Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: Counter-Culture Quotes of Jesus
Post Topic: The Greatest Love
Post in Thread: #6
Previous: Where your Treasure Is
Scripture: John 15:9-17
Key Verse:
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Observations
Today’s culture says:
On the surface, this isn’t a counter-culture quote. Most would agree that laying down your life for another is the greatest example of love. The counter-culture part can be found in the nature of this type of sacrificial love. Contrast that with how we tend to live for ourselves more than for others.
Jewish Culture said:
Living a pure life as an example to others, and teaching them the intricacies of how to properly follow all the commands, is the best way to love others.
Scripture says:
- Context (v9-12):
- Jesus was talking directly to his disciples.
- He told them to keep his commandments, as this is the best way to show their love for Jesus. Keeping the commandments is also the best way to remain in God’s love.
- Jesus explained that this was to make their joy complete. So obedience to God is meant for our joy, not for puffed-up rule-following.
- So what were these commands to obey? In John 15:12, he summarized in one statement – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
- Then we come to our key verse, verse 13. Here Jesus explains what it means to love fully. To be willing to lay down one’s life.
- Follow-up (v14-17):
- Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that he regards them as his friends and not his servants.
- In verse 17 he reiterates his one command: This is my command: Love each other.
Interpretation
Genre
Gospel. This particular portion is direct teaching to the disciples.
Author
John, the apostle, who walked with Jesus as a first-hand witness to the events as a disciple. His motivation in recording the events is that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we might find life in his name.
Setting
The Last Supper in the upper room in Jerusalem. Jesus is giving some of his final teachings to the disciples before he is arrested and crucified.
Takeaways
- At the heart of this passage is verse 13.
- This is foreshadowing of Jesus’s impending death.
- It also explains what true sacrificial love is all about.
- There is a logical path to this teaching:
- We demonstrate our love for Jesus by keeping his commandments.
- His commandments are not a series of restrictive laws like the religious leaders of his day were hung up with.
- Instead, they boil down to one command – love one another.
- It may be just one command, but it’s not so easy. True love for one another is completely sacrificial in nature.
- Jesus is the ultimate example of this sort of sacrificial love.
Imagine
Twelve minutes until kickoff. The boss had kept him late, the crew rushing to wrap up the project before the storm hit. He’d twisted his ankle on a stack of bricks someone had left loose. But somehow, he’d made it home in time.
Aiden shook the water off his rain-jacket, limped inside, and dropped his stuff on the side table. Dishes clanged in the kitchen, and his wife muttered something. Eleven minutes.
“Honey, I’m home!”
“In the kitchen!” The microwave dinged. “Come get your own food.”
Leftovers, apparently. Aiden didn’t mind. Easier to gobble down in front of the television. “Twins in bed?” he asked as he sauntered into the kitchen.
Kristen let out a grunt and glanced at him with one eye. “Finally. But what a day. They refused to nap, and…I’ll tell you about it after you eat. Didn’t have time to cook the fish.”
Nine minutes. Aiden wondered if the lasagna was still good, but thought better of asking. No time, anyway. Especially if Kristen wanted to talk. “Sorry I’m late. But we finished. You’d think he’d give us the morning off, but he wants us back in the warehouse tomorrow, rain or shine.”
Kristen plopped into a chair, holding her head.
Aiden finished prepping the plate. Seven minutes. “Mind if I eat in the living room tonight? Dolphins-Bills.”
Kristen waved the back of her hand without looking up. “Monday night already?”
Four minutes. Maybe she’d forget about that telling him after he eats thing. As he dropped into his chair, he noticed a stain on the carpet. And black smudges on the wall. And a carpet shampooer in the corner. He’d worry about it later.
He flicked on the television. The Bills had won the toss. One minute to kickoff.
Kristen groaned as she climbed to her feet. She disappeared around the corner, back into the kitchen. Water ran, and the garbage disposal roared. Aiden’s chin dropped.
He pushed the lasagna away. Shut off the TV as the ball was in the air. Walked into the kitchen and held the woman he loved.
“Want to tell me about it?”
Correlation
- In John 13:34-35, Jesus says “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
- Sounds very similar. Interesting that He calls it a new commandment. This is likely in contrast to the swath of commandments of his day.
- Notice the words As I have loved you. How did Jesus love us? He laid down his life.
- Philippians 2:3-4
- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
- This passage summarizes sacrificial love – looking to others’ interests ahead of our own.
- I John 3:16-18
- In this letter written by John, he likely remembers Jesus’s teaching in the upper room. He implores us to be willing to lay down our life for others, as Christ gave his life for us.
- John goes another step – if we have material possessions, and are not willing to share to help someone in need, how can we say we have love?
- Loving others involves actions, not words.
Application
Generic Applications
Studying the words in the passage, we can’t help but think of our men and women in the military, and our first responders. They demonstrate their love for their country and for others by putting their life on the line every day.
What about the rest of us? We’ll likely never be called to make that ultimate sacrifice. But think of I John 3:17. Are we willing to sacrifice in other areas of our life to exhibit sacrificial love? To follow Jesus’s command? If we do, Jesus said that our joy will be made complete.
Personalize it
- Do I regularly put the interests of others ahead of my own? Am I willing to sacrifice my worldly goods for others? How about my time?
- Consider the last time I sacrificially helped someone. It might be as simple as giving up some of my time. It seems counter-intuitive, that sacrifices will make our joy complete. Did I experience joy after that sacrifice?
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
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