31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him,[a] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
33 “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.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- How is the “new commandment” similar to and different from the second great commandment (see Matthew 22:37-39; 1 John 2:7-11)?
- How or why is love the truest mark of discipleship (see also John 15:8, 12, 17; 1 John 4:7-21)?
- What makes loving the unlovable, loving our enemies, loving those who intentionally hurt us and those we love possible (Jh 15:4-5; Gal 2:20; Gal 5:22-23; Eph 3:20; 2 Peter 1:3-4)?
- Thoughts on this: Three questions to consider when considering if you should love someone:
- Does Jesus love this person? Obviously, yes!
- Does Jesus live in me? Yes, by His Spirit!
- Does the person in me love this person? Yes! Yes!
- In v.37, Peter spoke with good intentions, but little awareness. His boast at the time was shallow. When have you spoken with good intention, but little understanding?
Prayer
Jesus, to love like You is a tall order. You allowed Yourself, although innocent, to be tortured, killed, and to unjustly endure the punishment of Your enemies, which I shamefully confess all too often has included me. You gave Yourself selflessly and unconditionally for the benefit of anyone and everyone who would, through faith, receive Your love, Your grace. I can’t show this love without you, but YOU can love through me. Do so today!
Greek Word of the Day
English Word: denied | Transliterated Word: aparneomai (ap-ar-neh-om-ahee)
Deny utterly, disown, abstain
Of Christ AND his religion
Family Engagement Activity
- Make a list of 19 things that are in your house and one thing that you know is not in your house.
- Before giving your kids the list, ask your kids if they are interested in a scavenger hunt.
- If they say yes, ask them if they think they can complete it. Do they think they can win?
- Give them the list. As they search for the items, they will find out that there is one that they will not be able to find (hopefully).
- They will not succeed. Call them back to the table. Then, find that object for them, that you have.
Talk about how they had great intentions but little awareness of the inability to find the object. Let them know that you are going to forgive them and that they win! They completed the task! You could talk about promises you made that you were unable to keep because you weren’t aware of your own inabilities. Guide them to understand how important it is to keep promises. Let them know that God knows we are going to not keep this command, but he loves us through it all AND keeps his promises.
Going Activities To Consider
Today, recommit to being a man or woman of your word. Be more mindful of what you say and follow through. Keep record of your promises for the next week and ask forgiveness to the ones you broke, no matter how little. Christ’s forgiveness is strong enough!
ALSO
Keep in mind that Christ puts more stock in Messianic covenants than contracts. When Christ makes a covenant, he binds it to himself. His love does not depend on us following through. When it comes to loving others, do you find yourself keeping contracts or Messianic covenants?? In Your marriage? In your friendships? Your kids? Evaluate your top 5 relationships and consider if they are MC or contracts. Begin to consider ways you can consider having Messianic Covenants in your life. REMINDER: Contracts aren’t wrong, just more difficult if the purpose is relationship! Thank God for his Messianic covenant with you. Read more about this at https://www.webtruth.org/eschatology/chart-of-bible-covenants/.