Our Lord Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) This call to offer love he extended even to our enemies. More broadly, he held forth the promise of reward for loving those who do not love in return. This obedience lies at the heart of our conformity to the Person of Christ. It is the distinguishing mark of Christian discipleship because it is the distinguishing excellence of Christ himself! We shrink back at the prospect of loving our enemies, but it is very easy to underestimate the task of loving our fellow Christians. Only once we begin to see the great love of our Savior can we appreciate the great calling which it truly is to offer true love to our neighbor whether they be a christian, an enemy or neither.
Love Defined at Calvary
What is it to love another? The Apostle John answers this when he says in 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us…” What it means to love is defined by Jesus Christ; or, more precisely, it is defined in the death of Christ. When Christ gave his very life for us on the cross because of our wretched sins, we did not deserve it. Far from it! In fact, we did not even ask for such a thing! Nor did it ever or would it ever even enter into our minds! Despite the disciples being directly told Christ would suffer and die, somehow it didn’t even register with them at all. “These things were hidden from them” the gospel writer tells us. Nonetheless, despite our great unworthiness and darkest ignorance, Christ suffered for our welfare, to spare us from the wrathful curse of God Almighty against our idolatry and sin. And he spared us not through suffering the pain of irritation, annoyance, or some other common class of suffering. No, Christ suffered mockery, scoffing, betrayal, torturous violence, and all the lowest dishonors of public humiliation. More than that, he suffered the curse of God himself. To these lowest of places Christ descended for us; yes, even to the depths of hell itself for us. His blood was spilled. He suffered. He died. With this in mind we can see love is defined by the death of Christ as a voluntary suffering of one for another, despite perfect warrant to do otherwise.
Do we know anything of this love ourselves? Have we felt it in our bones, at the very bottom of our hearts? Have we heard the voice of our Redeemer saying “forgive them” to the very mob responsible for his murder? Do we see his face in these familiar words? If we do I’m afraid nonetheless we are very slow to even begin to understand how this man of great suffering, the Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us.
Love as Spiritual Fruit
If love were defined as a natural affinity or spontaneous affection and enjoyment of another, then it would be no difficult task. But as we see in the Person of Christ, the love with which we are called to love one another is something altogether different. It is no less than the choicest of all spiritual fruit.
That is to say a sinful creature cannot rise to this kind of love by his own strength. It is the effect of the Holy Spirit. How does the Spirit of God bring this fruit in our lives? It is through the ministry of the Word of God. In the ministry of the Word we see Christ crucified. (Galatians 1) We see his great love. We marvel at it. We stand in awe and say “this is holy ground.” At this great wonder of the death of Christ, our hearts melt in joy, praise, and thanksgiving. We come to see ourselves as the most unworthy of love, affection, and kindness. And yet we also see we are nonetheless the recipients of the same through the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Love in God’s Household
Given the love of Christ which we receive by the Spirit of God in the Word, our hearts are changed. When those around us give “perfect warrant” for condemnation or a hard word, we hesitate. We remember. “Was I not in such a state before God, the rightful judge?” These thoughts haunt us. They are lodged deep in our breast. We cannot escape them. We are enslaved to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us so. So much so that even our cruelest enemies do not eclipse this bright shining sun. It shines even through the darkest clouds of hostility and enmity. For no man is so opposed to another as sinful creatures are to God. But in Christ, God shoes mercy. He gives grace. He gives patience and kindness and great love. So even our enemies become the recipients of our love and the subject of our prayer.
But what about those who likewise have seen God’s face in Christ? Oddly, our sinful hearts sometimes trick us into withholding this love from them. We think, “they should know better. They know this grace and yet go on sinning!” We forget that God has told us in his Word we are bound to love one another in the Church with this same love as well! We do not show one face to our enemies and one to our friends. We show the same face to both!
As Christians, we are destined to live together with Christ for all eternity. And should we sing hymns to Christ while giving sharp looks to one another? If we ought to love our enemies, how much more ought we to love those for whom Christ shed his very own blood? Yes. This love to our brothers and sisters in God’s household is the bare minimum. If our love does not stretch at least this far, I’m afraid we know very little of either Christ or ourselves. For if we ourselves are not so different from our enemies, are we so different from one another? Certainly not! Likewise, if Christ so loves the outcast, the leper, the sinner, the prodigal, does he not also love his servants? Is he so generous to the outsider and yet miserly and exacting to those inside? Ten thousand times no!
Brothers and sisters, we are such debtors to Christ! He is such a merciful Savior even of the very worst of all mankind. Shall we not love those whom he loves? Yes. With all our heart and soul!
