Jesus’ Lesson On Love
John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
On the eve of the terrible crisis of the cross, Jesus gathers His followers around Him to take the Jewish Passover. This will be the last Passover any Israelite can correctly take as a prophetic prefigure of the coming sacrifice of the Messiah-Redeemer. He uses the symbols of the Old Cov- enant to institute His Supper, the Supper of Remembrance, that will mark the culmination of the old and the beginning of the new when He cries out from the cross, "It is finished.."
It is characteristic of His ministry of perfection, that He uses this occasion to teach the great lessons found in chapters thirteen through seventeen of this book and those recorded in the parallel gospels. His great love, concern and compassion, compels Him to go even further and show His disciples the way of love in the object lesson of washing their feet. This last lesson of love could be summarized by the statement, "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." As He faces the awful agony of the cross, He pauses for a moment to teach us love and humility. The way of Christ and the way of the cross is the way of love. Paul described it as "..the most excellent way." Within hours He will flesh out this lesson on the cross. Let us look at Jesus' last lesson on how to love.
JESUS LOVED BY HIS SACRIFICE. The cross is God's plus sign in His love equation. "But God commends his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Ro. 5:8 ) Without giving there can be no real loving. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (II Cor. 8:9) Jesus' last lesson on love illustrates the ultimate motivation for selfless service.
It has often been said that often what we do in the Lord’s service is not nearly as important as why we do it. It is sometimes quite discouraging to observe the continuing procession of people who seem to feel that obedience to God is a great burden rather than a glorious blessing. It would seem that they shoulder the burden of simple service as if it is something to be cast off at first opportunity and abandoned with the flimsiest excuse or pretext. At any gathering of pastors, you will find this phenom- enon is the most common source of discouragement expressed.
It seems a puzzling paradox that too many of those for whom our Saviour bled and died must be constantly encouraged to regularly attend the house of God and meet with Him and Honour and Glorify Him. They rather not be reminded to give of their substance to the Lord. They ignore all urgings to personally witness to the world of His saving grace. This contradicts our calling to joyous service motivated by love and gratitude. John said that if we really do love Him we will keep His commandments and that His commandments will not be difficult or burdensome. (See I John 5:3) He said this after having said we love Him because He first loved us.
Paul repeatedly appealed to the members of the early churches to predicate their service upon the fact of Christ's great loving sacrifice. He calls the people of God to live the crucified life and present themselves a living sacrifice in the Lord's service. (Romans 12:1-3) Why? Out of love and gratitude for our salvation. An attitude of gratitude must under gird acceptable service.
The motivation of His glorification will validate our service in the eyes of the Lord. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." (II Cor. 5:14-15) In His lesson of loving sacrifice our Saviour shows us that real love can best be expressed through sacrificial giving. On the cross our Saviour paid the ultimate price to meet our desperate need as sinners needing a Saviour. We are called to meet the needs of those around us, even when it costs to do so.
I read a story a time back about a man named James Harrison. Since I spent a number of years in the State of Arkansas in the U. S., the story was especially interesting. In fact, my family and I departed this same airport in December 1969 in a 707 to make our way to Australia: being led here to plant churches and a Christian School. James Harrison was a staff member of the Quachita Baptist University. The University Choir had made a tour in Europe and was returning home. As the plane touched down at Little Rock, a storm struck. The plan skidded off the runway and the cabin was ripped open.
Of course, everyone was frightened and desperate and chaos ensued. The jet fuel was alight and flames began to consume the plane. Harrison escaped, but then turned back to help others. Wit- nesses and those he helped said he again and again pulled fellow passengers to safety and then ran back to yank others out. But on his last trip into the burning wreckage, he was overcome by smoke inhalation. He didn't make it out alive.
At the funeral, the choir director quoted this verse, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Of course in this verse, Jesus was speaking of his own death for us. Through his selfless sacrifice, James Harrison was able to witness about his Saviour to those who heard that day.
