When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” | John 13.31-35
In my last post, I laid out how Christians standing against sin is a loving act. BUT, some will say, standing up against sin, even in support of God’s goodness, makes Christians seem so obsessed with rules. It makes grace and love seem like secondary aspects of faith (they get buried in an ocean of dos and don’ts); Jesus said His disciples would be known by their LOVE. Once again, this is true, in context.
When Jesus makes the statement: By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another, it is right after He has told His disciples that one of them will betray Him and right before He tells another that he is about to deny Him; it is also just after He took the basin of the servant and humbly washed all of their feet. In this, Jesus shows what the love He is talking about looks like: it is being willing to get messy for the sake of others; to face real sin and act toward healing. The ultimate expression of this love was Jesus, God Himself coming into the mess that is this sinful world, denying all sinful desires to live a perfect life. He then received the punishment of a criminal, both from the governments of this world (crucifixion), but also from God the Father (separation). He did all of this in order to make His life-changing love available to sinners. So when Jesus prepares His disciples to be known by their love, He does it in relation to His death.
This is important because the love of Jesus wasn’t accepted as love by those who experienced it firsthand: THEY KILLED HIM. His own disciples betrayed and pretended they didn’t know Him in order to save their own skin. The love of God changes people and people do not ant to change. The love of God is different than the love of the world; the world often rejects the love of God.
In all of this rejection, Jesus comes to them. He convicts Judas of his sin and Judas’ response is to hang himself (Matthew 27.3-10). He convicts Peter and Peter confesses and is restored (Matthew 26.75). He convicts the Jewish people through Peter’s sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2) and 3000 trusted in Jesus. All of this to say, the love Christians are to be known for is not some easy love. It is not just allowing people to do whatever they want and celebrating them for it. It is a love that reveals brokenness and offers an alternative.
It is also important to note that the love His disciples will be known for is related to how they love one another (as in the other believers). It is a call for the Christian culture to live and love in a way that is so different from the rest of the world that people see a light in this dark world that is attractive.
Here is a good article that addresses how the world should know Christians by their love, in the realm of marriage specifically.