Love and Obey (John Part 44)
Text: John 13:31-14:15
Well, we’re back in John’s Gospel this morning, and we’ll be finishing up chapter 13, and moving in to the first part of chapter 14, and we’ll be looking at some important teachings from Jesus that we need to be reminded of. So as you’re turning to John chapter 13, let me re-cap what we’ve looked at so far: Jesus and the disciples are in Jerusalem, they’ve come to celebrate the Passover. And If you recall before they began the meal, Jesus got up and washed their feet, giving us a lesson on serving one another and forgiving one another, and we asked the question – How can we ever withhold forgiveness from one another when God forgives us for rebellion against Him, and for the murder of His only begotten Son Jesus? And the answer to that is – we really can’t. We have no grounds to withhold forgiveness, when God in Christ so readily forgives us.
Then a couple of weeks ago, just before Memorial Day, we looked at Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. We talked about how this guy had walked with Jesus and spent time with Jesus for 3 and ½ years, and he had seen Jesus’ heart and for others; he had seen Jesus perform miracles, he had listened to the teachings of Jesus, and yet, because Jesus didn’t match Judas’ expectations of what the Messiah was supposed to be, he betrayed the Lord. And we see that happen all the time really… people have an idea of what Jesus is supposed to be like, but their idea is based on what they want, and isn’t informed by Scripture. And so the lesson for us in that was that we have to make sure the Jesus we’re following is the Jesus of Scripture, and not a “Jesus” created in OUR OWN image.
But that brings us to our text this morning. We’re in John 13, so if you will please follow along as I read the passage (READ John 13:31-14:15).
So… in this text; Judas has just gotten up and left… He’s gone out to betray Jesus, and Jesus knows that His time on this earth is short. He’s going to be nailed to a cross in a matter of hours, and so these words are some of the last things He’s going to tell the disciples before He dies. And so Jesus starts out by saying, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him…” And that immediately takes us into the mind of God and shows us how different God’s perspective is compared to ours. I mean, if most of us were about to be condemned to death in the most painful way imaginable, for crimes we didn’t commit, and abandoned by all of our friends, I don’t think we would feel like that was very glorious, or glorifying – but in God’s big picture, this does bring glory to Himself. It shows His love and mercy, and compassion. It shows His grace, His holiness, and His justice, all in one event. It is the most amazing, and glorious, and mind-boggling event in all of human history!
And so Jesus says this, again, giving us a glimpse into the mind of God, but then I can imagine Him looking at His disciples… these ignorant, confused, clueless group of guys, and I can just see His heart for them in this… and He looks at them and says, “Guys, I’m going to have to go away for a little while. And where I’m going, you’re not going to be able to come.” Now we know that’s not a permanent thing, and so did Jesus, and He tells them that in John 14:2-3 where He says, “I’m going to prepare a place for you, and then I’ll come again and take you to the place I’ve prepared, so that where I am, there you may also be.” But He has to go and do that. He has to go. He has to die for their sin, and our sin, so that we can be with Him. Otherwise, we could NEVER be with Him. The price has to be paid, and God’s justice and wrath has to be propitiated. And so Jesus tells them that – “I have to go away.” BUT… He goes on, and in verse 34 He tells them something. He says, “Guys I have to go away, but while I’m gone, I’m going to give you a new commandment… LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”
Now sometimes people read that and they ask, “How is that a new commandment? I mean; way back in Leviticus 19:18 God says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. And Jesus said the same thing to the Rich Young Ruler, that he was to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself… so how is the commandment to love new?”
That’s not a bad question to ask, and if you look at verse 34, I’ll show you how…
Jesus looks at the disciples and He doesn’t tell them to love one another as they love THEMSELVES. He says “Love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.”
LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW!
Paul says it like this in Romans 13:10-14, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the Law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
So what Jesus says here is that this love we are to have for our brothers and sisters in Christ, is the same kind of sacrificial love He has for us. It’s the love that says, “I’ll endure pain, sorrow, sadness, suffering, and even death for my brother and sister in Christ.” So if you remember He already showed them and taught them about serving one another and forgiving one another when He washed their feet, and Jesus said to them, “A servant is not above his Master… if I do this sort of thing, My followers should as well.” And now He’s telling them to love one another just as He loves us.
Now Jesus says these things, and it is kind of humorous to me, because the disciples – man… sometimes they were just thick right? Jesus says these things, and the disciples focus on the peripherals… Jesus has a main point – that they are to love as He has loved, and the disciples are like, “Wait? Where did You say You’re going Jesus? Why can’t we come with You?” Peter even boasts that he’d be willing to die for Jesus. And Jesus has to correct him. And there’s a whole sermon in itself in verses 37 and 38 about how Peter thought he was a committed, sold-out follower of Jesus, until his faith was actually challenged, but we’ll save that for another day. For now, we’ll just leave it where Scripture does and see that Peter says, “I’ll lay down my life for you Jesus.” And Jesus says, “Uhm… no Peter, you won’t. You think you will, but you won’t.”
