No Greater Love

Intro:

Santa Maria has one of the most successful youth swim clubs in the country

They have students who have gone on to capture Olympic medals

A couple of their swimmers will be swimming in the Olympic trials in June

My own daughter swims for the team

To be good it is a huge investment and commitment and the coaches are intense

I know this because the pool they swim at is right behind my house and when I take my dog for a walk in the morning parents have been parked outside the pool since 5:30 am while their swim each morning

These parents have laid down their lives to invest in their children’s future

While we may question that sacrifice there is no questioning the ultimate sacrifice

Early that First Easter morning Mary Magdalene walked to the tomb with some other ladies to properly prepare Jesus’ body

They walked with heavy hearts but with a sense of urgency

They weren’t sure how they were going to move the heavy stone to get inside the tomb or deal with Roman soldiers but they went in faith

What they encountered was the last thing they expected… An empty tomb

They thought the body had been stolen until they encountered two angels who reminded them what Jesus said

Luke 24:5 Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.

Resurrection Sunday or Easter is a day we celebrate Jesus’s victory over death

When He walked out of that tomb early that Sunday morning He showed the world the greatest love of all time

Read John 15:12-15

Transition

As Jesus was in the upper room he gave what was called the Upper Room Discourse

It was His final teachings before he went to the cross

One of those teachings was what the greatest love was

He tells the disciples “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

While he is telling them how they should treat each other he is also telling them what kind of love he was about to show them

Jesus says love one another as I have loved you

He will lay down his life in a few short hours

Through that act we see the greatest love of all time

I. Jesus Laid Down His Life vs. 12-13

There is no greater love than Jesus because He laid down his life for you

Sacrifice is essential to genuine friendship and love.

Verses 12–13 are a restatement of the “new commandment” given back in John 13:34: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

The idea of sacrifice is found in the phrase, “as I have loved you,” for Christ loved us so much that he gave his life for us.

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

Jesus described the measure and quality of His love for them, to use as a pattern for the way they should love each other.

His love is complete and of surpassing greatness, laying down its life.

He did something for us which we couldn’t do for ourselves

Rom 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Without Jesus we are weak because we are sinners

Jesus didn’t die for you because you were best buds

He died for you before you even knew who he was, yet he knew you

A man and his wife were caught in a hail storm. This was a massive storm and hail was as large as baseballs. Under the deluge coming agains them the man realized that if he didn’t do something, his wife would be severely hurt. He quickly draped himself over his wife, covering her with his own body so that the hail hit him.

The hailstones seemed to get bigger as the man bent over his wife, protecting her. The large balls came down harder onto the man. They hurt him badly. After a couple minutes, his ears started bleeding along with some spots on his head. The mand tried to lead his wife to safety, but the stones were coming faster and harder. The pounding took its toll. Weakened by the onslaught, the man finally collapsed over his wife, only able to shield her from the danger

After the storm was over, the man was left with scars from where the balls had battered away at him. The remnant of sores, cuts, and abrasions would be forever reminders to him of the day he saved his wife.

This is a true story. On the local newscast, the man’s wife was asked how she felt about their experience. She said every time I look at that scar, on his head, on his neck, and on his ear, i love him more because he sacrificed himself, for me.

When we get to heaven Jesus will be the only person in eternity with scars. He covers our sins and was disfigured for you and me

II. Jesus Looks at You as His Friend vs. 14-15

There is no greater love than Jesus because he looks at you as his friend

In the relationship between a disciple and his rabbi of that time, it wasn’t expected to be a friendship. Yet Jesus the rabbi called His disciples, His servants friends.

He also no longer looks at them as servants but as friends

We must not interpret this word friend in a limited way, because the Greek word means “a friend at court.”

It describes that “inner circle” around a king or emperor.

In John 3:29, it refers to the “best man” at a wedding

The “friends of the king” would be close to him and know his secrets, but they would also be subject to him and have to obey his commands.

There is thus no conflict between being a friend and being a servant.

Jesus descried the measure and quality of His love for them as a love that treats servants as friends.

The Greatest Fear

The greatest fear used to be speaking in front of people or maybe heights

Today, the greatest fear people have is being alone

This causes people to stay in toxic relationships because their fear of being alone is greater than their desire for freedom

Women will stay in marriages where the husband is being unfaithful because they don’t want to be a single mom

Grown adults will keep friendships with childhood friends who bring nothing but problems

Employees will stay with abusive bosses because they think they can’t get another job

With Jesus we have a savior who laid down his life for us but also considers us his friend

We show our devotion to him by obeying his commands

The disciples were friends because they were obedient (though not perfect)

Friendship with Jesus can’t be disconnected from obedience to His commands.

What is that act of obedience?… It is to love one another

In the Bible, love is not a feeling or emotion, but an action

We can show love even though we don’t feel it

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship

Jesus showed us the greatest love by laying down His life

III. Jesus Chose You vs. 16-17

There is no greater love than Jesus because He chose you

Jesus just spoke of great privilege for the disciples – friendship with the Master, answered prayer, bearing much fruit, knowing things from the Father.

The disciples should rightly treasure these without becoming proud as if they had earned them.

They were all rooted in the fact that Jesus chose them, not that they chose Him.

1 Thess 1:4-5 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

FB Meyer says: We are in Christ, not because we hold Him, but because He holds us

He also holds us as a precious treasure

1 Peter 2:4-5 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

There was a fire in a large building and the fire was moving from the bottom up. A little boy was in one of the top floors and he had no way of getting down. There was an external pipe that one of the fireman used to climb up in an attempt to rescue the boy. The pipe was blistering hot. Even though he had gloves on, his gloves were smoking. The fireman got the boy and climbed down the same pipe. When they got to the ground, the fireman immediately removed his gloves and rinsed his hand with water to relived the pain.

The boy had been brought to safety but he sadly lost his parents in the fire. Some months later the boy came up for adoption. There was a professor who came into the courtroom and said, “I can make this boy a genius. I want to adopt him.” Then an engineer said “I want to adopt that kid.”

The there was a third man who came in. The boy looked at him and said, “Your honor, can he have me?” The judge asked, “Why”

Because I see his hands and I know who who he is.

It’s nice to have an engineer, its nice to have an educator, but when somebody loves you enough to burn his hand, when they love you enough to share your pain, when they love you enough to hurt when you hurt, When they shown you their hands, and you know they have paid the price.

If you want to know who loves you look at the hands of Jesus . He paid the price and he alone deserves the relationship.