“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.” (Joh 13:1 AV)
The end of His earthly ministry, that is. As Albert Barnes delineates, His love that He
showed was not merely an emotional feeling, but the events that would
follow. The washing of the feet, the
last supper, and His death on the cross were all acts of love which the LORD
showed towards his disciples during His earthly ministry. He indeed loved them to the end. He did not stop doing for His sheep no matter
how hard the circumstances. Even in the
Garden of Gethsemane, while in agony over His pending passion, he cared for His
disciples. As the whip hit His back, as
the Robe was ripped from His scabbed over back, as the nails drove into his
hands and feet; He did it all for His disciples. Every last act of the LORD Jesus Christ was
for the love of the sheep. He loved them
unto the end.
Some might erroneously assume once the earthly ministry of Christ was
done, that He might have ceased to love His disciples. That could be inferred from that verse
alone. However, the word of God is replete
with promises of a Savior who has never abandoned the sheep and continues to
love them. If there is any end here to
consider, it would be our end. The end
of our earthly pilgrimage. There is a
prayer found in the book of Psalms that is precious to me. David writes of God’s faithfulness and the
evidence of God’s hand upon him for his entire lifetime. Psalm 138 ends with the following verse, “The
LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for
ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” (Ps 138:8 AV) David knew the LORD would never turn His back
on him no matter what the circumstances might have seemed to be at the
time. No doubt, this promise came under
close scrutiny while hold up in caves, running from Saul, or having to flee
from Absalom. David, however, was
steadfast. He knew God would continue to
love him, meet his needs, and perfect all things that concerned the life of
David.
The phrase above is often thought of as a phrase of futility. Like a captain who is going down with his ship
and he sacrifices everything that others might make it to the lifeboats. We tend to think of loving someone to the end
as the last act of courage and devotion, paying the ultimate price, yet not able
to enjoy the fruits of one’s sacrifice. We
see it as a fatalistic statement. Not to
those who make it to the lifeboats, but rather, to the captain who has lost
everything. It is not so with
Christ. He loved them to the end of His
earthly ministry. He will love us to the
end of our earthly pilgrimage. What
follows is not the ship that sinks. What
follows is heaven above. To the world,
the statement above is a fatalistic one.
To the saint, it is a declaration of a new beginning. One that begins in eternity. My Lord and Savior loved me to the end of His
earthly ministry. He will love me to the
end of my earthly pilgrimage. Then, He
will love me for all of eternity. His love
will never cease!
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