We hear again this Sunday, the New Commandment that Jesus gives to us: As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. No longer is it enough to live under the old commandment, the entirety of the Law and the Prophets which could be summed up under the command to love God with your whole heart, mind, strength and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. The love of Christ is no longer built upon what we would do, but the very Love that the Father has for us. Ultimately, it is this love, as He goes on to say, that is how others are to recognize that we are His Disciples. The question becomes, what is this Love that will make is recognizable as Christians?
The first thing that we notice is when Jesus is giving this command to the disciples. This is the night of the Last Supper, after He had just finished washing their feet. Even more, He had first said: “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” That is the Christ was glorified in His crucifixion and the resurrection. This is the reason for His coming to the earth and the source of our salvation. His Glory, that is, the very act that makes Him worthy to sit at the right hand of God the Father; the reason His name is above every other name; why it is right and just for every knee to bend; His Glory did not come from any of the miracles He performed, nor was it from the Wisdom of His teaching, but is in His death and resurrection. What the Father names as His Glory is our salvation won through the sacrifice of His Son.
The standard of Love that Jesus is setting up before the disciples, and before us, is a sacrificial love. That is, a love that does not give out of its excess, or comfort, but love that gives out of its need, out of discomfort, and that carries a cost for itself. Before, it was sufficient to tithe 10% to the Temple and keep the rest for yourself. It was sufficient to leave the harvest that had fallen to the ground for the widows, orphaned and hungry to eat. It was enough to be kind and generous out of your excess, because this is how we would want our neighbor to love us when we were in need. But this would be a small way to think of how Jesus loved us.
The Love He is pointing us to is that which He gave us on the night of His arrest and the entry into His passion. Christian Love is first and foremost sacrificial. It is staying up late when I know it will leave me tired the next day; it is calling a friend before I have time to eat dinner even when I am already hungry; it is giving the first harvest to those in need, while I take from what has fallen off and was left behind; it is picking the fruit in the store that is slightly bruised so others can have the better fruit; it is giving first out of my paycheck and then leaving the left over for myself. It is by our Sacrifice and self-denial that they will know we are Christians.