“It is not our love that satisfies God or makes things right. It is God’s love for us that does so.”

Author’s Note: Even the least biblically inclined people are aware of this pericope and epistle, even if they cannot name or quote it. “God is love” is the main takeaway, and that is now a fixture of Western culture. Here, the focus is in how this can quickly slide from proclamation of what God has done for us into a generalized commandment that we all think we can fulfill without any need for God.

DIAGNOSIS: All you need is love

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Love is the one thing you must do:  God is Love?
The text seems to command that love is the one thing you must do (v. 21). Don’t need to worry about anything more or anything less. All of those other commandments and suggestions fall away in the face of love. This is also an easy way to conflate religions – if they value love, they all know God in their own way, and that is enough. Good people love their fellow humans, and loving them is enough to satisfy God and anyone else who may care to critique us. As long as we try hard, and hold to love, we’ll be ok.

Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Lying in our Fear and Hatred:  We Know God Because We Love?
The probing of our problem focuses on the quality and reality of your love: is there fear (v. 18)?  Do we hate others (v. 20)? In other words, is your love real? But both of those focus on the commandment to love God, which is Law.

‘Do you really love God’ is an easy route to go with this pericope. Especially if there’s some kind of conflict between people who all agree that God is love. The Law is great for diagnosis. “What is love” becomes the focus, sometimes with a “how-to,” sometimes with a “just wing it and it will work out” approach. Tackling the question “are you really loving your neighbor” often moves to calling people liars (cf. v. 20).  Perhaps they are. While ‘‘what is love?” is an important question, perhaps a bigger question (taken almost for granted in the text) raised in this pericope concerns our relationship with God. Can we be saved by the Law, even one as important as “love others”? Or in other words, is holding love in our hearts enough to satisfy whatever Power rules the universe? Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Christian, agnostic, atheist, etc. … it’s all the same as long as we agree that we serve love… right?

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): “Love is God”
In the text, the final criticism is in the negative – if you fail to love others, you cannot love God, which means you do not abide in God, so God will not abide in you. All of that is bad news, so you better love.  Not only that, it better not have any fear and be “perfected” love (v. 18), despite the implicit threat.

While that is all terrifying and everything, if you serve Love, everything is fine. Right?

The problem is that we are often tempted to switch from “God is love” to “Love is God” in practice. If you having love is all you need, you are the focus, not God. Soon, your definition of love becomes all important. That definition justifies many actions you might want to take. Maybe those actions hurt other people. Maybe they don’t… they just leave God out of it. Then the Christian God becomes one face of a more expansive Deity called “Love” that encompasses all people, Christian or not. The Christian God is no longer needed, and becomes no longer present or meaningful.

In other words, God no longer abides in you.

PROGNOSIS: All you need is God’s love

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): God saves us out of love
The epistle spells out what “God is love,” and how it is NOT about our love: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (vv. 9-10)

The mechanism for God’s love is specifically Jesus’ death on the cross to put to death all of our failures, sins, imperfect love, and other short-comings. That God’s love for us is stronger than our service to other gods, including our ideas of love, is borne out in Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.

We are saved by God’s love for us, not by our love for God or neighbor.

Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): We believe the love God has for us
Centering on the love God has shown us in Jesus changes the equation. It is no longer about the quality of our love. It is our trust that ”God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.” (vv. 15-16a).

It is not our love that satisfies God or makes things right. It is God’s love for us that does so. Trusting that promise of love is God abiding in us. We are assured of God’s presence through our faith that Jesus is the Son of God who was crucified for us.

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): God’s love is perfected in us
The outcome of trusting God abiding in us is love for others. The key difference from the beginning is that when we trust that “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.”  We do not live from our fear, nor from our alienating ourselves from others in hatred.  Fear and hatred have been overcome on the cross. Our love becomes perfected love when it is grounded in this  Promise. That’s because the focus is God’s love for us, not our love for God, or even our love for others. Or as phrased in the pericope: “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.” (vv. 16b-17)

This frees us to live in love and testify to our Savior. Through this, we reflect God’s love in this world.

23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

This new life flips the old life on its head. Faith looks past the sins and into the new life.

Author’s Note: The parable of the wicked tenants follows, wherein the wicked tenants murder the landlord’s son sent to collect from them.

