Christ’s “New Commandment”

Christ's "New Commandment"

(No. 2936)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1905.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, APRIL
4, 1875.

"A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another: as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John
13:34,35.

I CAN never doubt, or for a moment distrust the affection of my dear
people to myself. I certainly do not ask for any more of your love, for
I have as much as one man ought to have–perhaps a little
more–certainly a great deal more than I deserve. I can now fairly turn
round and say to you, putting myself altogether on one side, "Let
brotherly love continue and let the warmth of your affection towards
one another increase." And I can say this, too, without anybody daring
to insinuate that there is something wrong in the Church–some division
or schism here. Blessed be God, I do not think that a microscopic eye
could discover anything of the kind! There may be some of you who do
not like certain persons quite as much as you like other people. I do
not wonder at that, for there will always be some partialities even
among the best of friends. Our Lord Jesus, Himself, had 12 Apostles and
out of the twelve, three especially favored ones. and out of the three,
one who leaned upon His bosom. There are some people who are more
lovable than other people and we can hardly help loving them more than
others. Still, I know of no special reason of that kind why I should
preach this sermon. I bless the Lord that you are as loving as you are
and pray that you may increase more and more in your love to one
another.

I am going to speak upon our text thus. First, the title which our Lord
gave to this commandment. He called it "a new commandment." Secondly,
the example by which He expounded it–"That you love one another as I
have loved you." And thirdly, the result by which He enforced it–"By
this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another."

I. First, then, THE TITLE WHICH CHRIST GAVE TO THIS COMMANDMENT–"a new
commandment."

Many of you, I do not doubt, have heard the story of Archbishop Usher
and Mr. Rutherford. But it is so appropriate to this subject that I
cannot help telling it again. The archbishop had heard of the wondrous
power of Rutherford's devotion and of the singular beauty of the
arrangement of his household, and he wished to witness it himself. But
he could not tell how to do so until it occurred to him that he might
disguise himself as a poor traveler. Accordingly, at nightfall, he
knocked at the door of Mr. Rutherford's house and was received by Mrs.
Rutherford. He asked if he could find lodgings there for the night, to
which she answered, "Yes," for they entertained strangers. She placed
him in the kitchen and gave him something to eat. It was a part of her
regular family discipline, on Saturday evening, to catechize the
children and the servants and, of course, the poor man in the kitchen
came in among them.

Mrs. Rutherford put to all of them some questions concerning the
commandments and to this poor man she put the question, "How many
commandments are there?" And he answered, "Eleven." "Ah," she said,
"what a sad thing that a man of your age, whose hair is sprinkled with
gray, should not even know how many commandments there are, for there
is not a child above six years old in our parish who does not know
that." The poor man said nothing in reply, but he had his oatmeal
porridge and went to bed. Later, he rose and listened to Rutherford's
midnight prayer. He was charmed with it, made himself known to him,
borrowed a better coat from him, preached for him on the Sunday morning
and surprised Mrs. Rutherford by taking as his text, "A new commandment
I give unto you," and by commencing with the observation that this
might very properly be called the eleventh commandment. By-and-by the
archbishop went on his way and he

and Rutherford had been refreshed together. It is the eleventh
commandment and if, the next time we are asked how many commandments
there are, we answer, "Eleven," we shall reply rightly enough.

But why is it a new commandment? Is it not included in the ten? You
know how our Lord approved the lawyer's summary of the Ten
Commandments–"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and your neighbor as yourself." How is this a new commandment
then–"That you love one another"?

It is new, first, as to the extent of the love. We are to love our
neighbor as ourselves, but we are to love our fellow Christians as
Christ loved us–and that is far more than we love ourselves. Christ
loved us better than He loved Himself, for He loved us so much that He
gave Himself for us, so that now no one of us is to say, "I am to love
my friend, my brother, my fellow creatures as I love myself," but to
interpret Christ's command thus, "I am to love my fellow Christians
even as Jesus Christ who died for me, has loved me." This is a nobler
kind of love altogether to the love which we are to manifest to our
neighbors. That is the love of benevolence, but this is a love of
affinity and close relationship and involves a higher degree of
self-sacrifice than was enjoined by the Law of Moses, or than would
have been understood by the bulk of mankind to have been intended by
the precept which bids us love one another even as we love ourselves.

