The Greatest Gift

The Savior said to His apostles on that last night before His death, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).  He was surely alluding at least in part to the fact that He would give the greatest expression of love possible by laying down His life that next day for all of us.  He had already told them, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18).  He did not die unwillingly; He went to the cross of His own volition and voluntarily “gave up the ghost” (Mark 15:37).  We see this, for example, when on that fateful night Peter struck the servant of the high priest as they were arresting Jesus and He responded calmly, “Put up again thy sword into his place….  Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”  He showed us the greatest of all love in that He refused to call upon the help that could have saved Him—He knew is Father’s will was to give up His life to save us, and He did it.

               I’ve been thinking about these verses after reading the recent headline about Arnaud Beltrame, a French policeman who gave his life in a hostage situation last Friday.  He apparently somehow traded places with the hostage that had been taken in a supermarket, and he was subsequently shot and stabbed.  His brother commented, “He gave his life for strangers. He must have known that he didn't really have a chance. If that doesn't make him a hero, I don't know what would.”  It must have been a decision without much time to reflect as he offered his life in exchange for hers, and in similitude of the Savior he showed the greatest love possible.  I of course know nothing about him or whether he was even a Christian, but surely that act will bring him to hear these words from the Savior in the life to come: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). 

The Savior instructed His apostles further that final night, “These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:17).  Given that this was directly after He told them how to give the greatest kind of love, I believe He was telling them that they needed to lay down their own lives in His cause.  This the eleven apostles did by preaching the gospel the remainder of their days and then many of them were martyrs for the cause of Christ.  Most of us who call ourselves Christians today will not have to physically sacrifice our lives for another or for Christ, but we can choose each day to make sacrifices to serve others.  Truman Madsen once quoted Elder Holland who, when asked whether he would give his life for Jesus, responded, “I thought that’s what I was doing.”  Arnaud Beltrame’s willingness to give up his life for someone else in a split second decision should inspire us to more fully offer our lives in service of others each day as we try to more fully follow the Lord’s invitation to love one another.