Thielman:practical expressions of love

HOSPITALITY AS PROOF OF A COMMITMENT TO THE TRUTH

According to John’s gospel, Jesus left his disciples with the singularly important command that they should love one another (John 13:34; 15:12, 17). He also left them with an enacted parable whose point was that their love for one another should take practical form: Although he was their master, he took the role of a slave and washed their feet (13:1–17). Such practical expressions of love, even for the most authoritative members of the community, were essential to membership within the church (13:6–9). These loving actions were the sure mark of authentic discipleship (13:35).
This theme became a major concern in 1 John, where, as we have seen, the secessionists revealed their lack of concern for the truth not only in their faulty confession of Christ but in their unloving withdrawal from the orthodox community (1 John 2:19). Their commitment to the truth was only skin deep because they failed to “do the truth” by loving their brothers and sisters (1:6). Their love was only a matter of word and tongue rather than of deed and truth (3:18).

Thielman, F. (2005). Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical and Synthetic Approach (p. 568). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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