This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.
18 sermons cite this verse
… He's put it, he has incarnated it in himself. He says, love one another as I have loved you. There's your comparison. as I have loved you. In other words, the disciples didn't have to imagine what this kind of love was all about. All they had to do was reflect on three and a half years in his presence. How had he loved them? Well, he had left the Father's presence with all that marvelous co-equality, perfect, uninterrupted harmony, and he had come to this earth Thank you. to live among people like you and me. Can you imagine anyone less attractive to come and live among than people like you and me? And there he came. And he chose those fellows, warts and all. He chose them knowing their failures, knowing their foolishness, knowing their lack, knowing their needs. He chose this man and that Matthew and he chose John and he chose Andrew and Simon and he got them all together. He said, remember that men, when you think of love, reach out. …
… and it's going to be built around the theme of love one another. Jesus said, this is my commandment that you love one another. When he was asked, what are the greatest commandments you remember? Love God and love your neighbors or love yourself. In the Sermon on the Mount, we learned a couple of weeks ago, love even your enemy. I mean, so love, right? And it's interesting, do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. He says, this is the law and the prophets. There's only one other time he says that. And he says that when he talks about the great commandments, love God and he says, love your neighbors or love yourself. This summarizes the law and the prophets. And what's interesting is when Jesus gives us the golden rule, you could actually summarize the golden rule in one word, love. Do unto others as you have them do unto you. You know what that is? That's agape. That's love. This is what we're called to be and to do. …
… He says, and this is my commandment that you love one another, right? So he's saying, follow my commandments. The fruit I'm looking for is you follow my commandments and this is the chief among those commandments that you love one another. And I just remind you of this. Love is ultimately defined by agape. Agape is the New Testament word for the kind of love Jesus is asking for, and that's defined by kindness, compassion, and humble service towards other people. So I just want to ask you, are you producing the fruit of kindness, compassion, humble service towards other people? Are you a giver or a taker? And are people blessed because they're around you and with you, or are they harmed by you? This week, Pastor Cheryl Jefferson Bell was speaking to our staff. She's our pastor of Community Justice. And she shared something that just moved me. I wrote it down very quickly. She was quoting Cornel West. Now, she was speaking because this is Black History Month. …
… what did you teach and how do I live that out? But then Jesus goes on to say this. He says, and this is my commandment that you love one another. Right? So he's saying, follow my commandments. The fruit I'm looking for is that you follow my commandments. And this is the chief among those commandments that you love one another. And I just, just remind you of this. Love is ultimately defined by agape. Agape is the New Testament word for the kind of love Jesus is asking for. And that's defined by kindness, compassion, and humble service towards other people. So I just want to ask you, are you producing the fruit of kindness, compassion, humble service towards other people? Are you a giver or a taker? And are people blessed because they're around you and with you, or are they harmed by you? This week, Pastor Cheryl Jefferson Bell was speaking to our staff. She's our pastor of community justice. And she shared something that just moved me. I wrote it down very quickly. She was quoting Cornel West. Now, She was speaking because this is Black History Month. …
… is from God. We got to find our footing, find our foundation in the love of Jesus. Watch here, John 13, verse 34. It says, a new command I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. So you must love one another. By this, everybody will know, whether you're at West Adams, South Bay, or Highland Park, everybody will know that you are my disciple if you love one another. So the way that someone knows that you're in a relationship with Jesus is not your bio on Instagram. It's not your political party. it is not your Christianese the way that people know that you follow God is by your love the one thing I've learned about love is I never give away what I do not have in fact I want to preach a message today write down the title it's called mirror mirror on the wall mirror mirror on the wall you ever you ever think you're doing pretty good with your outfit and then you go look in the mirror and you're like, okay, wait a second here. Okay, this mirror's broken. I do not weigh that much. Why do I look tired in this mirror? I don't feel tired. This mirror is saying that I got bags under my eye. This mirror is saying that my face is wearing what I ate last night. I hate this mirror. …
