To get into the meaning of these words, I want to tell you their story. Jesus is having a meal with his friends. He has broken bread and said, "This is my body"; he has poured out wine and said, "This is my blood". He has already said (John 14. 31) let's go from here. Every Greek speaker recognised these as heroic words, the words that a group of men would say before going out to meet an advancing enemy. Forces were conspiring to get rid of Jesus. A company of temple guards were going on duty at that moment, ready to march to the garden of Gethsemane to arrest him. It's the last night of Jesus earthly life with the disciples. "No greater love..." Jesus was speaking about himself. In less than 24 hours he will be dead. Not the end of the story. He would rise again, but only after three days lying in the dust of death. We must not let that soften the reality of his death. There's no greater love than to lay down your lei for a friend. That's the story behind these words. It's Jesus' love, Jesus sacrifice, for his friends: Jesus is talking about himself. He says, "You are my friends..." the One who laid down his life is Jesus.
The point is that this is the measure of love. There is no other way of defining love. You can start with how you feel towards the girl or boy of your dreams. Amy Winehouse recorded in 2003
There is no greater love
Than what I feel for you
No sweeter song, no heart so true...
There is no greater thrill
Than what you bring to me ...
(But it was a cover of a song written in the 1930's and sung in 1947 by an equally tragic female singer called Billie Holiday.) And we know it's rubbish. People spend years feeling let down by romantic love.
You can start with the sacrifice of a young airman in the Battle of Britain. The words, "There is no greater love..." have been much used, on war memorials and at acts of remembrance But it's all wrong. It's too little, too insignificant. These loves are all just a pale reflection, like a badly taken photograph of the real thing. The definition of love is God's love. John summed it up later in a letter: 1 John 4. 10. This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and gave his son to be the means by which our sins are taken away. This is how you define love. When John says "God loved us" he doesn't mean that God doesn't love us any more. What he means is that God loves us so much that he focussed that eternity of love, in one short period of time when he sent his son, Jesus to be the way our sin is sorted out. The NIV says he sent his Son as an "atoning sacrifice". John uses a very difficult Greek word and translators have fallen out over how to translate it. The AV says "propitiation". The RSV Says "Expiation." Nobody who lives in the real world knows what either of these words mean. The point of the original word is this: God sent his son, to make amends for our sin. We messed up. We were embarrassed, ashamed and afraid. We wanted to make amends for what we had done. And god made amends instead. That's what it says.
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| by Peter Fleuth. In Public Domain |
Imagine it. Through carelessness and disregard to the rules, you wreck your friend's unique limited edition guitar made in Chicago. So you offer to make it right: "how can I make amends? How can I make it right? I'll pay to get it fixed, I'll borrow money from all my mates and get you a new one." And you friend says, "Here's how to make it right. I want to travel to Chicago, visit the factory in Chicago personally and order a new guitar; I'll stay in Chicago for a few weeks while it's being made; collect it and fly home. And I don't want to do that trip on my own so you will come with me. That's how to make amends. And, I will pay for it, for both of us. It will be my treat. That will make amends. Accept my offer, and I'll put the whole thing behind me." But it's even more outrageous than that. Because God gave more than a fortune, more than a King's ransom, he gave the King himself. His Son died to make amends for our sin.
Isn't that amazing. Breathe that in. that is how much the Father loves you. That is how much Jesus loves you. Breathe it in. Let it change you. Accept his offer today. Can we get a handle on the extravagance of grace? Can we realise how much the father loves us?
Poet Luci Shaw talks about the despair we feel when we realise like Peter did that we have messed up and goes on
but if we find grace
to cry and wait
after the voice of the morning
has crowed in our ears
clearly enough
to break our hearts
he will be there
to ask us each again
do you love me
(from Judas Peter by Luci Shaw)
God's sacrificial love calls out from us a sacrificial love for each other and for the world God loves. In the Gospel, the words "no greater love" are sandwiched between
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, (John 15:12)
and
These things I command you, so that you will love one another (John 15:17)
In John's letter, the words about God's love are sandwiched between these words
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1Jn 4:8)
and
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1Jn 4:11)
The amazing, sacrificial love of God, draws out from us a sacrificial love for one another, measured by the love Jesus had for us. It's that simple really. An outpouring of love. An extravagance of love. A generous love; a love that forgives, that builds bridges, makes amends for the sins of others. A love that, when we are sinned against, goes and puts things right. It's not optional: it's a commandment. But it's not a rule it's a response.
And as we learn to live in love, we learn to function fruitfully. Loving each other, along with prayer (v 7, 16), staying close to Jesus (v, 4) letting him snip away at the rubbish in our lives (v.2) is key to bearing fruit. Sacrificial love within the Church is part of mission. It's part of spirituality. As we walk in love, we find we are bearing fruit. By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another?
© Gilmour Lilly November 2011
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