Day 28: Glory and the New Command (John 13:21–38)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
John 13:34 (NASB)

Jesus is ‘troubled in spirit’ — a phrase used previously at the death of Lazarus (11:33) and at the shadow of the cross (12:27). It signals the depth of His emotional engagement: He is not performing equanimity. He announces that one of the Twelve will betray Him. The disciples look at one another, bewildered. Judas is likely reclining at Jesus’s left hand — the position of honor — and receives the morsel Jesus dips and hands to him. The one who has the best seat at the table of grace is the one who betrays him. ‘Satan entered into him.’ Judas goes out. ‘And it was night.’

Once Judas is gone, Jesus speaks of glory. The word appears five times in verses 31–32 alone (cf. 1:14; 7:39; 8:54; 11:4; 12:16, 28). John’s logical sequence: Jesus perfectly reveals the Father. Glory in John is not the praise due God but God revealing something about Himself. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus will glorify the Father by making known the plan of salvation. This is the moment the disciples need to understand before the cross disorients them.

The ‘new command’ of verse 34 is the pivot point: ‘Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.’ Carson₁ notes that this is ‘simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice.’ The newness is not in the concept of love — Leviticus 19 already commanded love of neighbor — but in its standard (as I have loved you) and its mandate (I and the Father love each other, so you must love like that). The chapter closes with Peter’s bold declaration that he will lay down his life for Jesus, and Jesus’s quiet, devastating prediction: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times.’

For Reflection

Jesus told the disciples about the betrayal and denial before they happened, so that their faith would be strengthened rather than destroyed when it occurred. What does God tell us in advance, through Scripture, that can prepare us for coming difficulties?
The new command is love ‘as I have loved you.’ The standard is not feelings or fairness — it is the love of the cross. What does that level of love look like between spouses?
Between friends?
John uses ‘glory’ to mean God’s self-disclosure. How does the cross reveal something about who God is that nothing else could have shown?