Title: Impossible Love -1

Text: John 13:31-35

Title: Impossible Love

Text: John 13:31-35
Speaker: Pastor Chad
Introduction Central City is in crisis. A threat has emerged that may bring the city to its knees.
Its hero, the Flash, is facing a menace. And he is at a severe disadvantage. A
trusted friend, a confidante, a colleague, a life-savior is not who he seems to be.
This one who was as close as family has been exposed as an impostor of epic
proportions. He not only was one of them, in the world of DC Comics, he looks
exactly like someone they thought they knew. Everyone in Central City is in
danger because all of life has been shared with this one who was not who he
looked to be. Relationships were established. Bonds were formed. Secrets were
shared. But reality has been turned on its head in the revelation of the fraud. Life
itself might be forfeited.

This of course, is simply a comic book story playing itself out on TV. We
empathize with Barry Allen, the Flash, who we know will somehow overcome the
devastating nightmare of finding a fake in control of Central City. It's a theme that
is common in our stories of legends and heroes. The Doppelganger. The Body
Snatcher. The Human-shifter. The Clone. It's a literary device that is used to play
on our very real fears of the Impostor.

Few things are more destabilizing to a society than an impostor. Impostors wreck
relationships and destroy lives. Its why we spend billions on identity security.
Spotting a fraud in our information society isnt simply big business, but highly
esteemed as a vocation. Betrayal and treason still rank among the greatest
personal crimes. The stigma we attach to traitors and yes, still, even adulterers, is
because we recognize that an impostor is poison to the DNA of a community of
human beings.

Spotting an impostor is not easy. But it always raises the question: how do we
know? How can we tell whats real and what isnt? How do we know whos real
and who isnt? These questions lie behind some of what we take for granted. I
carry a Texas drivers license. In some sense, it is proof that Im a real Texas
resident. I have a passport card that identifies me as a real American. My daughter
Noelle was confronted with the reality of these questions recently when she was
unable to purchase a fishing license because she could not prove she is a Texas
resident.

These cards we carry identify us. Its the difference between who is real and who
is an impostor. These cards represent a bigger issue. As a hedge against the
 Title: Impossible Love -2
Text: John 13:31-35

impostor, those things that identify us, whether they be cards or memberships or
jerseys we wear, bring a sense of stability to life. If the real cannot be known, all
reality is lost. In knowing who and what is real or genuine, the destabilizing
influence of the impostor is made more difficult and less of a threat.

The question of who can be identified as real and genuine lies at the heart of our
passage this morning. The problem of the impostor is not new. Its a problem in
our text. It was a problem for the early church. Its still a problem for the church
today. Nothing is more destabilizing to our community life than the idea of an
impostor. Which is why we must consider the question: how do we know whos
real? And if we're going to be lights for Jesus in Brownsville or Los Fresnos, how
do they know we are real?

The Passage
Heres our text this morning. This is what the Word of God proclaims to us.

18 Iam not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the
Scripture will be fulfilled, He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against
me. 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take
place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever
receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the
one who sent me.

One of You Will Betray Me

21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified,

Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. 22 The disciples looked
at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom
Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned
to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning
back against Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it? 26 Jesus answered, It is
he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it. So when
he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to

him, What you are going to do, do quickly. 28 Now no one at the table knew
why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the
moneybag, Jesus was telling him, Buy what we need for the feast, or that
he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of
bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

A New Commandment
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and

God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in
himself, and glorify him at once. 33 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. 34 A new commandment I give to
you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love
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Text: John 13:31-35

one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another.

Jesus Foretells Peters Denial

36 Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered

him, Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow
afterward. 37 Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay
down my life for you. 38 Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me?
Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three
times. 1

The Occasion and the Tone

This chapter ends on a note of negativity. There's been quite of bit of negativity in
this chapter. Christ has entered the final hours of his life. A final dinner with his
disciples has been set. Before dinner, in an amazing display of humility and love,
he washes his disciples feet. And where we might expect another account in the
gospel of the Last Supper where Christ speaks of his body being broken and his
blood shed, we find him sharing bread with one whose heart is filled with treason.

