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No one dies for nothing
During the turbulent days of the Vietnam War, a college chaplain was speaking
with a group of students. One student, thinking about the war, declared, “There
is nothing in the world that is worth dying for.”
To that, the chaplain replied: “Well then, since we all die, that means you
will one day be faced with dying for nothing.”
Contrary to the student’s opinion, some things are worth dying for. Jesus
Christ cited one. He said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends.”
That was Jesus’ reason for giving up his own life. In John 15: 9,
he added, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”
Jesus’ idea of friendship was defined and shaped by the Father’s love for
him. It is interesting that the Greek word used here for love is phileo.
It is a form of the word philos, which is translated as “friend.”
In Greek, a friend is literally “one who is loved.”
Just as the Father’s love shaped and defined Jesus’ life and ministry, so
Jesus’ love would come to shape and define those who would believe in him. To
be a friend of Jesus is to be one who is loved by God. And because God loves
us, we can love others.
In John 15:12, Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one
another as I have loved you.”
In Jesus, who first loved us, we are freed from everything that prevents
us from loving others. Jesus not only lived and died for us, he was raised for
us, and he ascended to the Father – taking our humanity with him.
In becoming human for us, the Son of God has bound us to himself in such
a way that he will never let us go. “I am in my Father, and you are in me,
and I am in you,” Jesus said in John 14:20.
We belong to Jesus. He has taken our humanity into himself. He is a friend
of sinners, which means he is a friend of everyone – and he died, rose and ascended
for all his friends.
We all die, but in Christ, no one dies for nothing.
I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.
Copyright 2009 Grace Communion International
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