God’s holiness and love
Series: Holy – Holy – Holy | Bible text: Exodus 34:6; Luke 19:1–0
Focusing on God’s holiness could at best create pressure or a sense of distance. Holiness is God’s core characteristic. On this ground, however, He is also love. Both belong together. Holiness without love would emphasise the rift between God and human beings. Love without holiness would explain it away. Holy love, on the other hand, overcomes the rift, but does not abolish it. Such love is strong, penetrating, winning and changing.
The weekend before last, our son and I went on a city trip to London. The phrase we clearly heard the most during the three days was: Please mind the gap (Please note the gap). This refers to the gap between the underground and the platform. Our concern this year is to notice the gap between our holy God and us humans. Please mind the gap! Notice that God is intangible, mysterious, very different, separate! At Mount Sinai, God shows Himself in His holiness very impressively. Powerful natural phenomena accompany the encounter with Moses and underline His majesty and greatness. Awe before this God is the adequate reaction of man. This could lead us to think that it is exhausting, dangerous and somewhat scary to seek and meet this God.
In the midst of the appearance of the Lord on Mount Sinai we read: «He passed by Moses and said: «I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God. My patience, my love and my faithfulness are great».»(Ex 34:6 NLB). This unavailable and holy God is at the same time mercy, grace, patience, love and faithfulness. For us humans, this may seem like a contrast to God’s holiness; with God, they are not different sides of his being, but different facets of one and the same person.
Holiness without love
Throughout the Bible, the term holy against a thousand times associated with God. Holiness is God’s very core characteristic. Implanted in this core, there are other outstanding characteristics. For example, it says twice in the Bible that God is love.
What if God was above all holy, but had little love? That would cause enormous pressure and fear. Questions would arise: Can I stand before God? Have I tried hard enough? Or will I end up standing before God with my «trousers cut off»? If God were only «holy», we would be consumed by Him: «For our God is a consuming fire» (Hebrews 12:29 NLB). We would only know the destructive sides of a fire.
Part of Jesus» mission on this earth was to reveal to us the human face of the heavenly Father and holy God. (Colossians 1:15) Zacchaeus wanted to use the favour of the hour when Jesus came to Jericho. By profession he was a tax collector, which made him maximally unpopular with the population. On the one hand, he was a collaborator, because he was in the service of the hated occupying power from Rome. On the other hand, he was a corrupt crook who made himself rich at the expense of his fellow citizens. On the day of Jesus» visit to the city, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a glimpse of this holy man of whom the most wondrous stories circulated. In addition to a better view, he was able to put a safe distance between himself and Jesus. This behaviour betrays his self-doubt. He did not feel worthy to dive into the crowd and created a gap between himself and Jesus.
If Jesus had only been holy, a deadly flamethrower might have thrown Zacchaeus from the tree. At the very least, he would have burnt his fingers on the consuming fire. Perhaps Jesus would have thought that Zacchaeus would first have to mend his ways in order to come into contact with Him, because holy and unclean – that doesn’t fit. Please mind the gap! The Gap would be a huge obstacle that, at best, could be overcome with the greatest effort. Zacchaeus would have to fight his way over the gap with the greatest effort.
Love without holiness
If, on the other hand, Jesus was above all loving and only a little holy, then the two of them would have made duzis on the spot, roasted a cervelat on the «consuming» fire and had such a romantic time together. The Gap would be covered with a cloak of silence. One is not petty. Jesus becomes the easy-going buddy who makes for a good mood. The next day Zacchaeus would have climbed back into his custom house and continued to rake. But from now on he would have testified that he now knew Jesus too. But there would have been no difference in his behaviour.
A love without holiness is soon soft-washed, not a consuming fire, fragile, human. We humans use the term love inflationarily. What begins with fervent declarations of love sometimes ends surprisingly quickly in a loss of love. Although love in its very essence is directed towards the other, we very quickly end up in egoistic self-circumcision out of human strength. The icing on the cake of marital love is sex. It is perhaps during sex that we become most aware of how quickly things can change and our own satisfaction becomes the focus. We are also very challenged in our marriages.
