Love as I have Loved
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE: - John 13:31-35 “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.
OPENING: - I Love You is a phrase that carries with it an immense power, a power that transcends mere words and resonates deeply within our emotional spectrum. Its utterance can be a pivotal moment in any relationship, often being the demarcation line of transition from casual to serious. It's a simple statement loaded with meaning, yet often misunderstood and misinterpreted, even by the person declaring those words. Sadly, in our mixed up, confused, unnatural society the phrase I Love You is so commonly used that the true meaning and power of it is lost and is now just a common phrase. So often my wife and I are watching some competition show like Chopped, Next Level Chief, Hell’s Kitchen, The Floor, or Farmer Wants a Wife for example and when a competitor leaves the show someone always says I Love You and we all know that is not true because 15 minutes ago you were trying to sabotage them and get them sent home but now as they are leaving you are saying I Love You, the true meaning of those words are lost.
The concept and the action of love are virtually non-existent, the words that at one time were the most powerful words in the spoken language no longer resonates deep in the emotions of the people of this world and are tossed around with such commonality that they are no different than saying Hello or Goodbye.
God gave a commandment in Leviticus 19:18 says, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord” then in the New Testament in John 13:34 Jesus said “A New Commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”.
So, what is Love:- According to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek his own, it is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails”. LOVE describes the nature of God, provides the basis of Christian ethics, and manifests the object of Christian faith and the culmination of Christian hope.
LOVE is how God deals with his creation. It was this Love that was shown to us through the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ – John 3:16 says, “For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”.
There are 3 Greek words used to describe the different kinds of love.
Philia Brotherly love the word philia refers to mental or brotherly love as in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. It is a give-and-take kind of love.
Eros - Romanic Love. This is the love you have for your spouse. It is Erotic love. Eros is named after the Greek god of love and fertility
Agape - Unconditional Love. Agape is applied to the love that God has for man. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. There is nothing we can do to diminish His love for us. He loves us even if we don’t love Him back. An atheist that claims there is no God, God loves them also. God does not have split personality He is not walking around heaven talking about I don’t know why they don’t love me He just loves us. He doesn’t love us because of what we do or don’t do He loves us because He is Love.
Today I want to look at this subject: “Love as I have Loved”. Contrary to popular belief this Love surpasses the commonality of what we call Love, it supersedes the natural and encompasses the Supernatural, its a love that understand hurt, suffering, disappointment yet sacrifices prestige, power, comfort in order to truly be expressed.
Our world is filled with brokenness, heartache, sadness, prejudice, hatred, contempt, bitterness, animosity, and hostility. Tensions are high, Emotions are on edge, Relationships are breaking down, the governmental system has failed, medical reliability failed, security and stability is crumbling. Violence, war, sickness, disease, and unrest are mere indicators that things in this world are not the way they are supposed to be.
Political, racial, judicial, and economic divide have people separated in ways that seem to be an unsurmountable task of ever having unity and peace again. Economic trade wars, tariffs, taxes, deportations, social security threatened, Medicare in peril, people left to starve and fend for themselves, plagues that were once under control are being allowed to run rampant and the love of many has simply gone.
Text:- “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.
BACKGROUND: - It is the night before Jesus is crucified, He and the twelve apostles are eating the most important of all meals, what we call the Last Supper – The Passover Meal. Jesus had just said in John 13:21 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me”, knowing that one of His closes friends and companions, someone that had been by His side, seen the miracles, was privy to the experience of witnessing first-hand the awesome power of God was about to do the ultimate betrayal. John asked him in verse 25 “Lord, who is it”? Jesus answered in verse 26 “He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon” then in verse 27 Jesus says to Judas “Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly”. Verses 29 & 30 says, “For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night”.
Once Judas left Jesus says in verses 31 - 33 the 29th prophesy in John “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him”. “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you”.
WATCH THIS:- This word “little children” in Greek is teknia and occurs only here in the Gospel of John then again in 1 John it is used in 5 chapters and means His Flock, it expresses that this is for those that come into a relationship with Him, it is not just the common expression and usage, it is not something that is to be taken lightly or just thrown around without understanding.
He continues and says “yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you”. He is letting them know that for just a little while longer He will be with them and then He will be crucified, dead for 3 days and they will not see Him or can go where He is going, but He will return again.
