My Favorite Verses - Vol V (Feb 17 to Jun 17)

John 13:1 … Loved until the End
(05/14/2017)
“Having loved his own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.” ~ unknown (John 13:1)
Note that “his own” – at least as far as Jesus himself was concerned – were not
his disciples and not those who worshiped him (see Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, John
5:41, John 12:44 et al), but rather were those who followed him – those who
emulated his selfless Way of Living (see John 14:21-23 – “They who have my
commandments and abide by them are those who Love me; and those who so Love me
will be Loved by my Father … Those who love me will keep my Word, and my Father
will Love them, and we will come to them and make our home within them.”) … Note
as well here that Jesus is once again focused on this world – a world that contains
his followers, devotees who happen to embody both his Father (John 14:20) and
enliven his Kingdom (Luke 17:20-21) …
And note as well that for Jesus, Loving others “until the end” meant A)
Loving others persistently (“But the one who endures [in Love] to the end will be
saved” ~ Matthew 24:13), … B) Loving others no matter what they had done or
what they were doing (see Matthew 18:3-4 & Luke 27:36 et al), … and C) Loving
others until “the end” of his own life (the Greek telos here meant not “the end of time”
but rather “to the end of the current age” or “to the end of one‟s life” or “to the
conclusion of one‟s primary purpose” -- see Strong‟s #5056).
And how did Jesus Love them – by being merely tactful or friendly or nice or
polite? No, he Loved others by showing them The Way of willing self-sacrifice in
a manner that was as firm as it was uncompromising (see Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew
7:21-24, Matthew 10:37, Matthew 16:23-28, Matthew 19:21 et al) – and he indeed did
so all the way until his pre-arranged crucifixion; all the way until his purpose was
indeed fulfilled (see John 19:28-30) – all the way “to the end.”
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