Learning love from Jesus: The Gospel of Matthew

Learning to love is part of learning to follow Christ. This week I am looking at ways that Jesus shows love, reviewing the Gospel of Matthew. When I think of Christ's love my thoughts turn first to the big things: his humility, his humanity, his death for our forgiveness. These deserve their key place in Christian thought and devotion. They have world-shaping importance for our understanding of God. Trying to imagine anything in my own life comparing to that can seem prideful, even grandiose. While there are thoughts in there for us, today I want to look at some other ways in which Jesus has shown his love for us, and how he shows us a kind of love that we can reflect in our own lives. 

He called Peter and Andrew, James and John, and more disciples to follow him. He loved them by seeking them out, seeking their company, inviting them, including them in significant things, giving them importance in his life. When his relatives sought him, he recognized and honored the closeness of those who stood with him: they were his brothers. 

When crowds came to him from all over the place, he had honest unfeigned compassion for their troubles. He listened. He knew their needs, recognized their needs, met their needs. He did not turn away people who came to look for him. He loved them by welcoming them and hearing them. 

When people invited him for meals he accepted. He was willing to listen, willing to be a guest, willing to participate in other peoples' lives, willing to include and be included. He took time to be part of their lives. 

For his disciples he had an additional role in their lives: he prepared them for the future. He set their expectations of what was to come, equipped them for what they would need to do, forgave them their imperfections. He was patient with them. 

He spoke the truth with love. He did not hide his thoughts or play it safe in the face of disapproval. He found people starved for clarity and insight, for compassion and wisdom, for leadership deserving of the name. While his opponents used words as snares and traps, he used words to set people free. So many people would willingly follow someone who truly loved God. He recruited help, trained help, and sent workers into the field. He trained others to live the same life of love as he lived.  

Which is where we come into the story. On the day that the disciples asked, "Teach us to pray," I find myself wishing they had asked, "Teach us to love." Of course he did that without their asking. And yet I'd have loved to hear his answer.