The Wonderful Love of Jesus

Please turn in the Word of God this morning to John 13, John’s Gospel, 13th chapter.

I’m still praying over and thinking about where to go in our next study. I thought I knew what I was going to preach this morning. So I had it figured out on Wednesday, actually, and I thought, I’m going to preach on this. And then, in conversation the following day, a certain text just came up into my mind. I was kind of speaking of the text and encouraging, trying to encourage with the text, and I got so taken up in my own exhortations and encouragements, just in conversation, that my mind started going, I need to preach this. It needs to be preached. It needs to be preached ASAP.

So, I’ve preached on this text on one or two occasions before, even at funerals. I’ve preached on John 13, verse 1, but I want to draw your attention to it today.

We should appreciate our moms, appreciate what graces they display, be thankful for them. They’re not perfect, but neither are our fathers, and neither are we as children. And yet we can be thankful if God so mercifully put a God-fearing mother in our path. And that’s not the case for everyone here, I know that. But if we have such a privilege, we should be thankful.

And to the mothers here, endeavor to be such. Be one that they will rise up and call blessed. That your memory would be of such encouragement to your children, and even beyond, where you may become an adopted mother of sorts to others. They look up to you, they seek your counsel, they call you for prayer, they endeavor to seek wisdom from you at times, and you become a mother to them of sorts. And that’s a good thing.

They all lamented the death of Dorcas, didn’t they? Because she did much good with almsgiving and making of garments and so on. And when she was gone, they lamented. She was a mother to many.

But we’re in John 13. We’re not thinking about the love of mothers here this morning. We’re thinking about the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I want us to think about this.

Come into John 13. I want to read the opening verses and get something of the context here. Our Lord Jesus’ ministry, really His public ministry, has almost come to an end.

We read in verse 1 of John 13:

“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

“And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

“He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

“After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

“Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

“Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

“Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

“Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

“Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

“For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.”

Amen.

We’ll end the reading at verse 11. I trust the Lord will bless the public reading of His Word. And what you have heard, beloved, is the Word of the eternal God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray.

Lord, we thank Thee for Thy deep love, vast, unmeasured, boundless. And we draw such encouragement from the knowledge that its expanse takes us up. And I pray today that there would be accomplished a deeper impression of Thy love toward us. Sometimes we forget it. Sometimes we deny it. Sometimes men will decline it.

I pray today there will be a full embrace of Thy love. Come to us today. Give us, O God, that sense of hearing from Thee. Thou knowest every life, every trial, every temptation, every fear, every doubt. Thou knowest what everyone here is dealing with.

If there be one without Christ, save them. And whatever other spiritual condition that thou seest, yea, even in me, Lord, thou seest my heart. Thou knowest what I need.

May the Spirit of God come and really drive the Word home. Hear us now, we pray in our Savior’s name. Amen.

The text that I am drawing your attention to this morning is one of my favorite texts in all of Scripture. The language of John 13, verse 1, in which John, almost in a parenthetical way, reflects upon the love of Christ toward His people.

You see it:

“Before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

He had been ministering these three odd years. He had put before men and women and young people the truth of His purpose. John has presented Him in various ways, very vividly: as the resurrection and the life, as the bread of God sent down from heaven, as the light of the world, and so on and so forth.

At the end of chapter 12, indeed, He reminds them, He warns them in verse 35, “Yet a little while is the light with you.” Still there is this little moment. The light is with you, and He is encouraging them to take full advantage. Believe on the light.

But He has with Him His disciples, these whom He chose some years back. He called to Himself, spoke the word, and they left what they were doing to follow Him. And He promised them that He would make them fishers of men, that He would make use of them in future days.

And John now is opening the door to a special moment in which He is speaking very particularly to them. You will know when you come to chapter 14, 15, and 16, there is this extensive discourse with the eleven, where the concern and love of Christ toward them, to just finalize the preparation, before He then prays His high priestly prayer, chapter 17, and then immediately is to be arrested.

That’s how John moves in the heart of the law. It’s all culminating. It’s driving towards, it’s just hours away from the cross.

And I want us to reflect upon the language that is given here, this special moment that the disciples would never forget, the Lord Jesus humbling Himself to wash their feet and so on. And John reminds them, he reminds the reader, that the hour has come.

And our Lord Jesus loved His own which were in the world, and He loved them unto the end.

