Advent: “They Will Know We Are Christians…”
John 13:34-35 Jesus gave His disciples and all Christians a new commandment: Love Each Other
Through January 6, I’ll be posting devotionals with an Advent and Epiphany theme to focus our minds on the nativity of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!
Peace and Love are the two main themes for this Advent series, and today as we draw close to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we study another statement made by our Savior just before his death on the Cross.
Once again, this occurrence happens at the Last Supper, where reading the Bible shows us just how much Jesus tried to get across to His disciples in the few hours before He would leave them for the last time. At this point, Jesus has washed their feet to teach about humility and the servant mentality they must have, has told the disciples that He will be betrayed (and even tells John who the betrayer is), and tells the disciples that He is about to enter into His glory.
In the midst of this are two verses that are very important to all Christians. Jesus tells His followers that just as He has loved them, they should love one another:
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.””
John 13:34-35 NLT
This brought to mind a contemporary hymn that was written in the 1960s and is still relevant: “They’ll Know We Are Christians”. Now, I’m sure that most of us know this tune, but I’ll bet you didn’t know that the songwriter (Peter Scholtes, who was a Catholic priest at the time) wrote the hymn in one day while leading a children’s choir at a parish in South Chicago. He needed an ecumenical song that would focus on why God’s love can conquer anything — including the interracial divide that was tearing apart Chicago and America in the 60s… and now:
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
We are one int he Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.
Chorus: And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land.
We Will work with each other, we will work side by side;
We will work with each other, we will work side by side;
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride.
All praise to the Father, from whom all things come;
And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son.
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one. 1
The hymn, and the sentiment, refer not only to John 13:35, but also to the comments of many of those who witnessed the love of the early Christians. These non-believers used a phrase to describe the early Christians: “Behold, how they love one another.”
As we celebrate this Christmas, let’s remember the commandment our Lord and Savior left us with: Love Each Other.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I want to know You more, learn Your commandments, and love You better. Let me walk in spirit and truth, grow in grace, with full knowledge of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to be able to love all others as You love me. Please let my life be a testimony that I am Your child, friend, servant, and disciple, so I may bring nothing but honor to Your name. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scholtes, Peter © 1966, F.E.L. Publications, assigned to The Lorenz Corp., 1991