Day 38—Maundy Thursday, April 2

John 13: 31-35

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

On the night of betrayal, after Judas has gone out into the darkness, Jesus speaks of glory. This is not the glory of triumph or applause, but the glory of self-giving love. The Shepherd is about to lay down his life for the sheep. In that moment—when fear, confusion, and sorrow swirl around the disciples—Jesus gives them a clear and simple way to follow him.

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

This is the Way of the Shepherd.

The command is not new because love was never spoken before. It is new because it now has a face. The disciples have seen love kneel with a towel and basin. They have seen love reach toward the weary, the hungry, the forgotten. Soon, they will see love stretched wide on a cross.

The Shepherd does not drive the sheep; he leads them. And where he leads is into a life shaped by the same love he embodies. In Lent, we walk this way intentionally. We slow our pace. We examine our hearts. We notice where we resist the costly tenderness of Christ. As we close this season of pilgrimage and enter into the Great Three Days, the flock is gathered once again around the table to remember the gift of grace found in the eucharist and Jesus’ commandment to us all.

Jesus continues, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.” The mark of the flock is not perfection, power, or prestige. It is love—steady, forgiving, courageous love. Love that stays at the table. Love that washes feet. Love that refuses to let betrayal have the final word.

To follow the Shepherd is to learn his voice. And his voice calls us toward one another, not away. It calls us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to serve as we have been served, to remain when it would be easier to walk away.

As we conclude our Lenten journey, in the Way of the Shepherd, may we listen closely. May we practice the love he commands. And may the world, catching a glimpse of that love among us, recognize the presence of the Good Shepherd still leading his people home.

-Dillon Swanson