God So Loved

Hook (intro)

John 11:1–5 ESV

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Basketball Story Illustration: Coming home after playing 5 hours of basketball at the gym.

In the first year of our marriage, come home from playing basketball for 5 hours.

“I’m a grown man, I’m the only one that works, I put food on this table, and I’ll play basketball whenever wherever and however long I want to, woman!”

Need a reminder of when I said something I shouldn’t have. “How about when we were 1 year into our marriage and you came home from playing basketball with your homies for 5 hours while I was left alone to take care of our infant son and you had the gall nerve and audacity to tell me I’m a grown man and I’ll do whatever I want.”

Have you ever heard the saying: In the heat of the moment, you say things you don’t mean?

I would argue the opposite. In the heat of the moment, we say what we actually, truly, genuinely mean but swore we would never say. What we believe in the core of our being.

How we truly feel about life, our friends, our relationships, God, politics, if you back us into a corner and turn up the intensity, what we truly believe and feel in the core of our being will seep to the surface.

If that is true, that sheds an interesting light on the passage of John 11

Book (John 11:1-5)

In John 11, the heat is on. It’s intensified. Lazarus their little brother is sick. He’s laying in a hospital bed dying. By now I’m sure they’ve consulted every doctor, they’ve tried every remedy, they’ve tried every medicine, and nothing is working. Their brother is dying.

They come to the conclusion that the only way to save their brother is a miracle. And it’s a good thing they know a miracle worker. The problem is, that there are no cell phones or text messaging, no email, no instagram. Jesus is approximately a 2 days journey away, so they are resolved to write a note and put it in the hands of a runner who would deliver the letter to Jesus.

If you had one one chance to save your loved one’s life, what would you write?

I would start naming all the good qualities and compelling reasons, and our love for God.

Mary and Martha’s note is short. One line. “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

As I study Scripture, I noticed a something interesting. Those who were often closest to Jesus were far more occupied with Jesus’ love for them, than their love for Jesus.

In fact, John the writer of the book we are reading gave himself a nickname. “The disciple whom Jesus loves.”

Sounds arrogant and cocky. I believe that every single word and letter is God-inspired. The Holy Spirit inspired John to write that.

That tells me that not only was John inspired to write that, but also that at the core of his being, his identity was not rooted in his commitment to Jesus, but in Jesus’ commitment to him. It was not rooted in his love for Jesus, but in Jesus’ love for him.

Look (Life Application)

For the majority of my Christian walk I believe that I have missed the emphasis of the Gospel. Because that’s not what I was taught. And that’s not how we live.

My life was defined by trying to live up to God’s standards and please Jesus, show how that I’m a good one, I’m a faithful follower. I know that Jesus provides the free gift of salvation, but I still want to earn it.

Because that’s how we roll down here on earth. Love is earned. We don’t love people who don’t love us. We don’t kick it with people that mistreat us. We operate with a love that is reciprocated, in other words our love is back and forth, its a two-way exchange.

When you look at the original language in John 11, when Mary and Martha write their note, the word they use for love is the Greek word Phileo.

Phileo, was often used to describe a companionship or brotherly love. It’s why Philadelphia is called the city of Brotherly love. Phileo is love shared between two parties of companionship. It’s reciprocated. It’s back and forth. Mary and Martha were operating in their context and their understanding of Jesus, I know you love Him. We know you Phileo him.

But John the writer, the disciple whom Jesus loved, makes it a point to remind us the readers of the true nature of Jesus’ love. He says in first 5 :Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. The Greek word is Agape.

Agape is unconditional love. It’s never ending love. It’s a love that needs no reciprocation.

Jesus doesn’t phileo you. He agape’s you. John 3:16 for God so loved, or can I say, For God so Agapes the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

This is what blows my mind because we don’t operate like that.

Took (Commitment)

But there is good news. You want to hear what the Good news is?

That God SO loves you, he SO loves you that he gave you the ultimate gift, His son.

His love for you is not based on your past, your present, your future, your performance, your resume, your bible knowledge.

Because he love is agape love, it’s unconditional. It’s unchangeable. It’s eternal. It has no qualifications. It’s unlimited. It is the most powerful force in the universe. His love for you is not based on whether you’re goo

For those of us who are called to Him, let this love be the foundation and bedrock of our Christian walk.

Let us go to the streets and shout from the rooftops that there is a love to great and so deep and so wide and so extensive.

Let us tell our friends, our classmates, our teammates, our parents, our cousins, our family members, of this transformational love for the Bible declares WHOEVER.

Christianity is not based upon morals and ethics and performance and deeds and race and nationality and knowledge and education. It is based upon a love that is so deep and grand for bad people that God sent his Son to demonstrate how extensive his love is for the people on this planet.

This is why John 3:16 is usually the first verse you memorize because it sums up the entirety of the biblical narrative, for the bedrock of Christianity can be summed up in this one small but explosive phrase, God SO loved.