John 13:1

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.

Do you ever give up on people? Write them off? Cast them aside? I’m not referring to toxic and/or abusive relationships where flight is the better option than fight, and I’m not talking about keeping safe boundaries with certain people. I’m referring to people that you simply discard without a second thought. No regret. No remorse. No interest in trying to forgive them. No sadness over their broken condition. Nothing.

Then there are the people in our lives who, despite being difficult, we try time and again to love them well, even when all they give us in return is hurt and disappointment. Perhaps it’s a parent…a sibling…a spouse…a child…or a friend. The broken moments are too numerous to count at this point, but you soldier on, despite the personal trail of tears.

Imagine how Jesus feels.

Jesus had less than 24-hours to live at this point. Judas’ betrayal was closing in fast, as was Peter’s. The rest of the disciples would flee when things got tough. Only John would be at the crucifixion. The people who had cheered his entrance into Jerusalem would soon be screaming for his bloody death, and the plotting of the so-called religious leaders of His Father’s called-out people would bring their murderous plot to a conclusion…or so they thought. In the end, Jesus did not focus on the disappointments and the destruction, but on the one’s he loved and cared for…including the soldiers who would nail him to the cross.

The cross looms large over this chapter of John’s Gospel and brought great focus top Jesus’ last hours with his disciples. “When one is leaving for a distant country and has transacted all necessary business with the outside world, he is fain to spend the few remaining hours in the sweet intimacy of the family circle” (Morrison). Have you ever dropped a child off at college for the first time? Had them move out-of-state to pursue their dreams? When you know your time with loved ones is coming to a close, you tend to double-down on expressions of love and appreciation. Loss gives you focus like that. It acts like a highlighter, bringing more attention to what really deserves it. Jesus did this in his remaining pre-crucifixion hours…and he did it again after the resurrection. He is still doing it, today.

If you belong to Jesus, he will love you “to the end.” The more accurate interpretation of this phrase is “to the fullest extent.” There is no actual “end” to the love of Christ, and that should give every Believer a great deal of joy and comfort. At any given time, you are fully known and fully loved. On your best day…and just as much, at your worst moment. Your value in the eyes of your Savior simply cannot be measured in human terms. It is an eternal covenant written by God, signed with the blood of Jesus, and sealed by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

We know it’s impossible—in this present broken age—to love like Jesus loves, yet that is the command He has placed on our lives. Love is the greatest marker of the Christian life, but I often wonder…how many people would describe me as loving? Sadly, I don’t think it would be a very long line. Bold? Yes. Courageous? Sure. Faithful? Absolutely. But loving? That’s a much harder mark to hit. What about for you? Do you “love your own” in the Body of Christ effectively…or have you written some off? What about family members, or friends, or co-workers? Jesus loves us “to the fullest extent,” so we need to ask ourselves: Are we doing the same?

That is a question we should wrestle with, regularly.