[15] “If you love me, keep my commands. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever--- [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
[21] Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
That first sentence in verse 15 is so simple and yet one that we often don't like, for Jesus speaks of His commands, and associates our following them with loving Him. For many of us, these two ideas (love and commandments) are not closely related. We think of love as being founded in emotion and affection, but commands as being something that is demanded of us from an authoritarian ruler (at least some of the time), especially if we take them out the context and just consider them as words.
The issue for many of us is that our heart responds coolly to this type of statement. Imagine yourself saying these very words to your spouse or significant other. If I imagine my wife saying these words to me, I would likely not be pleased. We think that a mutually loving relationship of equals should not have commands and/or obedience required.
So how do we open these words up and learn to embrace them? They are clearly significant, and the fruit of our obedience appears to be unfathomable intimacy with God Himself.
First, it might be helpful to understand what exactly are Jesus' commands? Are they the rules of the church (many would want to teach that is the case)? Are they the rules for living found in the Old Covenant of the Law? I figure the best place to go is back to Scripture and see where Jesus actually gives us (His followers) commands. The language is so specific, yet up to this point in John's Gospel, Jesus has not yet given a command that would be applicable to all. If I turn the page and go to Chapter 15, I find the only times in John's Gospel that Jesus actually gives a command, and then reiterates that command. Here are the verses -
John 15:12 NIV: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
- and again -
John 15:17 NIV: "This is my command: Love each other."
Isn't that incredible? In fact in all of the New Testament, these are the only times that Jesus gives a direct command to us. Now, if this is the command of Jesus that opens the door to unfathomable intimacy with Him, the Father and the Holy Spirit, then I find I am not so turned off by the command. He isn't commanding me to do things that I don't want to do, although I will be the first to say that I don't always feel like loving like He loved. He isn't demanding my adherence to some petty command, He is actually inviting me to enter into His mission and purpose! He was sent to reveal the Father to us all (Heb 1:3), to reveal the Father's love for us (John 3:16), and to love us with His whole life, demonstrating the greatest love possible by laying down His life for us (John 15:13).
Jesus is inviting us to embrace His mission and purpose out of our relationship with Him. Notice, He says, "if you love me" - then "keep my commands." If we love Him, (then) we should love one another too!
I was just thinking how different verse 14:15 would sound if we just took out the words "keep my commands" and replaced them with His actual command. It would read like this:
"If you love me, (then) love each other as I have loved you!"
This I can embrace! This is sweet to my ears, and welcome in my heart!
Going back to Jesus statement in verse 21, " Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Oh Lord, I pray for this greater revelation of Yourself an Your love, as You promised here! Help me Holy Spirit through Your power, as promised by Jesus. Come into my life and into my being! I look to You Father, help me to understand Your love for me! Help me to take this love, revelation and power and reveal You to all those around me through my love for them!
Amen!
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