Table Talk – Glimpses into the Conversations and Teachings of Jesus during the Last Supper
In the quiet moments of the Last Supper, after the unsettling truths of betrayal and the revolutionary promise of a new covenant, Jesus introduces a commandment that encapsulates the essence of His teaching and ministry. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
This command, simple in words but infinite in depth, marks a pivotal shift in how we understand and live out love. Let’s look into the heart of Jesus’ final directive to His disciples – a mandate that transcends the old covenant and transforms the very nature of love itself.
Consider with me how it redefines our relationships, our community, and our very identity as followers of Christ. Jesus sets a new standard for love and invites us into a living, breathing demonstration of His love in action.
5. From New Covenant to New Commandment
When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 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. 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” (John 13:31-35 NIV).
When God lays something new upon you, it’s kind of a big deal. With the New Covenant, Jesus has just declared the current covenant obsolete. For generations, since the time of Moses, animal sacrifice was the practice—the only practice. But it didn’t work. It was merely a shadow, a prequel for the most amazing story of redemption (See Hebrews 10:1-7).
The sacrifice …
The blood …
The death of Jesus …
The Lamb of God …
The Son of God.
Now we’re dealing with a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. So is this as big a deal as the new covenant?
We need only go back a couple of days to a conversation Jesus had in the Temple with the Jewish leaders. Jesus had already discussed His authority, shared some parables, answered a question about taxes, answered a long question about marriage and the resurrection, and now a lawyer asks Him a question:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40 ESV).
Love did not get its meaning from the Law and the Prophets. The Law and the Prophets got its meaning from love. Jesus places our love for God at the heart of the Law. You can see what God’s expectations are for loving Him –He’s only asking for ALL. You are to love Him with ALL of your heart, ALL of your soul, and ALL of your strength.
Back to this new command: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Jesus has raised the intensity of love, of how you are to love one another and how you are to love the LORD your God. You are to love with His love.
God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:5 NIV).
Note the last phrase of Jesus’ teaching: “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” The Law and the Prophets were all the people of Israel had ever known. It was what they depended upon for living out their lives. But Jesus, turned all this on its head.
The Law and the Prophets depend on love. The word depend can also be translated as hang. So you could say, all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Hang onto love. And it is no coincidence, when the same Greek word for hang used here in Matthew is used in Acts 5:30 – The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. The Law and the Prophets now hang on Jesus. They hang on His love, Why? Because …
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV).
Such is the love of Christ, and this is the love we must have for one another. And let us not forget, this love will get you noticed: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” There are so many ways the Church is perceived. How Christians are perceived. Choose to be known for your love.
Just as there was a God-sized change in the covenant, there has been a God-sized change in love.
One Thing: MAY YOUR LIFE BE CHANGED BY THE LOVE OF CHRIST (Ephesians 3:17-19).
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