After witnessing the king of love in action, we turn our attention to what love is not. The strongest illustrations come from the treatment delivered to God’s beloved Son. We consider the religious leaders, one of His followers, and his kin.
Religious Leaders
To the religious leaders, Jesus spoke truth. It disrupted those who had shaped their traditions and rituals, which provided a structure of life to give them a sense of security and comfort. They responded by wanting to bring him down. They shot twisted questions and statements of pride, trying to make him appear a fool and to showcase their own knowledge. Jesus, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, outshone them every time.
One of His Followers
Then there was one of His followers. Jesus chose twelve men to be his disciples. He lived life with them, teaching and modelling the abundant life of His kingdom. They were not servants. Instead, he called them friends and washed their feet. Yet one, for the coins which purchased his burial place, gave him up with a kiss.
His Kinfolk
In addition, there were his kinfolk. In his hometown, his healing power was reduced because they lacked faith in him. They knew the family. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary?” John writes how he came to his own, but they received him not. This was not the one they expected to come and release them from their Roman oppressors. And in the end, moved by the source of all darkness they cried, “Release Barrabas”, and “Crucify him”.
The love of God met what is not love. Jesus came, lived, died, and came back to life as the king of love.
