Jesus Loved the Father, and Loved His Friends

What Did Jesus Do?


“Now a certain man was ill...”
John 11.1

Dramatic actors often approach a scene by asking the question “What's my motivation? Why should I say one thing as opposed to saying something else? Why should I act one way rather than in another way?” What they are searching for is the answer to what makes their character “tick,” as they say. The answer is not hard to find when we are considering the Lord—he was motivated by love. When the brother of Mary and Martha became ill, they simply sent word that “he” whom the Lord loved was sick (John 11.3), because they knew that love motivated Jesus. Jesus loved the Father, and Jesus loved his friends.

Mary too was motivated by love, as is well remembered in the story of her anointing the Lord with expensive ointment made from pure nard (see John 12.1-8). The friendship of the four, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Jesus must have been something very special to be so recorded in the Bible. It was because of the confidence they had in the love of the Lord that Mary and Martha sent for him when their brother suffered from some unnamed mortal affliction. So, what would Jesus do for love? Mary and Martha were confident that Jesus would hurry to Bethany and save their brother Lazarus.

But Jesus knew that, regardless of how serious the condition of Lazarus appeared to be, it was not going to lead to death, but to the glory of God (John 11.4). This is not something that should surprise us, for everything Jesus did and said was for the glory of God. The Son's love for the Father was such that he could not conceive of, much less do, anything other than that which would bring the Father glory. It is one thing for us to know this on this side of the eleventh chapter of John, and on this side of the Cross. But for Mary and Martha, all that mattered was their beloved brother's life. How love, life, and the glory of God all came together in Jesus was beyond anyone's comprehension at that time. For that matter, none of us fully comprehend all there is to know about the person and work of Jesus, at best we now can know only in part (see 1Corinthians 13.12).

Because Jesus loved his friends so, his words and his actions were intended to bring them to a place where they would believe, and, believing, give glory to the Father. This meant that there would be times when the disciples would have to face the problem of feeding a multitude (John 6.1-14), or confront tempests (John 6.16-21), or ponder what Jesus meant when he said that they would feed on his flesh and drink his blood (John 6.53-58), or learn that blindness did not have to be the result of anyone's sin (John 9.3-5). Mary and Martha were about to experience the most bitter loss in their life, yet it would result in their learning that Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11.25), and in their seeing the glory of God in and through the raising of their brother from the dead by the power of love. For the love of the Father, and for his friends, Jesus was ultimately willing to feel the sting of death itself, so that his Father would be glorified in and through the resurrection, and that his beloved friends should not have to fear death, but look forward to eternal life.

But, having examined what motivated Jesus, we need to ask ourselves what is our motivation? What motivates us each day, guides and directs our words and our deeds? If we truly are his disciples then his motivation should be our motivation. In fact, the Lord declared that love would be the tell-tale sign of a disciple (see John 13.35); and this “new commandment” was itself an outgrowth of the two “great” commandments to love God and one's neighbor with all one's being (Deuteronomy 6.4-5; Leviticus 19.18; Matthew 22.37-40). Love the Father and love one another—that's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4