Next, it is a new commandment because it is backed by a new reason. The
old commandment was backed by this declaration, "I am the Lord your
God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage." The Israelite was to obey that Law because of the
redemption which God had worked for his nation in Egypt. But we are
commanded to love one another because Christ has redeemed us from a far
worse bondage than that of Egypt and with a far costlier Sacrifice than
the offering up of myriads of paschal lambs. "Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us." He has brought us out from under the iron yoke of
sin and Satan and has broken our bonds asunder. Our enemies have
pursued us, but He has destroyed them at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
He has redeemed us with His own heart's blood and, therefore, His new
commandment comes to us with the greatest possible force, "That you
love one another as I have loved you."

It is a new commandment because of the extent of it and also because of
the reason by which it is supported.

It is a new commandment, also, because it is a new love, springing from
a new nature and embracing a new nation. I am bound, as a man, to love
my fellow man because he is a man. But I am bound, as a regenerate man,
to love my fellow Christian still more because he, also, is regenerate.
The ties of blood ought to be recognized by us far more than they are.
We are too apt to forget that God "has made of one blood all nations of
men to dwell on all the face of the earth." So that by the common tie
of blood we are all brethren. But, Beloved, the ties of Grace are far
stronger than the ties of blood. If you are really born of God, you are
Brothers by a brotherhood that is stronger, even, than the natural
brotherhood which enabled you to lie in the same cradle and to hang at
the same breast, for brothers according to the flesh may be eternally
separated. The right hand of the King may be the position accorded to
the one and his left hand may be the position assigned to the other.
But Brothers who are truly born of God, share a brotherhood which must
last forever! They who are now Brothers and Sisters in Christ shall
always be Brothers and Sisters!

It is a very blessed thing when we are able to love one another because
the Grace that is in any one of us sees the Grace that is in another
and discerns in that other, not the flesh and blood of the Savior, but
such a resemblance to Christ that it must love that other one for His
sake! As it is true that if we are of the world, the world will love
its own, so is it true that if we are of the Spirit, the Spirit will
love His own! The whole redeemed family of Christ is firmly bound
together. Born of God ourselves, we keep looking out to see others who
have been "born-again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible."
And when we do see them, we cannot help loving them. There is a bond of
union between us at once. There are certain Brethren who hold that
communion among Christians ought to be restricted–they say that if
Believers are disobedient, especially with regard to Baptism, they
ought not to be communed with. I do not judge my Brothers and Sisters
who hold those views, but I do not hesitate to tell them that they hold
views which it is quite impossible for them to carry out. If they are,
themselves, in the body of Christ they must of necessity commune with
all the other members of the mystical body of Christ–they cannot help
themselves! Suppose that my little finger has been properly washed and
cleansed, but that the rest of my hand it not so clean and that,
therefore, my finger holds it to be its duty to shut off the rest of my
hand from communion with itself? It cannot do it–it is impossible
unless it is severed from the hand! It must commune with the rest of
the body, whether it is washed or unwashed. You may deny your friend

the outward form of fellowship because he is not baptized, but you
cannot deny him the inner fellowship which is much more important. You
are allied to God and therefore you must have fellowship with all
others who are allied to God, whether you like it or not! It is not a
thing which your church discipline can touch–it can no more be bound
than can the waves of air which are constantly in motion. "The wind
blows where it wishes," and the Divine breath of fellowship comes where
it pleases and the life of God will manifest itself in all the members
of the body of Christ! And neither can you by any possibility restrain
it.

The love which Christ commands His followers to have towards one
another is not the ordinary love of man to man as such, but the love of
the new-born man to the new-born man. Let us who love the Lord, love
each other fervently in that sense. This is a love which arises out of
a totally new union. A man who is a Christian belongs to a very special
family. That family circle does not comprehend the whole human race–it
is a family inside the larger human family, yet separated from it by an
inner spiritual life. What if I say that the distance between the saved
and the unsaved is like a great gulf? It is true that by the almighty
Grace of God, there is a way across that gulf and many pass over
it–still, the gulf is very deep and broad. But the moment a man is
born unto God he enters that inner circle and becomes a member of a new
family. Within that sacred circle of electing love, all bonds of
nationality are broken forever. There we are no longer Frenchmen or
Englishmen, Americans or Russians, black or white, bond or free, but we
are "all one in Christ Jesus." There neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision avails! There the barbarian is no less and the Greek is
no more than any other member of the redeemed family. We are Brothers
and Sisters because, in Christ we are all in one family and, therefore
it is that we are called to a new kind of love, a love which is like
the love of the brothers of the same house, only more sublime, and with
better reasons lying at the bottom than even the love of consanguinity
can boast.

