John 13:1 "Now before the feast of the
passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end."
As we have travelled through this wonderful book of John, we have seen on
several occasions where they tried to take Jesus by force, but "His hour
had not yet come." We all know we are only one breath or one
heartbeat away from passing into glory, but we do not know when "our hour"
will occur. Jesus knew. There was nothing that took Him by surprise
as He walked upon this earth. In the next few chapters, we will see that He
spent these last hours teaching and equipping the disciples concerning what was
to come in their own lives.
Jesus "loved His own which were in the world." This is not only
talking about those who would become apostles; rather this is the unconditional
love of Jesus for all of His people. Think back on some of the different people
who interacted with Jesus. Think how many, who had been healed, failed to turn
around and say a simple "Thank you." I'm thankful the power is
not within me to say who is, and who is not, a child of God. There are times I
would even cast myself into the lake of fire because of my sin nature. In spite
of the contrary nature, Jesus "loved His own which were in the
world."
Jesus "loved them unto the end." The question is often asked,
"When did God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) begin to love us?"
We have the answer as to how long God will love us, and that is
"unto the end." Though this is speaking, in one sense, of the
end of Jesus' earthly life, it is not limited to those thirty-three and a half
years. Yes, He loved His own even when they all forsook Him and ran away. Yes,
He loved Peter even when he denied knowing Jesus three times. But this
statement goes much farther than the next 12-18 hours of Jesus' earthly life.
"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee." (Jeremiah 31:3) The Psalmist tells us, "Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalm 90:2)
If you can determine when God began, you can determine when God started
loving you. If you can determine when God will cease being God, then you can
determine when God will stop loving you. There is no beginning and there
is no end to God's love for you. That's hard for our minds to comprehend;
yet, it is the absolute truth.
If God loves me with such unconditional love, should I not want to serve Him and show my love for Him under every condition in which I find myself? That's my prayer.