Diagnosis: I Fight Authority, Authority Always Wins

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Trapped

Jesus waltzes into the Temple and starts teaching. He’s not a priest. He’s not a scribe. He wasn’t invited to the Temple by any chief priests and scribes. It’s not surprising that the priests and scribes want to know what he’s doing and why. Instead of throwing him out, they give them the benefit of the doubt and ask Jesus why he thinks he should be teaching in the Temple.

Instead, Jesus traps them with a question along the lines of “Have you stopped beating your wife?”

Everyone knows the question is rigged so the priests and scribes will lose no matter how they answer. They try to avoid the trap with a humble answer. It lets Jesus dodge the question, but it could have been worse.

Step 2: Advance Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Humiliated

The infuriating part is that Jesus doesn’t relent. His teaching takes aim at the priests and scribes, and now he goes on the offense. The next parable is aimed at humiliating them. The priests and scribes spend their lives in holy vocation, and Jesus is telling the crowds (via questioning them) that they’re defying God. In fact, Jesus is saying that the corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes are more deserving than they are, despite still being tax collectors and prostitutes.

All because they disagreed with John’s approach and claims. Can’t even disagree with crazy locust-eating homeless dudes without getting accosted by riff-raff duped into thinking he was a prophet. Smh.

This is all humiliating. Even worse than this is happening in the Temple. Perhaps if they’d had more presence of mind, they might have asked which part of the Torah instructed one to humiliate people who disagree with you. Or thrown him out when they had the chance instead of engaging in dialogue.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Kill

Jesus still doesn’t relent. After slandering them as unrighteous for disagreeing with John, Jesus’ next parable accuses them of murder-by-proxy. While that pericope warrants its own text study (next week!), it cuts to the bone of where this disagreement is going: murder because Jesus claims to be God. This final pericope answers the initial question the priests and scribes asked about whose authority Jesus taught by, all while ridiculing the priests and scribes in their own Temple.

Jesus could have answered the authority question more succinctly: “God’s authority, just like John was given. And by-the-way, God thinks you’re the worst pretenders to God’s authority in millennia. You’re doing so bad at this, even the thieving tax collectors and whores are better at it than you.”

Well, killing this pretender claiming to be God and threatening their authority may be a necessary idea after all. Not ideal, but life requires compromises. Good thing there are Romans around to do the dirty work. On the off-chance the priests and scribes are wrong, God will punish those idolators instead.

 

Prognosis: I Fight Authority, Authority Always Wins

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Live

When Jesus dies on the cross, it looks like the priests and scribes were right after all. But something unexpected happens on the third day. Jesus rises from the dead. God’s answer to the challenge of God’s authority is NOT fire and brimstone on the Romans, Jews or any of the others who are wrong. Instead, it is resurrection of the one who was right. This is a change from the expectations, and represents a new way of doing things, centered on life instead of death.

Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Glorified

This new life flips the old life on its head. Faith looks past the sins and into the new life. Where the priests may have felt humiliated at being told they were doing it all wrong by not listening to John, they missed the Good News that Jesus gave them. Even when criticizing them, Jesus describes the chief priests and scribes as God’s sons, and says they are going to the kingdom of God. Yes, other sinners are going first. But does it matter who is first to eternity?

Faith enables them to grab hold of the promises Jesus makes and creates the best in them. All the sinners, including the tax collectors, prostitutes, priests, and scribes, are glorified by this faith, separate from their works.

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Freed

Where does this faith lead? Into the kingdom of God. We are given the opportunity to reflect our belief in that kingdom with our outward works. We are not trapped by the words of others, and do not need to fear labels others apply, even when accurate. We can acknowledge that we are sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. The new life further removes the power the old traps once held over us. We know those traps cannot stop the Promising God who has shown us in Jesus’ death and resurrection that we are   free to live accordingly.

13Now when Jesus heard [about the beheading of John the Baptist], he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

 

Herod was right in thinking that in Jesus John was back; Herod’s ability to employ the ultimate tool of the secular administration (death) would not be the end of John, or of Jesus, or of the encroaching, persistent Administration they were so insistent on putting an end to.

DIAGNOSIS: Desolation

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): “Send them away.”

“Don’t send them away,” says Jesus, “feed them.” It’s as if he’s in a different world. Doesn’t he know that they cannot possibly feed so many people? Doesn’t he realize that they have nothing to give them –those thousand-some people? This is a desert, not a banquet hall. They have five loaves and two fish, which will make only a paltry supper for the twelve of them, plus one. And neither can they buy the crowd food with the few coins they have among them.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): “Off with his head!”

