On or about Thursday night, April 2, 33 AD, Jesus gathered his disciples in the upper room of borrowed quarters in Jerusalem for what would be the Last Supper. He gave some final instructions before he was betrayed by Judas and arrested later that night. After Judas excused himself early to arrange for his spectacular treason, Jesus turned to the eleven and said:
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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
In the Latin translation of the Bible, John 13:34 reads like this:
Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos.”
What Is The Mandate?
Mandatum translates as “commandment” and it’s the source of our word, “mandate.” Jesus gave his disciples a mandate, an official order to obey, a policy to carry out: love one another. Thursday night is the night that Jesus gave his disciples the mandate to love one another.
That’s why we call it Maundy Thursday. We could also call it Commandment Thursday.
But what’s new about this new commandment? Had God not commanded his people to love one another from the beginning? Isn’t this part of the eternal moral law of God?
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord (Lev. 19:18).
It seems to be a very old commandment. So, what’s new about the new commandment? Perhaps it’s what Jesus added: “Just as I have loved you.” Never before had fallen, sinful, broken, proud people had such a pure example of love. What’s new is the incarnation. God became a man and showed us how to love. Speak the truth, in love. Bring relief to the sick, the poor, the marginalized, in love. Serve others, in love. Forgive those who hurt you, in love. Pray for your enemies, in love. And ultimately, lay down your life, in love. “Greater love has no one than this,” Jesus said, “that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13).
The Final Apologetic
Years ago, I read everything I could find by Francis Schaeffer, a Christian apologist and philosopher. I wanted to know what I believed and why I believed it. I wanted to skillfully analyze my culture. I wanted to be able to clearly articulate and courageously defend the Christian faith. In my college years, no one was doing it much better than Francis Schaeffer. But in the end, most people aren’t argued into the kingdom of Christ, and Schaeffer understood this. In The Mark of a Christian, he referred to the New Commandment of John 13 and wrote:
Without true Christians loving one another, Christ says the world cannot be expected to listen, even when we give proper answers. Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers. For years the orthodox, evangelical church has done very poorly. So it is well to spend time learning to answer the questions of men who are about us. But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gives is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.
So yes, let’s learn our apologetics and “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” (Jude 3). But let’s never forget to practice “the final apologetic” and how it was modeled for us on the cross.
Happy Maundy Thursday!
❤️