John 13:31-35           
In the Name of Him Who Loves Us, Dear Fellow Children of God,
Back in 1967 the Beatles came out with a song entitled, “All You Need Is Love.”  Judging by the rather simplistic lyrics, in this song the “Fab Four” seem to be giving their spin on how to make the world a better place in which to live.  But the lives of these four Englishmen tell us that what they said in song wasn’t all that easy to duplicate in life.  All four dabbled in drugs.  Two of them, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, had a falling out over who was to be given the credit for being the main composer of their songs.  Another, George Harrison, turned to Hare Krishna for inner peace when the drugs didn’t solve his problems.  So is there any truth in that song title, “All You Need Is Love”?

There is, but the concept didn’t originate with the Beatles.  You have to go back a little farther in time, back about 2000 years to a much more reliable source.  Today let’s listen to Jesus Christ.  He’ll give us the answer to the question:

“Is Love All You Really Need?”

I. When properly motivated

II. When genuinely demonstrated

It was Maundy Thursday when Jesus spoke the words of our text, just a few hours before he’d be separated from his disciples.  Judas had just been revealed as the Lord’s betrayer and had been sent out to orchestrate his evil plan.  Now it was time for Jesus to address the remaining disciples.

You would think that the mood in that upper room would be pretty somber after the shocking revelation that one of Jesus’ own was going to betray him.  But instead of words of sorrow, our Lord delivers a rather unexpected pep talk to the remaining disciples (vv 31,32), “When [Judas] was gone, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.’”  In view of all that was about to happen, how could Jesus be so positive?  As disheartening as it may have seemed, our Lord knew that Judas’ betrayal was about to start the chain of events that would ultimately save the world from sin.  This is how Jesus would be “glorified.”  To be glorified means to have your greatness revealed or displayed.  Jesus’ greatness would be displayed as he took sinful man’s place and paid the price of man’s sins.  Take note that Jesus refers to himself as “the Son of Man.”  Jesus was the only one who ever referred to himself in this way, and he does so over 80 times in the four Gospels.  Although Scripture declares that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col 2:9), Jesus still wanted the world to know that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14).  Out of love he came to live for us, and out of love he died for us.  In so doing he would be glorified, and by accomplishing his mission, God the Father would be glorified as well, for “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Co 5:19).  It would require the death of his Son, but as Jesus himself would later proclaim (Jn 15:13), “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Notice how Jesus lifts the spirits of his disciples.  He wanted them to know that everything that was about to happen would result in him and his heavenly Father being glorified.  It would all be part of God’s glorious salvation plan.  But in order for his love to be revealed, Jesus would have to leave his friends for a while (v 33), “My children, I will 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.”  Jesus refers to the disciples as “my children.”  They were very dear to him, but he also knew that they only had a childlike understanding of what was to come.  And even though they would think otherwise, they would not be able to follow their Lord.  What he had to endure, he had to endure alone.  His was the only sacrifice that would suffice when it came to erasing the debt of destruction caused by sin.  It would be in that sacrifice that the disciples would see the purest example of love ever known.  As John writes in his first Epistle (1 Jn 3:16), “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”

Whenever I have to go out of town, inevitably my son will ask me when I’ll be back.  We find it comforting, when forced to be separated from loved ones, to know that the separation won’t be long.  That’s the assurance Jesus gave to his disciples and to us when he said (Jn 14:3), “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”  The only reason he was leaving was so that he could someday be with his children forever.  In love he would leave his friends in order to save his friends.  Soon they would realize just how much he loved them.

Is love all you really need?  As long as it’s the love of our Savior!  Know his love, and you’ll know salvation.  Know his love, and you have all you need – for this life and the next!  If you know and truly believe that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (Jn 3:16), then you’re set!  Then you know that you’re not going to perish, but that you’re going to have eternal life!  It’s yours – all because of the love of your Savior!

