A New Commandment

          In the name of Jesus. Amen. Today is Maundy Thursday, a day that we most prominently associate with the institution of the Lord’s Supper. And indeed, Jesus did institute this sacrament on the Thursday before his crucifixion. You might have noticed, however, that the Gospel reading for today does not include the institution narrative. In fact, John is the only Gospel in which the institution of the Lord’s Supper is not recorded at all. We heard the words of institution in our epistle reading, but the Gospel reading focused on the washing of the disciples’ feet. The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word “mandatum,” which means “command.” Thus, the name “Maundy Thursday” has little to do with the Lord’s supper, and instead focuses on verse 34 of the Gospel reading “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” On this Maundy Thursday, we focus on the command that Jesus gave his disciples on this holy night before his death. Jesus’s statement here might strike you as surprising. Jesus says he is giving a new commandment, but hasn’t he already commanded that we are to love one another multiple times before? In Matthew 22 when the Pharisees asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the Law is, he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” As Jesus himself says, the commandment to love your neighbor predates his own teachings. This is the central command of the Law and essential to the teachings of the prophets. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

          Indeed, the ancient Israelites were already told to love one another. Each one of the ten commandments is included in the command to love God and love your neighbor. What could Jesus possibly mean when he says he is giving a new commandment to love one another?

          To put it succinctly, the type of love Jesus now demands of his disciples is not the same love that the old Law demanded. For the last three years, each of the disciples present in the upper room had been witnessing a love unlike anything the world had ever known. The Law given to Moses taught the Israelites to love their neighbor by not lying to them. By not stealing from them. By not murdering them. This is the kind of love the disciples knew before they encountered Jesus. It was a love that came with a threat of punishment; love your neighbor, lest you break the Law and incur the penalties due to transgressors. This kind of love was a commandment in its truest form: do this, or face the consequences.

          But this is not the kind of love Jesus modeled to the disciples. Jesus, by virtue of being the perfectly righteous God man, does not owe poor, miserable sinners anything. The God who created the universe chose to come and dwell with the creatures who rebelled against him, wholly unworthy to be in his presence. God’s justice would have permitted Jesus to destroy every human on earth at his coming on account of the infinite chasm of righteousness between a perfect God and sinful humanity. But instead of coming in fire and judgement, as we deserved, he came as a baby, putting himself under the authority of earthly parents. He shared in our struggles and weaknesses. He shared in our fleshly temptations. He became, in every respect, like one of us, except without sin. And he did it all so he could show his love to us. A love that fed the hungry and healed the blind. A love that cast out demons. And now, on this Maundy Thursday, a love that would humble himself to wash the feet of his disciples. A job that was fit for the lowest rank of slave was now being accomplished by the God who created the earth and everything in it. The God who formed man out of dust, now washing the dust off the feet of his creatures. This is indeed a new kind of love that goes far beyond any requirement of the law. While the law demands that we love our neighbors as ourselves, Jesus exhibits a love of others that forsakes himself, even to the point of death, to secure our salvation.

          Jesus’s commandment to love one another as he loved them is not a mere recapitulation of the Law. It is the precept on which the entire Church will operate from that point forward. Followers of Jesus are not to love one another out of fear of being punished by the law. Followers of Jesus are to love one another with the extravagant love that Jesus modeled for them. And indeed, this new love is only possible because it is rooted in faith in Christ and what he has accomplished for us. Through faith we are regenerated and enabled to love one another with the kind of love that Jesus modeled for us through not only his life, but his death and resurrection. Because of this, Jesus’s command should be seen as a Gospel invitation rather than a strict edict of the Law. It is similar to other commands he gave on this very night. “Take, eat” and “take, drink” are indeed commands, but they are pure Gospel. Through these words, Jesus invites us to partake of his body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. The command to eat and drink isn’t obeyed because we are afraid we will be punished if we don’t do it, but rather because we recognize this food and drink as gracious gifts of God that meet our deepest spiritual need. It is like a king who sets before starving people a lavish feast, commanding them to eat.

          This is also how we should view Jesus’s new commandment. Now that Jesus has redeemed us with a love that surpasses human understanding, it is only natural that faith in Him will cause us to love others with the love that Christ showed us. Like good works, the believer’s love for others is the consequence of their faith in Jesus. This is one of the blessings of being incorporated into the body of Christ. You become part of a community that not only experiences the love of God, but now reflects that love back to its members. We are a community that cares for the needs of one another. We encourage one another. We forgive each other. These are the marks of the Church because these are the ways that Jesus first loved us. This is why Jesus tells us that “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” We would do well to daily remind ourselves that Jesus expects others to know we are Christian first and foremost through the way we love each other. Of course, we want pure doctrine; we want reverent liturgy; we want sound theological and moral teaching; but the thing that should make people say “ah, those people must be Christians!” should first and foremost be the way we love one another. The Church is no place for gossip, power struggles, cliques, or many such other vices that so often tend to characterize the life of a congregation. All those things are evidence of a lack of understanding of what God has done for us. How could we dare mistreat others in these ways when we recognize the great kindness the Lord has shown to us, despite the fact that we daily sin against him? Because of our sinful flesh, our love for one another will never be perfect on this side of heaven, and God’s mercy is sufficient to forgive these shortcomings. At the same time, a genuine faith will always produce love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, just as a genuine faith will always produce good works.

          In a few minutes we will gather at the altar as one body of believers and receive the body and blood of our Lord for the forgiveness of our sins. There is perhaps no greater picture of God’s love for us than this. As you think about how Christ loved you enough to die on a cross for you and now offers you his very body and blood, think also about the members of the body of Christ that will be to your right and left. Think about the communion we share not only with one another, but with the entire Church, both in heaven and on earth. Think about how Christ washed the feet of his disciples, giving us an example of the selfless love that we are to have for one another, that we may truly love one another just as He first loved us. Amen.