The Last Week of Jesus: Week 3 - Equipped to Love

Love in Action: Our Role in God’s Kingdom

Bible Passage: Matthew 22:34–40, Matthew 25:31–46, Matthew 28:18-20

Summary: In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus emphasizes the greatest commandment: to love God and love our neighbor. This is followed by Matthew 25:31-46, where Christ describes the final judgment, illustrating how our acts of kindness to others reflect our faith and love for Him.

Application: This message encourages Christians to actively live out their faith by loving others as an expression of their love for God, reminding them that every act of love serves a greater purpose in God’s kingdom and will be acknowledged in eternity.

Teaching: The sermon teaches that our love for God is demonstrated through our love for others, and that our actions in this life have eternal significance, shaping our standing before God at the final judgment.

How this passage could point to Christ: Both passages highlight the character of Christ as the ultimate manifestation of love; His life exemplified the love for God and neighbor, and His sacrificial death was the ultimate act of love, demonstrating the serious nature of how we treat others.

Big Idea: Our role as Christians is to embody and enact love in our lives, reflecting Christ's love to others, which will determine our experience in God's eternal kingdom.

Recommended Study: I suggest exploring Logos for insights into the cultural and historical context of the Jewish understanding of law in Matthew 22, especially regarding the commandment to love. Additionally, examining commentaries on Matthew 25 can provide a deeper understanding of the theology of judgment and how our actions are assessed inlight of our faith. Consider exploring the Greek terms for 'love' used in both passages to grasp their implications fully.

Ice Breaker

As we look to continue our series on the Last Week of Jesus. We now move on to Tuesday, which is just 3 days before Jesus will be crucified on the cross. These last actions and teachings by Jesus are here to help make sure the the disciples are prepared, even though they do not know what is coming next.

Imagine a time when you were getting ready for a big party. You made sure to wear your best outfit, have a good attitude, and even practiced some conversation starters. Now, think about how God wants us to be just as prepared, but instead of a party, it’s about sharing His love with others. When the opportunity arises, we don’t want to miss it because we didn't put on our best spiritual outfit—the love and joy of Christ!

See as we moved to Tuesday of Passion Week, Jesus does a lot of teaching to the people and to His disciples. He was wanting to prepare them for what was coming next. While this day takes up 4 chapters of the book of Matthew and if we went through all of them we might be here all day. So we are going to take a snapshot into what Jesus was sharing with His disciples and the people gathered around.

Main Message

1. Purposeful Love for God

Matthew 22:34–38

Before we get into the main part of scripture that we will be focusing on, I do want to look at something Jesus had said earlier in the day that is going to really sum up the point that Jesus is trying to get across. We are going to start in:

Matthew 22:34–38 NLT

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

The Pharisees, while they might not be the biggest fans of the Sadducees, did not like that Jesus had got one over on them and how he had silenced them. So an expert in the law wanted to try and pull one over on Jesus. Which of course as we know isn’t going to happen. Just by looking at Jesus’ first part of his answer give us an idea about being equipped to Love and it starts with this:

Purposeful Love for God

Before anything else we need to have a love for God, but not just any love it needs to be purposeful, it needs to be authentic, it needs to be genuine. Before we can even love others, we have to love God first. What is really crazy is if we go back and look at the 10 Commandments, can you guess how we could group the first 4 of them? (Show image on the screen)

That’s right: Love God.

2. Pervasive Love for All

Matthew 22:39–40

The expert in the law knew that this was the first part of the answer but Jesus is not done here. Let’s look at the rest of his answer:

Matthew 22:39–40 NLT

39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus moves then from the first part of loving God to the next, loving people. But even more than just loving them, Jesus also tells us how we need to love them, like we love our selves.

See this second part of Jesus’ answer shows us what else we need to know about being equipped to love and its this:

Pervasive Love for All

See this ties directly to what Jesus had just said, if we are to love God then the next logical step would be to love people. Why? Because we are his creation, so we need to love what God has created. But do you notice what else is not mentioned, there are no buts, no what ifs, no exceptions to the rule. It was broad for a reason, there is no exception as to why we can not love our neighbor.

