John 15 is one of the last teachings of Jesus to His disciples before He went to the cross. The message was simple, something He had taught before: Love God and Love Others. Jesus reminded His disciples that because we love Him, obey His commands.
John 15:10 ... “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” This was not a way to obtain His love; it is not a way to obtain salvation, rather it is the natural reaction to loving God and being loved by Him - we obey His commands.
In the next breath Jesus says, John 15:12-13 ... ““This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus - in the coming days - would give an example of what it looks like to lay down your life for his friends. He was compelled, willingly, to give us His life for us - laying down His life for His friends.
Jim Elliot was 28 years old in 1956 when he was martyred, along with four other missionaries’ friends and partners. He wrote in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot’s story is another example of someone who loved God so much that he was compelled to lay down his life for his friends.
The Wikipedia entry for Operation Auca summarizes what happened next ...
On January 6, after the Americans had spent several days of waiting and shouting basic Huaorani phrases into the jungle, the first Huaorani visitors arrived. A young man and two women emerged on the opposite riverbank around 11:15 a.m., and soon joined the missionaries at their encampment. The younger of the two women had come against the wishes of her family, and the man, named Nankiwi, who was romantically interested in her, followed. The older woman (about thirty years old) acted as a self-appointed chaperone. The men gave them several gifts, including a model plane, and the visitors soon relaxed and began conversing freely, apparently not realizing that the men’s language skills were weak. Nankiwi, whom the missionaries nicknamed “George”, showed interest in their aircraft, so Saint took off with him aboard. They first completed a circuit around the camp, but Nankiwi appeared eager for a second trip, so they flew toward Terminal City. Upon reaching a familiar clearing, Nankiwi recognized his neighbors, and leaning out of the plane, wildly waved, and shouted to them. Later that afternoon, the younger woman became restless, and though the missionaries offered their visitors sleeping quarters, Nankiwi and the young woman left the beach with little explanation. The older woman apparently had more interest in conversing with the missionaries and remained there most of the night.
After seeing Nankiwi in the plane, a small group of Huaorani decided to make the trip to Palm Beach, and left the following morning, January 7. On the way, they encountered Nankiwi and the girl, returning unescorted. The girl’s brother, Nampa, was furious at this, and to defuse the situation and divert attention from himself, Nankiwi claimed that the foreigners had attacked them on the beach, and in their haste to flee, they had been separated from their chaperone. Gikita, a senior member of the group whose experience with outsiders had taught him that they could not be trusted, recommended that they kill the foreigners. The return of the older woman and her account of the friendliness of the missionaries was not enough to dissuade them, and they soon continued toward the beach.
On January 8, the missionaries waited, expecting a larger group of Huaorani to arrive sometime that afternoon, if only to get plane rides. Saint made several trips over Huaorani settlements, and on the following morning, he noted a group of Huaorani men traveling toward Palm Beach. He excitedly relayed this information to his wife over the radio at 12:30 p.m., promising to make contact again at 4:30 p.m. The Huaorani arrived at Palm Beach around 3:00 p.m., and in order to divide the foreigners before attacking them, they sent three women to the other side of the river. One, Dawa, remained hidden in the jungle, but the other two showed themselves. Two of the missionaries waded into the water to greet them but were attacked from behind by Nampa. Apparently attempting to scare him, Elliot, the first missionary to be speared, drew his pistol, and began firing. One of these shots mildly injured Dawa, still hidden, and another grazed the missionary’s attacker after he was grabbed from behind by one of the women. . . . The other missionary in the river, Fleming, before being speared, desperately reiterated friendly overtures, and asked the Huaorani why they were killing them. Meanwhile, the other Huaorani warriors, led by Gikita, attacked the three missionaries still on the beach, spearing Saint first, then McCully as he rushed to stop them. Youderian ran to the airplane to get to the radio, but he was speared as he picked up the microphone to report the attack. The Huaorani then threw the men’s bodies and their belongings in the river and ripped the fabric from their aircraft. They then returned to their village and, anticipating retribution, burned it to the ground and fled into the jungle.
By January 13, four of the bodies had been identified, and one had washed away. You can watch the story of what happened afterward in the providence of God here: https://youtu.be/3vcv9vjNO8w
While we all won’t be called to lay down our physical life for our friends for the sake of the Gospel, we are all called to have the heart to do so. We are called to elevate others as more important than ourselves - important enough that we would lay down our life for them.
-Pastor Brian