Love is a Verb
Day 24
CONSIDER
Back in the day there was a man,
Who stepped out of Heaven and he walked the land.
He delivered to the people an eternal choice
With a heart full of love and the truth in His voice.
Gave up His life so that we may live,
How much more love could the Son of God give?
Here is the example that we oughtta’ be matchin'
‘Cause love is a word that requires some action.
- DC Talk, Luv Is a Verb
The arrival of Jesus in the world had been announced as the coming of God’s kingdom. This meant
the dawning of a new age of human existence: when God’s perfect king was on the throne, then sin
would be gone. And if sin is gone, then all the results of sin are gone too. The reign of God’s king means
the absence of things like sickness, death, injustice, and fear.
The result of this glorious reality is that human relationships are utterly transformed. Apart from the
reign of God’s king, relationships are shaped by self-love, mistrust, and hostility. But under his reign
relationships are altered because human hearts are altered. The new age of human existence brought
about by God’s king results in relationships that are open, self-giving, and others-focused.
That hopeful message lies at the heart of some of Jesus’ most important words.
PART 1 - READ
Begin your time today by reading John 13
Final Words
This chapter begins a section of John’s Gospel known as the “upper room discourse.” It records
many of the things Jesus taught his disciples on the night before his crucifixion; his final instructions to
them before he would die, rise from the dead, and then return to heaven. A person’s final words to
those they love are important, so it’s not surprising that John devoted 5 of his Gospel’s 21 chapters to
these last words from Jesus to his closest followers.
John prefaces his account of what happened that night by telling his readers how we are
supposed to understand what comes next: “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them
to the end” (v. 1). Everything we’re about to read – everything Jesus is about to do and to say – is all
motivated by his love for his people.
Loving in Deed
Yet Jesus didn’t begin his final instructions to the disciples by speaking. He
began by doing. He took a towel and basin of water and began to wash the feet of his
disciples; a humbling and unpleasant task that no one in that day would have chosen
voluntarily to do. As such it was typically left to the servants of a house to wash the
feet of guests. The job no one wanted typically fell to the lowest person in the pecking order.
So in the absence of a household servant, it was shocking to the disciples that the greatest one
among them, the one at the top of the pecking order, would condescend to do this ignoble task. Peter,
ever the outspoken one, finally put words to their shock when Jesus came to wash his feet. He insisted
that Jesus was the last person in the room who should take on that task!
Two Replies That Change Everything
Jesus’ response to Peter was twofold. And both replies shook Peter to his core, and challenged
his view of the world by flipping it upside down.
First, he jolted Peter with an intentionally direct statement in verse 8: “If I do not wash you, you
have no share with me.” Wow. Talk about a 2x4 smacking you in the head! Peter had been among the
first disciples Jesus called, and he had left everything to become part of Jesus’ inner circle, following him
faithfully for three years. If anyone had a share in Jesus’ kingdom, it was Peter! Yet Jesus seizes on this
very natural assumption in order to challenge it: the only way to share in Jesus’ kingdom is to allow the
king himself to become lower than us and serve us.
Second, he capitalized on the teachable moment that he had created with his attention-getting
display: “I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done to you” (v. 15). Not only
had Jesus loved his disciples by humbling himself before them and serving them, he now tells them to
humble themselves before one another and serve one another.
With these words Jesus defines the unique nature of his eternal kingdom: it’s upside-down.
The great ruler of this kingdom doesn’t set himself on high, emphasizing the distance between himself
and his subjects. Rather, he puts himself in a position lower than them in order to meet their needs. The
Messiah’s kingdom works in a totally different way than the many pagan religions of that day. The
relationship between God and man is not defined simply by the power difference between them, with
the exalted God being served by lowly man. Rather, it’s defined by the fact that this exalted God
humbled himself and served man. It’s a relationship that’s characterized by God’s love for man as
expressed in tangible and sacrificial action. The power difference between mankind and God only serves
to make his sacrificial love that much more amazing, and his worthiness that much more compelling.
Not only is the relationship between God and his people defined by love in action, but all
relationships in this kingdom are! The disciples were told not just to enjoy the love God has for them,
but to put that same love into practice with one another. Relationships in God’s kingdom will be
beautiful, joyous, and satisfying because they will be humility-driven and others-focused.
The power difference between mankind and God only serves to make
his sacrificial love that much more amazing and his worthiness that much more compelling
A Sharp Contrast
Yet in this world, where sin still exists, relationships that are completely perfect are a thing of
the future. To drive the point of this chapter home to his readers, the author (the Apostle John)
intentionally crafted his narrative in a way that calls attention to the sharp contrast between the actions
of Jesus and those of Judas. The selfless love represented by Jesus’ actions stand in stark opposition to
the self-serving motivation of Judas.
Just as Jesus finished his impactful lesson on how his followers should love one another, we see
Judas running out of the room to serve himself by betraying Jesus and the other disciples! Judas’
motivation was greed: he puts himself above the rest of the group and takes action that will enrich
himself at their expense. Jesus sacrifices himself to serve his followers, and Judas responds
immediately by sacrificing Jesus’ followers to serve himself. One can scarcely think of a greater
contrast to everything Jesus had just taught.
Love in The Shadowlands
Sin mars everything in this world. Even Jesus’ great lesson on loving one another in John 13 was
tainted by betrayal, and the point is clear: Christians live in what CS Lewis called “the shadowlands.”
Though the light of God’s kingdom dawned when Jesus entered the world, his rule has not yet been fully
consummated and much darkness remains. Judas’ betrayal on the heels of Jesus’ teaching about love is
a reminder that, while Jesus brings light to many dark corners of the world, the sin that remains casts
shadows.
MAJOR BIBLICAL THEMES
Relationship/Reconciliation
Jesus’ teachings about loving one another in this chapter thrusts relational reconciliation back
into the center of the Biblical narrative. God’s unfolding plan of redemption results in people being
reconciled with God, and consequently with one another. The perfect world we look forward to for all
eternity includes relationships that are unhindered, others-focused, and deeply satisfying. Christians are
to live out such relationships even now in “the shadowlands:” even though perfect relationships are still
yet future, we experience a down-payment of heavenly glory when a church community loves one
another through self-giving and sacrificial acts of grace.
Messiah
This chapter also contains hints about the way Jesus will accomplish his mission as the Messiah.
He will succeed in redeeming mankind by serving and sacrificing. Though he’s a king, he left his lofty
position in heaven to come to earth as a man, and he would further make the ultimate sacrifice of his
own life. Achieving his mission would cost him everything.
PART 2 - REFLECT AND CONNECT
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What acts of love have made the biggest difference in your life recently? Did someone sacrifice
their time, money, or energy to meet your need? How did that impact you?
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Is there someone in your right now life whom God wants you to love in a tangible, sacrificial
way? What would that look like? What holds you back?
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Romans 5:8 says that God’s love for us is displayed most perfectly in recognizing that Christ died
for us while we were still sinners. Do you rely on some other experience or feeling to be assured
of God’s love? How can meditating on the sacrifice of Jesus for you become the basis for your
assurance of God’s love?
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As you come to the close of your time today, choose one or both of the following worship
responses.
o
Listen to the song Oh The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus by Selah (suggested Youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hzYKovRsJ8 ) or search Youtube for “Selah – Deep
Deep Love of Jesus.”
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
o
Consider using Ephesians 3:14-21 as a model for your own prayer time:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and
on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have
strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height
and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
PART 3 - Respond
Please use the space below to respond to today’s prompt (or use one of your own).
We live in the shadowlands…
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