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The Sacrifice — What Was It For?
John 13:33–35 takes place during the Last Supper
My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for Me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.
Jesus is busy telling His disciples that He will be leaving them and giving His disciples final instructions, before He is arrested and crucified. Jesus has already announced His pending death, and that He will be leaving the disciples. He has revealed His betrayer, Judas, who has just left the group.
Jesus tells the disciples that where He is going (Heaven), they cannot go, at least not at this time. They are to carry on the ministry of spreading the Gospel after He has gone. He gives them a “new” command: to love one another as He has loved them.
Love has been a big part of Jesus’ ministry. In the Sermon on The Mount, Jesus had already told His disciples to “love your neighbor as yourself.” He had also told them they should love their enemies. But now He was raising the standard to love one another as He had loved them.