As we sit and hear this chapter with the early church to whom John wrote, we
should begin to hear the minor chord being played underneath the scene. This is
no ordinary Passover. The apostle John who himself was a participant in this
dinner, invites us into that upper room. Treason and betrayal are in the air. Doubt
and uncertainty fuel a sense of sadness in the atmosphere. Jesus is troubled in his
spirit. Satan makes an appearance. When Christ finishes washing the disciples'
feet and announces that one of them will betray him, the disciples look at one
another, uncertain as to who it is. As Randy said last week, that may be among
the saddest statements we find in the gospels. And then, on the back of this
chapter, chapter 13 ends with Christ, for the second time, rebuking Peter. And
telling Peter that in a few short hours, he will be numbered among the Deniers.

Judas the Betrayer. Peter the Denier. Glory in the Midst

Our text begins with verse 31, but I want us to begin with verse 30. And it was
night. All of the negativity of this chapter is easily summarized by the Apostle John
in those four words. This is ominous. These words encapsulate the tone of the
occasion. Night is not a good thing in John. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night
because he didn't want to get caught with Jesus. He's in unbelief. Jesus himself
had warned the disciples that the time to do the works of God was short because
the night was coming. That's not a good thing. If anyone walks in the night, he
stumbles. Those are the words of Jesus in John 11. And Judas has gone out into
the night into a stumble from which he will not recover. Jesus summed up the night

1
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), Jn 13:1838.
 Title: Impossible Love -4
Text: John 13:31-35

like this in John 3: men love darkness rather than night because their deeds are
evil. And that's the word that sums up what is happening all around Jesus. Evil.
The greatest evil in the history of the world is under way. The world's darkest hour
has begun. This will be the longest night ever. Treason. Treachery. Denial.
Betrayal. Evil. Judas is the impostor. Judas is gone off to play his role in the
crucifixion of the world's creator. It was night.

That's a lot of negativity. Johns audience must feel the gravity of what is taking
place. Theres a sense of doom here. Judas, the disciples, Peter, even Jesus. All
find themselves in an unfolding drama where bad things are about to happen.
Judas on the one hand. Peter on the other. But sandwiched between Judas and
Peter is something glorious. Something miraculous. Something to hang some
hope on. There's a contrast in verses 31 to 35 so brilliant, so glorious, so genuine,
the disciples will be writing about Christ's words in the years to come. Tucked in
between Judas and Peter are these five verses of positivity.

In the midst of this darkness is glory. This is the beginning of Jesus' final words to
his disciples. In many respects, these five verses summarize what Jesus is going
to say to his disciples in the next four chapters. Judas leaves. The only ones in the
room now are Christ's true disciples. This is as close to a deathbed blessing and
instructions as we find in the gospels. These final farewells are where the meaning
of life is the focal point of the conversation. Destinies are forged. Fortunes are
bequeathed. Blessings are bestowed. Family and loved ones hang on every word
of the person departing. If there's ever a moment where one says what they really
want to say and want to be remembered by, this is it.

Christ delivers his farewell in an atmosphere of treason. Verse 31When Judas

had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified. Now. The night that I
warned about has come. Now is the hour of darkness. The time is now for the
Son of Man to be glorified. Wow. That's quite a contrast to the evil being
perpetrated by Judas and the Jewish leaders. This isn't an accident. John doesn't
want the early church or us to miss the beginning of Christ's final farewell to his
disciples.

Christ is in control of his own destiny. What is about to happen isnt being
controlled by Judas. The Son of Man will be glorified. Judas means it for evil.
Christ intends to be glorified in his death. This is the scandal of the cross. God is
most glorified in the death of His Son. The most offensive means of execution is
going to be, for the Son, the object of His glory.

