Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Lay Down Life for Friends Greatest Love
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Luke 10:25-37
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a story of selflessness in preparation for the future. In it, Jesus shows how the last six of God's commandments—expressing love and fulfilling our obligation to our fellow man—are put into action. The Good Samaritan was traveling somewhere and doing something, yet he took time out of his busy life to assist someone whom he had probably never met before and may never see again. The victim was most likely a Jew, and the Jews and the Samaritans were notorious for their hatred for each other. Despite the hurt man being an enemy, the Samaritan expressed the Golden Rule, doing unto others as he would have others do unto him (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). And he did it with compassion. The Greek used in Luke 10:33 indicates "his heart went out to him." He immediately opened his first-century first-aid kit and shared his supplies with the injured man—in fact, the parable says that the man had been left half-dead (Luke 10:30). But the very act of offering assistance put the Samaritan in danger. The seventeen-mile route from Jerusalem to Jericho was rugged and rife with robbers. Working in groups, these highwaymen inflicted excessive and even gratuitous bodily harm as they deprived their victims of their possessions. They could easily have returned to the scene of their crime. Even today, particularly in Chicago with its high crime rate, paramedics trying to save lives end up fighting to stay alive themselves. Whether it be by the injured parties, distraught family members, assaults by angry mobs, or just criminal behavior, things can quickly turn dangerous for caregivers. Not done yet, the Samaritan put the injured man on his own animal and brought him to an inn. Doing this not only required more of his time and labor, but also put them at greater potential danger. But despite exposing them to more bandits prowling the road to Jericho, the noble Samaritan did not forsake the injured man. Finally, after all of this sacrifice, he provided generously for the injured man's recovery. Matthew 20:2 states that a denarius is equivalent to a day's wage for a worker. The Samaritan gave the innkeeper two denarii, or two day's wages. For a full-time worker, it was a third of what he made in a week! And he pledged to give the innkeeper even more, if needed. The Samaritan's compassionate intervention provided the wounded man with a future and a hope, paving the way for him to "pay it forward" and treat someone else in a similar manner. He is an example of someone "in lowliness of mind . . . esteem[ing] others better than himself" and looking out "for the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4). God's way of giving is our only example of true altruism, and while we will never attain to such a perfect standard, He exhorts us to develop this characteristic by being gracious, generous, and lending to the needy without regret. When we practice being altruistic, we learn, in a small way, to be like both the Father and the Son. Of the Father, John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." The Son likewise "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). They are our finest examples, setting the standard for Christian conduct. Our calling is not really about us. We have been given a job to do, which Jesus summarizes in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." The apostle later writes, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (I John 3:16). We have been called to a life of godly love seen in sacrificial giving. In business, they speak of a much different "golden rule," called WIIFY, or "What Is in It For You?" So what is in it for us? Recall that Jesus gave the Parable of the Good Samaritan in response to a lawyer's question about inheriting eternal life. Eternal life is the life that God lives, both in quality and duration, and He is graciously and generously providing us with both the opportunity and the means to share in His glory. To have eternal life, we must live as God does, the way of giving, which is the epitome of altruism. That perfect, selfless way of life is our goal, which God exhorts us to practice now. As Paul writes in II Corinthians 9:6-7: But this I say, He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
John Reiss
Altruism
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John 21:15-17
Most translations fail to bring out that two different words are translated as "love" in John 21:15-17. Twice, Jesus asks Peter if he had agape love for Him, and both times Peter says, "Yes, You know that I love you"—but Peter does not use agape but phileo, which indicates personal warmth, regard, and affection. Phileo is a more fickle, more human love than agape, which is a reasoned, intentional devotion with a moral core. Agape love comes from God, and it is focused on what is right and best for the other person, regardless of how one feels. Jesus twice asks Peter if he has this agape love, and both times Peter can only truthfully respond that he has tremendous personal affection for Him. Peter cannot say he has agape love for Him, when he had recently demonstrated that he did not love Jesus as much as he had claimed. Peter feels personal warmth and affection for His Messiah, but when it came to putting His will above his own, Peter is not as devoted as he has claimed. We can see that the love of God cannot be separated from the will of God. His will forms the basis for agape love; if an act is outside of God's will, it cannot be agape love. Peter probably thought his intention to sacrifice his life was an act of agape love! After all, that same Passover night, Jesus had told the disciples that "greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13). So Peter may have reasoned that dying with Jesus would demonstrate godly love. Yet, because that was not God's will for Peter, such a great sacrifice was not actually the love of God! The third time that Jesus questions Peter, He uses the word phileo. He lowers the bar, essentially asking Peter if He were a close friend and felt affection for Him. This upsets Peter, because, undoubtedly, his recent failure is still fresh in his mind, and these reminders are painful. The gospels record that after Peter had denied Christ the third time, and the rooster crowed, that Peter "wept bitterly," indicating painfully moving grief. In John 21:17, that grief is still present: "Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.'" Here the translations obscure another important distinction. In addition to the two Greek words for "love," these verses also contain two different Greek words translated as "know." When Peter says, "You know all things," it is the same Greek word that he uses in his previous answers—eido—and it means "to see," usually in a figurative sense. It has the sense of understanding, comprehending, and perceiving. But this third time, after Jesus asks if Peter had phileo love for him, he responds with a different word that means "to know." This time he uses ginosko, indicating an experiential knowledge. His third response, then, implies that Jesus understood all things and had experienced Peter's phileo love toward Him, yet the humbled Peter will not claim that Jesus had experienced agape love from him. The lesson for Peter (and for us) is that we cannot have agape love if Christ does not supply it. If He is active in us, however, then the meager efforts we put forth—if they are His will—will begin to produce abundantly, just like the great catch of fish earlier in the chapter.
David C. Grabbe
Breakfast by the Sea (Part Two)
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