“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1 ESV)
This might be one of my favorite verses in the Bible, particularly from the Gospels. “To the end.” To the very end. Through the humility of the incarnation, through the rejection of his hometown, through the disciples’ naivety and denials, and through the garden and the arrest and the scoffing and the flogging and the mockery and the nails and through the wrath of God the Father being poured out upon his spirit- He loved them to the end. He loved us to the end. “For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross…” Christ knew that joy was coming, and so he endured. In John 17 we are told what this joy entails:
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:24-26 ESV)
That’s how much He loved us. He suffered the wrath of His Father- in essence, God betraying God- that we might be with Him and see His glory and be loved with the love that the Father loves the Son. This is astonishing (or at least it should be). Think about it. The love with which the Father loves the Son, in us. And because of Christ’s resurrection, his ascension to the throne, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we now have the power to fulfill the new commandment:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV)
How did Christ love us? He loved us to the end. How much more should we love God and the body of Christ with such an example before us.
Such a Time as This 