“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 ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬

I remember the first person who really taught me about the truth of this idea. He was an international student from the Middle East. He grew up in a different culture, a different religious tradition—and he told me about our college ministry community: “The first time I saw this group of people, there was something different about them. You could tell you all loved one another.”

I wonder if we really believe how real these words of Jesus are.

Jesus says something remarkable here.

How can we tell if someone is a follower of His?

That they are learning from Jesus about how to live their lives?

By loving others.  And specifically, a love first for others that are following Jesus, that then spills out to neighbor, co-worker, classmate, teammate, and friend.  

The context of Jesus’ words here is Jesus speaking to his eleven closest followers—Judas has left the Passover meal to betray him.  Some commentaries point out that Jesus—knowing that the cross would take him away from his followers, leaving his friends with so many doubts and questions—that Jesus was telling his disciples to stick together, to stay close to one another by loving each other in the hardest of times.  

The implications for this are fascinating to me.  Jesus is saying that other people will be able to really see the love for one another in a community, and know this comes from their adherence to Jesus.  

Of course this raises all kinds of questions.  What does this love look like?  

Is it a feeling?  An action?  An acceptance of others no matter what?  

Consider this definition:

Christ’s love is no timid meekness, no sentimental mildness, inoffensive and ineffectual, helpless in face of the world’s evil. It is a strong determination to seek others’ highest good in all circumstances, at any cost. On that simple but demanding principle hang all moral obligation and divine law. To love is enough.—Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible

But what about the “loving first” those that call themselves followers of Jesus?

Another resource says this specifically about John as the gospel writer and author of several letters:

…love for one’s fellow Christians does not exclude, but instead leads on to, a wider love (cf. 2 Pt 1:7). John insists that God loved the whole world (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:14). Moreover, if love fails within the Christian fellowship, it certainly will not flourish beyond it but evaporate in mere words (1 Jn 3:18). Tyndale Bible Dictionary

There is something vital about love flourishing within a community that calls itself Christian.  When it exists in healthy ways, people notice.  

When we talk about a path of discipleship to Jesus, we must understand that most people will connect first with us—as individuals and then a group—and when they do, what will they see?

May they see the love of Jesus poured into us, and out through us, to seek the highest good in all circumstances, at any cost.