His Kind Of Love

“His Kind Of Love”

John 19:25-30

David P. Nolte

A little boy wanted a cookie but his mother said “No.” He said, “I only like you when you give me cookies.” She said, “You only like me when I give you cookies?” He agreed and she said, “I love you.” He said, “I love you too, but I can’t like you all the time.” He loved her, but only for the cookies! We can overtook his immaturity but I ask, “What kind of love is that?”

A young swain texted his girlfriend, “I love you so much that I’d swim the widest river, climb the highest mountain and cross the most barren desert just to be with you!” She texted back, “That’s so sweet. Are you coming over tonight?” He replied, “I don’t think so, it looks like it might rain.” Hmmm. What kind of love is that?

Certainly not Jesus’ kind of love. The song said, “It wasn’t nails that held Jesus to the cross, it was His love for us that made Him pay the cost.” He died to bring us love – His kind of love.

But what kind of love is that? The Scripture enlightens us: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” John 19:25-30 (NASB).

Think with me about His kind of Love and what it means to each of us.

I. IT IS A TASK COMPLETING LOVE:

A. “It is finished!” He said.

1. “Finished” does not mean “It’s all over!” or “It’s all washed up!” as in the sense of failure

2. It means “accomplished, brought to fulfillment, successful completion of the job.”

B. Nobody would have benefitted if Jesus had quit before the last nail was driven or the last drop of blood had fallen. He completed the task He had begun.

1. He went through the pain of desertion, betrayal and denial by His closest friends.

2. He endured rigors of the inquisition before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod.

3. He suffered the beating and mockery, the pain and agony, without regret or thought of quitting.

C. He came to do a particular task – and He did it.

1. That task was to offer Himself as a vicarious sacrifice to satisfy the judgment that “the soul that sins shall die.”

2. He came to seek and save the lost – including His enemies for whom he asked forgiveness even on the cross.

3. He came to build a church using His true disciples as means of carrying the gospel to the world.

4. He came to open the way to God by reconciling us to Him.

5. He came to make peace with God on our behalf.

D. All that He set out to do, He accomplished.

1. Not a sin unatoned.

2. Not a teaching untaught.

3. Not a truth we need to know unrevealed.

4. No part of God’s plan of salvation incomplete! He got through with what He was doing.

E. Tasks are not always completed: for example, when I first went to Molalla, I found that the high school youth had hired on to a local farmer to build a wood fence to divide his land from the neighbor’s land. As pastor / youth leader I was expected to supervise and help.

I had never built a fence across an uneven, rolling pasture – or anywhere else for that matter – nor had they – so it was a slow process and we were running out of time since the money was needed for a mission trip.

We finally admitted we were in over our heads but the farmer, to support the mission trip, kindly gave a generous offering and had competent people finish the job.

But Jesus got it finished, because His love is a task completing love.

II. IT IS A CROSS BEARING LOVE:

A. Jesus didn’t work in an air-conditioned office; His work was among the needy, the demon possessed, the rejected – and at last on the cross.

B. “He let this old world have its way, for one dark and tragic day to bring us love, perfect love, His kind of love.”