Jesus acted out of love – Denia Bradshaw
“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”
John 10:11-18 The Message
God gave Jesus the authority to lay down His life and take it up again—His sacrifice wasn’t taken from Him; it was a choice. As the Good Shepherd, driven by God’s deep love for us, Jesus laid down His life for us: His sheep (John 10:11-18). That love is the foundation of everything, and Jesus calls us to love each other in the same way that He loves us. He shows us that the greatest expression of love is to lay down one’s life for their friends.
This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.
No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.
John 15:12-13 AMPC
Jesus calls us to release our old selves in order to truly live; inviting us to yield the false notions we cling to about what makes life meaningful so that we may discover the fullness of real life in Him. Jesus does not leave us to this alone. Rather, he walks beside us even as we go through endless moments of dying to ourselves, allowing His life to take deeper root within us.
Let’s be willing to take up the cross (Mark 8:34-35), lay down our own desires, and let His resurrection power bring us to true, abundant life. Because with God, what seems like the end is really just the beginning. And with that, like Jesus, let’s act out of love.