Consider with me then why the love of Jesus is so wonderful. Why the love of Jesus is so wonderful.

And note, in the first place, it is so wonderful because of its purpose.

It is so wonderful because of its purpose.

On a number of occasions already in John’s Gospel, John has made reference to the hour, right back near the beginning of his Gospel. In chapter 2, he makes reference: “Woman, mine hour is not yet come.” It’s not here. There’s a lot that needs to be accomplished.

But now, John says, He knows. He knows that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world.

And in that short statement, he puts his arms around what the Lord Jesus is about to do. He puts his arms around the purpose. This is the hour. I came for this purpose. The whole end is leading up to this.

I’m living, and of course there’s purpose in the life, but it is culminating, it is driving toward the climactic event of a substitutionary death.

And so when you think of this purpose, this hour that was come that He should depart out of this world, very briefly note that this purpose included His vicarious death.

His purpose included His vicarious death.

The hour includes this. The hour is culminating to this vicarious, atoning death, where God, made flesh, is going to die.

It’s not a surprise. The entire time, the other synoptic Gospels make reference to the fact that He was teaching His disciples to anticipate this. We’re going to Jerusalem. We’re heading there. And I’m going to fall into the hands of sinners. And He makes reference to the fact that He is going there to die.

Now, that didn’t fit with the vision they had of His purpose. It didn’t nicely, in a tidy way, fit with their whole hope of what might come to pass. They’re looking for a final, definitive victory over the Romans, the establishment of His reign, and Him to rule there in Jerusalem from this moment and quench everyone who would oppose those who are for the Lord.

But that’s not the plan at this stage.

The hour is not leading up to His enthronement.

Again, in John’s Gospel, when he refers to the feeding of the 5,000, such is the impact of that miracle that the thousands who saw it are so impressed. They are convinced that this is the prophet that Moses did say should come, and they press upon Him. And Jesus moves out of their midst, moves Himself away, travels away by boat away from them, because they wanted to make Him king. They want to establish Him right there and then.

That is not what the hour is leading up to.

The hour having come is this hour that brings about a vicarious death. And to that we praise God. We praise God.

This love of Jesus Christ is seen in this purpose and put before us in Calvary. That His love goes to the extent that He lays down His life. He lays down His life, even that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

This vicarious death, this is part of the purpose: going to the cross, bearing our sins, facing the judgment, being made sin for us, who knew no sin.

His purpose included not only His vicarious death, but it included His vindicating resurrection.

The hour, of course, doesn’t stall at the cross. There is a vindicating resurrection. There is coming this, and again, the previous chapter gives indication of hope and anticipation that will follow.

“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.”

And the Lord Jesus was anticipating this, that with His death there would come fruit. And again, the vindicating miracle is His resurrection. His body is not left in the grave. It’s not left to corrupt. The Father would not leave His soul in hell or suffer His Holy One to see corruption, but He vindicates Him, raises Him from the dead.

And that’s part of the hour. It’s part of the whole purpose. The culminating influence is that Jesus would take our nature, die on the cross, and rise again.

But also this purpose included His victorious ascension. Not just a vicarious death and vindicating resurrection, but His victorious ascension.

His hour has come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father.

Out of this world. It’s an interesting study, actually, to note the differences between when John refers to the world, like “God so loved the world,” and when he refers to this world. And usually when it’s this world, it’s negative. It’s like this world, this world so full of sin and hatred and animosity, and Jesus is departing out of this world that has so hated Him.

Having come unto His own, and His own received Him not. This world who refused and rejected Him, “Crucify Him,” and so on. But they are not going to have the final say.

There is going to be a victorious ascension. He is departing out of this world unto the Father.

And this again brings about, and I can’t dwell on it for any time, but brings about the encouragement of His people. Because when you get into John 14 and 15 and 16, His departing out of this world unto the Father becomes the platform of their own encouragement.

I’m not going to leave you here. You’re going to be with Me. I’m going to bring you to be with Me. You’re going to behold My glory.

This is the hour. This is the time. I’m going to leave you. Don’t be worried. Don’t be anxious.

Or as the next chapter begins, “Let not your heart be troubled.” That’s the idea of it. Let not your heart be full of anxiety. “Ye believe in God, believe also in me.” He’s encouraging them.

