Have you ever wondered how much God loves you?
How does God show His love? The way Jesus helped and healed people 2,000 years ago shows how much God loves you today.
When I was in third grade, one week at Sunday School my teacher taught our class the first Bible verse I ever memorized. It was John 3:16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV
I’ve been thinking a lot about this verse lately and the one that follows,
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17 NIV
These two verses speak to me about God’s infinite, eternal, unchanging love for us. They give me hope in my own life, but they also give me hope for everyone. God loves the whole world, not just some of the people in it.
Why God sent Jesus
And God didn’t send Jesus to earth to condemn us because of the mistakes we’ve made. God sent Jesus to teach us what love is, and to show us how much God loves us, and how we can learn to love God, ourselves, and each other.
So the more I think about this whole idea of God sending Jesus to earth because He loves us, the more it keeps coming to me that everything Jesus did is an example of God’s love for us.
Everything Jesus said and did shows God’s love for us.
Now you may be thinking, Hey James, that sounds pretty good, but I wasn’t around 2,000 years ago when Jesus came to earth. How does what he did prove that God loves me?
God does not play favorites
Well, I guess you have to ask yourself: Did God send Jesus just to help the few people he ministered to way back then? Did God love those people who were helped personally by Jesus more than He loves anyone else before or after the three years of Jesus’s ministry?
Of course not. Peter declares a great truth to Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, when he says,
God does not show favoritism. Acts 10:34 NIV
This is true, not just at any given moment in time, but also throughout all time, in every era.
God loves you just as much as He loved the people who came to Jesus for healing. Everything Jesus did to express love to those people, shows God’s love for you and me as well.
God’s love shines through Jesus
Let’s look at some examples.
What the most loving thing Jesus ever did for someone? Wow, that’s a pretty hard question to answer. Everything he did was an expression of love. Even when he rebuked the Pharisees, or his disciples, he was expressing one kind of love or another.
Jesus said it’s easy to love the people who love you, but we should love everyone, even our enemies. This is how he puts it.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Matthew 5:43-47 NIV
Sometimes we struggle to follow these teachings of Jesus; they’re pretty demanding. But fortunately he put this teaching into practice over and over again as an example for us.
Why did Jesus choose a tax collector as a disciple?
Speaking of tax collectors, Jesus chose a tax collector, Matthew, to be one of his disciples. And right after that, he had dinner at Matthew’s house with a bunch more tax collectors and those who were considered sinners.
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. Matthew 9:9, 10 NIV
Have you ever wondered how Jesus could express such love to these people who were clearly not upstanding citizens? Shouldn’t he, the Messiah, be associating with only the most spiritually minded people who lived their lives in obedience to God’s commandments?
Well, that was the Pharisees’ approach to deciding who to associate with. In fact, they had a hard time understanding why Jesus would have dinner with and talk to a bunch of sinners.
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ [Hosea 6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:11-13 NIV
How could Jesus love sinners so much?
Why would Jesus have dinner with a bunch of sinners? It’s because he loved them. And how could he bring himself to love them? Because he could see that God loved them.
Now I quote this verse a lot on The Bible Speaks to You Podcast. Think of it in this context of how Jesus loved people.
Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19 NIV
This must mean that Jesus could see God loving these people and so he did too.
So how does this story apply to you and me?
I find it very encouraging that Jesus hung out with people who had made bad life choices. These are the very people he came to help. These are the very people he poured out his love on. These are the very people he could see God loving.
Who would Jesus talk to today?
If Jesus were here today, he would seek out the people who need his help, just as he did 2,000 years ago. He would love them because he would see God loving them.
And so it is for you and me today. God loves us, even when we’ve made bad life choices, big or small, once or repeatedly.
Christ is coming to your house for dinner, so to speak, tonight. He’s not coming to condemn you but to show you how much God loves you.
Jesus loved foreigners
Let’s look at another example of how Jesus loved someone and how it’s a metaphor for how much we are loved.
Remember the Syrophoenician woman who came to Jesus because her daughter was possessed with a demon?
At first Jesus appears to decline her request for healing.
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Matthew 15:24-28 NIV
Why did Jesus call her a dog?
In the English translation of this verse, Jesus seems to give the very opposite of a loving response to this woman, comparing her to a dog. But in the Greek the word translated “dog” is actually a diminutive form of the word dog. It means little dog or puppy.
Jewish law frowned on Jews talking to non-Jews. This woman knew must have known that, but she approached Jesus anyway. She knew the Jews probably would consider her no better than a dog.
But when Jesus called her a puppy, she felt his compassion and non-condemnatory attitude. I can almost see the twinkle in her eyes as she responded to Jesus about the puppies eating crumbs under the table.
Here again, Jesus is showing not just his love for this woman, but God’s love for her. He could see God loving her and so he loved her as well.
