Reflections on the Lectionary: John 13:31-35

As soon as [Judas] had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. And if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.”

“Little children, I am with for but a little while longer. You will seek for me, but, as I said to the Jews, so I say to you now, ‘Where I go, you cannot come.’”

“A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you should also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love toward one another.”  (My paraphrase - to read my other paraphrases of scripture, please go to Word and Table)

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Context, if not everything, is extremely important.  Take this passage from John.  It is part of Jesus’  last discourses with his disciples before his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion.  As such, these words have some commonality with the words that a dying person might speak to their loved ones who have gathered at the deathbed, hoping to receive some final words of instruction or wisdom. 

We also need to bear in mind the events that have transpired just before Jesus gives his new commandment.  Two things stand out.  One, Jesus has just humbled himself to wash the disciples’ feet.  When he finished this task, over the initial rejection of Peter, Jesus says, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
(John 13:13-17 ESV)”

The other important event that immediately precedes Jesus’ giving of a new commandment is Judas leaving the fellowship of the the disciples in order to betray Jesus.  It is Judas’ leaving that prompts the gospel writer to say, “And it was night.”

So it is after Jesus has given an concrete example of servant ministry and after Judas has left to carry out his work that Jesus gives his disciples a new mandate: to love one another as he has loved them.  Of course, in a few hours he will once again demonstrate his love for them.  When he is arrested in chapter 18, Jesus will offer to peacefully go with those who arrest him in exchange for them letting his disciples go free.  This is in addition, of course, to his subsequent sacrificial death for all.  “When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.”

Unlike many teachers and leaders in the history of humanity, Jesus teaches and leads by example.  He never asks his followers to do anything that he himself would not and does not do.  When he tells us to love each other as he has loved us, we know exactly what such love entails.