Tonight we remember the last evening of our Lord’s life. Recall the key events and statements that lead up to Jesus’ arrest:

• Jesus washing the disciples’ feet
• The prophecy of a betrayal by one of the Twelve
• The Last Supper, and the institution of the Lord’s Supper
• The New Commandment: That they love one another as He has loved them
• The prophecy of Peter’s denial
• “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
• “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father”
• “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”
• “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”
• “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit”
• “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.  And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.”
• “If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
• “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
• “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
• “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
• “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
• Gethsemane: “Not My will, but Yours be done.”
• To Judas: “Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

Over the centuries, many Christians have seen the New Commandment –  “Love one another as I have loved you” – as the theme that integrates all these events and statements. (For this reason, many call this evening Maundy Thursday, from mandatum, the Latin word for “commandment” in John 13:34.) With that in mind, consider how much we learn about love through the highlights above:

• Love is humble and serves
• Love is loyal, and never betrays
• Love is forgiving and forbearing
• Love warns and speaks even hard truths when that will be good for the other
• Love gives up all for the loved ones
• Jesus’ love encourages us and empowers us through the Helper to become like Him and to fulfill His work
• Love sends us out
• Love warns of division and opposition
• Love points others to the only source of all good, the Father Himself
• Love makes clear there is only one way to the Father
• Love emphasizes our weakness to accomplish anything apart from Christ in us
• When we love Jesus, we rejoice to obey Him
• The loving, humble Jesus says that to know Him and the Father is eternal life
• Love unifies us so that our very unity might bear witness to the One Who loves

We can say more. The disciples who heard Jesus speak and act out these truths then taught others the New Commandment and its implications. The Apostle Paul highlights the commandment also. Here is a complete selection of verses in the New Testament that use the Greek word for “one another” in reference to some or all followers of Christ. Negatively, we are told not to:

• Pass judgment on one another
• Put a hindrance in another’s way
• Divide one from another
• Provoke or envy one another
• Lie to one another
• Seek revenge on one another
• Speak evil of one another
• Grumble against one another

Instead, positively we are to:

• Encourage one another
• Honor one another
• Live in harmony with one another
• Pursue peace with one another
• Welcome one another
• Show hospitality to one another
• Instruct one another
• Greet one another
• Serve one another
• Bear one another’s burdens
• Bear with and forgive one another
• Do good to one another
• Speak the truth to one another
• Be kind to one another
• Submit to one another
• Count others more significant than yourself
• Consider one another, how to stir up one another to love and good works
• Confess sins to one another
• Pray for one another
• Know that we have fellowship with one another – that is, we are teammates for a common purpose

So on this “New Commandment Thursday,” I encourage you to meditate on these Scriptures and to reflect on this summary list of what loving one another means. May God be pleased to make us “increase and abound in love for one another and for all . . . so that he may establish [our] hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).