“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Which commandments?

May 25, 2014, Easter 6

GOSPEL LESSON: John 14:15–21 [If you love Me, obey what I command.]

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Today I want to ask: Which commandments?

Jesus talked about hisown commandments, not the Old Testament Ten Commandments of Moses. I think that this is important because so many people think that Christianity is all about keeping the Ten Commandments, that we be good people, and so we will go to heaven. That is not Gospel. That is not even Christianity. The Jews say that based on the Old Testament and the Law of Moses. Of course it is important that we be good people, and the Ten Commandments are a good guide for us Christians, especially when we read them as Martin Luther explained in the Catechism. But Law, even the Law of God, is about what we people must do or not do. Gospel is about what Christ has done and is still doing for us.

So, if Jesus is not talking about the Law of Moses and is talking about hisown commandments, what are those commandments? First, in the context of the Last Supper of today’s Gospel reading in John 14; in the previous chapter Jesus had said, 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Then in the next chapter Jesus says, 15:12-13, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The old Law of Moses had said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I think the new commandment of Jesus, the law of mutual love, means that the disciples in their community, or we in our church fellowship, live our lives in a way that reflects Jesus. God is with us, God is in us. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit “dwells with you and will be in you.” To “dwell” is not a temporary thing. God takes up permanent residence in our lives. And Jesus says that this means the whole Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is what we confess and celebrate in Baptism. God is with all of us Christians, and so how can we fight with each other? How can God fight against himself? It should be natural that we love one another.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I think Jesus could also have said, “If you love me, love one another.” Now Jesus knew the hearts and minds of his disciples, just as he knows our hearts and minds. And he knows how hard it is for people, even for believers to really love one another. Just look at all the fighting and disagreements and splintering of the Christians church. Not everyone in our church, both local and national, feels the same about everything, and sometimes it causes problems. Or there are people who are just hard to get along with, including myself. And so Jesus knows we need help. This is why he promised to send us help. The Helper is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” He is the “Spirit of truth,” which means that he will reveal to us the truth. He will reveal the true meaning of the Gospel. He will explain the love of God. It was that love which died for his friends. It was that love that died for us. It was that love that forgave our sin so that we could love Jesus. That is the mutual love between Jesus and us. That is the same love that Jesus wants us to have in our Christian fellowship. And so if we have this mutual love with Jesus, we will have the same mutual love with one another.

We love Jesus because he first loved us. We love other people because Jesus first loved them. That is the foundation of all Christian ethics and behavior.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Today I remember two other commands of Jesus. In the Book of Matthew, the first and last words of Jesus’ public ministry are imperatives, commands. Matthew 4:17, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” And Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When we know the love of Christ, not that we by ourselves have decided to love Christ, but rather when we know and realize that the Holy Spirit has revealed the Gospel to us, then we return that love. That is first of all what repentance is: it is believing in the Gospel and receiving baptism. Then, because we love Christ, we love those whom Christ loves and so we follow that last command of Christ, the command to share his love in the proclamation of the Gospel, teaching and baptizing. It is to proclaim the Gospel: that the Christ who died on the cross has risen from the dead and so is with us always, to the very end of the age.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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