John 13:31-35 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“Going Home: Home Is Where the Heart Is”
Easter 5 Sunday, May 12, 2019
Jesus said to his disciples on the evening when he would later be betrayed, “A new command I give you: Love one another.” And we could easily look at that command and say, “Love is nothing new.” It is not a new concept; it is not a new idea. People have been loving others really as long as people have been living. Our First Lesson today (1 Samuel 20:12-17) spoke about a loving friendship that existed centuries before Jesus spoke that new command to his disciples. So it is a least a bit surprising that Jesus would describe love this way. This morning we are taking a closer look at this command of Jesus and the context in which he speaks it. As it is a part of our “Going Home” Series, we will also note how it connects to both Jesus rising from the dead on Easter and his ascending into heaven. And ultimately, we will note that love in the deepest and truest sense is found first in Jesus and then in those that follow him. That love that his disciples show demonstrates their connection to the Savior. It illustrates that we follow in his footsteps, and it finally points to our true home in heaven. Therefore we say, “Home is where the heart is.” Our lesson sets the context for us in just the first few words, “After Judas left.” This lesson is part of a lengthy retelling by John of many of the conversations that Jesus had with his disciples on the evening when he would be betrayed, Maundy Thursday. Jesus had revealed to all of the disciples that one from among them would be his betrayer, and he had ultimately revealed that it was Judas, though not all the disciples understood what he was saying. Judas had left the room where Jesus and the disciples were gathered to celebrate the Passover in order that he might carry out his nefarious plan. And so, when our text sets the scene with “After Judas left,” it is telling us that the betrayal is coming close, that even as Jesus goes on to speak with the other disciples, the plans to capture him are reaching their conclusion. And knowing what was about to happen, Jesus explains, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.” It seems like such a contradiction, but it is not. Jesus would be glorified by allowing himself to be betrayed and arrested. He would be glorified by being put on trial and condemned. He would be glorified by being crucified and killed. Knowing what was going to happen, Jesus told his disciples, “Dear children, I am going to be with you only a little longer… Where I am going you cannot come.” This sounds like a contradiction because it doesn’t sound like glory, it sounds like defeat. Being betrayed and arrested and executed sounds like loss. But all of this is to the glory of Jesus because this is what he had determined to do. It was to his glory because it was out of love and for the sake of those he loves. It was to his glory because it was carrying out the will of his heavenly Father and ours, because it was defined by love, because it was done to take away our sins and the sins of the whole world. And finally, all these events concluded with a powerful indication of that true glory. Jesus did not stay dead. He came out of the tomb alive. He appeared to his disciples and to many others. And he blessed them and ascended to heaven to take the position of glory and power and authority that the Bible describes as the right hand of God. And yes, Jesus says in these verses that his disciples cannot go with him. They will lose sight of him for a time. Later he reminds them that even though they couldn’t go with him at that time, ultimately they would. They would follow after him. They would finish their earthly struggles and all the difficult things that seem and feel like defeat, and then they would come to be with him in glory, heavenly glory. That is what Jesus was accomplishing for them and for all who would believe in him. That is what he was accomplishing for you and for me: the forgiveness of sins and along with forgiveness, eternal life and salvation. Jesus was loving his disciples, loving a world of sinners, in the deepest and most profound way. He was sacrificing himself for them, for us. He was giving us what we needed most and could find in no other place and in no other way than by his sacrifice.
And based on that love he says: “Love one another.” People will know that you are a disciple of Jesus, a follower of the loving Savior, by the way that you love others. That is his promise, and that is his encouragement. And how have you done? We don’t need to look any farther than our second lesson to see what Jesus means when he says, “Love one another.” In 1 Corinthians 13, God has the Apostle Paul spell out what love looks like and how it acts. Love is patient and kind. It doesn’t envy or brag or behave indecently. It is not arrogant or selfish. Love rejoices with truth, bears, believes, hopes, and endures. Does that sound like a description of you? Does it sound like a description of you at any time? Does it sound like a description of you at every time? If you really want to love the way that God loves you, that’s what it takes: being totally devoted to others above yourself, serving others in the way that you act toward them and in the way you feel about them. Not just sometime. All the time. And maybe all those descriptions of love really do describe you sometimes. Maybe they even describe you much of the time, but it is a certainty that they do not describe you all of the time. Patient? No, there are times that I have been anything but. Kind? No, I have often been cruel. And I have been envious and selfish and arrogant. I have not loved God as he deserves, and so I have not loved my neighbor as he expects. And it should be terrifying to come to that realization, that I have not lived up to God’s expectations of me. I have truly deserved his punishment, his anger, hell itself. But instead of anger God has given me his love, the love that we have already spoken of in Jesus. It’s the love for the world that allowed Judas to do what he had set in his heart to do, the same love that then reassured the other disciples that what was about to happen would be to the glory of God. Think again about those descriptions of love from 1 Corinthians 13. Think about how Jesus came to live out each and every one of them. Patient, kind, decent, selfless: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He never rejoiced over evil but always with truth. And his love never ends. It took him to the cross, to the tomb, and out again. It took him to his heavenly rule and reign over all things for the sake of those he loves. And all of that means that his love counts as our own. When God looks at us, through our faith in Jesus, he sees perfect love. Because of Jesus’ perfect love that is credited to us, heaven is our home. Heaven is our home, and that is reason enough to live our lives in love. As we grow in faith, as we grow closer to our Savior, as he strengthens us for the battle against our own sinful natures, he empowers us to more and more reflect his love in the way that we treat others. We can be kind as we follow the example of Christ. We can be patient and humble and selfless. We can be the followers of Jesus that others recognize because of the love that we extend to them and to one another. So, no, the very concept of love is not a new thing, not for us or for the disciples of Jesus that Maundy Thursday evening. What is new is the example of perfect love put in action, put on display, after which we can model our lives and our love. What is new is the opportunity to see Jesus who hid his power and glory to live among us and to love us. What is new is a living and breathing embodiment of love, one who washed the feet of his followers and who served them in even greater ways. What is new is this blessed opportunity that Jesus gives: “Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another.” And so as we wait to follow our Savior home to heaven, we rely on his love and we reflect his love to others. Home is where the heart is. Our home is in heaven. Our Savior who loves us promises to take us to be there with him. In the meantime, we show that our heart is with him by loving those he puts in our lives. And he has shown us what love looks like. May he grant us to be more like him every day.
The Text: John 13:31-35 31After
Judas left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.” 33“Dear
children, I am going to be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34“A
new commandment I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”