Jesus Taught Love
He never turned away from it!
This is the first of three articles sequentially covering the love Jesus taught, the connection between love and oneness, and the implications of oneness for you and the Bible.
Jesus viewed His overall message as having three fundamental components.
- He had a comprehensive message declaring all things.
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15, NASB)
- He took great pains to make clear the message He portrayed was not His but rather from God.
The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. (John 14:24, NASB)
- His message was new and different, not previously disclosed even to Moses.
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.” (John 6:32, NASB)
This surprising final point is illustrated repeatedly throughout the Gospel of John as Jesus continually disputes the beliefs of the established religious leaders of the time. Perhaps the best example is the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus at the beginning of Chapter 3, where Nicodemus, a high-level religious leader sincerely seeking Jesus’ guidance, has no clue what Jesus is talking about.
The disparity between Jesus’ message and the established Jewish teachings of the time may be disconcerting as the bulk of the Christian Bible comprises the Old Testament, the very work Jesus disputes. Reading the Bible with the intent of harmonizing it (which is not my intent) will cause the reader to oversee Jesus’ essential spiritual message.
The New Testament separates itself from the Old in several ways based on love. The New Testament defines God as love (1 John 4:8), while the Old Testament never makes this correlation. Further, the Old Testament emphasizes “love your neighbor as yourself’ on only one occasion (Leviticus 19:18). But the New Testament concerns itself with loving your neighbor or one another over several dozen times.
Say what you will, but Jesus is universally associated with love. Jesus never stopped teaching love. He wanted all of us to love as He loved, to know what He knew, and to practice what He practiced. On the evening before His death, He peacefully gathered with His disciples and spoke:
Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for Me; and just as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you: “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” (John 13:33–36)
Jesus tells His disciples He is going where they cannot come (Heaven), that they should love one another as He has loved them, and again reiterates that they cannot follow Him, at least not at this point. This reads as an instruction to follow Him: love one another.
Jesus wanted everyone to join Him, to be as great as Him. In a discussion with His disciples, Jesus said:
Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.’” (John 14:12, NASB)
But was Jesus’ message only for His disciples? Certainly not. His teachings were for everyone and meant to apply to everyone. In Luke Chapter 10, Jesus is asked how one inherits eternal life, to which Jesus instructs to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. When asked who then is your neighbor, Jesus replied by reciting the tale of the Good Samaritan. In this story, three men pass by an injured traveler, but only one offers assistance, the Samaritan. Jesus responded, “Go and do the same” (Luke 10:37. NASB). Love should be provided by everyone to everyone.
As further evidence of this, Jesus stated in the Sermon on the Mount:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43–48, NASB)
Even Paul agreed with the importance of loving your neighbor as yourself. In Romans, widely viewed as Paul’s most important letter, he said:
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law. (Romans 13:8–10, NASB)
Love is the great cornerstone of the New Testament and the fundamental basis of Jesus’ teachings. But Jesus also taught oneness, which is the topic of my next article, which explores the connection between the two.