If God were love in this way, we would have to deeply doubt His faithfulness and determination towards us. Nothing of «When we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself»(2 Timothy 2:13 NLB).
Holy love
God’s love is different because he is holy in the deepest essence. Just as holiness is separate and unique, so is holy love. His holiness guaranteed purest goodness, mercy, love and empathy. This holy love has the following qualities:
- She sees the human being in his distress and takes pity on him.. The Bible text hides a juicy detail: Zacchaeus was too small to catch a glimpse of Jesus. «When Jesus came, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name: «Zacchaeus!» he said, «come down quickly! For I must be a guest in your house today».»(Luke 19:5 NLB). A holy love is focused on the other and looks first. «We want to love because he first loved us»(1 John 4:19 NLB). Jesus» love immediately recognises Zacchaeus» need and addresses it by inviting Himself into his home. Jesus» love is so great that it reaches far beyond the gap and overcomes the safety distance.
- She is irresistible and captivating. For Zacchaeus, this means that he, without hesitation, joyfully receives the announcement of a visit. «Zacchaeus climbed down as fast as he could and escorted Jesus into his house full of excitement and joy»(Luke 19:6 NLB). It was not Zacchaeus who had to laboriously overcome the Gap, but Jesus, the human face of the holy God, who does it. Love shows itself irresistible, like a dainty plant penetrating irrepressibly through the hard asphalt. The indignant people on the roadside grumbled: «He stays as a guest with a notorious sinner»(Luke 19:7 NLB). The pure and holy visits the unholy and sinner. Holy love is unconditional through and through.
- She is willing to sacrifice and forgive. We search in vain in the text for the conversational technique of how to most helpfully address a person’s problem areas. Jesus does not. Every accusation falls away from us when we encounter the holy love of God. It is not uncleanness that passes over to the clean person, as was to be expected, but the opposite happens. The holy touches the sick and makes it whole. As the coal touched Isaiah’s lips and wiped out his guilt. «If we live like Christ in the light of God, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all guilt» (1 John 1:7 NLB). Communion with the holy God makes the blood of Jesus cleanse us from all sin. This is only possible through the greatest love ever seen. «The greatest love is shown by the one who lays down his life for his friends.» (John 15:13 NLB). If Jesus was not holy, He would have avoided the cross and saved His own skin! The crystallisation point of God’s holy love is on the cross of Golgotha.
- It changes and always remains. Love based on holiness creates the breakthrough in Zacchaeus. «Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said: «Lord, I will give half of my wealth to the poor, and if I cheat people on their taxes, I will pay them back fourfold!» «(Luke 19:8 NLB). A self-centred, money-oriented egoist became a generous, empathic altruist just by touching God’s love (= selfless, unselfish person). No moral sermon or lecture could have achieved what pure, irresistible love can do. His holiness leads people to let themselves be sanctified and to refrain from sin.
A love steeled by God’s holiness is straightforward, immensely strong, all-pervading, unconditional, inviting and transforming. We can all be thankful that through the sacrificial death of Jesus the chasm between us and the holy God has been filled up and we can approach Him as the loving Father. But in this important step that we are allowed to take towards God, we sometimes overlook that it is not God’s holiness that has been filled up. Please mind the gap – still valid! We may be recipients of unconditional love, but at the same time we must never lose our reverence for the unavailability and majesty of God. God is holy. But he is also love, a holy love. Quite different from everything else that calls itself love.
Possible questions for the small group
Read the Bible text: Luke 19:1–10
- Read the Bible text together!
- Jesus is the human face of the holy God. Where does the holiness of Jesus become visible in the Zacchaeus story?
- Where does the love of Jesus spill over to Zacchaeus?
- What would be Love without holiness and what Holiness without love?
- Describe and embrace the loving holiness of God!