And, beloved Friends, this is a new commandment because it is enforced
by new necessities. Christians ought to love one another because they
are the subjects of one King who is also their Savior. We are a little
band of Brothers and Sisters in the midst of a vast multitude of
enemies. "Behold," said Christ to His disciples, "I send you forth as
sheep in the midst of wolves." If you are true Christians, you will not
have the love of worldlings–you cannot have it! They will be sure to
ridicule you, call you fools, or hypocrites, or something equally
uncomplimentary. Well, then, cling the more closely to one another!
Whatever opposition you meet with outside, let it only weld you into a
firmer unit, the one with the other. We are like a small company of
soldiers in an enemy's country, strongly garrisoned by the vast
battalions of the foe, so we must hold together–we must be as one man,
banded together in closest fellowship–as our Great Captain bids us.
God grant that the very fact that we are found in an enemy's country
may result in making us more completely one than we have ever been
before!

When I hear a Christian man finding fault with his minister, I always
wish that the devil had found somebody else to do his dirty work. I
hope that none of you will ever be found complaining of God's servants
who are doing their best to help their Lord's cause. There are plenty
who are ready to find fault with them and it is much better that their
faults–if they have faults–should be pointed out by an enemy rather
than by you who belong to the same family as they do! Even if you
should know that a professor is a hypocrite, it may be the duty of a
Christian to say, "Let him fall by the hand of another. I would rather
not give evidence against him." When I hear my Master say, "One of you
shall betray Me," I may have a shrewd suspicion that He refers to
Judas, but it will be wiser for me to say, "Lord, is it I?" rather than
to ask, "Lord, is it Judas?"

Further, dear Brothers and Sisters, this is a new commandment because
it is suggested by new characteristics. In our fellow men there may be
something lovable, but in our fellow Christians, there must be
something lovable. Suppose they are only newly born to God–for my
part, I hardly know of a more beautiful sight than a newborn Christian!
I like to hear the prayer of the one who is just converted–there may
be much of mistake and imperfection in it, but that does not spoil it!
A lamb does not bleat in quite the same tones that a sheep uses, yet a
lamb is a very beautiful object and one likes to hear its feeble notes.
And there is a beauty about the lambs in Christ's flock as well as
about the full-grown sheep. There is nothing more lovely to be seen in
the whole world than an aged Believer who has lived very near to God.
How calm the old gentleman's spirit–and when he begins to talk about
the things of God and to testify concerning the love of his Lord–how
charmingly he talks! There is much that is beautiful about all true
Christians, so try and search out their excellences rather than their
defects. If we are, ourselves, in a right state of heart, we are all
the more likely to admire that which is good in others, just as Mercy
and Christiana, when they came up from their bath, admired one another.
I would advise you, Beloved, to imitate those gracious women. There is
a beauty about your friend that there is not about yourself. Do not be
always gazing in the mirror–there are fairer sights to be seen than
any you will find there! Look into your fellow Christian's face and as
you see anything there that is the work of the Spirit, love him because
of that.

And, once more, this is a new commandment because it is a preparation
for better prospects than we have ever enjoyed before. We who believe
in Jesus are going to live together in Heaven forever and ever, so we
may as well be good friends while we are here! We shall see each other
there in one common glory and be occupied forever in one common
employment–the adoration of our Lord and Master. The remembrance of
this Truth of God ought to break down many of the barriers which at
present exist in society. There was a wealthy Christian, a man who
stood very high in social position, who was in the habit of picking out
godly people of a far lower class than that to which he, himself,
belonged. He would bring home to his table the farmer from the plow, or
the smith from the smithy, and one of his rich friends ridiculed him
for seeking such associates. But he replied, "I do not think you ought
to ridicule me for picking out those who are, socially, lower than
myself, for those whom I have brought to my table are men and women
who, I believe, will be nearer to the Throne of God in Heaven than I
shall be. They are very poor, but they are better, more pious and more
gracious than I am–so I thought that I might as well pick the best
company I could while I was here–and associate with them." I like that
gentleman's idea, and I can also bear witness that I have often learned
more in an hour's conversation with a godly poor man than I have
learned from an educated man who has known but little of the things of
God! Never judge men by the clothes they wear, but by what they are in
themselves! It is a man's heart and, above all, it is the Grace of God
that dwells within the man's heart that you and I are to prize and
love–may God help us to do so!

