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Introduction: Searching for Newness
Great. Thank you, Jesse, so much. Turn to John chapter 13. We’re going to finish our series on the “New Life”—what is new, new year, new you, and how to find newness in a world where everything is the same.
As the scripture says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, said it. It’s not a new message, but we’ve been repeating it since Solomon talked about it in Ecclesiastes. Philosophers, religious people, and parents have been telling their children for years that there’s nothing new; you’re not going to find it.
Beyond the Sun: Finding Eternal Life
But beyond the sun—beyond this world—there is life. We can’t find it here, but we can find it there. The more we set our minds and hearts, and the more we adjust our gaze not on the temporal but on the eternal, the more new life in this world actually does take root. We can embrace things here more faithfully, enjoy them more vigorously, and understand them in a more dignified fashion when we set our hearts on what is beyond.
The Context of John 13
Today, we are looking at John chapter 13. This is the end of Jesus’ ministry. John spends half of his gospel on the final week of Jesus’ life, and he spends an immense amount of time on the four to five hours of the Last Supper. This is where we are—at the Last Supper, right before He goes to the cross. What is on His mind? How is He trying to bring them new life and hope?
Reading the Scripture: John 13:31-38
Let’s read John 13:31-38:
When he was gone [referring to Judas], Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once. 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.
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you? Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
This is God’s word. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever.
The Problem of Forgetfulness
This week, as I was studying this passage, I realized I preached on this very same segment in March of last year. I thought to myself, “Maybe I don’t need to preach this today.” How many people remember what I said about this passage last March?
Looking around, I see so many liars in this room! Now I have to preach it. I was baiting you on that—I’ve been thinking about doing that all week.
I bring that up because we forget. We are like a sieve; everything just runs out of us. We are full of holes. We leak grace, life, hope, and the truth of God. The only way to keep a sieve full of water is to keep it under the faucet. You have to keep coming back. Part of why Jesus said to get together once a week is because we need to be refilled, but it isn’t just once a week. If you aren’t regularly getting full of it, you’re going to be empty and full of holes.
The New Commandment: Love Without Limits
Part of being “marinated” in the Gospel is that the flavor takes over. Jesus says that where new life and transformation can be found is in the New Commandment.
At the final point of His earthly ministry, Jesus gives this command. In a way, it’s not new—Moses, Abraham, David, and the Psalms all said “love one another.” So, what makes it new?
What makes it new is this: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Until that point, love had limits. But Jesus comes in and says, “Love without limits.” That is the crazy newness and the transforming idea. We are constantly putting limits on love. Even the disciples didn’t quite get this.
The Limits of Human Love
Recall the man who asked Jesus, “What is the greatest commandment?” He was talking about laws, rules, and morality. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Then He gave a second one for free: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
But even “love your neighbor as yourself” has a limit because it’s finite. I’m not going to love you any more than I love me. The guy asking the question was trying to make it doable; he wanted a grip on the legal system.
The Story of the Good Samaritan
Jesus takes this idea and makes it astronomically beyond human capacity. When the man asked, “Who is my neighbor?” he was trying to narrow the field of focus. He wanted a limit.
Jesus then tells the story of the Good Samaritan. In that story, a Jew is robbed and beaten on the road. A religious priest walks by and makes an excuse—maybe he’s busy or doesn’t want to get his hands dirty. A “moral” Pharisee walks by and does the same.
But the Samaritan—the person who should have hated the Jew because of racial and religious divides—stops. He mends the man’s wounds, takes him to an inn, and gives the innkeeper his credit card, saying, “Whatever he needs, put it on my tab.”
Jesus asks the man, “Which of these three was a neighbor?” He puts the man in a place of not judging who he should love, but being at the center of the distress and asking, “Who would you want to have no limits when you are the one on the road?”
Loving as Jesus Loved
The Samaritan’s love was one-way. He didn’t care what he got back; he just loved. Jesus loves without limits, at personal and eternal expense. He says, “This is the nature of what it’s all about.”
We still ask the same questions the Pharisees asked: “How can I limit this? Do I just love my church or my country?” Jesus made it clear: Love your friends and family, but also love your enemies. He bracketed it on both sides to include everyone in between.
Peter’s Deflection and the Need for Grace
Peter hears this and immediately deflects. He asks, “Where are you going? Why can’t I come? I’ll die for you!” Peter wants to swoop in and save the day. He wants to do his part.
But Jesus has to convince him: “Peter, you don’t lay down your life for me. I lay down my life for you.”
Your job is not to self-save or to sacrifice for Jesus’ benefit; His job is to sacrifice for yours. Until you let Him love you like that, you have no ability to love anyone else. You have to be loved limitlessly by the Savior Himself before you can offer that love to others.
Peter couldn’t just “be”; he had to “do.” He had to contribute. When you contribute, you limit. This is why salvation is free. If you contribute even a little bit, you get to manage the terms. But since there is no contribution you can make, He gets to manage the terms. And the terms are: Love without limits.
Conclusion: Experiencing the Infinite
Only when you experience the height, width, depth, and length of God’s love are you empowered to not have to hold on to anything. You can just give it away. You don’t have to be threatened by what it might cost you because you have an unlimited source.
You will never know that until you’ve experienced the unlimited love of God. You have to sit in your “wrongness” and be a receiver of the love of God. Only then will you be able to “feed my lambs” with limitless love.
Let’s pray.