Day 2159– The Gospel of John – 27 – Agape Authentic Love – Daily Wisdom

Welcome to Day 2159 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Gospel of John – 27 – What is Your A.Q. – Daily Wisdom
The Gospel of John – Part 4 Confirmation Of The Word – Agape: Authentic Love
Today we continue our series, the Good News according to John the Apostle. Last, we saw Jesus behind closed doors with His disciples as they proceeded with the Passover meal. Jesus abruptly announced that one of them would betray him. He was teaching us lessons of acceptance. How do we accept those who have hurt or betrayed us? While we may not condone another person’s lifestyle because they are not living according to Biblical precepts, we are to show love and acceptance to them, regardless. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it bears repeating, “If you claim you love Jesus, then you must also love Judas.” After washing Judas’s feet, placing him at the privileged position to His left at the meal, and offering fellowship to Judas by handing him food, we see that Judas’s heart is unchanged.

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him, he went out, and it was night.

Our scripture for today is John 13:18-30. Behind those closed doors at the Passover meal, Jesus turns to the remaining 11 disciples and teaches them of Agape: Authentic Love. Follow along as I read.

 When he (Judas) was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

In 1970, Francis Schaeffer wrote The Mark of the Christian, a tiny volume with a weighty message. You will not find anything about bumper stickers, fish emblems, lapel crosses, or cleverly marketed bracelets. For that matter, you won’t read a word about biblical doctrine or church membership. Instead, the book is about the one true mark of a Christian: love.

John 13 is a penetrating, challenging chapter to read. Jesus taught His disciples about humility and acceptance—lessons that would not impact them completely until the truth of Judas’s betrayal became a matter of history. Once Judas had disappeared into the night, Jesus continued His review of fundamental Christian teaching, which begins with love.

13:31–32

Throughout John’s narrative, Jesus has spoken of a coming “hour”...

Welcome to Day 2159 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Gospel of John – 27 – What is Your A.Q. – Daily Wisdom
The Gospel of John – Part 4 Confirmation Of The Word – Agape: Authentic Love
Today we continue our series, the Good News according to John the Apostle. Last, we saw Jesus behind closed doors with His disciples as they proceeded with the Passover meal. Jesus abruptly announced that one of them would betray him. He was teaching us lessons of acceptance. How do we accept those who have hurt or betrayed us? While we may not condone another person’s lifestyle because they are not living according to Biblical precepts, we are to show love and acceptance to them, regardless. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it bears repeating, “If you claim you love Jesus, then you must also love Judas.” After washing Judas’s feet, placing him at the privileged position to His left at the meal, and offering fellowship to Judas by handing him food, we see that Judas’s heart is unchanged.

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him, he went out, and it was night.

Our scripture for today is John 13:18-30. Behind those closed doors at the Passover meal, Jesus turns to the remaining 11 disciples and teaches them of Agape: Authentic Love. Follow along as I read.

 When he (Judas) was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

In 1970, Francis Schaeffer wrote The Mark of the Christian, a tiny volume with a weighty message. You will not find anything about bumper stickers, fish emblems, lapel crosses, or cleverly marketed bracelets. For that matter, you won’t read a word about biblical doctrine or church membership. Instead, the book is about the one true mark of a Christian: love.

John 13 is a penetrating, challenging chapter to read. Jesus taught His disciples about humility and acceptance—lessons that would not impact them completely until the truth of Judas’s betrayal became a matter of history. Once Judas had disappeared into the night, Jesus continued His review of fundamental Christian teaching, which begins with love.

13:31–32

Throughout John’s narrative, Jesus has spoken of a coming “hour” in which the Son of God would be “glorified.” Jesus announced the arrival of His hour using a form of the Greek term doxa five times in two verses. Doxa derives from the verb dokeō, which means “to believe, to think.” To be glorified is to be revealed in such a way as to be thought good. To be glorified is to be vindicated in the eyes of all witnesses. Therefore, the concept of glory in Jesus’ vocabulary meant that the truth He had been teaching, and the truth of His identity would be vindicated in the eyes of all humanity. His identity as the Word in human flesh would be confirmed by going to the cross, rising from the dead, and ascending to heaven.

With the departure of Judas to betray Him, the process of glorification had begun.

