The Suffering Savior

Matthew 27:27-31; 35-37; 50-51
Related Sunday School Lesson, Family Bible Series, April 4

The dreadful scene of passion unfolds as His time has now fully come. Though the scene presented by our gospel text is disturbing to the human heart, this pain and shame of Jesus’ suffering and death were imperative to satisfy the great debt of sinful man.

Investigating the life of Jesus, we must first admit that He was not merely a man. Instead, He was God in flesh, existing in the timelessness of eternity past. Still, John’s Gospel reveals that the timeless “Word became flesh and dwelt among” sinful men. These disturbing events of crucifixion did not catch God by surprise, as open theism might suggest. The Son of God was on a mission to the cross from the moment of His incarnation. Neither the Jewish leadership nor the Romans had captured our Lord unsuspecting. Instead, He knowingly submitted to the will of the Father, providing complete balance to the dilemma of mankind’s spiritual bankruptcy.

Why would the transcendent Sovereign of the universe choose to empty Himself into the lowly shell of physical man? This supernatural explanation for Christ’s willingness to sacrifice Himself for fallen man is His limitless love.

God’s unconditional love was the measure that met the need of wanting man. God’s unlimited love provided the means by which all men could receive forgiveness of their sin, and His undeniable love is the motivation for every child of God to demonstrate that same compassion toward others. What is Christian love? Where do Christians find the ability to love as God requires? And why should we care to show others the love of God?

The Requirement of Christian Love
I John 4:7

What does God expect from His children in respect to love? The phrase “Let us love,” found in verse 7, is one Greek word agapomen, which is in the present tense. This particular tense is significant because it demands a continual practice of loving.

God’s desire is that we not pick and choose where and who to love, but He commands us to show love at all times, continually and without exception. We love not exclusively because we care, but our love is a result of an obedient spirit, desiring to honor God and His smallest command.

If limited to our own resources, this requirement is absolutely impossible. Numerous examples run rampant through our minds as we consider the flesh and its response to ungodly confrontation. Love is often the last thing on our minds when we are faced with a conflict.

Our inadequacy to accomplish God’s expectation of Christian love leads us to a second requirement. In order to love others as God desires, we must admit our inability to love on our own. So, where do Christians find the ability to love as God requires?

The Reserve of Christian Love
I John 4:7-8

Though many believers fall into a trap of self-sufficiency, we must admit our complete dependence on God for unconditional love. God is not simply the supplier of this imperative love. He is the substance, the “stuff” of love. Plainly stated, without God, there can be no love.

Verses 7 and 8 support not only the source and substance of all love, but they also reveal another key truth in relation to the compassion we are commanded to convey. Love, finding its cause and consistency completely in God, can only be experienced by and exhibited through those who are connected to the source. Likewise, one can easily see that those who are without love are also without the God of love.

Most have looked for love “in all the wrong places.” As people seek to fill their spiritual void with relationships, accomplishments, and possessions, they will inevitably be disappointed. Jesus is our only true source of satisfaction.

The Reason of Christian Love
I John 4:9

Why must we treat others as God has required? We love because we have been loved (I John 4:19). God’s love was manifested, but in what way? The phrase in the NKJV “toward us” can also be translated “in us” or “among us.” Each one of these linguistic possibilities is applicable to the Christian.

First, God manifested His love “among us,” by dwelling in the presence of imperfect man. The almighty God of the universe humbled Himself by stooping down to the level of mortal mankind. The Word loved the world enough to come down to its level. He not only demonstrated His love “among us,” but His love was also shown “toward us.”

Why would this provide the believer with more reason to love others? I am convinced that when someone acquires a proper perspective of God’s love, loving others becomes much less a dreaded chore and more an anticipated opportunity. Jesus suffered and died an unthinkable death on the cruel cross in order to provide us with a road to righteousness and relationship with the Father.

Mel Gibson’s recent movie, The Passion of the Christ, provides a glimpse into the reality of that sacrifice. Jesus paid an incomprehensible price for our indebtedness to sins.

God showed His love to all mankind in His physical incarnation, but He also deliberately aimed His love toward us, providing individual access to the Father by His loving sacrifice on the cross. However, Christ also manifested His love “in us” and continues to do so in our daily lives.

Personal testimony is nothing more than our humbly submitting ourselves to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, allowing God to be manifested in our lives as a witness to His wondrous work of grace. This inward work is what produces the outward demonstration of God-like love toward others. As God has demonstrated His love toward us, so we must show others that same Christian love in our every action.

Questions for Life

1. Discuss the reserve of God’s love and how it applies to our relationships with others.

2. What barriers stand in the way of showing God’s love?