Jesus loved others with the Gospel
Over the past few weeks, Jesus has shown us how to love God and love people, which He explained are the two great commandments that encompass the whole law, or 10 commandments that were given to Moses-
Matthew 22:37-40 | Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
We’ve seen that loving others is truly also loving God, since we are loving those He created and made in His image. We love others by putting them first and showing love even when they don’t deserve it.
We were challenged weeks ago to not only show our love in words, but to do it through actions-
1st John 3:18 | Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
Jesus certainly showed His love to others through His actions as he healed, provided for needs, and performed miracles. But Jesus also used his words to show love, particularly when He did the most loving thing of all – sharing the Gospel, or the Good News of salvation with those who were lost.
Biblical accounts show that sharing the Gospel was what Jesus’ earthly ministry was all about:
Matthew 4:17 | From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
Mark 1:14-15 | Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
As Jesus’ earthly ministry unfolds in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we learn from His example that while we can and should love others through our actions – serving them, sacrificing for them, and putting them first, if we don’t ever pair that with the Gospel, we aren’t loving people at all! Because Jesus loved others, He DID heal, serve, and sacrifice. He also told them the Gospel or the Good News-
Matthew 4:23-25 | Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.
This pairing of the Gospel with actions happens over and over again. Consider these accounts from just the book of John, where Jesus shares the Gospel with someone who is lost-
Nicodemus- John 3:1-21
The Samaritan woman - John 4:1-30
The lame man- John 5:1-15
The crowds that followed Him to Capernaum for a sign- John 6:27-51
The festival goers- John 7:37-39
The woman caught in adultery- John 8:1-11
The blind man - John 9
The unbelieving pharisees- John 9:40-10:18
Martha- John 11:25-26
The disciples- John 14
Jesus shows us that loving others means sharing the Gospel with them. The truth is, God loves people and doesn’t want anyone to perish, or die under the consequences of their sin (John 3:16; 2nd Peter 3:9; 1st Timothy 2:4). Because God loves people, He has entrusted His followers with sharing the Good News of Jesus with others (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15). Paul explains that because we’ve experienced the immense love of Jesus through salvation, we should overflow with the Gospel – the message of how the lost can be saved through Jesus–
2nd Corinthians 5:11, 14-15, 18-21 | Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. [14] Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. [18] And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
God’s love for people should well up within us because God the Holy Spirit is in us. He compels us to share the Gospel, the only hope for mankind, with those who are lost. This means that we only truly love others the way God loves them if we care about their eternity. We aren’t loving someone when we know they are lost in their sin, but stand idly by without sharing the way of salvation. Our Timeless Truth today is: We love others by telling them about Jesus. Are you loving others the way you've been commanded? Truly loving others means you love them in both word and action – not only showing them Jesus, but telling them about Him too. We love others by telling them about Jesus.
What is the gospel?
What is something that stood out to you about how Jesus loved others with the gospel?
Who are some people Jesus showed love to while here on Earth? How did He pair His acts of love with the Gospel?
Why didn’t Jesus love people without the gospel, or good news?