On a side note, this is why we talk a lot about Jesus here at River Church. It's not
that we downplay the Father or ignore the Holy Spirit. We affirm the Trinity in all of
its perfection. But it's verses like this one, where Christ says the Father's glory is in
the Son, and the Father has chosen to glorify the Son, that we must take the same
 Title: Impossible Love -5
Text: John 13:31-35

stance as the Father and the Spirit in saying, We're here to glorify Jesus. We're
here to make much of Jesus. And the cross is the reason why. In Christ's death we
have the glory of our salvation and God is magnificently glorified in Jesus work on
our behalf.

Where I am going you cannot come

The second main statement Jesus makes here is really a continuation of what he
has just stated. It doesn't look like it at first. But it soon becomes evident. The Son
of main has been glorified. Where I am going you cannot come.

This is the second time Christ has said something like this. In fact, he
acknowledges the first. He has said it to the Jews. Now he says it to the disciples.
This continues a theme that has been ongoing throughout the book of John and
escalates here in the next few chapters.

There's a lot of "coming and going" in the book of John. If you want a fun exercise
sometime. Take an hour or so and go through the book of John looking for the
words "come" or "come from" and "going". What you'll find is a thread that runs to
the purpose of why John wrote the book. "These are written that you will believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus is God. So John spends
a lot of time in his book giving us events and conversations around the question:
where did Jesus come from?

The book begins with: the light was coming into the world. The word was made
flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. Repeatedly, Jesus tells the
crowds that he came from heaven. "I am the bread from heaven" he says in John
6. Jesus came from the Father. More than a dozen times in the book of John we
find some mention of Jesus coming down from heaven or from the Father and
coming into the world.

And then in the middle of the book, as his ministry is beginning to draw to a close,
we're introduced to the idea that Jesus is going back to the Father. At the end of
one of these conversations, they picked up stones to stone him.

We have this statement at the very beginning of this chapter in chapter 13. Verse
1 "When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the
Father" And verse 3: Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his
hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from
supper. Now here in verse 33, "As I said to the Jews, where I am going you cannot
come."

Jesus is going to the Father by way of the cross. Jesus said the same thing to the
Jewish crowds and the Pharisees in Chapter 7. If you combine the Jews in chapter
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Text: John 13:31-35

seven and the disciples here in chapter 13, that pretty much sums up everybody
who is not going where Jesus is going. Where I'm going, nobody can come. When
Christ made the statement to the Jews, he made it in judgment. Where I am going
you cannot come. You will die in your sins. He doesn't say that here. Here, it's
more personal. "Little children" is his term of endearment. He is saying this out of
affection for the disciples.

He's not simply going back to the Father. He's going back to the Father through
the cross. Remember, this is about the Son of Man being glorified. It's not simply a
matter that the disciples won't come (we'll get to that in a few minutes). It's that
they can't come. They cannot die for the sins of the people. They cannot make
atonement. They cannot accomplish the Perfect Lamb's sacrifice. Where he's
going they simply cannot come. Later, he does say that they will follow. But in the
moment, this night of evil, they simply cannot come. Christ is alone in his
glorification. He is alone in the cup he must drink. What is to be accomplished in
Christ going to the Father through the cross is something only God can do. Only
God can go where Jesus is going.

A New Commandment
And this brings us to the major thrust of this section. The disciples cannot go
where Jesus is going. But that doesn't mean there's nothing for them to do. In fact,
it's quite the opposite. There's something else they can be doing. And what he is
about to say is going to rock their world. What Jesus says next is game-changing
stuff. Where Christ is going, he will be glorified as the Son of Man, exalted through
the cross to His throne at the right hand of the Father. Where Christ going, the
disciples cannot come. But they will be included in bringing glory to Jesus.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. The Son of
Man will be glorified in these disciples as they love one another. What? That's it?
In the midst of all this treason and evil, with the promises regarding the Old
Testament Messiah hanging in the balance.. A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another. Oh c'mon. Really? Love one another? That's the earth-
shattering, evil conquering mission for the disciples? If you don't think this is how
the disciples reacted, look at Peter. Just read the words as they happen: Verse 35:
By this will all men know you are my disciples if you have love one for another.
Next verse: Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Uh this is
ADHD in the text. Peter acts as if he never heard Christ say this. Love one
another. Squirrel! Its like Peter is changing the subject.

