Jesus Course

What is love? is a question that all of us has to answer at some point in our life. Am I in love with the person? What does this mean?

Jesus was very keen on love. He encouraged people to love each other and even made love a central part of his greatest commandment: love God and love others as yourself.

Jesus also said that the greatest love you could have would be to willingly lay down your life on behalf of someone else. Many people have done this throughout history, not least Jesus himself who said that he laid down his life willingly for each one of us.

The greeks were so keen on love that they had four words for it and we find these words used in the bible. I’m  not going to bore you with the greek but this is what each one meant.

Affection: fondness through familiarity. This is the kind of love we find in a family and it’s a love that doesn’t need loveable things. It doesn’t matter what you are like someone will still love you in this way. Of course the problem comes when people take this for granted.

Friendship: a strong bond between people who share a common interest or activity.

Eros: love in the sense of ‘being in love’. It’s more than sexual love and tends to see the best in the person who you love.

Agape: is an unconditional love directed towards one’s neighbour which is not dependent on any lovable qualities that the object of love possesses. This is generally the kind of love that Jesus encouraged us to have.

There is an article on wikipedia which explains this much better at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves

Love is not really an emotion although it can bring out a strong emotional reaction in people. To be in love can be the most wonderful feeling in the world but if all you have is a feeling then something is missing.

Some people have tried to make out that love is a weak and useless virtue but this is far from the case. It take a lot of courage and strength to love unconditionally and this is just the kind of strength that Jesus encouraged us to have.

If you want to find out about love then you should read what Jesus has to say about it in the gospels.

Thoughts good friday, Jesus, jesus christ, what is love

My youngest son asked me why the day on which Jesus was killed is called good. I guess he has a point. On the surface it looks like a disaster. Jesus is supposed to be winning the battle and yet in many ways it looks like it is the end.

If we stop at the death of Jesus then we shouldn’t call this Friday good. It should be called sad Friday, or bad Friday. But Christians live with the knowledge of what is coming on Sunday.

Easter day is the sign to us that something good is happening through Jesus’ death. We don’t believe that this was a disaster that is overturned on Easter Sunday but that something wonderful and remarkable takes place even as Jesus suffers and dies. God doesn’t leave Jesus on the cross – here is a suffering God.

If you ever have to face suffering try to remember the crucifixion. Remember that on the cross Jesus experiences suffering just like we do. The cross is a sign of victory because Jesus suffers and dies for us. He is the one who pays the penalty for our wrong doing but so much more is also happening as he pays that price. And remember he does it for you.

Good Friday is always a very sad day but we bear it because we have seen Easter day and we know that Jesus’ death is part of Jesus’ victory.

Thoughts crucifixion, good friday, Jesus