Life Marks:  “The Price of Love”

Jesus knew that He needed to have some “personal time” with Peter after his three denials a few weeks earlier by the charcoal fire on the night in which Jesus was arrested. Interestingly, the Scriptures record no private conversation between Peter and Jesus after His arrest. It wasn’t until the moment on the shores of the Sea of Galilee that we find this personal conversation. No wonder Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to Jesus. He desperately needed some time to assure Jesus of his love for Him in spite of his humiliating public denials a few weeks prior.

If you are a Christian reading this blog, there is no need for any of us to be reminded of those times when we have “fallen short” of those high standards of character and conduct that Jesus has set before us. It is at those times that we need to be reminded that not only does our Lord understand our failures and continue to love us, but we also need to reassure ourselves of our love for Him by telling Him that we love Him. He already knows that we do, but I think that He wants to hear it from our own lips just as He heard from Peter’s. I think this may be a little like the frustrated wife who said to her husband after fifty years of marriage, “Honey, why don’t you ever tell me that you love me?,” to which the husband replied, “Honey, I told you on our wedding day that I loved you, and if anything changes, I’ll let you know!” I totally understand the wife’s frustration, and for all of the husbands and wives reading this, it’s so nice to hear those words from the lips of our spouse, “Honey, I love you.” Peggy and I practice it often, not because we “have to,” but because we simply “love to.”

But this wasn’t the first time that Jesus challenged Peter with the issue of love, and in fact, He challenged all of His disciples at the same time early in His ministry. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that following Him would be the most daring and challenging adventure of their lives. He never wanted them to think that the road would be easy, but instead, challenged them to “count the cost” of following Him. In a surprising, even shocking, statement, Jesus said to His disciples, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt. 10:37). And Luke records Jesus as using hyperbole by saying, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brother and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Lk. 14:26). Of course, Jesus used the word “hate” as an “attention-grabber,” which simply means that He expected His disciples to love Him far above all other human affections.

What a shocking requirement for being one of His followers. He wasn’t denying our need to love others, in fact, He always commanded and expected it of His followers. At the same time, He needed to have their supreme loyalty. He needed to be at the top of their “affection pyramid.” He was not looking for wimps with divided allegiances, but for followers who were “all in.” He was looking for absolutely committed, “no looking back, let’s get out there and change the world” followers. He demanded that His followers have “no greater love” than their love for Him. In the last 2,000 years, nothing has changed. He continues to seek and to call those who are willing to love Him above all other human affections and to follow Him wherever He may lead them.

Is He asking too much? Of course not. The most memorized verse in the Bible reminds us that “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). God is the One who initiated the whole concept of love in the first place. But there is more. He not only demonstrated His love by sending His Son, but He also demonstrated that love by allowing His Son to die on the cross for our sins. You see, God doesn’t just “talk about” love, He “demonstrates” it. And so must we.

This is the One whom God sent to be the Savior of the world, and it is this Son, Jesus Christ, who demands our ultimate affection. But just how are we supposed to demonstrate our love for Him? If we are to love Him above all others, how do we express it? As you might have guessed, that will be the subject of my next blog. Hope to see you next week.