To the End
To the End
John 13:1
Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
This is even better than to be “loved to the moon and back.”
This is even better than Dr. Seuss’ description of love: “We’re all a little weird, and life’s a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
Let’s stick with Jesus’ words. He loves His own and He loves them to the end!
John chapters 1-12 covered three years of Jesus’ public ministry and his dealings with those who would reject Him. The events of John chapters 13-17 cover a few hours and are directed toward those who received and believed Him. These are the ones who will carry the light forward after THE LIGHT leaves this world. It is now the evening before His betrayal and Jesus has some personal and intimate time with His twelve disciples, one of which will betray Him. These are the final words of a dying man who is well aware that these are His final words. Final words are important.
Todd Beamer was a passenger on United Flight 93, September 11, 2001 (he lived about 1/8 mile from us at the time in San Ramon, CA). His last recorded words at the end of a cell phone call before Beamer and others stormed the cockpit in an attempt to overtake the hijackers: “Are you guys ready? Let’s Roll!”
Sir Arthus Conan Doyle died at age 71 in his garden. He turned to his wife and said, “You are wonderful,” then clutched his chest and died.
Before his death, Mozart is recorded as saying, “The taste of death is upon my lips. I feel something that is not of this earth.”
Final words have profound meaning to us. As a preface to the final, intimate words to his disciples, John writes the following:
…having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. John 13:1
These are profound words that are directed toward 11 of the 12 disciples and as such, have significant meaning to those of us who love and follow Jesus as well. Yes, God loves the world and He extends His invitation of grace to all. But there is indeed a special and unique love; a targeted and focused love; a complete love that includes salvation of unspeakable grace; that Jesus has for His own, whom HE LOVES TO THE END.
“To the end” has the meaning of perfect or perfection. It is perfect love that loves us unto perfection or completeness. Jesus doesn’t love us and then hope we finish well. Jesus’ love takes us to the end. Jesus’ love doesn’t lose any of His own. Jesus love us fully and completely; all the way to the end! It doesn’t get any better than that!
Lord, we reaffirm our surrender to You! We do not want to make our own way. We do not want to be the captain of our own ships. We do not want to say, “I did it my way”. We simply want to be Yours. We are Yours. We lose ourselves so we can gain You! Why, because You and only You can take us to the finish. Only You love us to the end! We are Yours; loved perfectly and perfectly loved! Amen!
Happy Thanksgiving! My next post will be Monday, November 26.