A New Commandment

Thursday, February 27, 2014               A New Commandment

John  13: 31-38

Jesus begins his Farewell Discourse by reflecting on the exchange of glory between Father and Son. The very essence of God is goodness, mercy, holiness and love. The Glory of God is the revelation of God’s essence. This glory is revealed through the presence of God. God, as a burning bush to Moses, and as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night for the Israelites during the exodus, are examples of God’s Glory. The ultimate expression of God’s Glory is in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, Christ Jesus.

The Glory of God is meant to be an unbroken circle. God’s glory is shown or revealed to His people, and in return His people give glory to God. This responsive glory is expressed in adoration, honor, praise and obedience.

Jesus gave his followers a new commandment to obey. The Latin translation of commandment is also the root of the word mandate. In French, the word for mandate is mandé, and over time its use within the church was changed into Maundy. The Maundy Thursday service during Holy Week is in remembrance of John 13:34, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” There is no greater way to glorify God than giving ourselves to fulfill this new commandment to love each other as Jesus loves us. Jesus said that our love for one another will prove to the world that we are his disciples. That seems so simple, yet it is the one thing that has proved the most difficult for Christians to fulfill.

We can do pretty well in loving those people who are like us, but not so well loving those who are different from us, or who we suspect may betray or deny us. Peter’s exuberance in proclaiming his devotion to Jesus, only to be confronted with the truth that he would soon deny Jesus, should be for us a startling reminder to fix ourselves firmly at the feet of Jesus. The farther away we get from Jesus, the more impossible it becomes to love one another the way Jesus loves us.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.