“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”
John 15:12-14 NLT
In an earlier chapter in John, Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34). Jesus reminds the disciples of the commandment to love one another, a repetition that emphasises the importance of love. But this is not the emotional or sentimental love that our secular societies favour. To a Christian, this is the agape love that has a cost associated with it. A love that loves the unlovely. A love that goes above and beyond even to the point of sacrificing life for another. A love that a selfish and grasping world doesn’t understand.
In Romans 5:6-8, Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“. Then we read what John wrote in 1 John 3:16, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters”.
In the case of the early Apostles, all except for John, ended up dying a violent death. So they did literally sacrifice their lives for their fellow believers. And many of the Early Church disciples also died for their faith. We can read about Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 7:59-60, “As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.” A Spirit-filled man murdered for His faith in Jesus.
But, practically, what does this mean for us pilgrims? We live in a society that would naturally prioritise its own interests before anyone else’s. There is a selfish motivation to grab the last seat on the bus before anyone else can get there. Or jump the queue at a supermarket. The common and motivation question is “What’s in it for me?”. Me, me, me all the time. But agape love is the opposite of all this.
Jesus said to His disciples, and, by extension, to us as well, that they should love others “in the same way I have loved you“. He taught much about love and when asked about which was the greatest commandment, “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”” (Matthew 22:37-40). In everything we do, we must be motivated by the same love that Jesus has for us.
Dear Heavenly Father. You love us with a love so extravagant it takes our breaths away. Thank You. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 