Thus, I think I have said enough concerning the new commandment which
Christ gave to His disciples.

II. Now I must pass on to the second point–THE EXAMPLE BY WHICH CHRIST
EXPOUNDED THIS NEW COMMANDMENT. "As I have loved you, that you also
love one another."

First, Christ loved them unselfishly. He certainly had nothing to gain
from associating with them and nothing to learn from them. It is true
that He used them to help in the extension of His cause, but He first
made them fit to be used. He owed nothing to them and they owed
everything to Him. There was nothing in them when He first called
them–and to the very last there was nothing good in them except what
His Grace had put there–and there was not nearly as much of that as
there ought to have been, for He had to say, "Have I been so long time
with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip?" Christians, you also
are to love one another, not because of the gain which you get from one
another, but rather because of the good you can do to one another.

I once heard a minister speak very grumblingly of the Baptist
denomination. He said, "I do not know what the denomination ever did
for me." I could not help thinking to myself, "Well now, that is a
question which has never occurred to me and probably never will. The
question that has occurred to me is, What can I do for the
denomination?'" And I think that is the kind of question which every
Christian minister ought to ask, not only concerning the denomination,
but concerning Christians in general. We ought not to ask, "What can
these people do for me?" No, put the shoe on the other foot and say,
"What can I do for these people?" If you want to love a man, you must
not get him to do you a kindness, but you must do a kindness to him and
then you will love him. You cannot do good to another person without
finding growing up in your heart some degree of interest in the person
to whom you have done that good. It is possible that a child may forget
its mother, forget that it drew its life, its nourishment and all the
comforts of its infancy from its mother, but the mother does not forget
that she reared it in its weakness and brought it up to strength. If
you want to love a person, do some loving thing for that person and
love will spring up in your soul to that person. Our Lord Jesus Christ
loved His disciples unselfishly–let us do the same.

He also loved them very trustingly for, though He was not unwise and
put no confidence in man, yet I might slightly alter one of our hymns
and say concerning our Lord, "Oh, see how Jesus did trust unto Himself
unto the childish love of His disciples!" He never wore any armor when
He was alone with them. In the midst of skeptical scribes and
Pharisees, we can see Him standing like a man on His guard, with His
sword drawn in His hand, but as soon as He gets among His own
followers, He opens His heart to them and tells them many things that
He does not tell others–so many, indeed, that He once said to them,
"If it were not so, I would have told you," as if He had no secrets
from them, but unveiled His very heart to them! Of course, you cannot
do this to the full with all professing Christian but still, when you
are among your

fellow Christians, do not always go about suspecting everybody. I would
sooner be taken in a thousand times than I would unjustly suspect one
true-hearted man. It is a shameful thing for any one of you to move
among your fellow Christians and to be saying in your hearts, "I am
afraid that many of them are hypocrites." Sir, I am greatly afraid that
you are yourself a hypocrite, for most men measure other people's corn
with the bushel that they keep at home! So, if you think ill of other
people, the sin is probably in yourself. I have often said that if
there is any place where I am quite at home, it is among my own
congregation–

"There my best friends, my kindred, dwell!

There God my Savior reigns!"

There must be a hearty spirit of trustfulness between those who love
the same Christ or else a lasting union between them is impossible.

Next, Christ loved His disciples sympathetically. He grieved with them
in their griefs and rejoiced with them in their joys. He entered into
most intimate fellowship with them in their varied experiences. Let us
try to do the same with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Let us weep
with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice. Nothing tends
so greatly to oil the wheels of life as a little loving sympathy–let
us always be ready with a good supply of it wherever it is needed.

