![]() As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” “A new command I give you: Love one another. “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.” Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.” “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. This uniformity among translations reassures us that the verse is clear and precise in how it is interpreted and prompts us to consider then what it means for us to love as Jesus loved. ![]() The verse is consistently translated among the different English versions of the Bible with little variation. Do Different Translations Impact the Meaning? Still true today, our unconditional and selfless love will be the thing that sets believers apart, as well. He waited until after he washed the disciples’ feet and predicted his death to make this statement, because both washing their feet and laying down his own life were intrinsically tied to the way in which his disciples were to love others.Īs much as Jesus was speaking to his disciples in that room, through Scripture passed from generation to generation, Jesus spoke this command to every believer from then until now. This is what Jesus did before instructing the disciples to love others just as he loved them. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, demonstrating both his humility and his great love. Washing feet was a common practice for visiting guests in Jesus’ time, but it was a servant of low esteem that would have been assigned such a chore. Their love toward others would be the very thing that marked them as believers and followers of his.īefore Jesus made this statement, He had just finished washing the disciples’ feet. In fact, as Jesus went on, he made it clear that their love toward others would be what sets them apart. Once again, in the upper room with his disciples, he taught on the magnitude of love. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had affirmed the two greatest commandments (see Matthew 26:36-40), the second being to love others. In this verse, Jesus is speaking to his disciples. It was a love marked by selflessness and putting others above oneself, a love that even transcended cultural normalizations and expectations. ![]() This command to love was new in the sense that the disciples would be empowered in a new way to carry out the same kind of love that Jesus had shown – a love that included acceptance, forgiveness, and compassion. Jesus knew all of their shortcomings and growing edges, but he still gave them this new command to love one another just as he loved them. They failed to love others in the same way that Jesus loved others. The twelve disciples may have been part of the group of followers that tried to turn away children from seeing Jesus (see Matthew 19:13). How could they love others with that same unconditional love that Jesus demonstrated time and time again? His disciples were shocked when Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman (see John 4:27). Jesus was charging his disciples with what seemed impossible. What Does "Love One Another as I Have Loved You" Mean? As I have loved you, so you must love one another” ( John 13:34). ![]()
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