Loving Like Jesus

John 13:31-35

May 9, 2004

Pastor Gary Buss

A number of years ago, a national television program showed twin brothers about eight or nine years old. One, because of kidney disease, was considerably smaller than the other. Once he had been weak and sickly, but now before the cameras he played and chattered away. Why the improvement? Because his brother had given him his kidney and saved his life. His brother was asked what kidney he gave. He replied, “My right one, because I am right-handed, and I figured that my right kidney was my best kidney.”

What a wonderful example of love! His parents said that it was his own idea to give his kidney and that his love was free and generous toward his brother. Such is the kind of generous, sacrificial love we see in our Gospel lesson for today. It’s the love of our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. The difference is, His love is not just for those who are near and dear to Him, not just for the kind and good, but for all people, especially the weak and helpless, the wicked and erring sinners like you and me.

We see that clearly in the opening words of our text, where John says: “WHEN HE WAS GONE, JESUS SAID, ‘NOW IS THE SON OF MAN GLORIFIED AND GOD IS GLORIFIED IN HIM.’” Jesus spoke those words to His disciples right after Judas had left the Last Supper and went out to make preparations to betray His Savior. In the previous verse, John tells us that when Judas went out: “IT WAS NIGHT.” In John’s symbolic style, that was not just a comment on the time factor, but more so a comment on the darkness of Judas’ betrayal - the same kind of betrayal I think we can often see in our own lives.

For instance, when we get so wrapped up in our busy lives that we ignore our daily Bible reading, prayer and worship time, we’re actually betraying our Savior. When we argue with one another and use demeaning terms to put each other down, we’re actually betraying our Savior. When we’re given an opportunity to witness about Jesus and fail to speak up, or fail to take a stand on issues like abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage, etc., then we’re actually betraying our Savior. In short, every time that we sin against God’s Word and willfully disobey His commands we’re betraying Jesus just like Judas did.

Amazingly enough, it was Judas’ betrayal that put the events of Jesus’ love in motion. That’s what Jesus was talking about in our text, when He said: “NOW IS THE SON OF MAN GLORIFIED AND GOD IS GLORIFIED IN HIM.” God was about to glorify His Son by the surprising vehicle of the cross. You see, Jesus’ death for our salvation is what brings God the greatest glory. And in fact, the verb glorify in our text is actually in the past tense, meaning that our forgiveness and salvation are an accomplished fact, because of the glory of Jesus’ cross. For it was at the cross that Jesus demonstrated His love to the nth degree. In the opening verse of our chapter, John says that Jesus showed His disciples the full extent of His love and that full extent was His glorification at the cross, where He died to erase our sins - even our sins of betrayal. That was the full extent of His love.

That’s why Jesus told His disciples in our text: “MY CHILDREN, I WILL BE WITH YOU ONLY A LITTLE LONGER.” This is the only place in all the Gospels, where Jesus calls the disciples His children. As a matter of fact, He actually uses the diminutive form, ‘my little children.’ And He uses this term of endearment to show them the deep affection of His love for them, the same kind of love He has for you and me. Which is why He told them He was going away, to prepare them for His impending death - His death that bring us life. In the words of Rev. Jerrold Nichols: “Jesus was not going to be with his dear ones for very long. Yet, this was not child abandonment. No, it was because the children had already abandoned the Father. Their sin separated them so that they were no longer in a right relationship with the Father. The mission of Jesus would change all that. Reconciliation is the act of bringing people back to where they belong - people who had been driven from the presence of God in Eden (Genesis 3). The “children” belong in the family of God the Father.”

It reminds me a little bit of the young mother, who when she found out she was pregnant, told the good news to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, her little precocious son, Brandon, had overheard some of his parents’ private conversations. One day, when Brandon and his mother were out shopping, a woman asked the little boy if he was excited about the new baby. “Yes!” Brandon answered, “and I know what we’re gonna name it, too. If it’s a girl, we’re going to call her Christina, and if it’s another boy we’re going to call it quits!”

