As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

This saying appears in the Gospel of John during the Last Supper discourse, on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. After washing the disciples’ feet and speaking of his imminent departure, Jesus gives what John calls a “new commandment” to his followers: they are to love one another in the pattern and measure of his own love for them. In John’s narrative, this command functions as a defining mark of the post-Easter community, meant to sustain unity and witness when Jesus is no longer physically present. The setting is intimate and instructional, addressed to the disciples as a final, foundational directive.

The line makes Jesus’ love the standard for Christian ethics: love is not merely reciprocal affection or general benevolence, but a self-giving commitment modeled on Jesus’ own actions—service, forgiveness, and willingness to suffer for others. The imperative “must” frames love as a binding obligation within the community, not an optional virtue. In John’s theology, this mutual love becomes both the internal glue of discipleship and an outward sign by which others can recognize Jesus’ followers. The phrase also implies that the capacity to love flows from having first been loved—disciples imitate what they have received.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

“As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (KJV)
“As I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (ESV)
“Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (NRSV)