| <Jesus Loves Me So> |
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Shalom, Last week, I shared how Peter went through some polishing in his character and he became a pillar in the early church. Peter was a member of the inner circle of disciples that Jesus had. Together with John and his brother James, Peter went with Jesus to places where He wanted exclusive teaching opportunities. I asked the Lord why these three? And He told me that He wanted to show how persons with difficult characters could be transformed by His love. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, were from the region of Galilee and were partners with Peter in the fishing industry. They owned boats and like Peter, they were impulsive and hot-tempered. Although John was a member of the Inner Circle, it is interesting to note that he did not say much. Peter did most of the talking and it seemed like John was the silent observer type. It could be that since he was the youngest of all Jesus' disciples, he felt that it was not appropriate for him to speak before the older ones had spoken. John must have been a young man when Jesus called him. He would probably be in his late teens or early twenties and being so young, no wonder he outran Peter on the Easter Sunday morning on the way to the Garden tomb to see for themselves whether what the ladies had reported to them were true. One of the few occasions where it was recorded for us of the conversation he had made was when he and his brother James asked the Lord to command fire from Heaven to consume the Samaritan village that had rejected Him. Obviously, John had a loving rebuke from the Lord Jesus and it must have taught him heaps. No longer we hear him having violent thoughts. Instead we read in the gospel that he wrote later on in his life how he called himself "the disciple whom the Lord loved". You see, when you are with Jesus the whole day and being in the privileged club seeing at first-hand the miracles that the Lord performed and receiving anointed teaching, He realized the extent of the love that Jesus had. He saw the power that Jesus had over everything and yet had the deepest compassion for people. I am sure he saw the compassionate look on Jesus' face many times and he felt loved. Right throughout his gospel, he used that phrase for himself. Not one time did he mention his own name in that gospel. When I was a young Christian, I was puzzled with this term "the disciple whom the Lord loved". I used to ask myself who this disciple was. I counted them each time to see whether there was a disciple that was quietly sneaked in and whose name was withheld for whatever reason. I concluded that this must have been a special privileged disciple set apart by Jesus. Little did I realized that it was the apostle John addressing himself because in no other gospel was this phrase found. The other gospel writers simply called him "John". John wanted to internalize the love of Jesus in his own life. By calling himself "the disciple whom the Lord loved", he reminded himself constantly of that fact, that Jesus loved him. Even in the midst of difficulties, he was able to endure and overcome because he knew (by his own constant reminders) Whose he belong to. My friends, you too can do what John did and call yourself, "I am (name) whom the Lord loved". Keep doing that 24 hours a day, seven days a week and experience the difference in your life. You will be pleasantly surprised how much you really feel loved. That was what happened to John. So much in love was he with Jesus our Lord that the other disciples could not help but noticed. Indeed, on the night before Jesus was betrayed, all the other disciples wanted to know who the betrayer of Jesus was but they were afraid to ask. Guess who they nominated to pop the question… John "the disciple whom Jesus loved". John, being the youngest disciples, had the honor of sitting on the left of Jesus and reclined on His chest during the meal (Jewish custom of the day was for everyone to be seated on the floor and reclining on the chest of the person seated on his right). Because he knew Jesus and His love for him, he was not afraid to ask Jesus even though the others may shy away. Was John the apostle the only disciple whom Jesus loved? No. Obviously Jesus loved all of them, otherwise He would not have chosen to appear to all of them when they met on that first Easter Sunday evening when they were together in the Upper Room. He loved Peter and forgave him for denying Him. The difference between John and the others was that he made it a point to remind himself how much Jesus loved him and what better way to do that than to keep addressing himself as "the disciple whim the Lord loved" So dramatic was the change in the apostle John that he became known as the "apostle of love". He allowed the love of Jesus to transform him and his letters was full of the love of Jesus. Long gone was the fiery John who was ever ready to make his stand and call for judgment in his younger days. Enter the apostle so full of the love of our Lord Jesus that he became the oldest apostle to live. Most, if not all, of the apostles were martyred except John. He died at a ripe old age on the island called Patmos where he was banished for life. John was the only disciple who had the privilege of having a conducted tour of Heaven with the Lord Jesus and instructed to write the last book in the Bible, the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Because he understood the love of Jesus so well, John was able to document what he saw of the judgment of God after Jesus had come back for the saints. Not only was he able to write of the righteous judgment of God on those who do not believe on His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord but the love and hope for the believers in Heaven. Wouldn't you want to experience the same love that the apostle John had and be transformed from a hot-tempered young man to live a blessed full life knowing fully where his confidence lay, in the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus loves each one of us so much that He came into this world and died willingly for us so that you and I can receive this love and be with Him for eternity. Have you received Him into your heart yet? Have you given Him your life that He can come and shape it the way He alone can so lovingly do? If you have not done so, then I pray that you will take a few moments and pray this simple prayer of faith to invite Him into your life. Our Father, our Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love
for us in sending Jesus Christ into this world to die for our sins and
to rise again from the dead. If you have prayed the prayer for the first time, know for a certainty that Jesus is now in your heart. He loves you and He wants to bless you because you are now seated with Jesus and is a joint-heir with Jesus of all the riches and blessings in Heaven. And as an encouragement for you to grow in Jesus' love, join a local church and be a part of the corporate blessing that the Father has for us, His children. The Lord blesses you and keeps you; Shalom, dated : 14 January 2002 |