JESUS LOVES YOU - BUT HOW?
By Richard Burkard
GOTCHA! POP BIBLE QUIZ! We start with a one-question quiz - and I'll even make it "open-book." How many times in the New Testament did Jesus tell someone, "I love you?"
While you ponder the answer to that question, consider these words written by a Living Church of God Pastor early in 2004. It was a summary of an evangelistic-style trip to Africa - and especially note his last line:
For many who struggle with the grim realities of rural life in Kenya----no electricity, no running water, lack of jobs, hunger and the ever-present threat of diseases such as malaria, typhoid and other water-borne infections----the gospel of the coming kingdom of God is a message that inspires real hope. It was sobering to see the joy and enthusiasm of those in Africa who have never understood the truth of the coming kingdom of God, and at the same time remember that many in America and Britain and other parts of the world who have heard dozens of sermons about the kingdom of God drifting away from the truth and turning to another gospel----of loving Jesus, clapping hands, waving arms in the air and singing Hallelujah!
Do you agree or disagree with those last words? I disagreed with them out of hand for several reasons:
* "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy," urges Psalm 47:1.
* The Old Testament spoke of wave offerings (e.g. Ex. 29:24-27) - and Paul urges men to "lift up holy hands in prayer" (I Tim. 2:8), whether they're waved or not.
* "Hallelujah, Praise God" was a Dwight Armstrong hymn - which fits inside the "Armstrong hymn quota" reportedly now required during all LCG services.
And loving Jesus? Well, we'll get to that in a moment. First, let's compare notes on that pop quiz. After the major doctrinal changes of the mid-1990's, Worldwide Church of God ministers challenged members to say, "I love Jesus." But how many times did Jesus say the phrase "I love you" to others in the Bible?
The answer, from both King James and New International Versions - a surprising ZERO. The closest Jesus comes to using such language is in John 15.
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.... My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." (John 15:9, 12) Other modern translations put the actual words in Jesus's mouth, but indirectly: "Love one another, just as I love you...." (Today's English Version) - or "Love each other as much as I love you." (Living Bible)
Jesus didn't restrict that love to his disciples as He walked the earth. Mark 10:21 says the Lord looked at the rich young ruler "and loved him." Yet there's no record that the "three little words" were ever spoken to that ruler. So this brings up a question -- how did Jesus express that love?
In John 14:21, Jesus offers us a hint: "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." So it's a love that involves Jesus showing Himself - and the first part of the verse adds an interesting condition: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." Thus we must show love for Christ by obeying Him, which signifies a belief in Him (see also 16:27).
So is loving Jesus "another gospel" and therefore wrong, as the LCG minister suggests? Based on the Lord's own words, absolutely not! After all, a voice from heaven said at His baptism, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well-pleased." (Mt. 3:17, NIV unless noted) If the Father loved the Son 2,000 years ago (and I suspect still does), why can't humans love Him now?
Perhaps the minister meant by "loving Jesus" simply mouthing those words - and if that was the meaning, the verses we've just examined give him validity. "Loving Christ and keeping His commandments are inseparable," as The New Bible Commentary: Revised puts it. (1970 ed., pg. 959) Another commentary explains: "Obedience and love are the conditions that rule this new life of the church." (Interpreter's Bible, vol. VIII, pg. 710)
One of John's epistles expands on this insight: "....Let us stop just saying we love people: let us really love them, and show it by our actions." (I John 3:18, Living) Even in the first century A.D. John might have declared talk is cheap.
A character in Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona put it this way: "They do not love, that do not show their love." But a commentary adds, "truth is added to deed to make clear that even where acts are performed they must be genuine." (Interpreter's Bible, vol. XII, pg. 265; comparing this verse with Mt. 6:2-4)
Jesus Christ showed His love for us - not always by saying the "magic words," but by His actions, His life, and ultimately His death at Calvary. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Paul goes on to write: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us...." (Eph. 5:1-2) Jesus demonstrated the love of God for us -- for instance by forgiving us, as Ephesians 4:32 points out. And "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)
So am I saying you should stop telling your friends and relatives you love them? NO! Not at all! But I am saying when it comes to love, your actions should speak louder than your words -- whether it be for your Significant Other or your Personal Savior.
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© 2004 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.