But it is even more than that, see with the love being pervasive means that it is felt by everyone, and it is not questioned when it is seen. When people who experience this type of love feel it deep inside and know that they are loved and cared for, in just the same way we feel the love of God in our own lives.

We are called to love by God because we are all His creation. What is also crazy is if we look at the last 6 of the 10 commandments, could you guess how we could group them together? (Show image)

That’s right, love people.

This idea was not something new, but something that God wanted his people to really understand all the way back when he gave Moses the Law.

Now we need to remember these two basic aspects of love as we jump head to what is called the Olivet Discourse.

3. Practical Acts of Love

Matthew 25:31–36

This moment in the Bible is where Jesus is on the Mount of Olives, teaching to his disciples and those around him. This entire discourse covers two chapters in the book of Matthew and we are just going to focus in on one part of the discourse found in chapter 25. The Olivet Discourse is Jesus response to the question about when the end times will come. When will the world end was the question and as we learned from Pastor Thom during Revelation, we don’t know when the world will end, but we need to be ready for when it does come. And while that is the main point of what Jesus is saying there is so much more that we can take from it. Let’s jump right in:

Matthew 25:31–36 NLT

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

Jesus brings the disciples a glimpse of what is going to happen after the world has come to an end. They are getting a glimpse of what the judgement at the end of times will look like. Now before we address the big elephant in the room with what we just read, lets get to the end and you will see that there is nothing contradictory with what we just read.

Now when looking at the the sheep who are on his right, who he addressed first. As we look back over the list we can see that the people on the right, fed Jesus, clothed Jesus, cared for Jesus, let him into their homes, and gave him something to drink. What they did were actions that are not hard at all, in fact they were pretty practical. See this idea is another point that we can look at about being equipped to love and its this:

Practical Acts of Love

Jesus did not go out and make it some elaborate action that was done, or something that required tons of money either. It was just the little things, we might even call them random acts of kindness. It does not require a big show, just a small intentional act that can share the love of Jesus with those around you. It might take you out of your comfort zone, but that’s ok because we are called to love all of those around us, why because we are all God’s creation.

4. Personal Encounter with Christ

Matthew 25:37–40

But see those on the right were very confused about what Jesus had said, look at what they ask Jesus, and what his response to them is:

Matthew 25:37–40 NLT

37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Those on the right did not realize that when they went and helped those in need that in reality they were also helping Jesus and showing Him love as well.

See this idea is another point that we can look at about being equipped to love and its this:

Personal Encounter with Christ

When it comes to loving others, we need to make sure why we are doing it. Are we doing it to help and benefit ourselves or are we doing it because we want to show Christ’s love to those around us and help others see the light in us. On top of that Jesus is also letting those on the right know that when they served others, they were also serving Him as well.

5. Peril of Lovelessness

Matthew 25:41–46

But there is also a caveat to all of this and that is what Jesus says to those on the left, the goats:

Matthew 25:41–46 NLT

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

There is alot that we need to look at in just these few verses. The first thing we need to notice here is that the people on the left do recognize who Jesus is, He is not a stranger to them, they do know about Him. But see that is the issue that’s all they did was know Him. They never acted on that, they never loved those in need, they did not have a servant’s heart. So while we were looking at things we need to be equipped to love, this last point is a warning about the:

Peril of Lovelessness

Now I do want to address the elephant in the room, I am not saying nor does this passage make any point that shows that we need to do good works for salvation, not one bit. But what this passage is saying that IF Jesus is in OUR HEARTS and we have let Him change us, do we show the life change that he has on our life in our life? Do we love those that the world despises, because Jesus does love them? Do we take time out of our busy days to serve those in need or to help build up our next generation? Do we pour into others and help disciple them, or even the inverse are we ourselves being poured into and discipled?

