Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Everything Jesus said while on earth is noteworthy. He is a man from the OTHER SIDE. A man from the place we call death. A man who brings news of new life after death. While here he spends a lot of time explaining what it is like on the OTHER SIDE.
One of the things he works hard at telling us is that this life is not all there is. In fact, this life is not all that important. Of course, it is important … to us. It is all we know. Yet Jesus wants us to know that there is more. And to prove it, he wants us to know that his death is not an accident. Instead, it is planned. Long planned since the beginning of time. Jesus lays down his life for us so that we might live with Him forever.
Where I live, the threat of death is very limited. There are very few opportunities to literally lay down my life for a friend. Some places in the world are not like that. The risks are high, and often. But here, the biggest challenge I face is to lay down my emotional life for a friend, to lay down my ego.
Why is it so hard to put pride aside? Why would we rather fight to the death than admit a weakness or allow someone else to appear stronger or more right? Human beings are interesting constructs. We imagine ourselves willing to face down a fierce enemy, but the idea of being kind to an enemy rankles.
Jesus did both.
His friends were his disciples. His enemies were his own people. Jesus did more than lay down his life for his friends. He laid down his life for his enemies, too.
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