The Love of Jesus

 

                                                                     

                                   

Aloha Dearest Family,

                The other day my wife and I were studying I Corinthians; the wonderful chapter about the love of God.

            “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love (the love of God), I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:1-3 NASB)

            Even if I had all spiritual abilities and gave everything I had to poor people, if I didn’t have agapeo, the love of God in evidence, it would all be for nothing.

           “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (verses 4-8a)  

              To most, love doesn’t seem to be all that important when dealing with other people. But God considers it the most important quality that we could possess.

          “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (verse 13)

The people that demonstrate God’s love to others, also demonstrate these qualities in their lives. The qualities that are evidenced in an unconditional love – compassion, kindness, patience, acceptance.     

            I can think of no other person in history that demonstrated these qualities better than the Lord Jesus Christ. Of all the prophecies about the Messiah thousands of years before his birth, nothing could compare with meeting and getting to know Jesus in the flesh. Here was a man who loved God with everything he had and loved people with a love that no one had ever seen before. Let’s see him in action.

          This record from Luke is only covered in a few verses of scripture, but the true meaning behind it is astounding. 

“And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”(Luke 5:12)

Here is a man “full of leprosy”. Leprosy in the ancient east was a horrible, contagious and incurable disease of the skin. The individuals that contracted it were called the “walking dead’ because to be diagnosed with it was a death sentence due to the flesh rotting off the bones. As horrible as living as a leper was, it was just as devastating for the family of the individual. Families in the ancient East were very close and most times they would never see their loved one again. This person would be excluded from society including all feasts and other religious gatherings. Lepers lived far from society in leper colonies and it was unlawful to come within the vicinity of others without first crying, “Unclean, unclean!”

           So, when we read that this man was “full of leprosy” we recognize that he was in the advanced stages of this disease. The sight and smell of this man would be quite horrifying and to arrive in town to see Jesus, he must have had to endure continuous derision from all who saw him.

When the man saw Jesus, he fell on his face. This was a sign of complete surrender and he asked Jesus if he was WILLING to heal him. He already knew that he was ABLE, but he was asking if he wanted to heal him. What was said next must have thrilled his soul.

                 “And he put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.” (Luke 5:13)

 When it says he “touched him”, it doesn’t mean that he just touched him with a fingertip. The word touched used here means, “to attach oneself to” or “to embrace”. Can you imagine Jesus hugging this man that was “full of leprosy”? JESUS DID! Think of how much love he must have had for this man. Jesus looked past his appearance and his smell and saw his need. He wasn’t just a leper to Jesus. He was someone God truly loved. Once Jesus embraced him, Jesus told him “I am willing, be thou cleansed”, and the leprosy departed from him. Think of the stir this miracle would cause. Imagine word getting back to the other lepers; how there was now someone who could free them from this dreaded curse.

This is all possible because of the love of Jesus Christ. His continual, powerful, never wavering demonstration of God’s love set him apart from all others.

              Today we are called to walk like Christ. We are encouraged to put on the “mind of Christ” and demonstrate the love that he had for people.

  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:15)

 Be compassionate. Do not judge. Be patient with those around you. Having the mind of Christ includes seeing others the way God sees them. To look past their infirmity and see the hurting soul inside, begging to be made free. Let us be willing to love like he loved. Be willing to love the unlovable and hug the leper. The greatest blessings do not come upon those we bless. The greatest blessings come from God to those who walk like Christ.

                     Love Always, Ray

 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (I John 4:7)