Jun 10, 2022 Jesus Loves To The End – Words of Grace Blog – June 10, 2022
An arresting phrase at the beginning of John 13 communicates a wealth of truth and encouragement about the love of Christ.
We are told that Jesus, “… having loved his own who are in the world, he loved them to the end.”
The setting of these words is the night before Jesus was crucified, as he shared the Passover meal with his disciples and washed their feet.
John is a skilled writer. He often uses words and phrases with double meanings and for more than one purpose. Here, when he says that Jesus loved his own to the end, he has in mind more than one kind of “end.” Jesus’ love is both a quality and a quantity of love.
For Jesus to love us to the end means that his love finished a task and completed the end for which it was expressed. In love, he accomplished his purpose. The love of Jesus is an effectual love.
This is most evident in Jesus’ own words from the cross when he said, “It is finished.” He meant that the task for which he came into the world, and that was motivated by his love, was complete. He loved his own with a perfect and complete love when he gave his life for our sins. The quality of the love of Christ is “to the end,” to the fullest extent possible for the fulfillment of his work.
For Jesus to love us to the end also means that his love endures forever. He has an everlasting quantity of love for his own. There is no supply chain problem with the love of Christ. His love never runs dry.
Jesus never puts his love on hold while he expresses some other attitude toward us. He doesn’t withhold his love until we prove ourselves worthy of it. He doesn’t remove his love when we show ourselves to be unworthy. His love is and will always be for his own because of his unmerited grace toward us. His love lasts forever.
We are left with this question. Are we “his own”? This is a matter of faith. We come into Christ by faith in him. By faith we become his possession. By faith we belong. We are identified as his by the love he sets upon us as a gift of grace.
When we are his, we can be assured that the cross-death Jesus endured has indeed removed our sin and reconciled us to God. Believe it. Receive it.
We can be assured that the love of Jesus for us endures in every trial and temptation, hardship and waiting period, and season of discipline of growth that we experience. Believe that, too. And live and pray in the confidence and courage of it.
This Sunday at Grace Community Church we will resume our series in the Gospel of John by hearing of the love that Jesus has for us to the end.
There is much to pray about in our lives, our church, and our world. Let’s make Saturday a day of private prayer, and Sunday a day of congregational worship.
-Scott