💧 Known by His Love

On the night before His crucifixion, as Jesus shared a final meal with His disciples, He spoke quietly but clearly about what should mark His followers.

In this passage, the Lord Jesus gives a “new commandment” to love one another just as He has loved us. This matters because love is not an optional extra for Christians; it is the family resemblance of everyone who belongs to Him.

In a world marked by division and self-interest, Christlike love is how people see that we are truly His disciples.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.

32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus speaks about glory just as Judas leaves to betray Him, showing that His greatest glory will come through the cross. The love He commands is not vague kindness but the concrete, self-giving love He is about to display by laying down His life.

To love “as I have loved you” means serving when it is costly, forgiving when wronged, and seeking another’s good even when there is no benefit in return. This is impossible in our own strength, which is why we must first receive His saving love by faith and keep returning to it as our source.

The Lord calls this a “new” command because He gives it a new pattern and power in Himself. The Old Testament already called God’s people to love their neighbor, but now the measure is the love of Christ, seen in the basin and towel and fulfilled at the cross.

In the local church, this love shows up in very ordinary ways: bearing with one another’s weaknesses, sharing burdens, speaking truth gently, giving time and resources to those in need. When believers love like this, they reflect the heart of the Savior to one another and to the watching world.

Jesus says that by this love all people will know that we are His disciples. Our apologetic is not only our words but our relationships. Programs, sermons, and music have their place, but Christlike love is what makes the beauty of the gospel visible.

As we walk in repentance, depend on the Holy Spirit, and remember how deeply we have been loved, we become more willing to love others in the same way. In homes, small groups, and congregations, this kind of love becomes a living testimony that the Lord Jesus is real and still at work.

Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me to the end, even to the cross.

Your love is patient, sacrificial, and faithful, and I confess that my love is often selfish, shallow, and easily offended.

Forgive me for the ways I hold grudges, protect my comfort, or ignore the needs of others.

Teach me today to remember how You have loved me and to let that shape how I treat the people around me.

Fill me with Your Spirit so that I can forgive, serve, and encourage with Your heart.

Let my life and my church display the kind of love that points clearly to You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thanks for reading. We’re grateful to be on this journey of learning and growing in the Word together.

Grace and peace,

The Christian Newsletter