Our Lord also loved His disciples patiently. They must often have
grieved Him by their ignorance and unbelief. If any of us had been in
His place, we would have said, "You set of dummies, we cannot bear with
you any longer." But our loving Lord did not talk like that. After He
had told them the Truth of God 20 times and yet they did not know it,
He went on in the same fashion and told it to them again and again
until they didknow it. As He was so patient with His disciples, it ill
becomes us, who are ourselves so imperfect, to say concerning any of
our fellow Christians, "I cannot feel any affection for So-and-So," or,
"I cannot have any communion with So-and-So." Do you talk like that
because you perceive some imperfection in them? But, my dear Brother,
have not you many imperfections? It may be that some other person is
looking upon you in the same cold light in which you are looking upon
him and that he is finding as much fault with you as you are finding
with him! If so, it is a great pity that any of us should be impatient
with one another when our Lord Jesus Christ is so patient with us.

Once more, our Lord loved His disciples practically. His love did not
consist in the mere effervescence of transient emotion or in only kind
words, but He loved them deeply and shared all that He had with them.
He even condescended to wash their feet as though He had been their
servant! What more could He do for them? Yet He did far more than that,
for He laid down His life for them. He gave up all He had for them. He
gave up all the members of His body and all the faculties of His
soul–His entire Nature–that He might save His people. "Having loved
His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." "As I
have loved you," He said, "even so love you one another." What a
marvelous exposition of the precept the whole life and death of Jesus
Christ make up for us! May we have the Grace to follow where the path
is so plainly marked out for us!

III. And now, thirdly, I am to speak of THE RESULT BY WHICH THE PRECEPT
IS ENFORCED. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love for one another."

Among all of them who know that we are Christ's disciples, there is one
very important person–and that is yourself. If you have love towards
Christ's disciples, you will know that you are one of His disciples,
for how does the Beloved Apostle John put it? "We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." It will be
one of the clearest evidences to your own heart that you are really a
disciple of Jesus when you realize that for Christ's sake, you love the
whole redeemed family of God! By this test shall all men know that you
are His disciples and you shall begin by knowing it yourself.

By this test shall your fellow Christians also know that you are
Christ's disciples. I do not know of anything which more commends a
Christian to his fellow Christians than a true spirit of love. I have
read many controversial works and I have admired the force of the
arguments in many of them. But when I have read them, I have not
gathered from the perusal that the writers on either side were very
eminently followers of Christ. They may have been–it was no business
of mine to judge as to that matter. They may have been showing other
precious qualities while they were contending for the faith once and
for all delivered to the saints, but the Grace of Christian charity has
not always been very manifest. For instance, if you read the
controversy between Mr. Wesley and Mr. Toplady–well, I do not know
which was the

worse of the two–they could both say a thing very sharply when they
tried and the devil helped them to make it even sharper. Yet they were,
both of them, good men and it was not according to the nature of either
of them to say anything bad of the other. It is quite a relief to
notice how Mr. Whitefield conducted his controversy with Mr. Wesley. As
I have read it, I have said to myself, "This man is a Christian and no
mistake." It is reported that Mr. Whitefield was one day asked by a
partisan, "Do you think that we, when we get to Heaven, shall see John
Wesley there?" "No," said George Whitefield, "I do not think we shall."
The questioner was very delighted with that answer, but Mr. Whitefield
added, "I believe that Mr. John Wesley will have a place so near the
Throne of God and that such poor creature as you and I will be so far
off as to be hardly able to see him." As I read such remarks made by
Mr. Whitefield, I have said to myself, "By this I know, as a Christian,
that he must be a Christian," for I saw that he loved his brother,
Wesley, even while he so earnestly differed from him on certain points
of Doctrine. Yes, dear Brothers and Sisters, if we cannot differ, and
yet love one another–if we cannot allow each Brother to go his own way
in the service of God and to have the liberty of working after his own
fashion–if we cannot do that, we shall fail to convince our fellow
Christians that we, ourselves, are Christians!

