30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here (John 14:30–31, NKJV).
Jesus was about to be arrested, tried, and condemned to death by crucifixion. We marvel at God’s love for us by which He “gave His only begotten Son” for the redemption of sinners (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16; 4:8-10). Today’s passage adds another element to God’s love for us; the Son’s love for the Father. Jesus’s death on the cross was not only the great expression of divine love for humanity but also the great expression of His obedient love for His Father (Rom. 5:8; John 6:38; 10:18). Christ’s love for the Father compelled Him to do the Father’s will, becoming “obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8). His sacrificial, selfless obedience makes Him the Exemplar of love. You see, previously in today’s passage, Jesus had told His apostles, “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus holds His disciples to the same standard He followed; to express our love for Him through faithful obedience. We ought not to view obedience as a legalistic approach to discipleship but as love’s full measure of devotion. As John wrote, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18). It is no wonder that Jesus saves those who obey Him (Heb. 5:8-9). Today and hereafter, “arise, let us go from here” and in love obey the Father and the Son.
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