No one Loves like Jesus

 In the Bible we see how some very strictly religious Jews were anxious to obey all of God's commandments.

It is curious that Jesus was cruelly persecuted and his most fierce opponents were strictly religious Jews.

Jesus agreed in some ways with these religious men that we must all obey God's commandments.

But Jesus had a very different view of God's commandments. For the strictly religious people, sin could be avoided altogether by always following a list of rules.

Jesus taught that you could by no means be sinless with this view.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. Mt 23:25–26 NRSV

Jesus taught that the root of sin is not in external actions, but in our soul or heart.

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” Mt 15:18–20 NIV

If you not only always speak only the truth and never lie, if you always proclaim God's truth and always do so with wisdom, love and compassion, then you are righteous.

But if you boast about your own virtue and criticise other Christians critically and without compassion, then you expose yourself as a self-righteous sinner.

Only Jesus was without sin and no one else. He is our role model.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Mt 14:14 NIV

How should we understand Jesus' deep compassion? In the original Greek text, the word is ``splagchnisthḗsomai‘’.

What does that mean?

The suffering of the sick aroused such compassion in Jesus that it turned his stomach.

If we want to understand what God's justice means, we should recognise that God's love must determine and shape our character.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 Jn 4:8 NIV

If you think you have no sin, you must ask yourself if you love like Jesus.

“...‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
…. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mk 12:29–31 NIV

No one loves like Jesus. That is why we all need God's grace and forgiveness every day.