“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (rf. Jn. 13:34–35 NASB)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (rf. Mt. 5:43–48 NASB)
The favorite word and concept of the Apostle John was “love”. He took his cues directly from Jesus who possessed not only the emotional aspects of love, but, more importantly, executed the actions that most clearly displayed the true meaning of love. Jesus’ example was simply living out the reality and reflection of the love of God in the arena of men.
In Matthew’s Gospel we find Jesus sharing with His disciples how the love of God plays out in the midst of a sinful world. He shows without doubt that the true love of God is a proactive measure, seeking to do what is counterintuitive to a culture that expects anger, hatred, retribution and vengeance. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches a Jewish population that what they had learned previously about loving their neighbor and hating their enemy was not really different from what the sinful world does regularly. Both the “tax collectors” and Gentiles love their own and show hatred and enmity toward those they consider their enemies.
Jesus says that if you are willing to follow Him and be His disciple, you must go beyond those norms. You must love those that do not love you and those who want to see you hurt, in pain, or dead—“your enemies”. This is the reason that His love is not pure emotion as we assume all love is. The love Jesus speaks of is a conscious, willful decision to extend God’s love to someone who, in our opinion, does not deserve the experience. This kind of love is far beyond our human abilities to accomplish. Thus, the love of Christ in the heart of a believer is love that He has put there by the Holy Spirit. By the same Spirit, He exercises that love out of ourselves toward folks we would never dream to associate with, much less to whom we would show compassion and care. This is why the love of Christ is so different and so needed.
In all of our lives, we have folks in our circle of influence who are seem to be so unlovable and undeserving of any form of grace because they are so negative, hateful, arrogant, etc. These are the ones who desperately need a good dose of Christ’s love. They need to see that His love extends even to them, no matter how bad their lives may have been. And by His grace, He has chosen His disciples to convey that love.
Let us then be more mindful of this responsibility and show His love to others at every opportunity. Note also that Jesus Himself stated that by doing so, “all men will know that (we) are My disciples”. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment