Nov 14, 2021
Scripture Reading: John 13:31-38
John 31:31 begins a section of John known as the 'upper room discourse.' It is only found in this gospel and contains the last instruction, at least recorded, that Jesus gave to the eleven apostles.
Jesus was about to die, and He knew it. When you are dying, you only speak of the most important things. It is significant that in His dying encouragement to His disciples, He begins speaking of the glory of God and the necessity of the disciples to love one another.
The unity of God the Father and God the Son is, again, on display here. In the cross, and what was to follow, the Father is glorified and the Son is glorified. The work of redemption, which Jesus accomplished in His death and resurrection, put on display the majestic value of God … His mercy, justice, truth, power, righteousness. We must never forget that the glory of God resonates in a very high degree in the passion and resurrection of Jesus.
Repeatedly, in the gospel of John and in John's first two epistles, he refers to the importance of Christians loving each other. Love for one another is one of the main marks of Christianity. "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:35).
And this love is not only a mark in which unbelievers see the validity of Christianity, but it is one more avenue by which we are assured, in our own hearts, that we are Christians. "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. . . . By this we know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him" (1 Jn 3:14,19).