John wants us to see, wants his original audience to see that Peter misses the
point. And he doesn't want the church to miss it. This really is earth-shattering and
paradigm breaking. This really does magnify Christ with glory for the ages and
brings a brilliant light to the darkness. This really is how the church does war with
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Text: John 13:31-35

evil. This is the message of such a contrast here in John 13. 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. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another. While Christ is going to the cross and going to the
Father, his disciples are to remain as his witnesses on earth with one, new
commandment: love one another.

It's so simple, yet profound. It almost comes off as utopian. A bit of syrupy
sentimentality. Answer treachery by loving one another. Glorify Jesus by loving
one another.

Doesnt seem like a lot. Sounds like a pipe dream. Yet here it is. What's going on
here, and what does this have to do with us?

There are a couple of questions that arise from this text to help us think about how
we're to hear this.

What is new? A New Covenant

The first is this: what is new about this commandment? Why does Jesus attach
the word "new" to this? There are several ways this is new, all of which have direct
bearing on River Church.

First, the word "new" speaks to a new covenant. If there is a new commandment,
there is a new covenant. There is a new basis on which God deals with his people.
God is now dealing with his people through Jesus Christ, not the stone tablets of
the 10 commandments. The old is gone, the new has come. "Love one another"
sums up the new expectations of life in Jesus.

A new community
Second, Jesus is speaking to a new community. It's no accident that Judas is not
present. This is like dismissing the next door neighbors so you can have a talk with
the family. In our family, we call it the Bresson huddle. When the kids hear, "time
for a Bresson huddle", they know it's a discussion about family matters and only
for the family. Christ is about to go to the cross and bring to life a new community
in His name. Here in John 13, we are witnessing the beginnings of the church.
This new community rallies around a new commandment: love one another.
This love isn't aimed at the world in general. It's not necessarily focused at the
people "out there". That kind of love is important. But this new community exists
because of love for one another.

This is a new community borne out of an allegiance to its Savior. Christ is going to
the cross to die for His people. This new community of people is not the Old
Community of the Old Covenant with the old commandments. This is a new
 Title: Impossible Love -8
Text: John 13:31-35

community brought into existence by a new covenant, purchased by Jesus for

himself. Christ, not the law, not Jerusalem, not the temple, is the center-point for
this new community. This new commandment to love one another is what a new
community is to do in order to bring glory to the One responsible for bringing it into
existence. Jesus is going someplace where the new community cannot go.
Instead, they are to represent Jesus to the world by loving one another. In his
physical absence, this new community is to do something with very tangible
expression: love one another.

A new standard
What's new about this new commandment? There is a new reference point or a
new standard." The standard for the new commandment is Jesus and His love:
Just as I have loved you, so you also love one another." I want you to circle that
part of the phrase, Just as I have loved you.

"Just as I have loved you" sits at the center of this commandment. It demands our
attention. It's the focal point for the commandment. It's the reason for the
command to love one another. "Just as I have loved you." This isn't simply
example. It's part of the command itself. It shares the command's DNA. This is the
source for obedience to the command. This is the reference point. This is the
standard for measurement. This is new. The old reference point for obedience was
the Old Testament law. It's those stone tablets given at Sinai. The standard or
measure by which we understand righteousness is no longer the law, but Jesus
himself. The way to measure "love" is no longer a code written on stone tablets.
"As Jesus loves" is the new standard for a new community living in a new way.

This is how the Son of Man is to be magnified. The glory of New Covenant life is
magnification of the brilliance and radiance of Jesus being displayed in people
who love one another as He loved them. Because the disciples cannot go with
Jesus where he is going, they will speak to his death by loving one another. This
new community in the upper room already has known love like no other. Chapter
13 verse 1: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

They've witnessed his love. Theyve had their feet washed in humbling fashion.
They now hear this new commandment with clean feet as a reminder of Christ's
love for them. They will know his love even more deeply when he steps out of that
room and goes out to purchase their redemption. They glorify the Son of Man in
the midst of darkness and evil by loving one another. They bring light to the
darkness by loving one another.