It’s that love that now serves as motivation as we live out our lives here on this earth.  The apostle Paul tells us  (2 Co 5:14,15), “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  Is love all you really need?  It is, when our love for Christ and for others is genuinely demonstrated in our lives.

Soon the disciples would know what true love was all about when they would see their Savior on Calvary’s cross.  With that in mind, Jesus tells them they would have a whole new perspective on love (v 34), “A new command I give you:  Love one another.”  The command itself was nothing new, but seeing Christ’s love for them would provide for them the greatest example of love to emulate in their relationships with each other.  We marvel at our Lord’s love in the hymn verse (CW 385:2), “Oh, the height of Jesus’ love,  Higher than the heav’ns above,  Deeper than the depths of sea,  Lasting as eternity.”  What an example for us!  Jesus adds these words (v 34), “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

We learn from examples all the time.  We can’t help but realize just how much our children emulate both Mom and Dad as they grow up!  Sometimes we don’t set the best example.  For that we’re thankful we have God’s forgiveness.  But with our Lord we need not worry that he’s setting a bad example for us.  His is a perfect example of perfect love.  “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Remember, Jesus was speaking to his disciples.  Since he would be leaving them, how important it would be for them to show love to each other.  They had something very important in common – their faith!  We acknowledge that same bond today when we sing (CW 494:1), “Blest be the tie that binds  Our hearts in Christian love;  The fellowship of kindred minds  Is like to that above.”  We share the same hope, the same comfort, the same strength, because we share the same Savior!  And that Savior wants us to genuinely demonstrate that love in our relationships with our fellow believers.

That means that there’s no room for grudges in the family of believers.  There’s no room for favoritism.  There’s no room for behind-the-scenes gossiping and bickering.  We have to learn from the example of our Savior (Eph 4:32), “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  We have to be genuine with one another, and that means that we are to seek forgiveness if we’ve wronged someone.  We have to learn to say, “I’m sorry” – or, better yet, to ask, “Will you forgive me?”  That’s what love is all about.  It’s love motivated by our Savior, and it’s all you really need if it’s genuinely demonstrated in your relationships with each other.

As we show love for each other in the family of believers, others will take notice (v 35), “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  People are watching.  Someone once put it this way:  “You are writing a gospel, a chapter a day,  By the deeds that you do and the things that you say.  Men read your record, whether faithless or true – Pray tell, what is the gospel according to you?”  When people watch you, what kind of sermon are you preaching?  Do they see love?  Do they see someone who does everything to the glory of God?  Do they see what Christianity, what true love, is all about?  Do they know that you’re a disciple of Christ?  Or are they seeing someone who just blends in with the crowd, someone no different from the rest of the sinful world?  Think of it this way:  If you were on trial for being a follower of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Is love all you really need?  Yes, if it’s properly motivated by the love of Christ and genuinely demonstrated in our lives.  In short, love is all you need if your love is real.  What makes love real?  Or, putting it another way, how do you know if you genuinely love someone?  Here’s one thought:  I believe that you genuinely love someone only when you’re willing to do whatever it takes to have that person join you someday in heaven.  Genuine love is demonstrated when we look beyond this lifetime, when like our Lord we truly want all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  So here’s the question for each of you to take home and ponder today:  How many people

do you love?  And when are you going to tell them about Jesus?

Is love all you really need?  The apostle John thought so.  Tradition says that when he had grown old and feeble, his friends had to carry him into the meeting place of the congregation at Ephesus.  Since he was no longer able to address his congregation at length, it was his custom to stretch forth his arms over them and say, “Little children, love one another.”  Finally, after hearing the same words time after time, one of his members reverently asked, “Why do you always speak these words?”  John’s answer?  “It is the Lord’s command, and if only this be done, it is enough.”

In Scripture we’re told (1 Jn 4:16), “God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”  My friends, with the proper motivation and with a genuine demonstration, love one another!  If only this be done, it is enough!

Amen

 -Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff