Extraordinary Love

Extraordinary Love

Read: John 15:5-17

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

John 15:12

“He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is love.”

—C. S. Lewis

IN WORD Admiration for Jesus’ message of love is almost universal. In spite of all our admiration, though, it is rarely followed. We have no trouble with the idea that we are to love each other—by our definition of love. But Jesus raises the bar on love—His definition is the substance of this command. We are to love each other just as He has loved us.

What does this mean for us? In order to know, we must find out how He loves us. How does He define love? By serving His disciples—washing their feet, to be exact—He “showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1). It was a highly symbolic demonstration of the ultimately sacrificial love that Jesus refers to in John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

This is an extraordinary love. It isn’t natural for us. In fact, it’s virtually impossible. We want to love others this way, but we don’t. We hold it as an ideal, but hardly ever live up to it. Was Jesus being unrealistic? Does He really expect fallen, corrupted human beings to behave like the divine Son of God?

IN DEED Jesus knows our feeble efforts at love. It is no coincidence that this verse comes immediately after His teaching on the branch’s relationship to the Vine. Love is a form of bearing fruit, and Jesus is emphatic that we can bear no fruit on our own (v. 5). It is by our abiding in Him, and by His abiding in us, that fruit happens. It is by the same union that love happens.

If we attempt to love others as Jesus loves us, we will fail. We can try to muster up feelings, but they will fall short. We can try to love independently of our feelings, but it will be a hollow, lifeless love. No, there is no remedy for our lovelessness other than the Living Vine bearing fruit through His branches. He is the source. Do you want greater love for others? Bask in His love, and see what happens next.