We have all heard stories of such sacrifices made by soldiers for the sake of their mates. The recent awarding of the Victoria Cross represents such selfless sacrifice. We recently had the pleasure of driving to Canberra, our nation’s capitol. Those who have driven that way in recent will know that there are number of roadside parks along the way dedicated to those brave soldiers who have received the, Victoria Cross, the nations highest decoration. If you stop and read their stories, you will find that most gave their lives for their country.
We may never be called upon to make such a sacrifice. Yet, every day we have opportunities to set aside our own comfort and love our family, friends and neighbors through sacrificially meeting their real needs. Of course, the greatest need of all men is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and the greatest act of love in our age is to share His gospel with a lost sinner condemned to an eternity in hell.
JESUS LOVED BY CARING. It was a scourge woven in love that drove Him to the cross and the cord of love that bound Him there. His caring compassion was expressed in the practical act of humbly washing His disciples' feet. "He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe [them] with the towel wherewith he was girded." (John 13:4-5)
In this simple act of service we see the Eternal Creator stooping to wash the feet of His lowly creatures. Much has been written of this custom and its practical cultural implications. Suffice it to say, the sight of the Son of God condescending to cleanse their feet of the filth and grime normally associated with travel in that day, speaks volumes about the care and compassion of our Saviour.
God gives us many Biblical examples of small, simple acts of caring, that have great signifi- cance. The young lad generously sharing his loaves and small fish. "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?" (John 6:9) Although the lad's simple act of sharing might seem small and insignificant to some, Jesus was able to bless it and multiply its effects to feed the hungry thousands. But even more importantly, the divinely inspired record of his caring has been used through the centuries to show millions the true person and power of the Bread of Life.
We also have the record of an unnamed man who shared his donkey colt on that momentous day many call Palm Sunday. "Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose [them], and bring [them] unto me. And if any [man] say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them." (Matt. 21:2-3) This simple act of caring enabled the fulfillment of prophecy as the crowds heralded the arrival of the Messiah into His city.
The inspiring story of a shivering, shaking, exhausted apostle, gathering firewood for ship wrecked survivors, reveals the caring heart of a great man of God. "And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid [them] on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand." (Acts 27:2-3) But his caring heart is more fully revealed by his words about his compassion for the souls of His people. " . . I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:" (Ro. 9:1-2)
Of course, if we are to follow the example of our Saviour's love, we must understand that the greatest act of love we can practice upon this earth is bringing another soul to Christ. Oh, the value of a soul. Jesus gives us a measurement in the gospels. (Mark 8:36) We need only look to the cross and our Saviour suspended their to get some sense of the value God has placed upon a single soul! Go stand in a shopping centre or look around you in a great stadium and consider the masses who drop off into hell to be eternally separated from God and His love. Then consider the price our Saviour paid for each one. Then consider the task God has given us to get out the good news of eternal salvation. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves [with him]." Psalm 126:5-6
One day a small lad chanced upon an elderly man crying. His wife of many years had recently passed away. The boy stood and watched a moment, and then climbed up into the man's lap and just sat there for awhile. His Mother later asked him why he did that. He replied, "I just wanted to help him cry."
The lesson is clear. Our best help in times of loss and sorrow might be a simple act of coming along side someone, perhaps holding their hand and crying with them. Attempts to identify with their plight or share great and wise sayings are often relatively meaningless and ineffectual. The ability to " . . weep with those who weep." (Ro. 12:15) is a precious gift we can share with others in their time of hurt and sorrow.
