Greater Love and Even Greater Love
February 13, 2005
Dear Friends:
Jesus told his disciples that he was going to give them a “new” commandment. Jesus said “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34) Now, at first blush, there does not seem to be anything new about this commandment. Had not the Law taught the second great commandment? Leviticus 19:18 states “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.”
What Jesus was teaching the disciples was, in fact, radically and amazingly new. The Law taught that we should love our neighbors equal to ourselves. We should not put our interests above theirs, but equal to our own. Jesus ratchets this up several notches. Jesus is now asking his disciples to love his neighbor more than himself. A lot more! He wants us to love each other as he, Jesus, loved us. He wants us to be willing to give our lives for each other! “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Now if I go and get myself crucified, it benefits no one. That selfless act of love performed by Jesus was a one-time, extraordinarily important event. “[Jesus] needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” (Heb. 7:27) Jesus is not asking us to kill ourselves or have ourselves killed. What Jesus is asking us to do is to give selfless love to one another each and every day. “If any man will come after me, let him DENY HIMSELF and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24) Jesus is asking us to exercise self-denial. He wants us to give of ourselves well beyond what is in our self-interest. Give more of our time. Give more of our money. Give more of our assistance, compassion, devotion and care. He wants us to do more than what is normally considered reasonable for it is not worldly wisdom to put others interests ahead of your own.
Now, I will suggest to you that the New Testament contains an even higher level of love than the new commandment Jesus gave to his disciples. It is the love of God for us. The most famous verse in the Bible says “For God SO LOVED the world, that HE GAVE his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This is a highest love of all and any parent can relate to this immediately.
It is one thing to sacrifice yourself for others as Jesus has asked us to do. It is another thing altogether to sacrifice your child for others! In other words, God has asked us though his son to do something that most people are unwilling to do. He has asked us to love each other more than ourselves. Yet, while asking us such a demanding thing, He has not asked us to do more than He Himself is willing to do. God was willing to do more. Much, much more! He was willing to allow His obedient and sinless son to die for sinners. That is true love in its purest form. It was the love that Abraham showed to God when he was willing to do the same thing in the sacrifice of Isaac.
As we contemplate God’s love and the love He has asked that we show to each other, let us not shrink back as if God is asking something unreasonable. Let us each give a little more of ourselves to each other for the sake of God and for the sake of Jesus.
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:7-11 NRS)
Have a great week!
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