Читать книгу Boyd's Commentary - R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation - Страница 83

After the departure of Judas, Jesus gave His farewell speech to the remaining disciples. He instructed them to maintain the kind of community that exemplified His character in His absence. Jesus gave them a new command to love one another as He had loved them. Jesus assured them that by showing love for one another, all would know that in the absence of Jesus’ physical presence, His disciples were a reminder that He’s always near.

It is important to note this new commandment was not new in some ways. The Shema of the Old Testament commanded Yahweh’s people to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor. This command was new not so much through the words but in its birth and application. The command to love one another as a distinctive mark for the community of believers is to be a derivative and reflection of the love shared between the Father and Son and also their love for the world. It is in recognition of that love that believers are commanded to love each other. Therefore, it is a modeling of the bestowal of divine love on us.

Secondly, as a new command, it is to be birthed from love both divine and human. Through divine love, God calls believers together through His sacrifice of His beloved Son, for God gave His Son for the world (3:16). Even as God gave His Son, the Son also willingly was given (15:13). Therefore believers or disciples are to be given to this same level of commitment and covenant in their gathering. The community’s continued gathering in love and through love points back to God’s extravagant love for humanity. This is to be the identifying mark of the Church. It is love.