13:33–35

Jesus understood that the betrayal of one disciple would ultimately end in His conquering death for all of humanity. However, the remaining eleven knew nothing. While Jesus had often predicted His death and had promised many times to rise from the dead (Matt. 12:40; 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:9; 10:34; 14:28; Luke 9:22; 24:7; John 2:19–22), His closest followers failed to connect the dots. As far as they were concerned, Judas’s betrayal and Jesus’ death represented the end of all their messianic hopes. Therefore, He reassured them in simpler, more direct terms. Jesus knew he had to speak to them as if they were children. He wanted them to know that God’s plan had not been thwarted; His impending ordeal was necessary.

Jesus revealed three facts to reassure His disciples:

His leaving was imminent.
People would look for Him.
No one could come with Him.


And the announcement stunned them. Jesus had been the center of their world for at least three and a half years. They never expected that to change.

As the men sat in bewildered silence, Jesus issued a completely new command. While He would no longer be among them physically, part of their support would come from one another. Just as He had loved them, they were to love one another. The men had finally learned to love their Master and had grown accustomed to His faithful love for them. So he now expected each man among the remaining eleven to cultivate that relationship with the other ten.

A New Kind of Love

John 13:33–35

The Greek word agapē is rarely found outside the Bible. The Greek language celebrated erōs, an intoxicating, impulsive love between men and women, and honored philia, the warm, noble affection of deep friendship. But agapē remained woefully undeveloped as a term. The human authors of the New Testament needed a Greek word to express the kind of love taught by Christ and commanded by Him in the upper room, but the most common Greek terms wouldn’t suffice. Fortunately, agapē was relatively unknown and largely undefined, so it perfectly suited their purposes. Like an empty wineskin, it waited to be filled with distinctly Christian meaning.

While believers began to adopt this new kind of love, their secular contemporaries decried the steady loss of virtue in Roman society. More and more, their peers exchanged venerable philia for fleeting erōs. The contrast could not have been more absolute as the two cultures moved in opposite directions.

 

ERŌS
AGAPĒ

A general love of the world, seeking self-satisfaction wherever it can
A love that makes distinctions, choosing and keeping a focus on loving another instead of self

Driven by an intense desire, primarily out of love for self
A free and decisive act is determined by its subject (the person who is loved)

In its highest sense is used to lift and exalt feelings above love for the divine.
It relates to the love of God, loving and lifting others without thoughts of personal benefit or reward.

Seeks in others the fulfillment of its own life’s hunger
It must often be translated as “to show love”; it is a giving, active love on the other’s behalf

Based on John’s rendering of Christ’s teaching, the Lord predicted. Given the contrast with erōs, it’s no wonder! 

“A new command I give you: (agape) love one another. As I have (agape) loved you, so you must (agape) love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you (agape) love one another.”

While Jesus walked among them on earth, no one doubted whose disciples the men were. Once He returned to heaven, their mutual love should be strong enough to maintain their identity before the watching world. With Jesus physically gone, their love should sustain them. In a genuine sense, the love between Master and Disciple would be multiplied by ten upon His leaving the earth, just like the kernel of corn we considered a few weeks ago. The kingdom was about to explode because of this agape love. (If I ask you if you would rather take a penny doubled for 30 days or $2 million today, what would you take? It is a tricky question; doubling a penny doesn’t seem like it would amount to much, right?)

Well, at the end of 30 days, that $0.01 is worth $5,368,709.12! This is the power of compounding. That includes the building of God’s kingdom. Albert Einstein said: Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.

The kind of love Jesus called his men to express is called agape — the kind that seeks the highest, greatest good of another. If the men had trouble understanding the meaning of this term and how to express it, all they had to do was recall their time with Jesus. He had been their living illustration for more than three years.

13:36–38

When Jesus completed His exhortation for the disciples to love one another in His absence, Peter reacted to the Lord’s announced departure as he often does. We can only imagine his thinking, although it didn’t involve love for his fellow disciples. His passion cannot be denied; however, his motivation was suspect. Jesus commanded His followers to love one another, yet Peter declared supreme love for Jesus, even to the point of dying by His side in battle. The impulsive disciple was ready to defend his Lord … but where was his obedience? He told them to “love each other,” not fight for Him.

