Marked by the Radical Love of Christ

Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 33-35).

The Father and His Son were about to be glorified. He was pointing to Calvary but His disciples did not yet grasp the full meaning of the cross. He described their growing but immature understanding by calling them “little children”. Jesus encouraged the disciples to be steadfast in seeking Him after He was gone physically. He urged them to earnestly seek the truth behind the cross. He told them they could not hope to go with Him to the cross, but in the truth of the cross they would discover a way they could imitate Him. He gave them a new commandment, to love one another. But He added depth to the meaning of love by calling them to love one another “just as I have loved you”. Although Jesus had revealed glimpses of this kind of love, its fullest revelation would come in Calvary’s cross. He had not fully revealed this peculiar kind of love yet, but very soon Jesus would demonstrate and call His disciples to imitate a love so profound the world would notice. The Savior promised that as earnest disciples seek after Him and embrace His truth they will discover a love worth sharing with each other, and they will be forever marked by the radical love of Christ.

Do others know you are a disciple of Christ? How do they know? Is it because you go to church, Bible study, or fellowship with other Christians? To be honest, both Christ followers and disciples do these things and they are indistinguishable by such activities. Remember, Jesus did not call us to make followers. He called us to make disciples… “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Remember too, Jesus challenged followers to become disciples by being immersed in His word and by embracing His truth… “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32). In today’s text Jesus teaches that real disciples love one another in the same way that He loved them. Our Teacher leads us to truth that challenges us to ask the self-reflective question, am I a follower or a real disciple of Christ? The Spirit of Truth compels us to ask, am I reflecting the kind of love that identifies me to others as Christ’s disciple? Finally, what kind of love marks us as Christ’s disciples?

God does not keep His love hidden from the world. He actually came into His world to show us His love… “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). So for a real disciple love is not just a personal thing. A disciple is always eager to show the love of God to others. We believe the world must see the love of God in order to see God… “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). Christ’s true disciples are known for their eagerness to show the world His love, much more than for their church attendance, preaching, or witnessing. How then do we show the kind of love that reveals Christ to the world and marks us as His disciples?

Jesus is the best example of God’s radical love. God’s radical love is the reason the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The clearest demonstration of God’s radical love came at the cross… “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). True disciples are compelled by God’s radical love consuming their hearts to die to self and live for Him… “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;  and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). God’s radical love takes over our hearts and moves us to love others more than ourselves.

As we grow up into Christ His radical love compels us to love one another radically as we are…

Marked by the Radical Love of Christ.