A new identity
That leads to this: the "new" of the "new commandment" speaks to a new
identity. "Love for one Another" is the new mark of the new community. Love for
 Title: Impossible Love -9
Text: John 13:31-35

one another marks the community as genuine. This is the mark of the real deal. In
fact, look at the way Christ ends this. I have a new commandment. Just as I have
loved you, love one another. He turns the command into a statement of identity.
We are Christs disciples. Our identity is not bound up with circumcision, the law,
the temple, Moses, or any other of the Old Testament shadows.

By this will all men know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Who are known as true followers of Jesus? Answer: those who are loving one
another. True disciples don't just love another once. They love one another to the
point that this is how they are identified. This is their mark. This is their identity.

Remember the uncertainty of the disciples? They looked at each other uncertain of
who the impostor was that Jesus was talking about. This is a question on the mind
of the early church to whom John writes. If Judas, one of the inner twelve, one
who shared three years of his life, one who shared his ministry with Jesus if
Judas can turn out to be an impostor, if Peter can turn out to be a denier, how do
we know who is not an impostor. How do we know it isn't us? How do we keep this
from happening to us? How do we know we are Christs?

It's hard not to think about the Jesus Hippie tune from the 70's: they'll know we are
Christians by our love. It's what you sang around the campfire just after Kumbaya.
There may be some sappy and ecumenical romanticism behind the song. But it's
true. These are the words of Christ to the new community: By this will all men
know you are MINE, if you have love for one another.

Christ does not say, By this will all men know you are my disciples, if you speak
the truth loud and clear for all the city to hear. Thats not the identity of the
Christian. This isnt to say speaking the truth isnt important. But its not how the
world knows we are Christs.

In fact, it's not who you vote for. It's not the news channel you watch. It's not
what clothes you wear or don't wear. It's not what building you meet in. It's
not where you hang out, or who you hang out with. It's not what music you
listen to. It's not what Bible you use in your private time. It's not even your
baptism. By this will all men know you are my disciples if you have love one for
another. Our love for one another identifies us. *MY disciples*. Love for one
another marks us as his. It becomes *the* defining characteristic of the Christian
community.

What's first on Christ's mind as he gives his final farewell? It's his glory on
display in disciples who bear witness to that glory by loving one another.
That's it. This is how you can tell whether you're an impostor. There's no bullet
point list for this new community or any other community that follows Jesus,
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Text: John 13:31-35

including our own. How do we know who the impostors aren't? By this will all men
know that you are MY disciples, if you have love for one another.

What kind of love?

If we are to love one another as Christ has loved us, one other obvious question
arises: what do we mean by love? I think John has answered that in a couple of
ways. John began this chapter by telling us that Jesus loved his disciples to the
end. And immediately he took the posture of a servant and washed their feet.
Loving as Jesus loved looks like servanthood. The inner posture that is ready to
serve others on a moment's notice without prompt.

I received a text from one of you this week, asking for prayer to be a better
servant. I was immediately humbled. So often this is not the first thing I desire. Oh
that were all of our requests. This is what it means to love one another. This kind
of love moves through life with a bowl in one hand and a towel in the other, always
ready to wash the feet of another.

The other way John answers this is found in chapter 10 where Christ says the he
is laying down his life for His sheep. Later in his farewell, Christ will tell these
disciples: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his
friends." Or to put it in context here by this will all men know that you are my
disciples, if you lay down your lives for each other.

It should be obvious by now the implications for us here at River Church. How
does Brownsville know we are genuine followers of Jesus and not impostors? How
does Los Fresnos know who the impostors aren't? How can the RGV tell that we
really believe what we say we believe? How do we stand up to the evil and
treachery all around us?

There are some things I think it would be good to think about as we consider this Conclusion
new commandment this morning. As we think about what it means for us to lay
down our lives for each other, I want to point us back at the focal point. It would be
very easy for us to walk out of here this morning with an incomplete picture as how
this plays out in our community life. Our love for one another must be as Christ
has loved us. Some things to think about that statement.

