在第一世纪跟随耶稣的人，是第一批被称为「基督徒」的人。除了在新约圣经中被提名的使徒之外，耶稣还有很多门徒，有男有女，他们见过祂行神迹，听过祂的教导，又被委托去继续祂已展开的使命。基督的整个使命，可以总结为祂给门徒的一个简单的命令，就是在祂被钉十架之前的一个晚上所赐给他们的新命令。
今天，基督的门徒仍然继续开展祂的使命。他们用的方法可能看来不同，但信息却没有改变。在今天，跟随耶稣的呼召和那天晚上的情形一样，基督徒要彼此相爱，就像基督爱他们那样。基督徒要放下自私的欲念和宗教权利的想法，去担当一个仆人的角色，就像耶稣为我们所做的一样。从最深层来说，基督徒要跟随耶稣，越过权力的栅栏和能力的象征，来到把我们的罪和羞耻钉死和埋葬的十字架那里。我们是在十字架那里听到祂对基督徒所发出的基本命令：「要彼此相爱，就像我爱你们一样。」
祷告
慈爱的主，罪人的救主，求祢帮助我们像祢爱我们那样，无私地和无条件地去爱别人。阿们。
约翰福音 13:34-35
34 我赐给你们一条新命令，乃是叫你们彼此相爱，我怎样爱你们，你们也要怎样相爱。 35 你们若有彼此相爱的心，众人因此就认出你们是我的门徒了。」
“A new command I give you: Love one another.” - John 13:34
Jesus’ followers in the first century were the first people to be called “Christians.” In addition to the apostles named in the New Testament, Jesus had many other disciples—men and women who witnessed his miraculous works, listened to the authority of his teaching, and were entrusted to carry on the mission he started. Christ’s entire mission could be summed up in the simple command he gave to his disciples on the night before he was crucified.
Christ’s disciples are still carrying on his mission today. The method may look different, but the message remains the same. The call to follow Jesus is the same today as it was that night: Christians are to love one another, just as Christ loved them. Christians are to set aside selfish desires and notions of religious entitlement and take on the role of a servant, just as Jesus did for us. In the most profound way, Christians are to follow Jesus, past palisades of power and symbols of strength, to the cross, where our sin and shame are put to death and buried. The cross is where we hear the essential command to the Christian: “Love one another, just as I have loved you.”
Lord of love, Savior of sinners, help us to love others the way you have loved us—selflessly and unconditionally. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
