Love to the End

Love to the End

The Apostle John records an event near the end of Jesus’s life here on earth.  It is the washing of the disciple’s feet.  It is a great act of love and humility that we should try every once in a while. We often talk about the principles involved in washing someone’s feet but I think it is a good idea, every once in a while, to physically wash someone’s feet.  Talking about humility is good, living it is another thing.
In this great passage, John throws in several extra little phrases that should really speak to our heart.  One of those extra phrases is in verse one.  “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”  That is one of those phrases that you need to sit back and meditate on for a while.  Go ahead, I will wait for you……..pretty amazing truth, isn’t it.  Jesus demonstrated his love to his disciples time and time again.  He loved them when he lived with them.  He loved them when he provided for them.  He loved them when he pushed them into ministry to others.  He loved them when he told them when they were wrong.  I do not think that the disciples ever doubted that Jesus loved them.  
But that last little phrase is an encouragement and challenge to us.  “He loved them to the end”.  He never gave up on them and he loved them all the way to the cross.  That kind of love gives us security, confidence, and freedom to love others.  Jesus will never give up on us and he will always give his all for us...as he proved at the cross.  That kind of love is not about us being lovely.  It is not about what we give.  We know that we fail Christ in new ways almost every day.  That kind of love is because of the character and nature of Christ.  That kind of love is because of the love Christ has for the Father.  While the cross is an amazing demonstration of his love for us, it is an even greater demonstration of his love and obedience to the Father.  Jesus, in his humanity, lived in humbleness and submissiveness to the Father and that perfect love became a blessing for us.  Jesus will never not love those who are his own and he will always love them to the end.  He cannot love his own, it is not in his nature.
No matter what storms come into my life, those truths will carry me through. Now, can I love others with that same kind of love?  May the Holy Spirit, who lives inside of me, produce the love of Christ in me so that I can love others to the end.