That disciple whom Jesus loved

Please take a moment to consider the time and the effort God had spent over these many years to come and make Himself known in your own life. Ponder the countless times He came back after each rejection you gave to His call. The continual, patient knocking and waiting at the door to your heart. This is the great underlying theme of the understanding of God’s love for him, that the Apostle John had as he wrote down his record of the Gospel of Christ. He knew himself to be ‘a wicked, lost, hell-bound sinner’ saved by the unfathomable grace of God through the Son of God. To such an extent was his comprehension of this that he durst not bring any attention to himself, but simply out of a great appreciation and thanks wrote of himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. One would like to think that had yourself been there with the Lord for that last supper, you too would be that disciple that wanted to be so close to his God as to be the one even lying on the Lord’s breast.

The primary theme you get throughout this beautiful Gospel is one where the Father loves the Son (John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 15:9; 17:23-26) truly and fully; the Son loves the Father truly and fully (John 14:31); the Father loves us His children, through and because of His only begotten Son (John 14:21,23); the Father loves the world (John 3:16); the Son loves us His friends so much that He laid down His life for us (John 11:3,5,36; 13:1,23,34; 15:13-15). The secondary theme is one where we need to stop loving the world and ourselves (John 3:19, 5:42, 12:43) and fix our love on the Father through His Son and by His Spirit of Truth (John 8:42; 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 John 4:6; 5:6-8), this then directly puts us in the position where we are now abiding in the Son, and by inheritance of His position we find ourselves abiding in the Father (John 14:10-23; 15:4-7,10). Abiding in Him is the key. First going to Him each day prayerfully, searching His will through His Word, then going out into the world to live my life. Starting out with the world takes my eyes off Him and my heart away from Him, thus I find myself quickly abiding elsewhere and not in Him (John 12:46). As I abide in Him, the very same love that started out with the Father now forms part of my being and it’s evident result is two-fold: I have a great love for the fellow Christians and I have a great love for the lost and a concern for their souls (John 4:34-38; 13:34,35). Often times we try to fabricate a reason and desire to share the Gospel with others but since it comes from our own selves the desire does not last long. Our zeal impresses many people, but it misses the mark sooner or later because like Paul, the Pharisee, we actually end up doing it carnally all the while telling ourselves we are doing God a great service. But when we abide in Him and He in us, He is the one stirring up our souls with an earnest yearning to see lost souls saved. The Lord spoke stern and hard to the Jews while here on earth, in words they could not understand. Yet even when he spoke to the learned Jew, Nicodemus, and that prominent Gentile, Pilate, He did not make it easy for them by giving the answers they were expecting and wanted to hear, rather He spake in sort of riddles so that they, whom we from the Scriptures can perceive already knew the truthful answers to their questions, had to come to those conclusions and decisions themselves. When He speaks unto plain people who are open to His doctrine He makes it straightforward and to the point, when addressing those who might have an agenda His spiritual talk veils it so that they have to dig for His meaning and they then find it hard because of their carnality. We find however in the end Pilate trying to set Jesus of Nazareth free from the Jews, as one whom he fearfully had to consider as the true King of the Jews (John 18:33-39; 19:19-22) and even as the very Son of God (John 19:7-9). (Note how the Bible only ever ascribes the title, King of the Jews, to the Lord Jesus and not to others such as Herod.) We find also Nicodemus in the end burying the body of the Lord along with the disciples (John 19:38-42). His message did get through to them, yet only God truly knows whether new birth came upon them or not.

When things spiraled out of control, Thomas, who I think is a lot like most of us, lost faith for a while. Peter thought maybe he should correct this confusing situation of hopelessness in his own strength by finding a way of providing meat to eat now that the Lord and His miracles seems to be further away than yesterday. But what does the Lord do? He tells Thomas: “Be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27) The fervent Simon He reminds of the purpose whereunto he is called: You’re not being a strong stone [Peter/Cephas] like I want you at the moment; what are you doing fishing? Can I not provide you in a few minutes with more fish than you and these other disciples can eat? You are supposed to be feeding My little lambs and taking care of My sheep. (John 21) Forget about the world, your own problems and your own solutions, other people’s concerns. “Follow thou Me.” (John 21:19,22)
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Our love needs to be set on God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit. Our love needs to be set on the sheep of the Good Shepherd. Our love needs to be to the Jews, God’s chosen People. Our love needs to be set on the Gentiles too. If we abide thus in the Father, we find sharing God’s Word and its glorious message come much more naturally and effective. Make sure that you are not fishing for fish, but fishing for men, but first of all anchor yourself in the Lord Jesus Christ and abide in Him, lest all of your efforts be in vain. Be a disciple that realise the true love the Lord Jesus Christ has for you, and work in that same love to take the Gospel to Jew first and also to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16; 2:10)