PROGNOSIS: Abundance

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Okay, Let’s Go There

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Come and Get It!

24“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! 26“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

 

Jesus shows no fear toward Jewish officials who disagree with his ministry.  He shows no fear toward the many demons that he finds enslaving people as he goes about his ministry.  Even the tempter does not have him shaking in his boots.  But losing his chance to connect people to the kingdom of heaven?  That is his one fear, and he puts it to rest by dying the one death that leads to resurrection for all and giving his victory to the lost sheep of every house (28:18-20).

Author’s Note: The community to which Matthew writes is going through something that undoubtedly includes strong partisan emotions.  This text is surrounded in chapter 10 on the one side by the commissioning and the sending of the disciples “like sheep into the midst of wolves” (in Matthew, only “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”), and on the other side by a short, pithy statement about what kind of welcome they should get (in contrast to the one they are likely to get).  The Jesus we get from the writer grates a bit.

Of course, later in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gets his comeuppance from the Canaanite woman (15:22-28) for his exclusionary edict, and in the end the ministry of Jesus was widened to include all people.

DIAGNOSIS: Ministry in Our Hands and by Our Whim

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Ministry Neglected

Underneath the inevitable divisiveness lies misplaced fear.  We live in darkness, which Jesus is desperately trying to pierce (v. 27).  In the dark, we conjure up all sorts of imaginary threats.  Our imagination fills in the blanks if no one else will.  Is there someone out there who can destroy both our body and our soul in hell (v. 28)?  That is the one who should be feared, but instead we conjure enemies who threaten us physically (when we are not waging war to defend our bruised egos, that is), but cannot threaten our soul.  The world seemingly does not have to threaten our soul, because we are too eager to abandon it in pursuit of our cultural or political wars.  Our value to God (vv. 29-31) is lost on us because we are so caught up in the divisive rivalries that swirl in our world.  We love our tribe more than we love Jesus (v. 37), even though the tribe is frayed (vv. 35-36) and falling apart.

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Nothing to Acknowledge before the Father

PROGNOSIS: Ministry in the Hands of God through Us

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Jesus Is Our Good Acknowledgement

If you were a disciple of Jesus in Matthew 28, would you want to place yourself above your teacher (v. 24)?  Of course not!  We would not consider it. Moreover, in the darkness that still engulfs our world, we have amazing news to shine our light on (v. 27) and to share openly.  The blessing of the resurrected Jesus for restoring lost sheep to God is now a message that is entrusted to us.  It is a message we can trust about ourselves and each other because it comes from the one who defeated sin and death. Our body and our soul are safe in the resurrection of Jesus. Through that resurrection, we see that our Father in heaven truly does value us (v. 31).

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Ministry Embraced

Instead of condemning us for our sins, God will enter the world as Jesus and bear those sins, even as he bears Moses’ lack of faith and blame. God’s affirmation of this new strategy is revealed when Jesus dies to sin, and yet is raised from the dead.

DIAGNOSIS: Leaders Are Powerless

Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Leading is Hard

Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Afraid

Moses’ speed in invoking a higher authority, hints that he is afraid. The people ask for water, and Moses deflects his mistake by claiming they are “testing the Lord.”  Instead of reassuring the people that water will come, or taking responsibility for his leadership, he reframes their request as an affront against God. When the people do not buy it, Moses fears not just his public mistake, but also for his life.

Leaders who make mistakes but deflect blame? Anyone who has worked in a bureaucracy has seen that. As much as we fear admitting it, maybe we’ve been in that position once or twice. How do we respond when we make expensive mistakes?

Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Powerless

PROGNOSIS: God Is Powerful

Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Powerful

God’s response to Moses is to tell him to go to Horeb and strike a rock with a staff. It sounds ridiculous to modern ears and may have sounded ridiculous at the time. Water doesn’t just spring out of rocks. Yet the faith in Moses enables him to trust the Lord without fear. From Moses’ faith springs water that the people can drink.

Trust in a new life promised by God means we are freed to pursue new endeavors—even those that may seem beyond our imagination. Maybe it’s another chance as a leader, maybe it is moving in a new direction. These changes are less scary because we trust that God will see us through.

Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Serving Is Harder