Joh 13:33 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord speaks to His disciples as “little children”. He does not say ’My’ children. They are not. Nowhere are believers called ‘children of the Lord Jesus’. He speaks to them as children of God. It is the name of sweet relationships and vulnerability. He will only be with them for a short time, because He will soon go to His Father. Just as He said to the Jews ( ), He now also says to His disciples that they cannot come there. This is because He will go to an entirely different domain beyond this world. It is in the sphere of resurrection. The Lord’s going to that new place is not without consequences for the relationships that exist on earth. The disciples cannot now follow Him to His new place. He wants to prepare them that they will not be able to follow Him for the time being. For the time they are still on earth, He points them to a new way of dealing with one another that is entirely appropriate to the atmosphere of the place where He is going. That new way is the love they will have among each other as children of God. The great characteristic of the family of God is love because God is love. While the Lord Jesus is surrounded by glory up there, the children of God on earth love each other. When He will no longer be with them as the most important pillar against which they can lean and seek support in a hostile world, they must find this support among each other. They cannot support each other in their own strength, but in the efficacy of the new nature they have received from Him through faith in Him. That new nature is love. If they treat one another in this way, they will be known as disciples of Christ. What a testimony that will be! This new duty, loving one another, results from a new relationship between Him Who is in heaven and those who are on earth. This will be a convincing proof to those around them that they are followers of Him. Their love among each other will bear witness to Him Who has shown this love perfectly in His life and in His death, and still does: an infallible love. Their love must be of His ‘material’ and after His model, so that this love will remain, even when He is gone. This is not about the love for lost people, however important it may be, but about the selfless search for good for the brother and sister. It is about loving one another as disciples of Christ in accordance with His love. When He will have risen from the dead, these new connections will be established and become more and more visible. What the Lord says here, He calls “a new commandment”, because it is about the brother, not about our neighbor. The commandment to love one’s neighbor belongs to the commandments of the Old Testament ( ). These commandments are given in order to get life. The sinfulness of man has made this impossible. The new thing about the commandment that the Lord gives is that He gives the life by which the disciples can love one another. The commandment is therefore a natural thing, we do it as a matter of course. It is a commandment that is true in Christ and has been realized by Him. And because He is our life, it is also true in us and can be fulfilled by us ( ). This cannot be said of the law.

‏ John 13:33

The New Commandment of Love

The Lord speaks to His disciples as “little children”. He does not say ’My’ children. They are not. Nowhere are believers called ‘children of the Lord Jesus’. He speaks to them as children of God. It is the name of sweet relationships and vulnerability. He will only be with them for a short time, because He will soon go to His Father. Just as He said to the Jews (Jn 7:34 ; Jn 8:21), He now also says to His disciples that they cannot come there. This is because He will go to an entirely different domain beyond this world. It is in the sphere of resurrection.

The Lord’s going to that new place is not without consequences for the relationships that exist on earth. The disciples cannot now follow Him to His new place. He wants to prepare them that they will not be able to follow Him for the time being. For the time they are still on earth, He points them to a new way of dealing with one another that is entirely appropriate to the atmosphere of the place where He is going. That new way is the love they will have among each other as children of God. The great characteristic of the family of God is love because God is love. While the Lord Jesus is surrounded by glory up there, the children of God on earth love each other.

When He will no longer be with them as the most important pillar against which they can lean and seek support in a hostile world, they must find this support among each other. They cannot support each other in their own strength, but in the efficacy of the new nature they have received from Him through faith in Him. That new nature is love. If they treat one another in this way, they will be known as disciples of Christ. What a testimony that will be!

This new duty, loving one another, results from a new relationship between Him Who is in heaven and those who are on earth. This will be a convincing proof to those around them that they are followers of Him. Their love among each other will bear witness to Him Who has shown this love perfectly in His life and in His death, and still does: an infallible love. Their love must be of His ‘material’ and after His model, so that this love will remain, even when He is gone.

This is not about the love for lost people, however important it may be, but about the selfless search for good for the brother and sister. It is about loving one another as disciples of Christ in accordance with His love. When He will have risen from the dead, these new connections will be established and become more and more visible.

What the Lord says here, He calls “a new commandment”, because it is about the brother, not about our neighbor. The commandment to love one’s neighbor belongs to the commandments of the Old Testament (Lev 19:18). These commandments are given in order to get life. The sinfulness of man has made this impossible.

The new thing about the commandment that the Lord gives is that He gives the life by which the disciples can love one another. The commandment is therefore a natural thing, we do it as a matter of course. It is a commandment that is true in Christ and has been realized by Him. And because He is our life, it is also true in us and can be fulfilled by us (1Jn 2:8). This cannot be said of the law.