Read: John 13:31-35
Unlike, Matthew, Mark and Luke, John, when describing the Last Supper, chooses to focus on Jesus as the expression of the Father’s love for his people. Jesus gives an example of this love by washing the feet of his disciples, that is, by becoming their servant. Even Judas, who was about to betray Jesus, was included in Jesus’ loving service.
After Judas left, Jesus told his disciples that his time left on earth was short and that they could not go where he was about to go. He began to give them final instructions about how to be his followers. The first order was a new one: love one another the way that Jesus loved them. They would learn, over time, that this was a difficult command to follow, because Jesus’ example would also include laying down his life for others. His acceptance echoed his earlier comment to Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…” (Jn 3:16)
Our love for one another must flow beyond our church community, just as it does when we feed the hungry, tend to the sick, provide shelter for the homeless and stand up for the despised and the outcast. It is tempting and comforting for Christians to focus on the baby Jesus and on the Jesus who died on the cross for us. But it is the adult Jesus whom we must follow and imitate, as we have been doing at First Church, if we intend to witness to a God who so loves the world.
Peter Loan
Unlike, Matthew, Mark and Luke, John, when describing the Last Supper, chooses to focus on Jesus as the expression of the Father’s love for his people. Jesus gives an example of this love by washing the feet of his disciples, that is, by becoming their servant. Even Judas, who was about to betray Jesus, was included in Jesus’ loving service.
After Judas left, Jesus told his disciples that his time left on earth was short and that they could not go where he was about to go. He began to give them final instructions about how to be his followers. The first order was a new one: love one another the way that Jesus loved them. They would learn, over time, that this was a difficult command to follow, because Jesus’ example would also include laying down his life for others. His acceptance echoed his earlier comment to Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…” (Jn 3:16)
Our love for one another must flow beyond our church community, just as it does when we feed the hungry, tend to the sick, provide shelter for the homeless and stand up for the despised and the outcast. It is tempting and comforting for Christians to focus on the baby Jesus and on the Jesus who died on the cross for us. But it is the adult Jesus whom we must follow and imitate, as we have been doing at First Church, if we intend to witness to a God who so loves the world.
Peter Loan
