Originally published Monday, 30 March 2015.
It had been a long day, and everyone was looking forward to sitting down and lingering over a good meal with good company. The band of brothers and their Leader, Jesus. What an emotionally charged week it must have been so far. The city was alive with the festivities of Passover. A loud buzz of preparation hovered over the house rooftops.
The group walked in and found the table set. Jesus smiles. Someone had carefully laid out the tableware and utensils, signaling the servants were ready. He recognized the simple attention to detail and let out a small sigh of relief. The room was full of holy tension.
At last, Jesus could spend a little down time with a few intimate friends.
He didn’t sit long before he moves to the corner of the room and there he fills a basin filled with water. He lays aside his outer garments, wraped a towel around his waist, knelt quietly and washed their feet.
On his last day with his friends, he serves a gift, one that a servant gives.
He worked the souls of worn, tired feet with care. He looked into the eyes of those who would meet his. Some looked away, and one glanced away in shame.
Even still....Love served the hearts, humility knelt, as Jesus' hands touched each set of feet, kindness came to those who would soon be mourning. He knew which one was whispering betrayal under his breath, and He also knew that the “Father had given all things into his hands, and was returning to the Father.”
What kind of man loves that big while waiting to die? What kind of love serves on it's way to certain death? What kind of love gives with nothing in return?
“Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love,” said one that Jesus loved the most.
What kind of pure love does that? Loves and expects nothing in return?
This kind of love that is not based on our good or bad behavior, or comparing, nor measured by man. It is a sacrificial love that serves and accepts. Jesus poured out his life as a drink offering for his very friends who were going to fail, deny, turn away, hate, kill, compromise their beliefs, and watch him die. Even when He was hours away from death, His life was obedient to humble service.
Perfect Love is unparalleled. The events that followed his act of service reveal the full extension of God's perfect Love. Jesus' love is proclaimed from the ultimate humiliation, the torture, and death on the cross. No greater Love has ever been or will ever be.
Perfect Love saves. I am reminded of this Love when I am found in His presence. It's free and available to anyone and everyone who believes and calls on His name. You can trust it, hope in it, and have faith in it.
Pure. Simple. Love. An supernatural emotion that can be trusted, tried, and proven faithful and trustworthy, found in the perfect source of God.
“I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation." Psalm 13:5
SHARE
