Thursday of Holy Week: "He loved them to the end"

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)

Like never before, this year I see the motivation of love in Jesus' last hours before the crucifixion.

Reading the Gospels, we get a sense of a narrowing of purpose, of focus, of intentionality, in the latter portions as Jesus heads toward Jerusalem for the last time before the cross. His final teachings to the disciples are equally purposeful, filled with directness, example, and reflection questions to make sure they get the lessons.

But more than that, they are filled with love. Love characterized His actions in a very deliberate way. Whether washing their feet, teaching them truth, promising them the Holy Spirit, warning them about the coming events, praying for Peter in his "sifting season", partaking in the covenant meal, praying for them (and us!) in John 17, or commanding them to love God and each other, love permeates the pages marking Thursday of Holy Week.

And it's not just love for them. Certainly He loved them - the passage above not only speaks to the love He showed in the Upper Room, but points to the cross - where His would truly be poured out in full and Jesus would cry "It is finished!" (John 19:30). But there was a higher love motivating Jesus.

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. (John 14:30-31).

The cross not only demonstrated God's love for us (Rom. 5:8), but also revealed to the world that Jesus loved the Father! Jesus here is living a dramatic example of the command He gave in John 14:15, that if we love Him we would obey Him. He could say that, because He practiced it in His relationship to the Father.

Jesus' last hours before His arrest were an intense demonstration of the Great Commandments - love for God and love for others. May all our days be filled with the same. And may our love glorify Him.