But the point of our Savior's remark is here–"By this all will know
that you are My disciples." That is to say, the outside world will know
it. Let me tell you a remarkable instance of this. In the early days of
Christianity, a terrible plague broke out in Alexandria. It was very
dangerous to be near a person smitten with the disease and to touch
such a person meant almost certain death. When the plague broke out,
the heathen in Alexandria thrust out of their houses every person who
had the slightest sign of the disease and left them to starve–and
would not even bury their bodies for fear of contagion. But the
Christians visited one another when they were sick with the plague and
no Christian was left to die unattended. They were zealous to go and
visit each other, although they knew that they would, in all
probability, catch the disease. And among the carcasses outside the
walls of Alexandria there was not found one single corpse of a
Christian, for, with sedulous care, they committed the bodies of their
beloved to the earth in the sure and certain hope of Resurrection unto
eternal life. And the heathen said to one another, "What is the meaning
of this?" And the answer went throughout all Egypt, "This is the
religion of Jesus of Nazareth, for these Christians love one another."
No sermon can be so eloquent to the world as a true manifestation of
the love of Christ! And when God restores to His Church genuine,
hearty, and sincere Christian love–I trust we have not wholly lost
it–but when He gives us much more of it, then shall the world be more
impressed by the Gospel than it is at present!

I will tell you an anecdote. It is one which, I fear, might be
multiplied a thousand times and yet be true. During a revival, a young
woman came into a certain congregation and was impressed by the
services. She heard that the Christian Church was the home of union and
love–in fact, a little Heaven. And perhaps more charmed by the beauty
of the Church than by the beauty of Christ, she joined the fellowship
of Believers there. After a little while she heard some Christians
speaking very bitterly of others. Indeed, speaking of the faults of
others, not at all as if they grieved over them, but as though they
rather rejoiced to have something to say against their fellow
Christians! Immediately the thought crossed the mind of the young
woman, "I have been deceived. The Christian Church is not the holy and
happy family that I believed it to be." That conviction led to doubts
upon many of the doctrines that she had been taught there. She soon
neglected the means of Grace and then became skeptical concerning the
Savior Himself. All this followed from finding disagreement where she
had hoped to find Christian love and union. It pleased the Lord to
bring her, at last, back to the Savior's feet, but, for many years she
was the subject of great doubt and inward struggle–and the occasion of
it was the lack of love among Christians! O Beloved, do not let it be
so among you! If ours is not a loving Church, I have labored in vain
and spent my strength for nothing! If you love not one another, surely
you do not love the Savior! But if you are knit together in love, then
is our joy fulfilled in you and Christ also rejoices over you!

I have finished my discourse when I have said a word or two to those
who are out of the family of Christ. It must be a very sad thing not to
be a member of the family of which the Head is the loving Lord,
Himself–where the law that governs the family is the rule of love and
where the distinguishing mark of every member of the family is love,
one to another. And if it is true that we must either belong to that
family, or else belong to another family of which Cain, who slew his
brother, was the firstborn son, it makes it a very solemn matter! There
are two seeds in the world and if you do not belong to Christ the
Living Seed, you belong to the serpent's seed. Woe to the man who is
not of the family of God! Egypt had to weep and wail on that very night
when Israel, beneath the blood-sprinkled lintel, could afford to sing
and

shout. And when the day comes for God to let loose the angel of
vengeance, woe unto you unless you belong to the family of love–to the
host of the living God!

"How can I get love?" asks one. Love comes by the way of faith. First
trust the Master and then you will soon learn to love His servants.
Rely upon the Savior and you will then feel an affection for all the
saved ones. Commit yourself now into the hands that were pierced for
sinners and you will soon joyfully give a loving embrace to those for
whom Christ's precious blood was shed! May we all meet in Heaven, where
love reigns supreme, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN13:1-17.

Verse 1. Now before the feast of the Passover. Or, just as it was about
to begin–

1. When Jesus knne w that His hour was come that He should depart out
of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the
world, He loved them unto the end. That is a very beautiful description
of Christ's death– "His hour was that He should depart out of this
world unto the Father"–just as though He was merely going on a
journey, leaving one land for another! And if this is a fair
description of such a stormy passage as that of our Lord Jesus, who
died for our sins upon Calvary's Cross, it must with equal truth
describe the death of any of the children of God. There is also an
appointed time for us to depart and to be with Christ which is far
better than remaining here. The loosing of the cable, the spreading of
the sail, the crossing over the narrow sea, the coming to the eternal
haven and the abiding there–what Christian heart needs to dread this?
How much better is it even to look forward to it with ardent
anticipation! Think much of the abiding love of Christ–"Having loved
His own"–His by Election, His by Redemption, for He regarded that as
already done which was about to be accomplished–"Having loved His own
which were in the world"–not yet in Heaven, but still in the midst of
trial, still imperfect, even as you and I are–"He loved them unto the
end," or, "unto the perfection," as it might be rendered. The Alpha of
His love which we find in eternity bids us believe that we shall find
the Omega of it nowhere but there.