Jesus gave us the example when He visited Mary and Martha after the death of their brother, Lazarus. He was so touched by their grief that the record simply says, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35) The depth of His great compassion was even noted by the onlookers who said, "See how He loved him!” (John 11:36)
JESUS LOVED BY FORGIVING. The act of foot washing symbolized the need a Christian has for daily cleansing in his walk through this sinful world. (See verses 5-10) Jesus used Peter's coming denial and forgiveness to further illustrate His willingness to lovingly forgive. We who have been washed all over by the blood of Christ, need daily cleansing in our walk. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1:6-7 )
Christ's capacity for forgiveness is as infinite as the loving attributes and characteristics of God the Father. We are sometimes amazed at the awesome capacity of large main frame computer sys- tems to remember and systematize vast quantities of detailed information on citizens of this world. It is said that it is possible for millions of commercial and home computers to by linked together and synchronized in such a way as to furnish vast memory and computation power; multiplying man's capacity to record data and solve problems. Civil libertarians see such capacities as daunting and dangerous. But when compared with our Father's remarkable memory capacity all this fades into trivial insignificance.
God's memory capacity is marvelous. He surely has the capacity to remember even the minute details of the existence of the estimated forty billion of His creatures who have existed on planet earth throughout history. The summation of these details are predicted to meet lost man in judgment. He numbers the hairs on our hair and records the falling of the sparrow in the field.
David's description of this intimate knowledge in Psalm 139 is awesome. Yet, this same God can be as selective as He wills. One of the marvels of grace is His capacity to truly forget our sins. This is confirmed by His statement about future Israel: "..... for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31:34b) He tells us our sins may be separated as far from Him as the East is from the West and as far as the depths of the uttermost sea.
We need to daily emulate our Lord's example of forgiving others. Paul makes it clear to the early churches that our prime example in forgiveness should be our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. "For- bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye." (Col. 3:13) "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Eph. 4:32)
Sometimes our memory and forgiveness capacity seems to be antithetical to our Lord's. We seem to be able to forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget. We seem to have the capacity to continually remember and remind others of incidents and offenses that we have professed to have forgiven and the inability to forget those things we have pledged ourselves to for- give. On the other hand we sometimes seem to find it difficult to remember to commend and encour- age others for the good things they have done. All too often instead of forgiving and forgetting and seeking to encourage others we tend to follow the pattern expressed in this bit of verse:
The Builder Versus The Wrecker
"I watched them tearing a building down - A gang of men in a busy town;
With a "Ho heave ho" and a lusty yell, They swung a beam and the side wall fell;
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled?, the kind you'd hire, if you were to build? He laughed and said, "Why no indeed, just common laborers is all I need; They can easily wreck in a day or two, That which has taken builders years to do." So I said to myself, as I went on my way, What part in the game of life do I play? Am I shaping my deeds to a well-made plan, Carefully measuring with a rule square, Patiently doing the very best I can? Or am I a wrecker, who walks the town, Content with the labor of tearing down? - Selected
CHRIST LOVED BY HUMBLE SUBMISSION. Humility, submission and meekness characterize our Savior. He invited us to "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." (Matt. 11:29)
In contrast, the pride and arrogance of Peter characterize Christians who deny the Lord. "Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus an- swered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice." (John 13:37-38) The record indicates that Peter’s pride had to be broken before he could effectively serve the Lord “Then began he to curse and to swear, [saying], I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly." (Matt. 26:74-75)
CHRIST LOVED BY REPROOF. The love of God often requires he reprove His children. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." (Heb. 12:6 ) The ministry of the Holy Spirit involves a loving ministry of reproof as well. "And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:" (John 16:8)
He has given His pastors and people a parallel ministry of reproof. "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them]." (Eph. 5:11) "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." (I Tim. 5:20)
CHRIST LOVED BY RECONCILIATION AND RESTORATION. Jesus' teaches the basis for reconciliation and restoration here. Our primary ministry in this world is a ministry of reconciliation to God. "And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconcilia- tion. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (II Cor. 5:18-20)
Let us learn the lesson of our Saviour's love well. Those who have not yet experienced His saving love, grace and mercy, need to humble themselves as sinners before Him and cry out in true repen- tance for forgiveness and eternal salvation. Those who have been saved by His marvelous and match- less grace need to humbly and lovingly share that message of forgiveness with all the world around them.
