A New Love!
"A new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another; as I have loved you,
that you also love one another. By this all
will know that you are My disciples, if
you
have love for one another."
John 13: 34-35
The
word new means brand-new—something
never seen or heard of before. Or it can mean
something familiar that suddenly takes on new
meaning or importance. This second meaning
applies to Jesus’ words in John 13:34.
On the eve of His arrest, Jesus gave His
disciples
a “new commandment” that they should love one
another. This wasn’t a brand-new commandment.
Leviticus 19:18 had established that Jews were
to love their neighbors as they loved themselves.
What was new about Jesus’ new commandment?
It was that they were to love each other as He had
loved them. This standard would take on a
whole
new meaning for them as they saw Jesus give up
His life sacrificially.
This, Jesus told them later during their meal,
is the greatest kind of love (John 15:12-13).
Jesus
introduced a new kind of love—
sacrificial love. He expected followers,
including us, to love as He loved:
sacrificially for the sake of others.
"True love is
always
costly."
Billy Graham