John 13:1 … Loved until the End (05/14/17)
“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 merely his disciples and not merely those who worshiped him (see Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, John 5:41, John 12:44 et al), but rather 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, followers who happen to contain both his Father (John 14:20) and his Kingdom (Luke 17:20-21) … And 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 did or 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 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 fulfilled (see John 19:28-30) – all the way “to the end.”
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