The passage
      v31. Judas has now left the upper room and so Jesus can speak intimately with his disciples. He uses the title "Son of Man" to describe himself. This is a messianic title commonly used by Jesus. It literally means "the man", but refers to Daniel's "Son of Man", the one who comes in glory to reign. This Son of Man, says Jesus, is "now... glorified." That is, the betrayal has begun and his death is imminent. In John's gospel, the supreme manifestation of divine glory is found in the selfless act of Christ on the cross. Jesus includes "God" in this glory - a trinitarian idea. Both the Father and the Son share in the cross.
      v32. This verse is difficult to understand, but it is probably making much the same point as v31. The revelation of God's majesty, his glorious character, is manifested in the lifting up of Christ on the cross. Both the Father and the Son share in the cross and both the Father and the Son are displayed, in all their splendor, in the cross.
      v33. Jesus now tells his disciples something that will hurt them. He therefore uses a gentle and intimate term to address them - "My (little) children." He tells them he is going to leave them and they will not be able to follow him. He goes the way of the cross to the Father. Only Jesus can go the way of the cross, resurrection and ascension, to reign with the Ancient of Days in glory, but because he goes, his disciples will one day share his eternal glory.
      v34. Jesus now gives his disciples "a new commandment", cf. 1Jn.2:8. It is a "commandment" in the sense of being an important/emphatic word from the Master. It is "new", says Turner, in the sense of being restated anew - "I give you it anew." It's an old rule of thumb that Jesus wants to underline. Yet, there seems more to its newness than just repetition. A disciple's love is shaped by Christ's love of his brothers, a love which gives all for the life of the brother. Love is in the fullest sense, Christ-like compassion. Yet, there is more, Christ's love may be the measure of our love, but it is also the ground of our love, the means of love. Because of Christ's love for us (his death and resurrection and indwelling presence within) we are freed and impelled to love. This is probably the meaning of verse 34b: "I have loved you in order that you may also love one another."
      v35. Christ's indwelling presence within the individual believer and within the Christian community, impels us toward brotherly love - self-giving, sacrificial love. As Jesus was, so his disciples are, and this in the power of his indwelling love. Such is the distinguishing mark of a disciple.

Love one another
      Chrysostom complained, in his day, that love was not evidenced in the life of the Christian community. "Even now, there is nothing else that causes the heathen to stumble, except that there is not love..... Their doctrines they have long condemned, and in like manner they admire ours, but they are hindered by our mode of life."
      Jesus tells us that the distinguishing mark of the Christian community is love. Not just warm feelings toward others in the church, but a compassionate self-giving toward the needs of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Such is cross-bearing love.
      The problem is that such love is a rare thing in the Christian church. Tertullian said of his generation that the heathen held his congregation in high regard. "'See', they say, 'how they love one another.'" Do they say that of us? In truth, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to work up loving relationships with brothers and sisters in our church fellowship. Sometimes there are hurts to get over, racial, cultural and economic differences, problems of social status..... So it is not always easy to find the emotional energy required to put ourselves out for the spiritual welfare of a brother or sister. Their eternal salvation needs to be paramount in our thinking, yet our own needs often take precedence over those of our brothers.
      The fact is that Jesus' death and resurrection did not just serve as an example of how to love, but actually freed us and empowered us to love. On the one hand we are freed from the selfish and stifling power of the sinful self. The sinful self was crucified with Christ, thus we are freed to be the person we were designed to be, freed to care for God and each other. On the other hand we are empowered to love. We were raised with Christ and through his indwelling presence we are impelled to love as he loves. His character of love resides within, shaping us toward love.
      So then, love, or better compassion, is not so much a matter of doing, but rather of receiving. Love is activated in our lives when we rest upon Christ's completed work. The prayer of faith, based upon a recognition of the indwelling power we possess in Christ, activates our loving and so sets us apart as disciples of Christ.

