Worthy of Love

It must have been so quiet in the room that night. So many thoughts must have raced through their minds. They must have had so many questions. He made it sound like the end. He was speaking words they did not understand.

And there He was, taking each of their feet...and washing them. There He was, choosing His words carefully, nothing wasted. He reminded them of His love. He told them what was to come. He told them to remember.

They promised not to abandon Him. But He knew...that each one of them would turn away that night. He knew He would have to go forward alone. But that didn't stop Him.

He went ahead...and continued to wash their feet. He went ahead, giving them bread and wine, so that when they looked back on that night they would remember His covenant to them. And very soon after that, He went ahead and gave up His life for them.

He knew their imperfections, their failures...and He loved them anyways. He knew what they were capable of, what they were prone to do...and He loved them anyways. He saw the future. He believed in them. He knew that they would carry His message. He knew that although they would deny Him in fear...once again they would turn and give their lives for the great love of God that had been displayed to them. He knew the genuineness their love. And He knew that His own love was stronger than the death He would soon experience.

Two thousand years later I love a man who laid His life down for me. I don't understand that kind of love. But I recognize it. I want to see Him with my own eyes, hear Him with my own ears. I want to look deep into His eyes...and see the hope He must have carried with Him on that awful day. The hope that if only He would lay down His life...my life would begin...and I would know Him. Imagine that desire of His heart. Imagine loving that deeply and that unselfishly. Imagine loving in the face of rejection.

Even then, He already knew...what I had done. Even then, He knew that I would turn my back on Him. He knew that I would ask Him questions. He knew my sin and all the things I had deemed more important than knowing God. He knew...and He went to the cross for me. He laid down His life for me. For you. Because He saw the joy of one day what would be. W e would know the truth about Him and that truth would set us free.

If that is love...then I am ruined. I long to walk worthy of such a love. He is worthy of mine.

Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.