2. 9. Agape (Love)
Luke 6:27-36
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3. Context: Cultural Greco-Roman culture: highly hierarchical
Reciprocity in Greco-Roman societies
Exchange of goods and services between clients and patrons – One gives in the expectation of receiving something back
It’s about power play / getting even

4. Context: Textual
Ch.5: Tension between Jesus and religious leaders started
Ch.6: The tension reached a boiling point
Our text: Jesus’ first sermon after encountering such hostility
Jesus urged his listeners to “love your enemies”

5. Agape (Love) Agape: God’s love
Agape (when addressed to the believers): Actively doing what the Lord prefers by His power and direction

6. Agape (Love) To agape your enemies means (vv.27-8)
do good to those who hate you
bless those who curse you
pray for those who mistreat you

7. Agape (Love) Two types of “Golden Rule”
Negative and Passive: I don’t want this done to me, so I won’t do it to you.
Positive and Active: I want this done to me, so I’ll do it to you.
This is Jesus’ type of Golden Rule. It is the most radical form

8. Why do Agape (I)
But love your enemies … Then your reward will be great (v.35)
What is our reward?
Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:2)
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev 3:21)

9. Why do Agape (II)
You will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (vv.35- 6)
When you agape, you seek the good of others, because that’s what true love does. (X)
When you agape, you seek the good of others, because that’s what your Father is like. (O)

10. Jesus Shows Agape
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34)
Jesus’ agape is connected to the Father
I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him (John 8:28-9)

11. Jesus Shows Agape
To agape means to actively doing what the Lord prefers by His power and direction.
Jesus’ agape
The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him (John 8:29)
To agape = To abide in the Father

12. 1. To Show Agape Requires Us to Give
“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” – Amy Carmichael
Agape does not mean
Not discerning – it requires constant discerning
Non-violence – it’s more than that
Passive – it’s proactive
Having affection – it’s an act of the will

13. 2. To Show Agape Requires Us to See Our Own Sins
Jesus immediately urged his listeners not to judge, because the first obstacle to showing agape is self-righteousness
“Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is here, at the foot of the cross that we shrink to our true size.” – John Stott

14. 3. To Show Agape Requires Us to Know Who Our Heavenly Father Is
The second obstacle to love is the mindset of scarcity
We operate out of the mindset of scarcity because we don’t know who God is
Jesus’ answer: A reward to be with him and the Father’s mercy

15. 3. To Show Agape Requires Us to Know Who Our Heavenly Father Is
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them (Rev 21:3)
To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children (Rev 21:6-7)

16. 3. To Show Agape Requires Us to Know Who Our Heavenly Father Is
The mindset of scarcity = we need to earn everything for ourselves
The mindset of abundance = we are rich in God
Turn away from the foreign gods of scarcity and turn to the God of abundance.

17. Christ Hymn (Phil 2:5-11) In your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

18. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.