TITLE
John 13:31-38 – True Love
EXPLANATION
After Judas had left, Jesus begins to teach His
remaining disciples. This private
instruction continues for the next three chapters. The Lord began by speaking of His and His
Father’s glory. The Son was going to be
glorified by His crucifixion and resurrection, the Father would be glorified in
Him, thus both Father and Son would be mutually glorified together.
Then Jesus told His men that they needed to begin to
love one another just as He had first loved them. Through this true love all people would be
able to recognize the followers of Christ.
Love is the notable feature of a Christian.
Almost as if on cue, Peter once again jumped into the
silence, and rashly professed his determination to follow Jesus, even to the
grave. Jesus promptly shut him down by
foreshadowing his three denials in just a few hours.
APPLICATION
True love does not desert. It does not flee when times get tough and
danger comes close. It is true to its
word and stays till the end. Jesus, the
master of both teaching and knowing the future, had a perfect object lesson in
His disciple, Peter. It was as if the
Lord could point to Peter and say that this is not the kind of love He was
describing. Do not act like Peter is
going to act in a brief time if you want to follow my command to love. Instead, act like you are going to see Me act
in a few hours, as I am lifted up for your sake.
Do we love like Peter or do we love like Christ? Peter thought he loved his Lord, but he had
not learned what true love really looked like.
It would require him to fail miserably before he would be able to grasp
the reality of the love of Christ. Since
he did fail at first, Peter stands as a warning to all future generations of
Christians, of how not to act. Will we
learn from Peter’s mistake or will we be so stubborn that we have to fail
miserably ourselves first? Will we stay
true to our Lord, both when times are easy and when they are difficult?
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