[2026. 7. 12.] A New Command I Give You (John 13:31–38)

[2026. 7. 12.] A New Command I Give You (John 13:31–38)  

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2026. 7. 12. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 39
본문: 요한복음 13:31–38
제목: 새 계명을 너희에게 주노니

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

When was today’s message given? It was given just a few hours before Jesus was arrested. At that moment, Jesus was eating with His disciples and had washed their feet. And what happened right before He gave this message? Jesus had said that one of them would betray Him, and Judas Iscariot, the one who would do so, had just left the room. What must the atmosphere have been like? Although the disciples did not know Judas had gone out to betray Jesus, the atmosphere must have been filled with fear and concern about betrayal.

At that moment Jesus gave a new command. What is the new command? To love one another. Through this new command to love one another, Jesus turns that dark night of betrayal into a warm night in which the command of love was given.

Through the new command Jesus gives today—to love—we want to know and imitate the heart of the Lord toward us.

 

1. The cross is the love and glory of God.

[Verse 31] After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him.” What time is it now? It is after Judas has gone out. He will betray Jesus, and Jesus will eventually be crucified and die. What lies before Jesus? The cross. Death lies ahead. Yet at that moment Jesus uses the word “glory.”

Is the cross glory? Is dying glory? People seek glory in success and victory. But Jesus calls the moment of greatest suffering the moment of greatest glory. Why? Because on the cross the love of God is revealed most perfectly. Because through the cross the very thing God desires most is accomplished—the payment for the sins of humanity. Salvation is completed.

Yes, the cross is the completion of salvation and the place where God’s desire is fulfilled. The love of God is revealed most perfectly through the cross. The love of Jesus is the love of the cross.

The cross is the place where His body is nailed and He dies. Love is not words or feelings but action. Love does not change according to conditions or circumstances; it continues to the end in any condition or circumstance. The love that continues to the end even when betrayed, denied, and abandoned—that is the love of the cross. Through that love of the cross, God is glorified, and He gives that glory to His Son Jesus. [Verse 32] If God is glorified in Him, God will glorify the Son in Himself, and will glorify Him at once. The glory of the Father and the Son is completed at the cross.

The cross is the Father’s plan of salvation, and the cross is the perfect obedience of Jesus. Believe that the cross is not death but glory, not the end but a new beginning.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was martyred for resisting the Nazis, said just before his execution: “This is not the end, but for me the beginning of life.” In suffering and facing death, he saw the love of Jesus’ cross and the glory of God.

Charles Spurgeon said: “The cross is not a defeat but the crown of victory.”

May we remember that Jesus revealed God’s love through the cross and displayed God’s glory by bearing it.

[Application] Do I see the cross (suffering) from the perspective of glory? What must I do today to display God’s glory in my life?

 

2. The disciples of Jesus are proven by love.

[Verses 34–35] 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. In this passage Jesus tells us the distinguishing mark of His disciples. What is it? Those who keep the new command Jesus gives—loving one another—are His disciples. It is not how much biblical knowledge one has. It is not how much one prays. Do not misunderstand—knowing Scripture well and praying much are not wrong. But the purpose of studying Scripture and praying is not to increase knowledge or display spiritual superiority. Their purpose is to know the heart and love of Jesus and to follow Him.

The same is true for the church. What kind of church truly pleases God? A church that teaches and learns the Word well? A church with many people and good programs? A church with excellent preaching? A church with well-organized departments? All these can contribute to a good church, but they are not the decisive requirement. The decisive requirement of a good church is loving one another.

Jesus said He is giving a new command. Was “love one another” not in the Old Testament? It was. [Leviticus 19:18] Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. The new command does not mean Jesus gave a command that did not exist in the Old Testament. It means He gave a new standard of love. What is the new standard? Look again at verse 34. [Verse 34] Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. What is the new standard of loving one another? “As I have loved you.” How should we love one another? Forgive like Jesus, endure and wait like Jesus, sacrifice and serve humbly in the lowest place like Jesus, and love to the end like Jesus.

This is the mark of Jesus’ disciples, and this is the mark of the church. If we do not love one another in our homes and in the church, our faith is not beautiful or healthy in Jesus’ eyes.

Francis Schaeffer described the distinguishing mark of the church Jesus established: “Love is the final and most powerful apologetic of Christianity.”

May all God’s people here live as disciples by loving one another like Jesus.

[Application] Who is the person I must first reconcile with and love in my home or church? Are people experiencing the love of Jesus through me?

 

3. Love not by your own will but by God’s grace.

When Jesus gave the new command, Peter asked where Jesus was going. [Verse 36] “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” What does it mean that Peter cannot follow now but will follow later? Jesus is going to the place of death—the cross. Peter cannot follow Him there now, but later he will. This is also God’s plan for how the gospel will be spread through Peter and how he will eventually die. Peter was crucified upside down around AD 64 under Emperor Nero.

Not knowing this plan, Peter says: [Verse 37] “Lord, why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.” Peter passionately declares that he will lay down his life for Jesus. He wants to show Jesus and the other disciples how much he loves Him. Is such passionate love bad? No, it is good. But the problem is what that love and passion are based on.

We can love God because we have been saved and become His children. Our salvation is entirely by God’s grace. In other words, our ability to love God is entirely possible because of God’s grace. In the Christian life, intentional decisions are necessary and important. But remember: even those decisions arise from grace. Personal will and determination without God’s grace cannot last to the end.

[Verse 38] “Will you really lay down your life for Me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.” Peter loved Jesus passionately, but his passion was based on his own will, not on God’s grace. Therefore, within one day he denied Jesus three times. Peter’s love collapsed in a single day. Remember: human will collapses in crisis and difficult reality.

Is this not our problem as well? Like Peter, we are passionate but fail and fall depending on circumstances. Yet remember: Jesus’ love for us does not give up or shake even in the face of our betrayal. His love is “to the end.”

From Monday to Wednesday last week, the pastors and wives of our Baptist denomination gathered for a retreat. The theme was God’s calling. As we listened to messages about God’s choosing and calling and shared our stories, it was a time filled with tears, laughter, and grace. God called each person in different ways—through suffering, through miracles, through Scripture, through answered prayer, through inner conviction, through failure and despair. But the common confession was that every calling was God’s amazing grace. Another common point was that none of the pastors or wives had lived without failure. Though we should trust God completely, we often make decisions based on our own will and experience and repeat the process of failure like Peter.

But remember: like Peter, I may fail, but God raises me again. And remember this also: I can rise again not because of my will but because of the grace of Jesus who loves me to the end.

Jerry Bridges, an evangelical writer and preacher, said something that reminds us of the reach of God’s grace: “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace, and your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

May all believers here rise again today not by our own will or passion but by God’s grace, and run toward the prize of His calling, living a life that pleases the Lord.

[Application] Have I ever failed because I relied only on my own will and passion? Share together how God’s grace raised you again in times of failure and despair.

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.