Romans 5:2

5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ¹  in the hope of God’s glory.

Matthew 11:28-30

11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke ²  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

Luke 15:2

15:2 But ³  the Pharisees ⁴  and the experts in the law ⁵  were complaining, ⁶  “This man welcomes ⁷  sinners and eats with them.”

John 6:37

6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away. ⁸ 

John 13:34

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love ⁹  one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Or “exult, boast.”

² sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

⁵ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

⁶ tn Or “grumbling”; Grk “were complaining, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁷ tn Or “accepts,” “receives.” This is not the first time this issue has been raised: Luke 5:27-32; 7:37-50.

⁸ tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”

⁹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause gives the content of the commandment. This is indicated by a dash in the translation.

¹⁰ sn The idea that love is a commandment is interesting. In the OT the ten commandments have a setting in the covenant between God and Israel at Sinai; they were the stipulations that Israel had to observe if the nation were to be God’s chosen people. In speaking of love as the new commandment for those whom Jesus had chosen as his own (John 13:1, 15:16) and as a mark by which they could be distinguished from others (13:35), John shows that he is thinking of this scene in covenant terminology. But note that the disciples are to love “Just as I have loved you” (13:34). The love Jesus has for his followers cannot be duplicated by them in one sense, because it effects their salvation, since he lays down his life for them: It is an act of love that gives life to people. But in another sense, they can follow his example (recall to the end, 13:1; also 1 John 3:16, 4:16 and the interpretation of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet). In this way Jesus’ disciples are to love one another: They are to follow his example of sacrificial service to one another, to death if necessary.