Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 13:33–35
As Jesus spent time with His disciples on the night before the crucifixion, He knew that they would soon be launched into a new beginning as they took up the work and ministry for which He had been preparing them. Yet even on that last night, the disciples were still focused on their own selfish interests. “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest” (Luke 22:24). As Jesus ate the Passover with them, they still did not grasp what He had told them was coming.
After Jesus’ powerful example of service to others that night—when He washed the disciples' feet— Jesus gave them a new command to follow: to love each other in the same way that He loved them. Some people call this the “eleventh commandment.” Then Jesus said that love would be the defining characteristic by which His followers would be known. Our world speaks of love frequently, but only rarely are those who use the word talking about the kind of love God commands us to have. And sadly too often the world does not see that love on display in the church either.
Jesus said that the love Christians have for each other would be the evidence that would convince others we are following Him. We often focus on outward expressions or evidence of conduct, but though those are important, the most important test of whether or not we will be seen as genuine disciples is our love for each other.
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