SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1349

“Love Held Him There”

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. – 1 John 3:16

Jesus could have stopped the crucifixion. But He didn’t. His followers could see the determination in His face as they journeyed to Jerusalem.

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem; But the Lord God helps me; therefore, I have not been disgraced; therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. – Luke 9:51; Isaiah 50:7

Was it sheer physical will and gut determination that enabled Jesus to suffer tremendously and die a tortuous death by crucifixion?  No. It was His steadfast love for us and His unwavering obedience to the Father that gave Him the resolve to suffer and die for our sin.

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 nails did not hold Him on the cross – His love did. Love powered Him through and held Him there.

During His ministry, in His love, Jesus cared for and ultimately died for those He knew would yell, ‘Crucify Him’. He ministered to the Roman oppressors, Samaritans, and tax collectors – He did not discriminate in His love.

In His love, Jesus washed the feet of Judas Iscariot, whom He knew would betray Him. He also washed the feet of His disciples whom He knew would abandon Him and flee.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

It is mind boggling to try to fathom the depth and breadth of the love that God has for us through Jesus and yet, His commandment to us is that we love as He loved.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:12-13

How can we possibly obey this commandment? It is not humanly possible. Precisely! Our ability to love as Jesus loves comes through the power of the Holy Spirit and His greatest gift to us.

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible; You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth; By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.  – Matthew 19:26; Acts 1:8; John 13:35

We must first have an unwavering, unconditional, steadfast love for God.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. – Matthew 22:37-38

We must also love ourselves, caring for our spiritual, mental, and physical well-being, not selfishly at the expense of others but rather in recognizing that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

And a second (commandment) is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself – Matthew 22:39

We must love and forgive others, not only those who love us back, but also those who are unloving toward us.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. – 1 John 4:20-21

Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive; Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Colossians 3:13; Mark 11:25

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same; But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil; But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. – Luke 6:32-33, 35; James 2:9

Jesus’ love held Him on the cross. Will we allow His love to hold us in difficult family relationships; Husband-Wife? Parent-Child? Caring for elderly parent? Brother-Sister?

Are we willing to allow His love to hold us in difficult relationships with others? Church conflicts? Workplace conflicts? Neighborhood conflicts?

Will we allow His love to hold us in loving those who act unlovingly toward us and treat us poorly?

It is a ‘tall order’ to love as Jesus loves. We cannot obey His commandment to do so apart from His abiding presence and the power of His Holy Spirit. Will you allow His love to hold you there?

According to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:16-19