The last night of Jesus’ life, before his arrest, his death and resurrection, began with these words from John 13:1, “It was just before the Passover feast. Jesus knew the time has come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them full extension of his love.” We know from our study of John that the next thing Jesus did was to wash the disciples’s feet. He loved them by serving them. That was not all that he did. John 13 sets the stage for everything that happens between John 13:1 and John 13:17. Verse 1, the full extent of Jesus’ love is not just the next thing that happens, it’s everything that happened as he took all of that time to prepare his apostles for his death and departure. He did so much more than just wash their feet. He served them the Lord’s supper, he prepared them for his death, he prophesied Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. He comforted them, promised them the Holy Spirit and taught them to abide in him through obedience the way he had abided in the Father through obedience. The full extent of Jesus’ love, the depth of his love and friendship for the apostles was not only shown when he washed their feet, it was in everything he did that night. Again if you want to know what is the full extent of his love, you have to put it all together between John 13 and John 17. He served them, he taught them and he prayed for them, which were all actions of his love. In the midst of all this, Jesus then repeated himself. In John 13:34, he said, “a new commandment I give you that Love one another as I have loved you. That you also love one another.” And then we find in today’s text, John 15:12 he says again, “this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.” And so our first question today and the one that will spend a little energy with the whole way through is “what does it mean when God repeats Himself?”
“Loved to Love” John 15:12
