READING: John 12-15
Today, the Word brings me to tears. No matter how long I’ve been a Christian, I know I still have so much room to grow. Temptation is still a reality for me. Self-dependence and ego always lurk at the door. I can always improve in my evangelism. Even after 32+ years of marriage, I’m still learning how to love Pam as Christ loves the church. With all these realities in mind, though, today I’m reminded that “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Jesus knew His hour was at end. The anguish of the garden of Gethsemane awaited. The cross hung over His shoulders. It was time. Still, the same verse in John 13 that points out Jesus’ knowledge of His coming departure also says, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (v. 1). It’s the latter phrase, “he loved them to the end,” that drives me to tears today.
The meaning of the phrase is a bit ambiguous, but likely intentionally so. On one hand, it can simply mean that Jesus loved them all the way through His earthly existence; He never stopped loving them. On the other hand, the phrase can speak of extent in that Jesus loved them “to the fullest.” The Amplified Bible actually captures this thought in its wording: “He loved them to the last and to the highest degree.” Jesus never stopped loving them, and He could not have loved them more than He did.
That’s the way He loves you and me, too. This I know.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do these words help you prepare for a new week?
PRAYER: “Thank You, Lord, for the way You love us.”
TOMORROW’S READING: John 16-19
Thank you Dr. Lawless. This passage moves me as we see Jesus illustrating the unseen world reality of what He is/has been/ and will do with a physical act. His kenosis has to be understood so we can do Greater works. But His agape love for us is the least understandable of all. Thank you for that clarification.!”Oh the height, the width, and the depth of His love for us”!
Stewart