Matthew 10:37
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Luke 7:36-47
36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
The command to love Jesus might seem like an odd one. For those that over time have bonded closely to him and been enriched by a saving relationship through him, this simply comes naturally. This love is both a conscious choice (like choosing to stay married or loving your children on days that they’re pretty unloveable) and an emotion. A large help for most is to understand how loved by Jesus we are and how much he sacrificed for us. The passage above from Luke 7 illustrates the lavish love that the woman poured on Jesus in contrast to the stingy attitude of the Pharisee. She understood how far she was from God due to her sin and had no illusions about her faults. Her knowing that Jesus loved her, accepted her, and had not given up on her provided the fuel for her to be loving. As Max Lucado once put it, “We can’t give what we don’t have. In order to love, we must live loved.” Knowing and living in appreciation of Jesus’ love can drive us to be more like him. Being filled with this type of love for Jesus will be so pure and devoted that it will actually make the love that we have for significant others and family members look like “hate” in comparison. That’s the challenge. Are you up for it?
*** A great representation of this “demand” is Pour My Love on You by Phillips, Craig, & Dean. A video for this song is linked on this page in my Vodpod collection.
Blessings,
Pastor Josh
NBFMC and Me 
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