… And this is what he tells his disciples. It's as simple as his invitation to go and fish for people. He says, this is my commandment for you, that you love one another as I have loved you. Jesus shares this commandment when they're seated together. he shares this commandment with them knowing that just moments earlier a couple of those disciples were arguing contending over which one of them was the greatest he shares this commandment of love with with these disciples knowing that one of them you know a few hours earlier had betrayed him for a fee to his death he shares this with this group of disciples this passage of love, knowing that one of them was going to deny him publicly in just a few hours, and that all of them would eventually abandon him at his actual darkest hour. And rather than writing them off, rather than separating himself from them, he draws closer to them. He humbles himself before them. He washes their feet. He gives them bread. He offers them wine. He says, this is my body. This is my blood. I am sacrificing everything for you. And then he calls them. …
… born in a stable, who would grow up to say, this is my commandment, that you love one another. Okay, what does that look like for you? Well, I'm not sure exactly, but I wanna give you a few examples. One of those examples was this week, I was talking with a friend in our church, part of our church, and she told me how she and four of her friends went to see another friend, they're all women in their 60s, so they went to see another friend who has early onset dementia. And so when they arrived at their friend's house, they said it was clear she couldn't remember our names. They've been friends for like 25 years. She couldn't remember their names. But she knew that she knew them and she was happy to see them. and they brought lunch over and they made a lunch spread there, and they go by and see her regularly, but they have sent out the lunch and then they gave her a plate and she didn't know how to put the food on her plate. …
… And now he's just like, hey, you can't come with me anymore. A new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another this is another sermon in of itself but it kind of preaches itself by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another amen but here we go instead of just looking at the red letters I'm really grateful for this right here Simon Peter asked him Lord where are you going? What is it? Let's talk grammar. Let's go back. What is that? Tough question. It is actually a question. So I gave you the answer. How awesome is this? Simon Peter had a question. He's heard so much from Jesus. He's been told so much by Jesus. He's getting some final instructions and it did not all make sense. And sometimes you can read the gospels. I don't know about you and I can look at the disciples. I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, come on, fellas. Like, surely you can figure this out by now, but it's actually not that way for me. I look at them and I'm like, instead of disgusted or surprised, I'm actually encouraged. They're people just like we're people. …
… All of that is a sign of agape. Jesus says, this is my commandment, that you love one another. That you love God, you love one another. now uh you remember of course that when jesus asked what the greatest commandments were um he he said jesus said uh the greatest commandment is to love god with all your heart soul mind and strength with all that you are and all that you have you love god that's why our offerings come first right it's like that first statement it's it goes along with loving god with everything that we are but then he added love your neighbor as you love yourself now you remember there was somebody who asked the question well who is my neighbor who don't i have to love Who am I supposed to love? Who don't I have to love? Jesus answered two questions with the parable he told, the parable of the good Samaritan. He answered the question, who do you have to love? …
You know the quote very well. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. Jesus said this, this is my commandment, that you love one another. So I want to ask you this question. What voices are you listening to and which ones do you need to tune down or tune out altogether? And is your religion making you more loving or less loving? And if it's less loving, you either need a new religion or you need to rightly interpret your religion. And I'm hoping here at Church of the Resurrection, you're hearing really clearly, the call of Christ is to love. So I wanna end this two-part sermon series by going back to our memory verse today. Would you join me in reading this aloud? Dear friends, let's love each other because love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The person who doesn't love does not know God, for God is love. …
… In John's gospel, Jesus repeatedly claims, he says, this is my commandment, that you love one another. He says that on the night he's about to be crucified, the next day he would be arrested that night. This is my commandment, that you love one another. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he quotes twice, or once in each of those gospels, the great commandments. Love God with all that's within you. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love even your enemy, Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. We read in Paul, the summation of the law. He says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, if I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And James speaks of the royal law of love. I went through the entire New Testament and the only book that doesn't quote this command of love is the book of Acts and they were showing it. But every other book of the New Testament says, this is the command in some way or another that we are called to love one another. …
