SUNDAY LESSON, 2/13/22
LEARNING TO LOVE LIKE JESUS
John 13:34-35 and John 13:1-5
(Since Valentine’s Day is next Monday, I thought I would present a lesson on what we can learn from the love that Jesus demonstrated to His disciples just hours before His crucifixion.)
Going fishing. Sleeping in late. Watching a good movie. Eating a pint of rocky road ice cream. All of these are actions that many people say they “love”. I’m sure you can add to the list.
In John 13, the apostle reveals an action of Jesus that I don’t think He necessarily loved, but it was certainly an action of love. The action wasn’t about WHAT Jesus loved, but about WHO He loved.
John wrote, “Having loved His own who were in the world [the disciples], He now showed them the full extent of His love” (John 13:1b). What was Jesus’ action of love shown toward His disciples? Washing their filthy feet. Was that on your list of actions that you love to do? Mine, neither.
JOHN 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
JOHN 13:1-5
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
