JESUS IS THE MODEL IN LOVING
John 13:31-38
By Rev. Paulus Budiono
Lemah Putro, Sunday, August 23, 2020
Shalom,
Indeed, we can never repay God's love. During this pandemic, frankly speaking, we sometimes do not carry out the online worship seriously, continuously and orderly. At times we even cannot do the worship due to limited gadgets or quota. No matter what, we should learn to love Him in order to be a blessing for others because His perfect love always fills and watches over our lives.
Through the writings of the Apostle John, we have studied Jesus as the perfect model in humility as well as the messenger of God and now we are discussing His perfect example in love. If we had lived in those days, we would have agreed that Jesus, in all His actions, showed a great love but we do not know where He got such love from and to what extent His love continued.
Is His love still relevant up to now? We do not have any notebook that is more accurate than the records written in the Bible. By reading the Bible, we can explore His love even though we did not live in the time of Jesus. Besides, our faith grows and does not simply "swallow" all the sermons of a pastor. Evidently, the Bible which consists of 66 books becomes one marvelous book written by more than 40 authors in the anointing of the Holy Spirit within different time, diverse educational backgrounds and conditions in three languages (Hebrews, a little Aramaic and Greek).
Is Jesus really an example of love? John 13: 31-38 write, “After Judas left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man will be glorified and God will be glorified in Him. If God is exalted in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately ... I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you likewise you must love one another. Thus everyone will know that you are My disciples, that is if you love each other...”
Before Jesus' crucifixion, He gave a statement that seemed irrelevant, namely giving "a new commandment" to His eleven disciples i.e. to love one another. The opposite of loving is hating – just seeing the face of a person you don't like is disgusting let alone when you have to communicate and cooperate with him. It turned out that one of the disciples did not want to accept the new commandment namely Judas Iscariot.
Indeed, at that time it was a new commandment, but for us now the commandment is not new anymore. We are challenged by the Bible – the Word of God – which is never obsolete for it has existed before, now and forever so that we can love one another. Illustration: when someone gives the command to love, we wait to see if that person has done it first as a proof and an example for us to follow. Generally, Christians have read the above verse tens or even hundreds of times, but have we practiced it by loving one another so that everyone knows that we are the disciples of Jesus? In fact, many social media reveal that churches are competing with each other, church leaders are fighting over assets so that they face the law in court, etc. Even Jesus' own disciples were mistaken in their following their Teacher. They quarreled over who was the greatest among them (Luke 22:24). It is proven that the nature of rivalry had appeared among the disciples of Jesus to show who was more loved by the Teacher, who got the greater gift and so on. But Jesus knew none of them had true love; that is why He gave the new commandment before "going" back to His Father's house.
Application: Before talking further about the love of Christ and "loving one another", servants of God should start from themselves whether they have built unity with their wives, children and families. Jesus gave the commandment to love not with words but in deeds and in truth and He proved this by laying down His life for us (1 John 3: 18,16).
What example of love did Jesus set for us to follow and to carry out?
- His love is eternal (John 13: 1) and is characterized by humility (vv. 2-17).
In his old age, the Apostle John wrote what his Teacher had done to His twelve disciples before His suffering and death on the cross. Jesus gave the example by taking off His robe – "naked" like a slave – then washing all the dirty feet of His disciples without favoritism even though He knew Judas Iscariot would betray Him, Peter would deny Him and all the disciples would leave Him. Jesus' actions proved that His love is eternal and as God, He humbled Himself to be a slave to serve His disciples. They did not understand the meaning of the foot-washing done by their Teacher at that time (John 13: 7) and did not even know that Judas Iscariot would sell Him even though Jesus had given the description of the person who would betray Him (John 13: 26- 30). How perfect the love of Jesus was that His gestures and expressions were not affected by emotion when informing who was going to sell Him, making the disciples not suspicious of who the culprit was. They thought that Judas Iscariot went out to buy necessities or do social activities because he was the cash holder (John 13:29). At first Peter also refused his feet to be washed but after Jesus explained the importance of this washing, Peter asked to be washed from head to toe (vv. 8-9).
