Unselfie Part 1 (1 of 3)
Series: Unselfie
Craig Smith
John 15:12-17
I. Introduction
A. Recap of Last Week
B. What's Next: Next Class August 13th.
C. Invite to turn to John 15:12...what kind of people do we need to be all in with whatever God is going to do next?
II. Main Body
A. Command and Clarification
While you're finding your way to John 15:12, can I just be honest with you? Sometimes I find Jesus frustrating. I know that's not the kind of thing you're supposed to say in church, but it's the truth. I love Jesus, but loving Jesus and being frustrated by Jesus are not mutually exclusive things. One of the things that I find frustrating about Jesus is that he has a tendency to simplify my thinking in a way that complicates my life. What I mean is that he tends to boil things down to their essence, but the result is an essential truth that really complicates my life. Think about this: the Old Testament contains 613 commandments, but Jesus said this:
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
Now understand, Jesus isn't replacing those 613 commands with a new one. What he's doing is summarizing those 613 commands with this one command that captures their essence. He actually did this exact same thing in several different ways throughout his ministry. What he says here in John is very similar to what he said in Matthew 7:12:
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Mat 7:12)
In both of these instances, he's boiling down all of the Old Testament commands to their essence: to love others. And not just in abstract feeling, but in practical ways. In Matthew he makes it practical by saying ''love others by treating them the way you want to be treated'' and in John he makes it practical by saying ''love others by treating them in the way that I've treated you.'' But in both cases, he's doing the same thing: he's boiling 613 Old Test ...
Series: Unselfie
Craig Smith
John 15:12-17
I. Introduction
A. Recap of Last Week
B. What's Next: Next Class August 13th.
C. Invite to turn to John 15:12...what kind of people do we need to be all in with whatever God is going to do next?
II. Main Body
A. Command and Clarification
While you're finding your way to John 15:12, can I just be honest with you? Sometimes I find Jesus frustrating. I know that's not the kind of thing you're supposed to say in church, but it's the truth. I love Jesus, but loving Jesus and being frustrated by Jesus are not mutually exclusive things. One of the things that I find frustrating about Jesus is that he has a tendency to simplify my thinking in a way that complicates my life. What I mean is that he tends to boil things down to their essence, but the result is an essential truth that really complicates my life. Think about this: the Old Testament contains 613 commandments, but Jesus said this:
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
Now understand, Jesus isn't replacing those 613 commands with a new one. What he's doing is summarizing those 613 commands with this one command that captures their essence. He actually did this exact same thing in several different ways throughout his ministry. What he says here in John is very similar to what he said in Matthew 7:12:
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Mat 7:12)
In both of these instances, he's boiling down all of the Old Testament commands to their essence: to love others. And not just in abstract feeling, but in practical ways. In Matthew he makes it practical by saying ''love others by treating them the way you want to be treated'' and in John he makes it practical by saying ''love others by treating them in the way that I've treated you.'' But in both cases, he's doing the same thing: he's boiling 613 Old Test ...
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