John 15:9-13

As Valentine’s Day is upon us, our thoughts often go to this passage of Scripture — John 15:13. This week people were hurrying to buy candy, cards, and flowers to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the name of love. School children, to express their feelings of affection to each other, bought NASCAR, Little Pet Shop, and X-Men cards. Is this what love is all about?

The first example of love is not Jesus Christ’s love for mankind, but Jesus Christ’s love for God the Father. That is where love is. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. Jesus Christ THEN loves mankind. Mankind was not created because God the Father needed someone to love Him, He already had Jesus Christ. Mankind was created for God’s own pleasure, not because He needed mankind. Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Jesus Christ’s commandment in John 15 is that He wants believers to love each other as He loves us. We must love each other as Jesus Christ loves us — what does that mean? Jesus Christ loves unconditionally. I have heard the phrase in reference to Jesus Christ “unconventional love” — which is true — Jesus Christ’s love is unconventional by human standards, especially since mankind confuses love and lust all too easily. Just look at what passes for entertainment today (actually do not look at it) men and women are shown on TV and movies doing things that should only be done by married to each other men and women. And it is very sad that I felt the need to add the qualifier “to each other” but that is what is depicted in movies and TV. That is not love, it is lust!

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

A young man spent an entire evening telling a girl how much he loved her. He said that he could not live without her; that he would go to the ends of the earth for her; yes, go through fire for her, or die for her. However, on leaving, he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow night if it doesn’t rain.”

Isn’t that how our love for God is? We say we will do anything for God, but when it is time to act, do we? Jesus was on his way to go to the tomb of Lazarus, even though the Jews were ready to stone Him. John 11:16 tells us that the apostle Thomas declares his willingness to die with Jesus Christ, but when the soldiers came to the Garden of Gethsemane the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, all of the apostles scattered.

John 15:13 points to the fact that Jesus Christ was going to lay down His life to pay for the sins of His friends. He gave His life to pay my sin debt. Consider this for a moment — Jesus Christ lay down His life the whole time during His life here on earth. He did not live for Himself. He did not seek to do His Will. He did not look to fill His own pleasures. He set aside His wants in order to meet the needs of others. Look at all the people He healed — Jesus Christ did not walk past Bartimaeus — He stopped and healed Him without complaint.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

We should be willing to lay down our lives for others. That does not just mean that we should die for them — that means we should live for them. That only can happen, however, when believers have made themselves a living sacrifice for God.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

When the believer becomes a living sacrifice for God, their faith will be demonstrated by their works. They will willingly and obediently lay down their wants to meet the needs for others. They will love their neighbor then as God loves them (James 2). We always hear “The Golden Rule is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That is wrong and it is humanism. We are to love God first! That part of the commandment seems to get left out too often.

Mark 12:29-31 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  (30)  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  (31)  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

On this Valentine’s Day, let us remember the true example of love: the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father.