2-4. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him; Jesus knowing that the
Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from
God, and went to God; He arose from supper, and laid aside His
garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself Notice the wonderful
contrast revealed to us in these verses! Our Lord Jesus Christ had a
very vivid realization that He had come from God and was going back to
God, and that all things had been given into His hand. Yet, while He
knew that and had a more than ordinary consciousness of His own
dignified Nature and position, He condescended to wash His disciples
feet! Though many years elapsed between the event and the time when
John recorded it, all the details seem to have been still present in
his memory so that he distinctly mentions each separate act–"He rose
from supper, and laid aside His upper garment and took a towel, and
girded Himself."

5. After that He poured water into a basin. The one that ordinarily
stood in the guest chamber for the washing of the hands and feet of the
guests.

5, 6. And began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the
towel wherewith He was girded. Then came He to Simon Peter: and Peter
said unto Him, Lord, do You wash my feet? You must lay the stress on
the pronouns in order to get the full forge of the original. "Lord, do
YOU wash MY feet?" The contrast is between Peter's Master and himself.

7, 8. Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do you know not now, but
you shall know hereafter Peter said unto Him, You shall never wash my
feet That is, "NEVER, as long as I live You shall do such a thing as
that!"

8-10. Jesus answered him, IfI wash you not, you have no part with Me.
Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands
and my head. Jesus said to him, he that is washed needs not, save to
wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and you are clean, but not all
We have often, in commenting, noticed Peter's fault. Perhaps we have
noticed that too much. Let us now notice Peter's excellence. I admire
his humility in thinking it too mean an office for Christ to wash his
feet. It seems to me to be a most proper feeling which prompted him to
ask, "Do You wash my feet?" It seemed an overwhelming condescension of
love which he could scarcely permit. No doubt he spoke too positively
when he said to Christ "You shall never wash my feet," but still, his
motive in speaking thus was a good one. It was because he could not
allow his Lord to stoop so low–he thought it ill manners to permit
such an One as Christ to wash the feet of such an one as the poor
fisherman, Peter. I have already said that there was something that was
not right and yet that was perfectly natural to this "rock" disciple,
and this "dove" disciple, who was such a strange mixture of
boastfulness and fickleness. Yet do not forget how much of good there
was in him. I wish all of us were half as good as Peter. That was a
grand utterance, "Wash not my feet only, but also my hands and my
head." He meant, "Lord, let me have all the cleansing I can, not only
such as the washing of my feet would bring, but such as the washing of
my head and my hands also would bring. Let me be clear of everything
which would prevent full fellowship with You, for I long to be
altogether one with

You."

Then our Savior meekly, gently, quietly, explained that there was no
need for the washing of his head and his hands, for his whole being had
already been renewed by the one great act of Regeneration. And as he
had been cleansed from sin by the free gift of pardon at the time when
he first believed, there was no need of any repetition of the spiritual
bathing. All that was required was the washing of his feet–a beautiful
distinction always to be observed. He that believes in Christ is fully
forgiven. He is like a man who has gone into the bath and washed, but,
when he steps out of the bath and puts his foot on the ground, he often
soils it, so that before he robes himself, he needs to wash his feet
again. That is our condition as Believers in Jesus–we are washed in
His precious blood and are whiter than snow–but these feet of ours
constantly touch this defiling earth so they need, every day, to be
washed. Christ our Lord Jesus said to Peter, "He that is bathed needs
not, save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and you are clean,
but not all."

11. For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, You are not
all clean. They were all washed so far as their feet were concerned,
but not all of them had been cleansed in the sacred bath which removes
the stains of sin!

12-17. So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments,
and was set down again, He said unto them, Know you what I have done to
you? You call me Master and Lord: and you say well; for so I am. If I
then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to
wash one another's feet For I have given you an example, that you
should do as I have done to you. Verity, verily, I say unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater
than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you
do them. Blessed are they who, when they understand the meaning of
Christ's example, imitate it in their own lives!