Jesus would save the lesson on love and obedience for another time (21:15–22). For now, Jesus stated that Peter’s love was just as fickle as his zeal. The kind of battle Jesus envisioned for the disciples cannot be fought with the type of sword that has a steel blade. He wanted soldiers wielding a sword of truth, obedient to the end, and united in agapē.

Let me read a story from pastor and Dallas Seminary President Chuck Swindoll that explains this concept well. Some time ago, a lady had lost her husband and requested that I conduct his funeral. He was an exceptionally good man and matched well with this woman. They were the rare sort of couple who constantly thought of ways to bring family, friends, and neighbors to faith in Jesus Christ. As she expressed her desire for the funeral service, she said, “I know if my husband were sitting here, he would agree. I want this funeral service to honor Jesus Christ. And I have one neighbor in mind, especially. We have tried different ways to reach her. We’ve had her over for dinner and given her tapes, booklets, and other little gifts, but we have never been able to get through to her.”

So I said, “Okay, let’s pray right now that she’ll be reached in some way through this whole process.” So we did.

I stopped by the morning of the funeral to see how the woman was doing. I was surprised to see her neighbor sitting with her and a steady stream of church members coming and going. Some brought food. Others helped clean the house and did chores left by her husband. One couple offered to drive her anywhere she needed to go and even offered to loan her their car. But, most just stopped by to share her sorrow and to cry with her.

A few days later, my phone rang. It was the widow. Sorrow and joy mingled in her voice as she spoke. “Do you remember the neighbor I told you about?”

“Sure,” I said.

“She stayed until everybody else had gone and told me, ‘My, what love. Were all those people members of your family?’”

Her remark became a perfect opportunity for the widow to say, “Yes. But, differently, than you’re thinking, we’re all from the same family.”

If you have a fish symbol on your car, that’s fine. People will associate you with a movement. Do you display a cross? Nothing wrong with that. People will link you to a religion. If you carry a Bible everywhere, people assume you attend a particular church. If, on the other hand, you display love that is authentic to the core—observable love—then people will know you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

Application: John 13:31–38

It Isn’t Love Until You Give It Away

(Which is also the title of a song written and sung by Reba McIntyre.)

The world struggles to understand love. Most people think mainly of romantic (eros) love, that mysterious sickness that overtakes someone like a delightful case of the flu—can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t concentrate on anything except one’s lover—a disease for which time is the only cure. That kind of love comes and goes as it pleases and trumps all logic. No one knows its cause.

Many accept the existence of family (philia) love, but it’s usually conflicted. In many families, love must be endured on special holidays and for no longer than absolutely necessary. Loyalty is the primary word for this kind of love; kindness is entirely optional.

Authentic love—agapē—embodies the finest qualities of romantic love and family love, but it is permanent and always characterized by kindness. Moreover, agapē bears three distinct qualities that set it apart as distinctly heaven-made.

First, authentic love is unconditional in its expression. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus expressed love for all kinds of “undesirable” people, including Roman collaborators, prostitutes, thieves, religious zealots, rich rulers, working-class people, unredeemed lawyers, and the desperately down-and-out. He turned away no one who desired His love and even wept for those who did not. Authentic love gives without conditions.

Second, authentic love is unselfish in its motive. Agapē expects nothing in return for kindness and gives without regard for self-interest. Of course, it’s easy to love those who express gratitude and who respond with love in return. But authentic love gives kindness to others regardless of their ability to return it, including those unwilling. Loving the unlovely for their sake is the essence of agapē.

Third, authentic love is unlimited in its benefits. Because agapē is its own reward, it always benefits the giver. The satisfaction of authentic love never fades, but only if it’s unconditional and unselfish. Many acts of authentic love leave the giver feeling like they received the most joy from their deeds!

Unlike the thrill of romantic love and the loyalty of family love, which live as emotions hidden within the heart, agapē cannot exist apart from action.

One anonymous poet understood what authentic love means:

A bell isn’t a bell till it’s rung,

A song isn’t a song till it’s sung,

Love isn’t put in your heart to stay,

Love isn’t love till it’s given away.

Next, now that Jesus has completely blown the disciple’s minds with this New Commandment, He brings them Tranquil Words for Troubled Hearts. Please read John 14:1-24 in preparation.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day


I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you next time for more wisdom from God’s Word!