Then He gives them this commandment verse 34 & 35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.
In giving this command, Jesus established a new precedence in creating a group identified by Love. Not a group that is identified by the clothes they wear, the place they assemble, the titles they have, the type of worship music they use, the amount of tithes they give but by LOVE.
“A new commandment I give you” Nowhere else in the New Testament does the term “new commandment” occur outside this story except in John’s first and second letter. However, this is not something that is just a fleeting moment, it is not a new suggestion, or a new idea, or a new possibility, or a new life-option, but a new commandment. It is not that the commandment of Leviticus 19:18 is obsolete but it has been renewed, up graded, it is the 2.0 addition if you will, it has been expanded to show who truly are His disciples and adds to it “as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”.
This poses a few questions that need to be answered. How does Jesus love? His love remember is AGAPE it is unconditional Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. A sinner is one that is a transgressor one that goes contrary to laws, morales, traditions, habits, someone who is severely immoral, evil, or wicked. So, when Jesus said Love as I have Loved – Love when they don’t fall in line with your program, when they don’t dress like you, live like you, look like you, are contrary to all that you believe and stand for you must LOVE them like I LOVED them UNCONDITIONALLY. This is regardless of their racial identity, gender preference, political viewpoints, party affiliations we must Love as Jesus LOVED - UNCONDITIONALLY.
Not only Love Unconditionally but Love Sacrificially. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. It’s going to cost you to sacrifice your time, effort, comfort to Love like Jesus Loved. When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He was showing them how to sacrifice prestige, status, popularity, power and be willing to sacrifice themselves to express Love. The washing of the feet in the hierarchical society of Biblical times was typically reserved for the lowest servants. This act of sacrificial humility by Jesus Christ challenged the norms of the time, establishing a new benchmark for what Love is all about - SACRIFICE.
Also, we are to Love as Jesus Loved with Forgiveness - Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you”. This is hard because people are going to hurt you, now this doesn’t mean be a whipping post for someone, but people will hurt you emotionally with insults, names, and degrading remarks. Some will even hurt you physically and slap you, but you must forgive and turn the other cheek. Now understand that is hard, and it takes the Holy Ghost to Love like this because if someone slaps you our natural reaction is to slap them back. However, we must understand we are dealing with a people that have been destroyed by an unnatural way of life, afflicted by sin, bothered with oppression, anxiety, stress, mistrust, confusion because of sin therefore our Love must be SUPER-NATURAL in order to affect the afflicted and Love like Jesus Loved.
Our Love must be Holy Hebrews 7:26 says, “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” 1 Peter 1:16 tells us to “be ye Holy for He is Holy”. Holy Love is the harmony between man, nature, and the God. It is the interpretation of the law and the means of all sanctification. Holy Love can transform the most mundane task into a powerful redemptive tool in the Hands of God, transform darkness into the Light of Truth, inspire victory over sin; therefore, Holy Love is the foundation of every conversion of heart, its SUPERNATURAL.
That’s what Jesus meant when He said Love as I have Loved you.
CLOSING: - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's”. Only by obeying the Spirit, we can love like Christ does.
Understand people don’t naturally love with a 1 Corinthians 13 type love. To love like that, there must be a line of demarcation, a transition from casual to serious, there must be change of heart, you must be Born-Again.
You can’t love as Jesus Loved, being proud and arrogant over your position in the church or title. It’s not love when you’ve got to remind people of who you are so that they will bow to your so-called authority. Love conquers all and destroys vain and glorious talk. Love is not bragging, boastfulness, ego tripping, over some advantage you have that somebody else doesn’t.
Love does not behave itself unseemly. Love does not seek its own. Love can transcend these artificial barriers that keep us separated from one another. Love doesn’t care about your position. Love doesn’t care whether you’re poor, hungry, naked, Black, White, Straight, Gay, Democrat or Republican. Love like Jesus LOVED will never pass you by. Jesus said, if any man will come after me, if any man would be my disciple, let him deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me.
God’s agape requires that we love without requirements, without fear of insult or injury, and without expecting anything in return a hard and impossible task for most of us living within the confines of religion and not living in relationship with Jesus Christ.
The culmination of the Love of God is 1 John 4:9-10 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”.
John 13:35 sums it all up “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one another”.
Do people KNOW you are His disciple?
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