… John 13 says this. It says, A new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Jesus is going away in this passage, and he's talking to his disciples, and he's saying, Take care of one another. Show hospitality to one another. Serve one another. I'm going to be gone, and I want to make sure that the world that does not know me can see me through your relationships. So we serve one another, and we're hospitable to one another because Christ is coming back, and he's looking for a beautiful bride. And he wants his church to be filled with relationships that are flourishing and healthy and committed to serving one another. Lastly, number five is steadfastness. What a boring but awesome word, you know? Steadfast means it's unwavering. I love this. It's dutifully firm and strong. And if you're single out there, maybe you're looking for sexy Steve, but don't rule out Steadfast Stan, you know? …
… And toward the end of the thirteenth chapter, in verse 34, He says, new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." What was the way in which He had just loved them? By washing their feet. That's what He's referring to. Even as I have loved you, you love one another. And then He says, "'By this all men will know that you're My disciples, if you have love for one another.'" And what He means by that is the definition of love is humble service to someone else, selfless sacrifice for someone else. Over in John 15, on that same occasion, verse 13, Jesus said, "'Greater love has no one than this, that one lays down his life for his friends.'" So it starts out, love washes someone's feet, and then love gives up its own life. Peter calls it ectinase love, stretched love. It stretches as far as it needs to to embrace its object. …
… and abide in his love these things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. so God says, okay, here's what I want from you. I want you to abide in me. And he says, and you will abide in me if you obey my commands. And then he says, and here's my command, that you love one another as I have loved you. So if God had it his way, he says here's my commandment you want to abide in me here's my commandment i want you to love one another just as i've loved you so if we're serious let's let's just say this was a church here i mean i know it's a building of a church but like we because i don't believe a building is a church um read my book Okay, so if we were a church seriously wanting to please him, God says, here's my command. …
… These things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do what I command you, no longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. I've called you friends for all that I've heard from my father. I've made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he may give it to you. Okay. I love this passage. I love it more than I've ever loved it. Just the words that he uses. It feels nothing like do and don't. It's like the natural response. That's why he says, if you love me, you'll obey what I command. So it's just like when I think about if my daughters are taken away, my natural response is to go after them. Why? Because there's love there. …
… Those same two elements can be there. In fact, by the way, you see them in John 15. You notice this? when Jesus Christ, and I put this in after Ephesians 5, though we're not actually studying it, when Jesus Christ says, I'm your friends, he gives the same two elements. What makes him our friend? One is, you're not a servant, you're a friend, because I tell you my business. I tell you what's going on inside. I let you in. And secondly, I give my life for you. I don't let you down. Same two elements. Have you ever encountered somebody who gave you befriending grace in that didn't just brush you off and didn't just sort of do their duty, but were really kind. What is befriending grace? Well, I've experienced this, what it means. First of all, it's the same two things that you've got to have to be a truly spiritually kind person. There's a humility, and yet there's a confidence. On the one hand, befriending grace happens when this person I'm talking to, that there's a humility and therefore there's a transparency. …
… And he says, beginning in verse 12, This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing, but I've called you friends. For all things that I have heard from my Father, I've made known to you. And so I want us to see how he's expressing his friendship and how he expresses his friendship to us. And one of the ways he has expressed his friendship is in his sacrificial love for us. before the world ever began, Jesus Christ planned to lay down His life sacrificially for you and me. What He did is that when we were enemies to Him, He laid down His life in love for us in order to make us His friends. So that Jesus Christ is the possible friend of every single person. …
… there cannot be disunity. John 15, verse 12, Jesus said, this is my commandment that you love one another as I've loved you. Well, you say, the person I'm thinking about is not very lovely. Well, Jesus loved you while you were yet a sinner. We're just to love one another as God loved us. I think it was Sam Jones who said, he was an old-time evangelist, he said, I'm not going to fall out with anybody. until they treat me worse than I treated Jesus. And so it's our common Lord says we're to be together. Our common love says we're to be together. Our common life says we're to be together. Look at it, any fellowship of the Spirit. The word fellowship here is the word koinonia. And it doesn't mean just Kool-Aid and cookies when you're talking about fellowship. It literally means that you're sharing the same life. And we're in this thing together. We have a common life. There's a koinonia of the Spirit. So if I hurt you, I'm hurting the body that I live in, and I hurt myself. …