John 13:34-35

June 29, 2014

We didnt quite finish our study of verses 34 and 35 last week, so were just going
to pick right back up where we left off. Jesus is preparing His disciples for His
death, and He wants them to know how to act once Hes gone, so He tells them:

34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another.
35
By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The old commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself, but the new
commandment is to love your brother more than yourself because love is the mark
of a true Christian. We can have amazing knowledge and abilities, but without
love were nothing more than a lone clanging cymbal. (I Cor. 13:1-13).

Weve talked a little about how God has loved us, but Id like to explore that theme
a little deeper. He tells the disciples, as I have loved you, that ye also love one
another. How has God loved us? Well, from the immediate context we see that He
came as a servant. Jesus washed the disciples feet. His way of loving them was in
humility and service and putting their needs ahead of His own.

But theres more to the love of God than just selfless humility. As I have loved
you Thats what were going to study today, and were going to bounce around
the Scriptures to do it.

Gods love is Proactive
Go with me to Lukes gospel and see the parables of the lost sheep and the lost
coin:

Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
2
And the
Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth
with them.
3
And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4
What man of you,
having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5
And when
he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6
And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice
with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
7
I say unto you, that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and
nine just persons, which need no repentance.
8
Either what woman having ten
pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house,
and seek diligently till she find it?
9
And when she hath found it, she calleth her
friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the
piece which I had lost.
10
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Lk. 15:1-10)

Note the first sentence. The Pharisees are all wound up because the dirty sinners
arent being treated as such. But Jesus reveals His own feelings for them when He
shows two people searching diligently for something lost until it was found.
Finding what was lost was cause for rejoicing, and the two people even invited
their friends and family to join with them in celebration. This, Jesus says, is just the
same as it is in the kingdom of God.

Go backwards just a little in Lukes gospel and youll find the true story of one
dirty sinner named Zacchaeus:

And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2
And, behold, there was a man
named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
3
And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he
was little of stature.
4
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see
him: for he was to pass that way.
5
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked
up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for
to day I must abide at thy house.
6
And he made haste, and came down, and
received him joyfully.
7
And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he
was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8
And Zacchaeus stood, and said
unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have
taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9
And
Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also
is a son of Abraham.
10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which
was lost (Lk. 19:1-10).

We know that publicans were tax collectors, so its easy for us to identify them
with the IRS, but thats not really a fair comparison for this situation. See, Rome
occupied Jericho by might. They came in and took over a sovereign nation, and
then they allowed some of the nationals to do their dirty business of meddling in
peoples lives and taking their private property. More than that, these agents were
known to collect more from their brethren than what was actually due in order to
line their own pockets. They were really just a bunch of thieves and traitors, and
nobody wanted them to be saved. They certainly didnt have the right to host
Israels true king, but Jesus says, This is the very reason Im here.

Gods love for us is such that He makes effort to find us. Jesus didnt wait for
someone to ask for a foot-washer. He got up and initiated the action. God initiates
the whole process and doesnt wait for us, because He knows that if were left in
our Adamic natures, then well never come to Him. There is none that seeks God.
So this is how we make sense of hard doctrines like election and predestination,
and this is how we come to understand the meaning of time and history. None of
this stuff is random; everything has a purpose whether we realize it or not, and
that purpose is rooted in Gods love for His children. He predestined, called,
justified, and glorified those whom He foreknew.

And so what we learn from God is that love is proactive.

Gods love is Unconditional
Lets go back to Luke 15 and read a little more on the parables of finding what is
lost:

And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12
And the younger of them said to his
father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto
them his living.
13
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together,
and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with
riotous living.
14
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that
land; and he began to be in want.
15
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of
that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16
And he would fain
have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto
him.
17
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my
fathers have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18
I will arise
and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and before thee,
19
And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of
thy hired servants.
20
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a
great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him.
21
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22
But the
father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a
ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23
And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill
it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24
For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he
was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry (Lk. 15:11-24).

