How will the world respond to love?

Luke 23:13-43 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. ²⁵ And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will. 

When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

³³ When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Many people today speak of the need for Christians, followers of Christ to focus on loving others, even the unlovely. It is true that we should show the love of God and the love of Christ to others. What though is to be our motive for that love? Do we love them to satisfy our own self righteousness? Or do we love them simply out of obedience to Christ, fulfilling both what He commanded and the example He set? The answer of course is that we are to do the things that Jesus did, we are to live our lives in the same sacrificial way that He did. We are to love unconditionally as Jesus did.

The things that are often misunderstood are what should we expect the result of our unconditional love to be? How will the world respond to our example of God’s love?  Will the world love us if we love them? Should we even concern ourselves with whether they love us?  In today’s text we see the response to Jesus love.     But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” …²⁰ Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.       We are mistaken if we believe that our true demonstration of love will mean that we are loved in return. In John 15:18-25, Jesus Himself says:

 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”

The world’s love for us is not an indication that we have truly loved the world as Jesus did. Neither should seeking their love or approval be our motivation. What does true Godly love look like?  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) All that we do should be for the sake of the cross. The end result of our love should be that others see the demonstration of God’s love. If we measure the effectiveness or the truth of our love by the love of the world for us we are mistaken.   

Not everyone who sees the demonstration of God’s love will respond in love. In today’s text even when Jesus was on the cross, even in the very act of demonstrating the love of God we see:   One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”   There were three men crucified that day. One was a Savior, one was lost and one was saved.

Everyone who sees and hears the love of Christ will respond to His love. Some will respond by rejecting and even despising the truth. Others will see and receive the love of Christ. The cross is the true demonstration of the love of God. Jesus says: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32) Our love for people is not demonstrated through tolerance, acceptance or inclusion of sin. It is demonstrated by pointing them to the cross, the demonstration of the perfect love of God. Being accepted and included by the church is not the answer for sinners Being accepted and included in the kingdom through the cross is the answer. Our love is not the end but rather the means to the end.  “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, not so sin would be accepted into the kingdom but that because of the cross we would receive His love.

Jesus says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”   That is the truth of the gospel. That is the message and motivation of our love.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit, thank You for the demonstration of Your perfect, unconditional love, not that You loved my sin, but that while I was a sinner Christ died for me. Holy Spirit continue to work in my life that I may be sanctified by the love of Christ and that I might live and love as a demonstration of Your perfect love, not concerning myself with how others view me but always how they view You.     Amen.