The Basin and the Towel (2 of 2)

The New Command

After washing their feet and returning to the table, Jesus gave what He explicitly called “a new command.” Not a new addition to the existing Law. A new command.

“I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another.”

— John 13:34–35 (NET)

The command to love was not new — Leviticus 19:18 had commanded love for neighbor for over a thousand years. What was new was the standard: “As I have loved you.” Not as you naturally love. Not as feels comfortable. Not as the culture defines love. “As I have loved you” — which means exactly what you just watched Jesus do. He got on His knees. He took off His outer garment. He washed dirty feet. He did this for a man He knew was about to betray Him and for a man He knew was about to deny Him. That is the standard. That is what “as I have loved you” means.

And then the stakes: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.” Not by your correct theology. Not by your church attendance or your spiritual disciplines or your culture war victories. By your love for one another. This is the primary apologetic of the Kingdom of God. The watching world does not primarily encounter Jesus through arguments or institutions. It encounters Him through the community of people who love each other the way He loved them — sacrificially, practically, across every line of status and preference and comfort.

This is particularly urgent for the disciple engaged in cultural battle. Volume I was clear: the people you are fighting for are not your enemies. The deceived neighbor, the progressive activist, the child who has walked away from the faith — they are captives, not adversaries. But the credibility of the gospel you are carrying to them depends in large part on what they see when they look at the community you belong to. A church that is orthodox in its theology but cold in its community does not commend the gospel. It undermines it. The new command is not an optional add-on to the mission. It is the mission’s primary witness.

The Prophecies That End the Chapter

John 13 closes with two prophecies sealed with the double Amen: the prediction of Judas’ betrayal (John 13:21) and the prediction of Peter’s denial (John 13:38). Both have been covered in Part One’s survey of the Verily statements. But they deserve attention here in their context.

Jesus predicted both failures at the dinner table. He did not predict them and then remove the betrayer and the denier from the room. He predicted Peter’s denial and then, moments later, said to Peter: “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” (John 13:36) The denial is coming. The restoration is also coming. Jesus sees both with equal clarity. He does not withhold the promise of restoration because He knows the failure is coming. He gives the promise knowing exactly what the failure will look like.

This is the character of the King these disciples are following into battle. He sees your failures before they happen. He loves you across them. He has already made provision for your restoration before you have done the thing you will need to be restored from. The basin is full. The towel is in His hand. He is already on His knees.