus doesn’t
reveal, only that they cannot be with him, at least for the moment. Note here
that he calls them “little children,” suggesting that they had not yet reached
spiritual maturity. But they are on the path to maturity, and in the chapters
that follow, he provides guidance as to the journey.
For our
purpose, the culminating message of this particular lection comes in verse 34,
where Jesus proceeds to give them a new commandment, a new mandate. That mandate
is quite simple: Jesus tells them to love one another. Indeed, Jesus tells them,
“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.” Now, we could interpret this very narrowly, such that Jesus is
speaking simply to his disciples gathered in the room, but that John records
this commandment suggests he has a broader community in mind. Therefore, it
would seem to apply to all of Jesus’ disciples, including us, that we should
love those who follow Jesus. If Christians embraced this principle and loved
other Christians as Jesus has loved us, that would make a major difference in
the way Christians live together. It would go a long way to overcoming the
divisions that have plagued the church from the beginning. Paul understood this,
such that when writing about the divisions that existed in the Corinthian Church,
he placed a chapter on love in the middle of a discussion of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 13). If, as Paul suggests, faith, hope, and love endure and love is the
greatest of the three, then it makes sense that Jesus would make love the
centerpiece of this new covenant he was establishing. Therefore, if we were to love
each other as Christ has loved us, that would offer a strong witness to the
world. If we go to 1 John, we see this message reinforced: “Beloved,
let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born
of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does
not know God, for God is love” (1
John 4:7-8). Our reading doesn’t include the part of the story where
Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, but that does seem to be an
illustration of what Jesus has in mind. This is how he loved his disciples, by
being their servant.
Jesus was likely speaking in John
13 of love within the Christian community, but might we expand the circle to include
everyone? That we haven’t accomplished
what Jesus commanded, that we love one another within the community, might
suggest that we should get our house in order before we move outside the
circle. Nevertheless, might we still ask if it could apply more broadly? If the
world is to know that we are Christians by our love, then surely our witness
would be enhanced if we loved others outside the circle. After all, Jesus did
tell his disciples in Matthew to love their enemies. Indeed, in the Sermon on
the Mount, we hear Jesus state: “If you
love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same?” (Matt 5:43-48). It would seem that loving those
closest to us is the baseline. Surely, as followers of Jesus can do more, such
that the world might know we are his followers. As Pope Leo XIV, before his
election to the papacy, in a social media post directed at a certain
politician, there is no ranking in love.
I will
close with this word from my friend Tom Oord, who has long advocated that love
should be the center of Christian Theology: “If love is the center of the
biblical witness and the core of Christian experience, it should be the primary
criterion for theology. Love should be the orienting concern and continual
focus for speaking systematically about theology. We should discard ideas or
theories that undermine love” [The Nature of Love, p. 2]. If
this is true, then surely God is glorified when we reflect our commitment to being
disciples of Jesus through acts of love. Then, perhaps, especially at a time when hate and cruelty seem to have the edge even in some Christian circles, the world will know we
are Christians by our love for one another.
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