This hour leading Him to depart out of this world unto the Father lays a foundation that we too will follow in that same path. This hour is opening up heaven to us. That One with our nature opens up heaven and ascends there to the right hand of the Father, and we too will follow Him. And we will go to be with Christ, which is far better.

And on that great day of resurrection, when body and soul are brought together, we will forever be with Him.

This is the love of Jesus and its purpose. It brings the essence of the gospel to light.

But it is so wonderful, not just because of its purpose, but also because of its pre-existence.

The love of Jesus is so wonderful because of its pre-existence.

“Having loved.” “Having loved his own.”

Having loved. His love didn’t just begin that day. It’s not like He decided there to begin to love them because, oh, these disciples have been with Me through thick and through thin. Here they are still with Me, and I’m deciding to love them now.

No. “Having loved” pushes it back. Having loved.

Just how far back does it go? That’s the question, isn’t it? How far back does the love of Jesus go for you and for me? For His own, for His people, for these disciples. How far back does that love go?

Well, some of you know. Jeremiah 31, verse 3: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love,” says the Lord. “Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

And you note the order. You note the order. It’s not, I drew thee, and therefore I love thee. I love thee. Therefore I drew thee.

That’s great, isn’t it? That’s great.

Love is the principle heart of the matter. Because of the love, He draws.

Having loved. Why were you drawn? Why were you drawn? Having loved. It was already there. The love towards you was already present.

“We love him, because he first loved us,” says John in his epistle.

So it’s wonderful because of its pre-existence. Having loved. Yes, in that time in which you were not very lovely. And you may say to yourself, even now I’m not very lovely. Yes, but though that be true, there may be a sense in which there was another time in which you were even less lovely. And He loved you then. He loved you then.

The unlovable, yet loved. And He brought us to Himself.

I’m amazed at this.

Chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world, Paul says in Ephesians 1. Loved. It’s a wonderful thing.

And you think about your love to Him then, you trace the stream back to the fountain. And that fountain is not your love to Him, it’s His love to you, drawn because you were loved.

Yes, I think that gives great encouragement. The whole plan of redemption weaved out because you could say in these two words, there’s a tremendous truth: “having loved.” Why did He take our nature? Why did He take our humanity? Why is He not ashamed to call His brethren? All these things, it goes back, having loved.

And in the third place, it is so wonderful because of its particularity.

“Having loved his own,” it says. “Having loved his own.” Not just having loved generally.

So yes, it has a purpose, and yes, there is a pre-existence to it, but there’s a particularity to it. “Having loved his own.” His own. He loved His own.

He preached to multitudes, and He had a certain love to them. Oh, don’t forget that.

He looked upon the rich young ruler, it tells us, and having conversed with him and laid before him the need to give up his idol, to give up his riches, and he was sad at that saying, was the rich young ruler. It tells us, though, that Jesus looked on him and loved him. He had a love for him.

Now let me ask you, when you look at people even in their rejection of the gospel, do you look upon them and love them?

Jesus looked at this one so favored. God had blessed him with a sound mind, capable. He’d done very well, been successful, holds position, even though he’s young. He has maturity beyond his years in many ways. And with all those blessings, yet he is without the will to give up his primary god.

And instead of having hatred, Jesus looks on him and loves him. There is a benevolence to our God, where He loves all His creatures, and Jesus embodies that love.

But that doesn’t take away from the fact that there is particular, special kind of love reserved for those who may be designated His own.

Just like you have, you try to love your neighbor. Yeah, you even try to love your enemies. Right? But there’s a distinction between the love you endeavor to exercise toward your enemies and the love that you have for your spouse. Or, given the day that we’re in, the love you feel toward your mother. The memory of your mother.

It’s different. It’s different. It’s a different level of love, and rightly so.

And Jesus had special love for His own. “Having loved his own.” What love this is.

Yes, it’s a covenantal love. It’s a special love.

There’s one in their midst, of course, who is distinct. And this whole scene is going to filter him out, as it were. Jesus is going to drive Judas from the midst of them. He’s going to tell him to go.

Verse 27: “That thou doest, do quickly.”

Verse 30 tells us, “He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.”

He went out, and it was night. Ah, what language that is. He went out, and it was night.

He’s bringing in something of the darkness of the moment, not just the nocturnal period of the day, as it were, but the night. He went out, and it was night. There’s no more light for Judas. He has wasted the light. He’s going to betray the light.

