I had a good friend who had a terminal disease.  His immune system was shot, and the doctor ordered him to remain at home to avoid people who might infect him.  But then my wife happened to run into him at Wal-Mart.

She asked him why he was out.  He said, “I don’t want my tombstone to say, ‘He was cautious!’”

Like my friend, there are some of us who are very aware that our time on earth is almost done.  Some can’t sleep because they fear they’ll never open their eyes again.  Others try to reconcile with distant family members.  Some rest in peace before they die because they know they are secure in Christ. 

Christ also lived in the shadow of His death.   What was on His mind during those days?   

John 13 begins the telling of the Last Supper.  This, of course, was the last meal that Jesus would share with His disciples before His crucifixion.  His execution would take place only hours later. 

The Apostle John wrote, “Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father” – John 13:1. No question here, Jesus clearly understood that the time of His crucifixion had arrived.  

John continued saying, “(Jesus) Having loved his own who were in the world…”   

That is quite an amazing statement.  Jesus loved – who?  Well, those who were gathered around that table. 

They had left everything for Him.  They shared countless adventures together; they saw the glory of God penetrate the gloom of Israel; and together they suffered rejection.  They were a tight bunch, and Jesus had loved them well. 

Then John completed his sentence by saying, “He now loved them to the very end.”  His end was near, but His mind was focused on this group of people that he dearly loved.  This is quite amazing for at least two reasons.

One: Jesus was thinking of others when most would be centered on themselves.

And Two: Those disciples were going to disappoint Jesus over the next few hours.

They eventually left the supper that night to retreat to an olive grove called Gethsemane.  Jesus took His inner circle: Peter, James and John with Him, and asked them to watch while He prayed and wrestled with the Father over His crucifixion. 

It would be incredibly stressful for Jesus and He wanted them to be with Him and to pray for Him, but they fell asleep instead.  Jesus was deeply disappointed, but His love for them persisted.

Judas had been present at that meal.  But at Gethsemane he would betray the one that loved him with a meaningless middle-eastern kiss on His cheek.  A heartless betrayal, and yet Jesus would love even that man to the end. 

Jesus was apprehended in the garden and His hands were bound as they led Him away like a sheep to slaughter.  The disciples vanished like roaches when the lights come on.  It was every man for himself.  And yet Jesus’ love for them endured to the end.   

And then of course there was Peter, who covertly slipped into the courtyard of the home where Jesus was on trial.  Three times Peter denied knowing His master, when in fact he probably knew him better than most anyone else. But even Peter was loved by Jesus till the very end.

Jesus threw caution to the wind and loved His own – His ungrateful, unreliable, unpredictable own – until the end.  How comforting it is to know that He loves you and me with that same unrelenting love. 

Paul wrote, “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” – Romans 8:38-39.

A PRAYER: Lord, thank you; thank you; thank you for such love.

God bless you!

Scripture is quoted from the NETBible ®