He Loved Them to the End
"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." --John 13:1
Life with Jesus was life immersed in the gracious love of God: embracing; drenching; challenging; shocking; thrilling. The love was strong yet tender. They were destabilized from their normal way of life while becoming rooted deeply into another Jesus-centered way of being. The love was moment-by-moment, decision-by-decision; a life-changing agape love that was inviting them and transforming them at the same time.
When Jesus gathers his disciples for the Passover meal on what we call Maundy Thursday, he knows that "his hour has come;" the time they had been preparing for was now here. And how do the twelve arrive? Hopelessly wrongheaded, it would seem, their heads full of assumptions about their own privilege in God's emerging kingdom, bickering with each other over what positions each will hold in the new administration, blissfully deaf to the passion of Jesus' sharing. Later in the evening, as Jesus pours out his heart and soul to the Father in prayer, the ones he has named as his friends fall asleep.
But they are not hopeless . . .
'Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus sees them quite differently than they see themselves. He knows them, and it is his commitment that someday they will know themselves as well, and as lovingly, as he knows them.
He gets down on his knees and washes their feet. Each one of them. And he beckons them to learn how to do the same for one another. John says that Jesus washes the disciples feet "knowing that he had come from God and was going to God." In other words, this humble footwashing is a deep expression of God.
The word translated "end" means completion. Jesus loved them to completion, loved them to fullness, loved them wholly.
Jesus loves us all. He loves us to the end of our misconceptions; he loves us not just in our stubborn illusioins, but to the end of them!; to the ends of inattention or sleepiness, to the end of every betrayal and denial; to the end of every barrier--and beyond!!
He loves us into the wonder of our true, God-created, Spirit-inspired selves. God loves us beyond every end . . . to the new beginning, to new life in the risen Christ. He loves us this way, and shows us how to do the same with one another. Such love is the defining characteristic of believers.
Read Chapter 13 of John's gospel: how does the story speak to you?
To me this verse means that even though he died on the cross, he will still love us no matter what happens. This verse makes me think of the song Reckless Love by Cory Asbury.
ReplyDelete" It chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine,
DeleteI couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still you give yourself away . . .
There's no wall you won't kick down . . .lie you won't tear down,
there's no shadow you won't light up"!
And with Jesus it is through the power of his revealing, all-embracing, agape love.
There is something about Jesus kneeling down to wash our feet that humbles me to tears, and honors us beyond our comprehension. Years ago I tried to have us consider foot-washing on Maundy Thursday (As the Mennonites and Brethren do), and even did some with confirmands. There was a good deal of resistance. Why do you think this expression of love is so unbearable?
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of Jesus' words to Peter (who also objected): "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." (John 13:8)
And: "So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet . . .Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." John 13:14, 16-17
From Bonnie Hill
ReplyDeleteAs Jesus washes his disciple's feet, sharing his love for them yet knowing the betrayal that will soon follow is powerful within itself. The artists interpretation of that very moment with the use of peaceful and soothing colors makes me feel the intimacy between Jesus and his Disciples.