He loved them to the End

As we were driving to Philadelphia yesterday to make arrangements for my father's funeral, I was thinking that though difficult, this is all part of loving my father to the end - even to the taking care of his body until the day of resurrection. So we visited him in memory care every day, we sat and stayed with him while sick, and we held his hands as he breathed his last. Now we will lovingly lay his body in the grave, and we'll continue to love him to the end.

So I then thought of Jesus on the night of His death. In John 13 we hear: 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. Do you see how Jesus reverses things here (as He always does)? We love our dying loved one to the end, but Jesus is the dying one loving his loved ones to the end! He is the one taking care of us. And He'll continue until there are no more ends or endings, only eternity. And then He'll love us forever.

How cool is that?

If you're at Saint Athanasius next year on Holy Thursday, you'll probably hear this in the sermon. :-)

And the greatest of these is love (1 Cor 13).

Indeed.