As He has loved us: impossible

First, I think we should start and end any discussion about loving each other as
Christ loved us by reminding ourselves that completely following this in obedience
is impossible. Where I am going you cannot come. Even though we follow him to
the Father, we will never accomplish what he did in his death. We cannot and will
never lay down our lives for each other the way Jesus did for us. There is a sense
in which we will never love as he loved. He did it perfectly. He did it by going to the
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Text: John 13:31-35

cross and providing atonement for our sins. And he still does it perfectly. He loves
us in ways we dont know in a perfection we cannot accomplish, all borne out of
his purchase of redemption for us. We can't do that.

We need to feel this tension when Christ gives us this standard, this command.
Even short of atonement, our love for one another is always going to be imperfect.
I cannot love you as Christ does. That's why Jesus went to the cross. Because we
don't love one another to the extent that we should. He died for us because we
too often fail in laying down our lives for each other. Jesus does what only Jesus
can do.

Even though we will never be able to atone for each other's sins here at River
Church, I do think it is a fair question, in considering "just as I have loved
you" as the standard, to ask the "what if" question. Look at the brother or
sister sitting next to you. What if you could atone for his or her sins? Just one
person. Would you?

You know, we have a couple of other examples of this kind of love in the
Scriptures. At one point, Moses told God to blot his name out of the book of life, in
exchange for the lives and blessing of the children of Israel. Of course, God
refused. But would you make that request on behalf of sinners you know? Paul,
taking a cue from Moses, says in Romans he wished he could be accursed and
cut off from Christ for the sake of his fellow Jews.

Is that the kind of love we have for one another? We'd be willing, if we could,
to atone for each other's sins? While this speaks to the impossibility of loving as
Jesus loved, it does present us with an inner attitude. You want the world to take
notice of River Church? If we love each other to the point of atoning for sins if we
could, the world can't help but know that we are genuine, not impostors.

An example for the shepherds

The second reminder: loving as Jesus loved is an example for the shepherds and
leaders of the community. Christ says the good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. Anyone who would deem themselves to be a leader or a shepherd of
Christ's people must immerse themselves in the life of the new commandment to
love the sheep as Christ has loved them.

John 13s standard for love has its origins in the Good Shepherd. John 10 lays it
out. Christ sets himself as the standard for shepherds everywhere when he says I
lay down my life for the sheep. If we are going to be undershepherds of Gods
flock, this is the standard to which we are held accountable. So when Christ says,
love as I have loved, we understand as shepherds that we are the first ones to
take up the challenge to love in that manner.
 Title: Impossible Love - 12
Text: John 13:31-35

Required of husbands
The third reminder comes from Paul. This new commandment shows up in other
writings of the New Testament. You can hear this commandment being echoed in
what Paul tells husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the
church. Love your wife as Christ loved. Thats the same rhythm and language of
John 13s new commandment.

This new commandment is required of husbands. By this will all men know that
you are a disciple-husband: if you have love for your wife as I have loved you.
Brothers, following this new commandment begins in the home. Your wife is first
your sister in Christ. Love for her should have this same one-anothering heartbeat:
just as I have loved you, lay down your life for your wife. Would all of Los Fresnos
or Brownsville know you follow Jesus because you have the kind of love for your
wife that would get a bowl and a towel and wash her feet? Again. And Again. You
want to beat back evil in Los Fresnos or Brownsville? Love your wife as Christ has
loved you.

A model for all of us

The fourth reminder also comes from Paul. Again, there are echoes of this
commandment in how we are to forgive each other. Ephesians 4:32. Be kind to
one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Hear the language of the new commandment? Again there are echoes here of
John 13. Be kind to one another. As God in Christ forgave you. This new
commandment is a model for all of us. By this will all men know that you are my
disciples, if you are forgiving each other as I have forgiven you. You see the
connection? Love for one another involves the kind of forgiveness that looks and
feels and sounds like Jesus forgave us. Does Brownsville or Los Fresnos know
that we love Jesus in the way they see us quick to forgive each other our sins and
our faults against each other. Love carries no grudges. Too often, I think our
Christian theology of forgiveness dies the death of a thousand qualifications in real
life. The way I read the text, Christ forgives His people without qualification. What's
our inner posture toward those who've wronged us? Is it one that is quick and
ready to forgive?