We are being called to live out out faith in a genuine way. That does not mean we will be perfect and that we won’t make mistakes. Cause guess what we will. We are only human after all, but our goal should not be to stay the same way we were when we got saved, we should be striving to be more like Christ and to showcase is love to those we serve.

So I want to challenge you will this idea right now:

How can we avoid the peril of lovelessness in our lives, in our church and in our communities?(repeat)

Application

So how can we do that? How can we avoid lovelessness in our lives? I think that the first thing that we can do is look at the command that Jesus gave his followers before He ascended into heaven:

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Acts of Love in the Home

When we look at the Great Commission, we look at the charge we have been given, by Jesus. Go into the world and make disciples of them, and to teach them to obey what Jesus has taught us.

But when looking at the world it can seem really scary, on top of that to go on an international mission trip can be very pricey too. When I spent a week in Ecuador 10 years ago as a high school senior, it cost about $1,500. I was looking to go back and it was going to run about $2,000, and honestly that’s cheap.

So why don’t we narrow the focus of the world and bring it all the way in. Where can we show different acts of love including discipleship to those around us. Well if we bring it all the way in the first place would be:

Acts of Love in the Home

So what could this be, it could be doing devotionals with your family, maybe it is listening to your parents or helping your younger siblings out and help teach them who God is. It could be coming together to have time to pray with each other in the morning and going to bed. It does not have to some big elaborate act, just something small and meaningful. And you want something practical that you can do right now, do the 31 days of prayer leading up to Easter.

Acts of Love in the Church

So that’s the home, but what if we expand it just a little bit, what would be next? Well how about:

Acts of Love in the Church

We have this amazing church family where we can come together and love one another and have community with each other. One of which we just did on Friday at Binglo. But there is more than just coming together, we can also be serving together. We can help pour into our next generation and disciple them in the ways that they should go. We can help them know what it means to follow Christ. We could even help serve coffee for one another or greet people as they come into our church doors, or even when they pull into the parking lot. There are so many different ways that we can serve. So I want to challenge you right now, as you see we have not yet turned in our connect cards, so I want to challenge you on the back to select 2 or 3 ministries that you would be interested in serving in and check them off. It may seem scary and that’s OK, but God is calling us to pour in and love those not just in the world, but the church.

h

But even more that serving we can also have discipleship with one another in small groups were we live life together and help pour into each other. So if you are not yet apart of a small group, come talk to Pastor Todd, he would love to help get you connected.

Acts of Love in Our City

But then as we move beyond the walls of our church, we might not yet being reaching the whole world, but there is some place that we can show some love, we can show:

Acts of Love in Our City

We have this amazing community of Lafayette where we have the opportunity to show them love and be the light of Jesus to them. Dawn has an amazing opportunity where we can help build someone a home with the Apostle Build in May. This is a great way to show a family love in our community.

Even more than that Jerry has opportunities to help cook food for LUM and help give some hot food to those in need. This is something that is on going. If that is a way you want to help love and serve our community, Jerry has a sign up board right out in the lobby and if you have any questions, please reach out to him.

But even more than that, we have our Easter at the Fair. This is an opportunity where we get to love on those in the city and share the resurrection story of Jesus with them. There are two things that you can do: The first is take those invite cards that Lauren and Todd made, and invite someone to join us on Easter at the Fair. But the second thing you can do is serve. We have some amazing opportunities where we need you. We need help to man the different games and inflatables after the fair. This is even something that you could do with your family, so please sign up and help serve those in our communities.

Closing

So has we get ready to close up I want to challenge you on how are you avoid the peril of lovelessness in our lives, in our church and in our communities?

What is one way that you can step out of your comfort zone and be the light of Jesus to someone.

Jesus took one of the last days of his life on earth to make sure that the disciples and his followers knew that it was more than just saying that they believed, but showing that Jesus had changed their lives by their actions. So the actions you show, are they showing that Jesus has changed your life?

Let’s pray.