Now, theres an interesting difference between this parable and the two before it;
the man who lost his sheep went out to find it, and the woman who lost her coin
tore the house apart looking for it. The father in this story loses his son, but he
waits at home until his son returns. The point of the first two shows us that God is
proactive in finding his children, but the point stressed in this third parable shows
us that Gods love towards us is absolutely unconditional.

Look at all the terrible things this child did to his father and to himself: first, he
demanded his inheritance early, and once he got it he didnt sit around the house
very long with it; he ran off to the city and squandered it on wine and women.
Imagine being that poor father. This boy just wasted your lifes work. Everything
you inherited from your father and your fathers father is gone because of his
selfishness. But things get even worse, dont they? When the famine comes he
takes a job working pigs on a farm. He was so bad off and so filthy that he would
have eaten the garbage thrown to the pigs!

Ah, now he finally comes to his senses and wants to come crawling back. How will
the father receive him? We know from the rest of the story that the older brother
would have raked him over the coals a little bit and at least made him apologize.
But this father loved his son with an unconditional love. He sees his son from afar
and runs to wrap his arms around him and kiss him. Now, stop and think about
that. If this man couldnt even get a plate of food, do you think he had a change of
clothes? Do you think he had any soap? But this father didnt care anything about
that; nothing was going to stop him from grabbing his boy and holding on tightly.

This is how God loves us. It doesnt matter what weve done or where weve been.
Were so much like the Pharisees that we want to categorize people into classes of
sinners. Over here weve got a group of pretty good folks, and we just dont see
how God could send them to hell. I mean most of them lived as righteously as they
knew how and a whole bunch of them never even heard the name of Jesus before.
Surely God wont do anything to them, right? But then on this other side over
weve got all these dirty rotten sinners. Theyre the kinds of people youd find in a
jail or lurking around dark alleys. These are pimps and hookers and drug-dealers
and murderers. Surely God will judge them, wont he? And if the person is bad
enough we just cant believe that God would save him or were disgusted at the
thought of him going to heaven and not hell.

But we have to realize that no one is really innocent. The good folks and the
murderers are all in the same category as lawbreakers. Were all just like that
rebellious kid who spit in his fathers face and wasted everything that was given to
him. Weve brought nothing back with us except stink and shame, and it takes
unconditional love to take us back in. Thankfully, this is the kind of love that God
has for us. He seeks us on His own initiative, and when He finds us He accepts us
as we are.

We find another example in the case of the Good Samaritan:

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how
readest thou?
27
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;
and thy neighbour as thyself.
28
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right:
this do, and thou shalt live.
29
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And
who is my neighbour?
30
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment,
and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.=
31
And by chance there
came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side.
32
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on
him, and passed by on the other side.
33
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed,
came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34
And
went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on
his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35
And on the
morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and
said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come
again, I will repay thee.
36
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour
unto him that fell among the thieves?
37
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise (Lk. 10:25-37).

Gods love is Unending
What can possibly happen or what could we do to make God stop loving us?

Lets go forward a little to the book of Romans: For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come,
39
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

Conclusion
Now, lets talk for a few minutes about what all this means practically. In our main
verse Jesus says, As I have loved you, that ye also love one another. How do we
follow Gods example in having proactive and unconditional and unending love?

First of all, lets remember the source: But as touching brotherly love ye need not
that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another (I
Thess. 4:9). Were not talking about some feelings that you can conjure up from
within. This kind of love is something that we learn from God; its supernatural. Its
not the kind of love that the whole world has naturally; its a fruit of the Holy
Spirit. Its the evidence of God in you. When Jesus saw the fig tree He cursed it
because it had no figs, but we bear fruit because we are in God and God is in us.

Second, since the source is supernatural, then so are the results:
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he
in God.
16
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is
love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17
Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as
he is, so are we in this world.
18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19
We
love him, because he first loved us.
20
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his
brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can
he love God whom he hath not seen?
21
And this commandment have we from him,
That he who loveth God love his brother also (I Jn. 4:15-21).

This is something that God has promised to do through all His children. He who
began a good work in you will bring it to completion. You can count on that, and
you dont need me to tell you what to do specifically. Have you got bitterness in
your heart towards someone? Is there anyone youve neglected? Are you too proud
to forgive?

As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

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