v32
      ei oJ qeoV edoxosqh en autw/ "if God is glorified in him" - This clause, serving as the protasis of a conditional clause 1st class, is not found in some of the better manuscripts and may be an addition. None-the-less, it carries John's argument forward.
      doxasei (doxazw) fut. act. "will glorify" - The move to a future active is confusing, but probably carries the same future-referring sense as the first three aorist passives used in v1 and 2a. The aorists referred to the revelation of Christ's splendid character, along with that of the Father's, and this in Christ's act of obedience on the cross. Commentators tend to take the change in tense to refer to some other future manifestation of glory, eg. Christ's enthronement in the heavenlies, beside the Ancient of Days. Yet, the Father's glorification of the Son may still be in the cross, given that the lifting up of Jesus is a unified act of the Godhead.
      auton "the Son" - him. It is helpful to identify "him" as "the Son of Man."
      en autw/ "in himself" - in him. The variant autw, when accentuated, forms the reflective pronoun "himself", ie. "in God the Father himself", expressing a local relational sense where Christ is restored to "the glory he had before the world was made", 17:5. This is the accepted translation. None-the-less, there are other possible translations: The "in" could be instrumental, "God will glorify the Son by his own hand", although in the New Testament a spacial sense is more likely. If the more common reading is accepted, it is possible that "in him" means "in Christ"; "God will glorify him in his (Christ's) own person", Morris.
      euquV "at once" - immediately. Referring to the imminent death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus occurring in a single unit of time; "here and now", Barclay.

v33
      teknia (on) "my children" - child. "My little children." Only used here once in the gospel, but seven times in First John. Some argue the term belongs to the evangelist, but it is not unusual for a teacher to address his disciples as children. The description of a disciple as a child is found in the synoptic gospels. It is an expression of endearment; "Oh my children", Phillips.
      eti mikron "only a little longer" - yet just / only a little / a little while. Jesus has used the term earlier in his ministry so it doesn't focus on the shortness of time as such, but is more prophetic, apocalyptic; "the end is near.
      toiV IoudaioiV "the Jews" - Jesus' enemies; "my enemies", or "the religious authorities."
      uJpagw "go" - go away. This verb is used of Jesus departure, in the sense of his departure from the world to be reunited to the Father, ie. his death, resurrection and ascension.

v34
      kainhn (oV) "new" - fresh, new. Given that the command is found in the Old Testament, what is new about it? It is possibly "new" in the sense of being restated anew - "I give you it anew", Turner. Possibly "it's newness would appear to consist of its being the law of the new order, brought about by the redemption of God in and through Christ", Beasley-Murray. The law is then new in that Christ's death exegetes its meaning to a depth never reached in the Old Testament; it sets a "new standard ('as I have loved you')", Carson. It is possibly new in that it is a divine instruction which functions without a curse. Christ's obedience, his love, is ours when we identify with him through faith. This standing, by grace through faith, then progresses our application of the law of love; we are empowered to love. Old Testament law carried with it a curse (ie. it serves to expose sin in the sinner, making sin more sinful), whereas Christ's law of love carries with it a blessing in that in his love we learn to love.
      entolhn (h) "commandment" - ordinance, injunction, command. The word is used 6 times in this discourse and 18 times in John's letters. The word "Maundy", for Maundy Thursday, comes from the Latin for commandment, "mandatum", as of "a new commandment I give you."
      iJna + subj. - that. Introducing a clause which may either be epexegetic, explaining the substance of the command, or imperatival, giving the actual command.
      agapate (agapaw) pres. subj. "love" - The present tents expressing continued action (durative); "keep on loving." The word serves to define the relationship that should exist between believers. "Compassion" probably comes closest to its meaning, although in practical terms, "forgiveness" and "mercy" may best describe the substance of "love." In a church situation it may distill down to "acceptance", particularly the acceptance of a "sinner" in our midst.
      kaqwV hgaphsa uJmaV "as I have loved you" - as I loved you. Jesus is surely referring to his death, which act best exegetes the meaning of love.
      iJna + subj. "so [you must love one another]" - that. The NIV takes this second hina clause as imperatival, but some commentators suggest it is best taken as a purpose clause; "I have loved you in order that you also may love one another." This suggestion has merit. If taken as a purpose clause, an obvious question arises: does Jesus' sacrifice of love empower our love, or are we to love because of Jesus' selfless love? Morris suggests that this clause establishes "the ground" of love, while the first hina clause establishes "the measure" of love.