Now Jesus saying that He’s going away, and that Peter would deny Him obviously upset the disciples, which is understandable… so Jesus goes on, in chapter 14:1 and says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.” And Church this is really amazing here when you think about it. I mean, if anyone needed to be comforted here you would think it would be Jesus. He’s the One who is about to be arrested, beaten, mocked, nailed to a cross, and have the wrath of God poured out upon Himself… but His concern is for His disciples. He doesn’t want their hearts to be troubled.
Do you see what kind of God and Savior we have here?
When you see that Jesus has this kind of concern for His disciples, even though He knows what He’s about to face, man that gives me a lot of peace and comfort… and really it kind of overwhelms me. This love, this concern and care that God has for us… it’s beyond comprehension. It’s amazing! It’s like I said… overwhelming. I’m awestruck by it, and filled with joy, and peace by this, while at the same time, I’m convicted that Jesus would have this kind of love and concern for a sinner like me.
Ok… I had better move on, or I’m just going to get swallowed up by this, and stand up here like a dummy or something.
Now Jesus says to them, “I’m going away, I’m going to prepare a place for you, and you know the way.” To which Thomas replies, “Lord, we do not know where you’re going… so how can we know the way?” And again; that seems like a legitimate thing to say. None of them at this point in time really fully understand or comprehend that Jesus is going to die. Jesus has told them, but they didn’t want to believe that, or even consider that might be a possibility. Because again; to them, Jesus was going to be the Messiah who delivered them from Roman rule and occupation. And in their minds, He couldn’t be a great liberator, and deliverer, and Savior if He died… They didn’t understand that their primary need wasn’t to be delivered from Rome, but from SIN.
They didn’t understand that their primary need wasn’t to be given their best life now, but eternal life forever!
Physical healing in this life is a good thing, but if you’re in Christ there’s perfect health in the world to come. Long life is good, but if you’re in Christ, there’s eternal life in the world to come. Freedom from tyranny and oppression in this life is good, but if you’re in Christ, there’s freedom from the slavery to sin and freedom from the destruction of sin in the life to come. It’s like Paul says, “If in this life only we have hope, we are the most pitiful people ever.” That’s what the Bible teaches us over and over again… we don’t place our hope in this life… this life is a vapor. The things of this world are corrupted by sin, and the things of this world are passing away. It’s like the hymn says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through. My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me, from heaven’s open door. And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”
Well Thomas and the others hadn’t quite gotten that understanding yet… so he says, “We don’t know where you’re going Jesus, so how can we know the way?” And in verse 6 Jesus replies with probably one of the most well-known verses in the New Testament – “I AM the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” And that is a verse that the Church needs to fully understand, and it’s a verse that the world needs to hear. If a person thinks that God is going to grant them eternal life apart from knowing Jesus Christ, they’re mistaken. If a person thinks that God is going to let them into heaven because they’re a good guy, they don’t cuss too much, or drink too much, they help their neighbors out, and their momma loves them… they’re mistaken. It’s only through Jesus Christ! It’s only by the grace of God, through faith in Christ. And even for the Christian… we can only stand before God if we are in Christ… when we pray, we pray in Jesus Name… when we “boldly come before the throne of grace in our time of need, so that we can obtain mercy” we do it in Christ. We are only righteous before God in Jesus Christ. So don’t put your faith in your works, in your behavior, in other people’s opinion about you. Put your faith in Christ, and in Christ alone. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life… There’s no other way, it’s not through Buddha, or Mohammed, or the 10,000 gods of Hinduism. It’s not through science, or worldly philosophy… it’s not by being a (quote, un-quote) “good person”. At our very best, our righteousness is like a filthy rag to our perfectly holy, perfectly just, and perfectly righteous God. It’s only by being found in Christ that we are saved, forgiven, and given eternal life.
And so Jesus is telling them this, and He started this portion of the conversation off by giving them this new commandment – to love one another AS HE LOVES. And then in verse 15 He says, “And if you love ME, you will keep MY commandments.” Now throughout the Gospels Jesus gives several commandments… like “Repent” or “Go and sin no more”, “Go into all the world and share the Gospel”, “Pray”, “Abide in the Word”, “Do not fear or be anxious”, “Let your light shine before all men”, “Forgive one another”, but contextually speaking, when Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”, He’s talking about all of them, but specifically the one He just gave, “Love one another as I have loved you.” And if you go back up to verse 35, you’ll see that Jesus says, this is how an unbelieving world knows we are His disciples – “If you have love for one another.” John goes into a lot more detail on this in his first letter. 1 John 3:10, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” Or,
1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” Or 1 John 4:21, “And this commandment we have from Him, whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
This is what Christ in us does. This is how we know we belong to Him… and it’s how the unbelieving world knows we belong to Him. And the truth is… there are times, when all of us fail to keep His commandments because we love other things more than Jesus. Every time we sin, it’s because we love our sin, or ourselves, or this world, more than we love Jesus.
The mark of a Christian isn’t that we never sin… that won’t happen in this world… but that we are progressing in sanctification and righteousness… that we aren’t making a practice of sin. And that’s where we go back to that blessed hope we have… that someday (and I believe it’s very soon), someday, we will be free from all sin, because we’ll be with Jesus. Are you ready for that day? I hope so.
CLOSING
