If you were on trial for being a follower of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Is it clear from what you do and say that you are a follower of Jesus? What sort of evidence would you want brought to the bar to prove that you are a Christian?

You go to church. That should count for something. Perhaps you are baptized or have made public profession of Faith in Christ. You could get a letter of good standing from the elders of the church. Those are good tangible things to have in your corner. Yet, these things do not prove you a true follower of Jesus. Remember: Judas Iscariot had credentials—he was picked by Jesus himself.

You could point to your speech and the things you say. What would people know about your faith from your speech? Would it not be tragic to work next to someone for years and have him never hear anything from you about the Lord Jesus? You could point to your actions. As folks say, talk is cheap. Do people see you doing what a follower of Jesus does? Do they even know what those things are?

In our passage, Jesus tells us what people should use in order to know if we are true followers of Jesus. The late Christian apologist, Francis Schaefer, called this one criterion the mark of the Christian. People in the world have the right to determine if you really are a follower of Jesus based on this one thing—verse 35: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.

This condition of love is the new commandment that Jesus gives his disciples in v 34. In one sense, the command to love is not new. Love is the core of the Old Testament ethic. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. What is the next? Love your neighbor as yourself. The right thing to do is the loving thing to do. The loving thing to do is the right thing to do. In that way, this is not a new commandment.

Yet it is new commandment. The disciples are told to love one another, not just the way they loved themselves, but the way Jesus loved them. Jesus washed their feet even though he was their master. Jesus faced the cross for them, even though they would desert him. Jesus’ love was total. Jesus’ love would not only bless them but save them. They were to love each other as Jesus loved them.

If we think that by our own goodness we have the power to love one another the way Christ has loved us, then we are in trouble. We cannot. We will sin against each other. We will fail to prefer one another to ourselves in love. It is hard enough to love each other when we more or less agree. To love sacrificially requires special grace from the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of Christ works in we who follow him to change our hearts and lives. We find that we are able to love with the sacrificial love of Christ. By the Holy Spirit we find that we can love even when we are being disrespected and disregarded. By the presence of the power of Christ’s love in our lives, the love of Christ can be seen in marvelous ways to the wonder of a watching world.

No where is this stronger than in the area of forgiveness. Nothing is more startling to a cynical, self-serving world than forgiveness. The love of Christ is shown in forgiveness. Jesus loved his followers enough to die for their forgiveness. When we love enough to release our "rights" in order to forgive and restore, people will notice.

How can we have this sort of love flowing in our midst? We cannot generate it ourselves. Our human ability to love quickly gets taxed to the limit. This love can only come from the Lord. It comes as we seek the Lord with all our heart. In comes when we humbly seek the Lord in repentance. When we are humble before the Lord, it is no great stretch to be humble before one another. And if we are not humble before one another it is an indication that we are not humble before the Lord.

When love for one another is shown in forgiveness, the world has a reason to say, "Surely the presence of the Lord is in that place among them." I want that to be my testimony. I want people to look at us and see that powerful forgiving love at work and say, "They really do follow Jesus." Don’t you?