John 13:34-35
February 26, 2026
John 13:34-35
CONFESS
Gracious God, we confess that we have longed too much for the comforts of this world. We have loved the gifts more than the giver. In your mercy, help us to see that all the things we pine for are fleeting shadows, but you are the lasting reality. We plead your forgiveness on the merits of Jesus Christ. Accept his worthiness for our unworthiness, his sinlessness for our transgressions, his fullness for our emptiness, his glory for our shame, his righteousness for our dead works, his death for our life. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
READ & REFLECT
John 13:34-35
34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Having warned his followers of his impending departure and their inability to follow him beyond this point, Jesus gives them a new commandment: to love one another. But in what sense is this command new? God had already instructed his people: Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19.18). So this command is not new in the sense that nothing like it had ever been said before. Rather, what is new is the standard of love to which Jesus calls us. It is one thing to love your neighbor as yourself. It is another to love one another as Jesus has loved us. This love far exceeds sentimentality. To love like this is to love one another in radically selfless and sacrificial ways. Jesus thus calls us to embody a whole new order of love which exemplifies the new world which Jesus brings into existence. This kind of love is meant to be the distinguishing mark of all Christians. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In what practical ways can we love one another as Jesus has loved us?
PRAY
Weekly Collect
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.