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What does it really mean to love someone? Ancient Greek gives us some insight. Jesus said “Do to others what you would want them to do to you” in Luke 6:31). This is actually a restatement of something else Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark.
Mark 12:31 Love your neighbor as yourself.
What Is Love?
Understanding the biblical theme of love lies in the original languages of the Bible – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Jesus’s quote from Mark is an adaptation from the Leviticus 19:17-18, originally written in Hebrew. But Jesus spoke a language called Aramaic, which uses a different word than the Hebrew for love, and the early Christians wrote the gospel accounts in Greek, which uses the word “agape” (ἀγάπη) for “love.” Rather than using a dictionary definition of all these Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words, Jesus’s earliest followers had their very conception of love changed by what they’d seen him say and do.
The Greatest Commandment
When Jesus was once asked what the most important commandment for Jews to follow was, he responded by quoting the Hebrew Shema prayer.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (ESV) Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
But then he added that a second commandment was also crucial: to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:17-18). To try to distinguish between loving God and loving others, from Jesus’s perspective, was to miss the point entirely.
“Your love for God is expressed by your love for people, and vice versa.” -Tim Mackie
What is agape in these verses, then? Not primarily a feeling, but primarily an action. A choice to seek the well-being of others while not expecting something in return. And the ultimate expression of this sort of love is the love shown to people you might even call your enemies (Luke 6:35). (See excursus 1 below for more on the word agape.)
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Jesus actually lived out his teachings on love, especially in how he reached out to the poor and downtrodden – people who could never have repaid his kindness.
Instead of whipping up the people into a frenzy to fight the hypocritical leaders in Jerusalem, Jesus singled himself out as a critic of them and allowed himself to be crucified. Even though he was angry with their hypocrisy, he allowed himself to die because he loved them. That’s why some of his last words were, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Later, the Apostle Paul wrote that God’s agape love for us was reflected most clearly in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for his enemies.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And John adds:
1 John 4:9-11 This is how God showed his love (agape) among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love (agape): not that we loved God, but that he loved (agape) us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved (agape) us, we also ought to love (agape) one another.
Christian faith is about trusting that the great God of the universe is not a detached, cold, and careless, creator but a divine being overflowing with love and care for his creation. Following Jesus means reflecting this love everywhere we go, in all we do, toward everyone we meet.
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- It seems like the “golden rule” (“do to others what you would have them do to you”) still holds respect in our culture. Why do you think this is?
- What do you think are some of the difference between love as a “feeling” and love as an “action?”
- Read Matthew 22:37-39. Why is love for God and love for others inseparable?
- “Your love for God is expressed by your love for people, and vice versa.” Explain what this might look like practically.
- What are some times in life that you’ve “loved your enemies?” Why was it difficult? What was the outcome?
- Why is it important to help people who can’t repay us?
- Read 1 John 4:9-11. How can we apply these verses to our lives?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
Excursus 1
The noun agape (and the related verb) in and of itself does not necessarily mean “divine love” or “self-sacrificial, intentional love” as it is sometimes argued. The clearest example of this is in the Greek translation, called the septuagint, of 2 Samuel 13:15, where David’s son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar. The word for “love” in this verse is agape. Rape is not an example of self-sacrificial love! While it may be true that in Jesus’s usage in the NT agape is used to refer to divine, self-sacrificial love, it is not the word in and of itself that means this, but rather the word’s usage and surrounding context that reflects its meaning.
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