And here again, this gives you and me hope and inspiration. If you are an outcast of society and not accepted by others because of your nationality, or whatever other external classification, that wouldn’t matter to Jesus. God loves you just as much as He loved this foreign woman. And Jesus healed her daughter because he could see how much God loved her and her daughter.
How will you love?
Or maybe you’re not an outcast. Maybe you are a fine, outstanding member of society. How will you express love to those who are not so acceptable, for whatever reason, those who are different from who you usually associate with? Will be you be like Jesus’s disciples? When the woman first approached Jesus,
So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” Matthew 15:23 NIV
That’s the easy response.
Or will you see God loving them, and love them the way Jesus would have?
The crucifixion show how much God loves you
I think the supreme example of something Jesus did as an expression of God’s love for us is his willingness to endure the crucifixion in order to prove the king of terrors, death itself, to have no final power over him or us.
Jesus knew the Roman soldiers and Jewish leaders would come to look for him in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could have gone someplace else. He could have left town. He could have hidden somewhere till the heat of the moment was over. But he didn’t.
Jesus chose to face the crucifixion. In effect, he ran to meet it just like David ran to meet Goliath. And he did it out of love for you and me. He could see how much God loved all mankind. He could see that God would empower him to be victorious over death.
Jesus knew that his example of overcoming death was not just for himself, but would serve as the beginning step for all of us getting the victory over sin and death. Could there be anything more loving for Jesus to do?
Jesus’s life shows how much God loves you
If you’re ever feeling far from God, or you know theoretically God loves you but you’re not really feeling this love, take a few minutes to ponder some of the things Jesus did or said and imagine he is doing or saying them directly to you.
Why would he be so loving? How can he be so loving? The point is, as I said earlier, if Jesus were here personally, as he was 2,000 years ago, he would love you just as much as he loved all the people he ministered to then.
The beautiful thing is, Jesus’s love for all mankind, including you and me, is here this very moment, and always will be. Jesus’s love hasn’t gone anywhere. It hasn’t been diluted. It hasn’t been polluted. It hasn’t faded away. It’s as pure and powerful today as it was then, and always will be.
Why? Because Jesus’s love is simply a manifestation of God’s love for you. And here’s how God describes His love for you,
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 NIV
God loves us with an everlasting love: that’s really remarkable. Nothing you do can ever stop God from loving you. Jesus knew this to the core of his being. That’s why he could love everyone. He knew God loved them.
How much can you love?
Is it possible for you and me to love like that?
Well, yes it is, in principle. But we have to work at it. We have to practice this kind of love. And we can.
Jesus knew we could. He told us we could do it.
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34, 35 NIV
So we’re supposed to love each other the way Jesus loved his disciples.
And how did Jesus love his disciples? He explains it this way.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. John 15:9 NIV
About a year and a half ago, I did an entire episode on how Jesus loved his disciples. Episode 165: How Did Jesus Love His Disciples? I mention these two passages from John, but I go into a lot more depth. Click the link if you’d like to listen to it.
How Jesus wants us to love each other
Jesus says he loves us the way the Father loves him. So if we’re loving each other the way Jesus loved us, that means we’re supposed to, and can, love each other the way God loves Jesus.
Let me repeat that. Jesus wants us to, and knows that we can, love each other the way God loves Jesus.
That is love. How do we get to that kind of love? How do we stay there?
Back to John 15. At the end of verse 9, Jesus says,
…Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15:9, 10 NIV
Just do what Jesus tells you to. That will keep you in this sense of love.
It’s time to love like Jesus
Think of someone you love. Now think of how Jesus would love this person. He would love them the way God loved him. Just ponder for a moment how much God loves Jesus. Now, love your friend with that same love God has for Jesus.
Do this with someone in your life you don’t really love at all. This may take a little spiritual discipline on your part, but Christ will empower you in the process.
Now do this with some random person you encounter during the day, someone you pass on the sidewalk, someone waiting in line with you at the checkout line at the store, or someone driving in the car next to you on the street. Love them the way God loves Jesus.
And don’t forget to include yourself in that love. Love yourself the way God loves Jesus.
Just as everything Jesus did is an example of how much God loves you, the more you love this way, the more everything you do will be an example of how much God loves all mankind.
Photo Credit:
Free Bible Images
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.
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Bible References
John 3:16 NIV
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:17 NIV
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Acts 10:34 NIV
34 God does not show favoritism.
Matthew 5:43-47 NIV
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Matthew 9:9, 10 NIV
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.
Matthew 9:11-13 NIV
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ [Hosea 6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
John 5:19 NIV
19 “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
Matthew 15:24-28 NIV
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Matthew 15:23 NIV
23 So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
Jeremiah 31:3 NIV
3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
John 13:34, 35 NIV
34 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 15:9 NIV
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
John 15:9, 10 NIV
9 …Now remain in my love.
10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