So Jesus is going to reveal later on in His prayer in John 17, He’s going to make reference to the fact that His love is for them.

“I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.”

He makes a distinction between the world.

And my prayer right now, Father, is not so much for those out there in the world, have not been given to Me. My prayer is for those whom You have given to Me, because they’re Mine, and You gave them to Me.

So His love is particular. There’s a particular love that He has, that He feels in His soul.

Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. He says, “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.”

God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.

Which is an amazing thing. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation.

What was he indicating there? The beginning of what? The beginning of missionary endeavor? No, that’s not what he’s referring to.

He has from the beginning chosen you. In other words, it has always been. His choice is ancient. He has an ancient choice. And He chose you for salvation.

I know some don’t believe this. I get that. I understand that it’s a struggle for some.

Or as is mentioned in Acts 13:48, “as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”

You think of the order. As many as were ordained. Who’s doing the ordaining? Not them. They’re not doing the ordaining. They’re not doing the planning. They’re not doing the appointing. They’re not the ones in control.

“As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”

They then believed because that was the plan.

He had this particular love, yes, pre-existent and particular love, having loved His own. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” He was saying, John 15. We have been bought with a price, 1 Corinthians 6. We don’t belong to ourselves.

He set His love upon us, and He has drawn us.

I mean, this is what you see, isn’t it? Saul of Tarsus isn’t on his way to Damascus to figure out how to get right with God. That’s not what he’s doing. He’s not on that path to Damascus trying to solve a conundrum of how can I figure out whether I am loved by God and how to serve God.

He thinks he already is loved by God. He thinks he already is serving God, and he is going about to kill Christians, or at least to put them in prison.

And on his way, the Lord meets with him. There was a love that was set upon him, and in time confronted him and forced him to then render up his will and say, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

So it’s wonderful because of its particularity. Yes, it’s not vague.

I’m not here preaching a vague love, right? We don’t really have a whole lot of time for vague love, do we? I mean, there’s a place for it. There’s a place for talking about vague generalities, you know, and to explain something.

But it doesn’t really give us a whole lot of encouragement. It certainly doesn’t go as far in its power to encourage.

My wife looks at me for confirmation of my love, and I say, I love everyone. She might say, well, I appreciate that. That’s not really what she’s endeavoring to hear. It’s not going to give the same kind of comfort as, I love you.

And that’s what God is saying in His Word. And that’s what’s intimated by John here, having loved His own. They’re set apart. They’re distinct. They’re different. They’re not like everyone else.

It’s particular.

Yes. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Why? The desire? I don’t think so. That’s not what I see.

As hard as it is to wrap our head around at times.

In the fourth place, it is so wonderful because of its patience.

It’s also so wonderful because of its patience.

“Having loved his own which were in the world.” His own which were in the world.

Now, if John had said, having loved His own which were in heaven, that would make sense to us, right? Because they’re perfected. They’re no longer grieving Him.

But it’s His own that are in the world.

And you know what’s so powerful about this, right? What’s very powerful about this is the very chapter, and this is part of why I love this verse. Sometimes it’s not just the sentence and the construction of the sentence and putting certain words together that give encouragement. It’s the context in which they’re found.

And the reason why I love John 13, verse 1, is not just “having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” That’s great, right? That is great. I’m not denying that. It’s wonderful.

But what makes it more wonderful, the reason why I’ve loved it for years, when it first dawned on me, the realization that John is giving this little window into the love that the Lord has for His disciples before they’re going to make their boast about how faithful they’re going to be.

“They’ll all forsake Thee, and not I,” says Peter, and they all agree with Peter. They all say the same thing.

And John gives a little window into that, if you look down at verse 36.

“Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.

“Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.”

There’s Peter, right? I’m ready to die.

Thomas has already said something similar back in chapter 11: “Let us also go, that we may die with him,” right? When they head off to the tomb of Lazarus. There’s a kind of resignation in them. They’re prepared to die. So they think.

They think they love the Lord so much, they’re going to die for Him. They’re willing to die for Him.

And Jesus says, and then, you know, if you step back, that you can understand, right? If Jesus loves people who are prepared to die for Him, then you could say, well, I understand why He loves them then.

But we’re going to see, as Jesus then gives, John’s account is more abbreviated, but He says in verse 38, “Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake?”

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.”

You’re going to deny Me on three separate occasions.

And you go and read the other Gospels, Matthew and so on, it gives a little more detail about this discussion, this part of the dialogue. John just gives enough, just reminds you.

And here’s what struck me many years ago, reading this, was that sense of, if you’re reading this, you’re reading about Jesus and the end of His ministry and His service to His disciples and washing their feet and showing such love and everything. And then you read, Jesus says one’s going to betray and then another one’s going to deny three times.

You think, how could it be? How could He love these people?

And yet that’s what John is saying. He’s setting it up. He’s setting up, “having loved his own which were in the world.”

It’s these ones in the world that He loves. It’s you now, not future you, that He’s going to love. Right?

As you wage war with your sin, and you do battle, and you feel, right, because you do. And you’re in this struggle, and sometimes you don’t get the better of it. And you’re sitting here this morning, and your mind is able to multiply, tally up the failures of your life. And you think, there’s no way, there’s no way a holy God, the purity of Jesus, could ever look upon me and have any love to me.

John is setting the record straight.

“Having loved his own which were in the world.”

Here they are in the world. In the world in which they are going to betray Him. They’re going to forsake and flee from Him. They’re going to do things that defy their loud profession of love and prove just how limited and weak they are.

And John is opening up a little parenthetical. He’s opening up the window. He’s communicating to his reader, here’s what we discovered, dear reader, here’s what we discovered: that He didn’t just love future us, glorified us, or us when we were at our best state.

“Having loved his own which were in the world.”

When sometimes that world would get the better of him. When that world would come and ask, are you not one of His disciples? When a little maid will question and say, surely you’re one of them. Your speech betrays you.

I know I’m not.

And to deny with oaths and cursings, this is Peter, in the world, and John’s reminding everyone, the Lord loves them. He loves them.

So that you put yourself right back in some awful spot of failure before God. It may not have been very long ago. Some spot of failure.

Now, listen, you have to get this. You have to get this.

You put yourself right there, and He is loving you then as much as He ever has or He ever will. He is loving you in your lowest most, your lowest point as a Christian in terms of what’s expected of you, what you know is expected of you.

He loves equally you.

It is so wonderful because of its patience. We need to get this.

He keeps on loving.

And it’s so wonderful in the fifth place because of its perpetuity.

It’s tied into it, but it drives the point home. Not just His love’s patience, but there’s a perpetuity to it.

“Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

Just loving those in the world with their sins and not yet glorified and perfected. But it’s in perpetuity. It’s never going to stop. He loved them unto the end, to the telos. It’s going to carry on.

Nothing’s ever going to stop it. Nothing’s ever going to interject or create a pause or cause Him to reconsider.

He loved them unto the end, through all the ups and downs of their life, the high times of great exploits for God and the low times of sin and unbelief.

Perpetuity of this love. It’s wonderful because of its perpetuity. There’s no second-guessing. No quitting.

I want to just reflect on two things that drive this point home.

The perpetuity of this love is true even when it’s not felt.

It’s true even when it’s not felt.

This morning I was reading for myself Psalm 77. And there are parts of that psalm where that psalmist is communicating a sense where he does not feel like he is under the favor of God.

Are You going to cast us off forever? You favor us no more?

He has to remember the right hand of God in the days of old. He has to remember. But in that moment, he’s not feeling it.

But this love continues in perpetuity even when it’s not felt. And you may be there, and you’re wondering, am I really loved in perpetuity by the Lord Jesus? Yes. Even when it’s not felt.

When you’re numb to it. He’s not making it really plain to you. And maybe it’s intentional. As in, He’s endeavoring to get you to pursue Him. He’s drawing you out after Him, like the Shulamite in Song of Solomon. Giving that sense of pursuit. “Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?” Have ye seen Him? Please point the way. Tell me where I might find Him. Please lead me to Him.

And He’s drawing that out of your heart, right?

And you don’t feel it right now. And the whole purpose of that is not for you to abandon ship, as it were, to give up on your faith. It’s actually to draw you out, to keep seeking Him, coming before Him and saying, Lord, give me a sense of this again. I need a sense of this love afresh. I hate this numbness. I hate this feeling of distance. Are You there, Lord? I don’t want to stay there.

So I’m going to pursue You. I’m going to keep going after You.

And that’s the right response. That’s what we see saints do at other times.

He loves us. This love of perpetuity is even when it is not felt.

But it’s also when it is fought.

And that’s even more surprising. This love of perpetuity, the wonderful love of Jesus that loves us in perpetuity, is true not just when it’s not felt, and you’re scrambling after it, and you’re clamoring, and you’re saying, oh, that I knew where I might find Him. That’s where your heart is.

But it’s also when it’s fought, when saints fight against the love of Jesus Christ. And saints can do that, right?

I mean, Peter, he’s the case, right? He’s fighting against the love of the Lord in denial. That’s what he’s doing. He’s fighting it. He’s like, I don’t belong to Him. I don’t have anything to do with Him.

He’s fighting the love. There’s a union between Peter and the Lord Jesus, and he’s in denial of it. He’s fighting against it. He’s saying it is not so when it is.

And that’s where saints can get to. We start fighting what is true, the very love of Christ for us. And we’re fighting it. We’re trying to fit in with the world. We’re trying to adjust it, not be as Christian. And we fight it. We fight His love.

It’s amazing, isn’t it?

What are we doing? What are we doing?

We fight His love.

And yet it is just as true in those moments. His love has not wavered a millimeter, for even a nanosecond. It is steady. It is committed.

And as He did for Peter, He’s going to glance over to you and lock eyes. And even with a glance, remind you, you belong to Me. You belong to Me.

This love is wonderful. It’s wonderful. What are we that we should be so loved?

Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me. Love beyond our human comprehension. Love of God in Christ. How can it be? This will be my theme and never-ending great redeeming love of Calvary.

Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful?

But you want to know something else that’s wonderful about it? I’m just going to close with this.

He then tells us something. Look at verses 34 and 35.

You keep in mind this love, right? This love that is particular and patient and perpetual.

And He says to His disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another.”

All right, we can handle that. We can handle that. We can give that a shot. Husbands, wives, love each other. Christians, love each other. Get at the call to love. Love.

Here’s where the mind gets blown, right? Here’s where you start going, really?

“As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

As I have loved you.

It’s particular.

Yes, I want you, because you’re Mine. You need to show this love to each other.

So the love you have for the brothers and sisters here has to be different than the love you have for the rest of the world. It is. It has to be higher, right? It has to be higher.

So if you’re looking around, you say, I love these people the same way I love my unbelieving neighbor next door. That’s not what He’s asking for. He’s asking for something higher. There has to be a higher love for a particular people, His own.

It’s also to be patient.

His own which are in the world, right? No point sitting here and saying, I love the saints in heaven, right? I love those up there whom I don’t have to deal with, look at, and be disappointed in.

No, no, you have to love His own which are in the world, these around you. They’re going to disappoint you, the same way they disappointed the Lord in that sense. They failed. They came up short. You’re going to feel that. You’re going to be wounded in the house of your friends. You’re going to feel the pain. And you’re going to inflict it too. You’re going to be the cause of other people’s pain.

But it’s to be a love that goes into perpetuity.

Particular, patient, and in perpetuity.

“As I have loved you, love one another.”

I don’t know about you, but my love does not cut the mustard. It is a long way to go. A long way to go.

But the love of Jesus is so wonderful that it’s not something just to be felt and wondered at in ourselves. He then says, go and live it out, embody it, model it, amaze others with the love that you have one to the other.

So think upon your spouse right now.

That’s the calling.

Your children. Your parents. And look at your church.

We’re never going to have it if we don’t aim for it.

Let’s bow together in prayer.

Take this with you, child of God. When the enemy comes and tries to persuade you that you are not loved as intensely as the Word of God reveals is so for every Christian, you go back and you remember: We love Him because He first loved us. I love Him because He first loved me.

Lord, there is a mystery. How is it that thou couldst ever love us so? Why should the Son of God ever die in our place?

We’re so thankful for it. We’re so thankful that it is so. And You’ve seen fit to glorify Yourself in drawing a people to Yourself and loving them with an everlasting love, and with lovingkindness drawing them.

Oh God, please keep us humble. Help us to be humble recipients of this love. To never doubt it, for it does not reflect Thee if we doubt Thy love toward us. Help us to believe in its fullness, Thy love toward us.

Then may the Spirit of God, who produces fruit in every Christian, produce in us love like this. May it be true in our homes, in our church, and into our community.

Hear prayer now.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

“To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.”

Amen.