Memorial Day - Pt. 2

 

[Jesus said] “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:12-15 ESV).

 

Memorial Day is a day that is set aside to remember, and honor, our brave soldiers who have given their lives to protect our land and keep us free.  It began as a day to honor our Civil War dead, but after World War I, it was expanded to include our war dead from all the wars in which America was involved.  You may not be aware that our country has been involved in thirteen wars (not counting the American Revolutionary War). In every one of these cases, we have asked our citizens to be willing to give their lives in the name of freedom. The sacrifices these men and women have made can never be totally comprehended nor can they be repaid fully.

 

In our reading today we find that our Lord recognized the tremendous sacrifice involved when a person is willing to give up their life for their friend.   He describes it as an act of “great love.”  As I wrote yesterday, who better to be able to understand and define the very essence of self-sacrifice and love, but Jesus? He willingly humbled Himself and came to the earth, God in human flesh, giving up the glories of heaven to live among us.   Then, during His life on earth, He set the ultimate example of service, teaching, feeding, praying for and healing those who were in need.   Next, He was willing to be falsely accused, mocked, physically beaten, mistreated and convicted for a set of crimes that He did not commit. Finally, submitting to a horrible death of slow suffocation while hanging on a cross, all so that His people could receive forgiveness and deliverance from their sin and its results.  This is what the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ brought about for us. Remember Jesus said there was no greater love among man than to die for a friend.

 

How much greater is a love that would make Jesus, God the Son,  be willing to die for an enemy, one that wants nothing to do with Him and who rebels against Him at every turn?  It is described as “the love of God” that cannot be fully understood by man (cf. Romans 8:39, Ephesians 3:19). We were not strangers to God, but enemies. Yet He died for us. This is the source of our hope and value. This is the ultimate description of how much we are worth to God! That should translate into our behavior towards others. Does it?