Love one another (Jn. 13:34)

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)

In every story that is heard tonight, every word of Scripture that is spoken, every song that is sung, every prayer that we pray, and every part that you participate in over this whole weekend, remember that the basis for everything is in this new commandment that Jesus gives. He tells us to love one another, but not without giving us his own love. “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

When Jesus gives this command to his disciples, he knows full well what is about to take place. He has just given Judas the signal to begin the chain of events that will have him tried, punished, and killed. But he also knows the what the outcome of all those events will be: glorification.

He is so sure of this outcome that he speaks about it as though it is happening, or even has happened. “Now the Son of Man is glorified (or literally, “has been glorified”) and God is glorified in him (literally, “has been”).” Jesus’ death is his glorification. He will be lifted up on that cross in a physical sense, but he will also be lifted up in glory in a spiritual sense.

How can a gruesome, cruel death be glorious? How can being betrayed by one of his disciples, and denied by one of his closest friends, be glorious?

His power is made perfect in weakness. When he is at his most vulnerable, he is most powerful. When he is suffering, he is being glorified. He was sent into this world to do this very thing. By humbling himself and becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross, he is realising the full purpose of his incarnation, his becoming human.

Jesus is about to go through all this out of obedience to his Father’s will. His obedience to his Father’s will is out of...love.

As I have loved you, and as I am loving you, and as I will love you tomorrow, so you must love one another.

This commandment, to love one another, is not new at all in once sense. It’s the essence of the whole Old Testament law. It’s the Ten Commandments in a nutshell. Jesus has been preaching and teaching on loving our neighbour and even our enemies. How can Jesus say that this a new commandment?

What is new about it is that it can be achieved. Our humanity limits us in the level of perfection we can achieve. We can never be 100% clean. Even if our actions are right, our intentions might not be. Even if our words are true, our thoughts might not be.

What makes this commandment new and different from the rest is that Jesus enables us to do it. “As I have loved you,” he says. We have been loved, so go out and love. The one who gives us this new commandment shows us how it’s done and helps us to do it.

There is no set process to love one another. There are no guidelines. Jesus gives no examples of how to do it here like he has before. But by his Holy Spirit, which he will very soon promise to his disciples, he tells us when we are loving someone, and he convicts us when we are not. Listen to his voice this Easter.

Watch him as he loves you by going through all of that pain and suffering so that you can begin to understand what the love of God really looks like.

We don’t have all of this sombreness and sadness because it’s bad news. Tomorrow is “Good” Friday after all. It’s not even only about our own sin and how desperate we are for help. All of this darkness, silence, dramatic Bible readings and stripping of the altar are not done to make us feel bad.

The word “Maundy” in Maundy Thursday is taken from the Old English word for “mandate.” The intention for this evening is to remember this mandate, this new commandment, as we prepare for Good Friday. This new commandment is the basis for everything that happens next.

We do all these things in these Easter services because of how much the love of God means to us. We do it to help us to perceive just what Jesus self-sacrificial love meant for him. We do it because of how utterly grateful we are for him and what he has done.

As Christians, we take Easter seriously. We can’t wait for the joy of Easter morning and the hope of the resurrection – that’s a necessary part of the whole journey, and the death would mean almost nothing without the resurrection.

But first, we take the opportunity to soak in as much love as we can from the one who so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

This Easter, base your love for your neighbour on his love. You never know – someone might see Jesus’ love in you and wonder where it came from.

This Easter, hear again the narrative of Jesus’ passion for humanity and his love for the world.