In a cute way, that story gives us an interesting insight into God’s love. Like a mother, who loves her children through thick and thin, no matter how precocious they are, so God loves you and me in spite of all the sins and shortcomings of our life. And He loves us with a love that never calls it quits. Indeed, on this day when we thank God for the gift of our mothers, we are reminded that His love for us is very much like a mother’s love - unconditional and unfailing.

For example, when the small daughter of the distinguished sculptress Sally Farnham was once asked which child was her mother’s favorite, the little girl promptly replied, “She loves Jimmy best because he’s the oldest, and she loves Johnny best because he’s the youngest, and she loves me best because I’m the only girl.” It would be difficult to find a better illustration of God’s all-embracing love for us His children. It’s wonderful to know that God loves us personally, no matter what our experience has been. His love transcends all barriers, and each one of us is most precious in His sight. And He proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt, by sending His son Jesus to die on the cross to save us and set us free!

Dear friends, that was the basis of the New Command Jesus gave to His disciples in our text, when He said, “A NEW COMMAND I GIVE: LOVE ONE ANOTHER. AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO YOU MUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER. BY THIS ALL MEN WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” It is out of thanks for that sacrificial, unfailing love that Jesus has for us, that He calls us to love one another in the same way. That is His new command to us His disciples. And what makes it new is the newness of the Gospel. Only the Gospel with its fresh new gift of forgiveness and salvation can equip and enable us to love one another. And we receive that newness of the Gospel every time we read and study God’s Word, or partake of the Sacrament for the remission of our sins. That’s why it’s so crucial that we regularly make us of those Means of Grace, for that’s the only place we can receive the power of the Holy Spirit to love as His disciples.

As a matter of fact, according to Jesus the test of true discipleship is our love for one another. In his commentary on John’s Epistles Jerome tells us that when John was asked by the brethren why he constantly said, ‘Little children, love one another,’ he replied, ‘Because this is the precept of the Lord, and if only this is done it is enough.’ In other words, true disciples of Jesus love each other as Jesus loved us, sacrificially and unconditionally. Not that their love is perfect; it never is among human beings who still live with a sinful nature. That’s why we need so much of the love of Jesus. That’s why we need to constantly be reminded that His love covers a multitude of our sins. We need a lot of love because we deal with a lot of sin. The Lord’s Supper is one of the ways that God’s love for us keeps coming to us. It cleanses us of our actual sins, even as the Sacrament of Holy Baptism cleansed us of our original sin and brought us into the family of God. And as we frequently make us of those Sacraments and His Word, He gives us the strength to love with His kind of love!

The following story, from the old Walther League Messenger, gives us glimpse into the heart of Jesus’ love for us. It concerns the death of Princess Alice and reads as follows: “The little daughter of the princess was critically ill with diphtheria. The mother was forbidden by the physician to kiss her because of the almost certain danger of contracting the disease. In one of the paroxysms of delirium to which the child was subject, the mother was so distressed that she took her in her arms and gently soothed her into quietness. When reason returned, the little sufferer looked up into the mother’s face and cried, ‘Mama, kiss me.’ This was too much for the mother’s heart. Without stopping to think, the princess pressed the little one to her bosom and kissed her lips. But it was the kiss of death. Before many days had passed, the child was well, but the mother lay pale and cold in her splendid shroud. The sacrifice of life was prompted by an impulse of love. Even so Christ loved us. Taking no account of the cost, He just lived and died.”

Such was the love that Jesus spoke of in our text - His gracious, unconditional love that drove Him to the cross, where He was glorified in His death, by purchasing our salvation. And He did it, so that by faith in Him we might freely receive the glorification of heaven. Dear friends, it is His deep, sacrificial love for you and me that should drive us, by the Spirit’s power, to demonstrate that love to one another in acts of kindness and service. And we do that by loving one another not only in words and tongue, but in actions and in truth. Not only by praying for one another and speaking words of kindness and encouragement to each other, but by supplying the needs of others and lending a helping hand. We do it by being patient with one another in times of disagreement, always joyful in our outlook on life even when things are rough, at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ as we gently talk over our differences, and exercising self-control in all our dealings. That’s how we love like Jesus. May God empower us by His Spirit to do that for Jesus’ sake. Amen.