Introspection: Do we really understand the meaning of worship when following a neatly arranged liturgy? If we don't understand the language of the Bible, we can misjudge someone or worship blindly because of emotions.
About sixty years after the foot-washing, the Apostle John understood and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote the Gospel of John with full responsibility and earnestness because he had witnessed the actions of his Teacher. John had accepted love and urged us to love one another (1 John 3: 1,11).
The Triune God – Father, Jesus (the Word) and the Holy Spirit – is the source of eternal love and has worked in love when creating the universe and its contents. Jesus who is both Lord and Teacher (John 13:13) has set the perfect example of humility without limitation as Servant and Disciple. He wants us to love one another and remain humble, imitating him.
- Just as the Father and Jesus love each other, Jesus loves us, and He requires that we remain in His love (John 15: 9- 10) so that we can bear much fruit (v. 5); thus we are His disciples (v. 8). He further commands that we love one another (vv. 12,17). Grapes delight the hearts of God and men (Judges 9:13).
By loving one another, we will bear many fruits, such as the fruit of repentance (Luke 3: 8), the fruit of righteousness (2 Cor. 9:10), the fruit of eternal life (John 4:36) and so on. Remember, if we are detached from His love, we will not bear fruit. And even when we "love", that love is not what God desires.
Application: At least "loving each other" is practiced in the relationship between husband and wife and parent-child in which there must be a balance of love so that each does not demand the other's love. Loving is not just fulfilling human customs and culture but love has the purpose of glorifying the Father. Beware that we are not able to do it alone because we are related to the "other branches". The love of Jesus is marked with humility. When husband and wife or parent- child are filled with His love, they will love each other without too much demand because each of them is humble so that they can respect the others.
- His love (agapao) is eternal and unconditional (= unconditional love) which men do not After rising from the dead, Jesus asked Peter, who had denied Him, whether he loved (agapao) Jesus (John 21: 15-17). Peter was no longer pretentious so he honestly admitted that he only loved as a good friend (phileo). Previously Peter had insisted on following Jesus and was willing to give His life but Jesus warned him that he would deny his Teacher (John 13: 37-38). Peter did not believe and even ignored Jesus' warning, so the denial occurred.
How did Jesus feel hearing Peter's confession that he loved Him as a friend? Because Jesus is the perfect love, He still loved Peter and asked the questions again by reducing Agapao's love to become Phileo's love for Peter (vv. 16-17). Then Jesus further said that when he was young, Peter tied his waist and walked wherever he wanted to but after becoming an old man someone else would tie him up and take him where he was not willing. Jesus told him to keep following Him (vv. 18-19) in order to receive Agapao's love. Only Jesus was able to change Peter's love (phileo) into love (Agapao) which ultimately Peter died (martyrdom) on the cross in Rome.
Introspection: How do we react and judge husband / wife / parents / children who do not love us? Do we love phileo because we share the same hobbies and habits?
Who is love and where does it come from? Love comes from God for God is love; because God loves us so much, we ought to love one another (1 John 4: 7-8, 10-11).
When will God's Agapao love be poured out on us? It is precisely when we are in a very bad condition and don't deserve it, namely when we are still sinners (Rom. 5: 5-11). The concept of God is different from man’s that seek and choose competent people characterized by "the right man at the right place and at the right time". Truly, His love is amazing and second to none! Therefore, if we can love one another, it is all because of His love so that we do not need to be proud, let alone be proud of the talents (singing skills, playing music, sacrificing etc.) that He has given us.
We should be proud to have the incomparable Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect love, which has become a model for us to be able to love one another with humility and less demanding. Thus everyone will know (without introducing ourselves) that we are the disciples of Jesus and God’s name is glorified. Amen.
Anda dapat melihat rekaman Video Ibadah secara lengkap DISINI