A paradigm for all of life

There's one other place in the later New Testament that this commandment shows
up. John certainly remembers this commandment when he writes his first epistle.
There he posits this new reality as a paradigm for all of life. In 1 John 4:19, he
says, "We love, because he first loved us." Remember how I said the focal point of
this passage is in the middle, just as I have loved you? If you've circled that
phrase, then within that phrase highlight this: I have loved you. I have loved you.
 Title: Impossible Love - 13
Text: John 13:31-35

We live on this side of the cross. We live in the same generation as John's original
audience. Christ has been glorified in his death and resurrection. He has been
exalted to the right hand of the Father. In going to the Father he has left us with
this new commandment that serves to give us our identity: love one another, as
Christ has loved us. It's an impossible task. Its an impossible love. But look a little
closer. "I have loved you". He says this in the midst of unimaginable evil. Even as
he speaks the world is crushing in, the world is going dark. He will be dead in 24
hours. Yet here he is speaking to his closest friends, speaking to those who would
go on to plant churches all over the world, speaking to us through them. Christ has
loved us. The very standard by which all love is measured is a promiseis a
statement of reality. It's a historical fact. I have loved you.

Christ loves us. Right now, where we are. In our world. In our mess. The world
may be crushing in and we need to hear, in the midst of the command, I have
loved you.

Its a world changing love he has for us. We can't do this. We couldn't begin to
manufacture love for one another that passes the Christ test. Only Christ's love
could produce the kind of love for one another that is required in the new
commandment. Only Christ's love could generate the kind of love for one another
that makes the world sit up and take notice. In loving us first, in dying for us first, in
making us His own first, Christ produces what He commands. Do we get that? He
knew it would be impossible for us to love like he loved us. So, He loved us. Love
generates love.

I don't have it in me to love my wife to the point that, if possible, I would die for her
sins. But Christ has done so. For both of us. And in loving us to the point of death,
Christ gives me a love for my wife that is not of this world. I can't explain it. We
could never produce the kind of love that Christ commands here. We don't have it
in us. But Jesus went to a place we could not go to produce a love we could not
produce. Jesus loved us so that we could and would love one other. Are we so
gripped by Jesus that we must love one another as he has loved us?

We say we want Brownsville to Come See Jesus. We say we want Los Fresnos to
Come See Jesus. We want to make Christ known in the valley. Christ has given us
a new commandment. Christ has given us His mark, a new identity. Christ has
temporarily left this planet. He has gone to the Father. But Christ is here. In our
love for each other.

The world is sick of impostors. They are sick of the fakes. Christian doppelgangers
are a dime a dozen, preying on the unsuspecting. How will the world know we are
Christ's? Carry a card? Draw a fish next to our names?
 Title: Impossible Love - 14
Text: John 13:31-35

We want stability. We want secure relationships. We want to be known as Christs.

We want to know whos real and who isnt. Barry Allen, the Flash, is going to use
his speed, his powers, his scientific know-how, his data, his cunning, and his team
to bring down the impostor. He will muster all of own self-generated power to bring
peace to the world. Thats the worlds way. Its the way of just do it.

At one time, we were the impostors. We were the fakes. But we have been loved.
And now we love one another. There is a proclamation effect in our love for one
another. No cards. Just love. There is a sweetness, like the sweetness of honey,
that attracts the world to Jesus when we love another like Jesus has loved us.
People show up and see us laying down our lives for each other, and they say I
want that! I want Jesus. Brownsville and Los Fresnos would be turned upside
down.

Let us live out this command and love each other as people who have been loved
by Jesus. By this will Brownsville and Los Fresnos know that we are Christ's
disciples, if we have love one for another.. Just as Christ has loved us.