As Jesus approached His death in the week before the Cross, as the pressure and hostility against Him grew, His tender love for His disciples didn’t waver. He didn’t grow edgy, snappy, or distant, as we often do. He remained gentle, kind, and unprovoked… “Now before the Feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). That’s power.
The night He was betrayed, He washed His disciples’ feet, saying, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” Dear Jesus, caring about our individual walk in a wicked world, asking us to care for each other spiritually, while under such pressure that later he would sweat great drops of blood. That’s power.
As He spoke to them that night, He said, “A new commandment I give to you: That you love one another - as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one toward another” (John 13:34,35). This is the highest calling you and I will ever receive, and it would be impossible, were not the “love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us” (Romans 5:5).
May the love of Christ awe our hearts anew as we trace His steps to the Cross. And may we love one another in these oppressive times, with a sweetness worthy of those who bear His name.
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