Good day
For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit.
To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two
postings preceding this one.
"My command is
this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this;
that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I
command," (John 15:12-14).
How did Jesus love
us? He answered the question in the next verse - "Greater love has no one
than this; that he lay down his life for his friends." He is obviously
talking about himself. He lay his life down for us – the perfect love. He says
that there is no greater love than that. Then we also have the challenge in
this passage: "Love each other as I have loved you." The standard is
simple – if we want to obey this command, if we want to exercise such love and
if we want to be Jesus’ friend, we will have to lay down our life for our
friends.
Lay down my life?
Do you mean I have to die like Jesus did? Jesus lay down his life, by dying, to
bear the wages of sin in order for us to be delivered from the power of sin -
"for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord," (Romans 6:33). This was His ultimate demonstration
of His love for us. He however lay down His life in another way as well. We
read reports like: "Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,'" (Matthew
8:20). Did Jesus care much about His own physical needs? "Jesus went
throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of
the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News
about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill
with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those
having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them," (Matthew 4:23,
24). We read of many other occasions where for example Jesus wanted to be
alone, but when the crowds discovered Him, He did not complain, but faithfully
ministered to their every need.
Did Jesus care
about the needs of His friends? Jesus did not have a life of His own. He did
not allow himself to have fun, to relax in front of the telly, to worship his
football or rugby team. He lay down His life for those who needed Him. He put
love into practice every possible minute. "Love each other
as I have loved you." How do we measure up to this command in comparison
with Jesus? I’m sure He would love it if all of His followers could follow Him
in doing the same than He did and to the same extent (John 14:12: "I tell
you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He
will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father”), but
since He is gracious and merciful He will be happy with whatever we lay down
for His sake. If we manage to do all He has done, just think what a difference
it will make to the world, but even if we just make the most of every
opportunity, we already lay down our lives for our friends to a certain degree.
However, having
said this, we once again see a very definite condition in John 15:14: "You
are my friends if you do what I command." What is the implication? If we
do not do what Jesus commands, we are not
His friends. Once again can we agree that man is created in God’s image and
therefore using an example out of ordinary life gives us an idea of the way the
Lord thinks? If you are in a partnership relationship and you work together on
a project, the partners involved usually become friends. If, however, one of
these friends in partnership keeps on messing up by not abiding by the rules
and not obeying the agreed instructions by which the team works, and after much
counsel and many reprimands keeps on disobeying the agreed work ethics, how
long do you think such a friendship will last? Soon everybody will turn sour
and will want this guy out. His/her relationship with the others will be
damaged and friendship will dwindle? You
may now probably think that God is not human. Quite right, but Jesus did say
'you are my friends if you do what I command.'
Would He then
reject us if we do not obey His commands? Would He refuse fellowship with us if
we do not obey? (To be continued)
Lord, please guide
me into laying my life down for my friends.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
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