John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now. 

“I am giving you a new commandment that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”” - ‭‭John‬ ‭13:34-35‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another. 

I loved how the Amplified translation added the “unselfish concern” language. Love sounds good; I have it tattooed on my forearm as a reminder to love others...but unselfish concern, that’s significant. 

Jesus' time on earth is coming to an end, and he is having his last moments with his disciples. As he is preparing them and basically leaving this his final words, he gives them a new commandment. Love one another, and have unselfish concern for one another. What would our families look like if we had unselfish concern for one another? What would our schools, our neighborhoods, our communities, and cities look like if we as Christ-followers truly lived lives of unselfish concern for one another? Think about it, visualize your family, your neighborhood...unselfish concern for one another. May we think about this today, and work towards modeling this, and truly loving others today. Even those that do not look like us act like us or believe like us.