(Read John 13 First)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35)
Love is what the Gospel of Christ hinges on. It is from love that he came, served, taught, and ultimately saved. And just as we inherit traits and quirks from our earthly parents, we are to inherit the ways of our Lord. However, we must be cautious of how we define “love”.
Only Jesus can define love, and therefore his definition flies in the face of the definition we often settle for. Notice the placement of these verses. The angst against Christ is mounting and the reader gets the sense that his days on earth are numbered. More intriguing is the act Christ just completed – washing the feet of his betrayer.
Yes, Christ loved Judas and that love compelled him to act regardless of the actions of Judas. Jesus is teaching us something monumental here – that love is an action not deserved by any. We have no right to love and in this we find incredible grace. That God would have the option to love us, and the right to deny it, and yet he chooses to love with inmeasurable fierceness.
There is hope for you. There is an all consuming, unrelenting, divine love that is yours, regardless of past, present, or future failings. His love is it’s own motivation and it is completely yours. But this love is also challenging, painful, and kinetic. We can not accept the love of Christ and stay the same. We must not settle.
We cannot accept the undeserved love of Christ without loving those around us who are equally undeserving.
Pray: How are we to respond to your great love? Lord, you love in a way that challenges and comforts us. Thank you that we can never exhaust the limits of your affection for us. Help us today to see your love clearly. May this compel us to love those around us in creative and authentic ways. Help us to love our enemies like you loved Judas. Short of your movement, this doesn’t make any sense, so we pray that you move in our hearts to help us. We love you. Thank you for loving us. Amen
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