It’s Holy Week, and we’ve taken a break from looking at “everything Jesus commanded us” to reflect on events from “Passion Week” – the final week of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry.
Prayer
Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:108
Lord, please accept the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws!
Amen.
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.
Reading
It’s hidden there in plain sight in this passage – the unconditional love of Jesus!
It’s very clear from the way Jesus spoke that He knew exactly what was about to unfold. None of it took Him by surprise. So, isn’t it beautiful that despite knowing (and predicting) that all His disciples would abandon Him, Jesus still promised them a future with Himself. He said:
31 … ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me… 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’
Despite their abandonment, Jesus would not give up on them. He still wanted a relationship with them beyond the Cross.
His unconditional love was on display!
What’s more, despite knowing how they would abandon Him, and despite knowing how fickle each succeeding generation of His followers would be, Jesus still pushed through the agony of self-denial and self-sacrifice for them and for us, and for our salvation.
There in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was overwhelmed by His feelings of sorrow and distress. Being a young man in His prime, every instinct in Him cried out for survival. But because He knew that He needed to press through with this course of action to bring about our salvation, Jesus threw Himself into the spiritual battle of prayer. He wrestled with His fears and the temptation to flee, even to the point of sweating great drops of blood, and yet, by the grace of God the Father, He triumphed over them. And He did it for those fickle disciples, and for us.
His unconditional love was on display!
And then, when Judas arrived with the ragtag group of vigilantes sent by the religious leaders to arrest Jesus, do you notice that Jesus turned His cheek to receive the traitor’s kiss? Jesus even longed for relationship with the one betraying Him. He embraced the pain of rejection, and He did not attack Judas or even turn his cheek away from him. Even at the very last moment, Jesus was still giving Judas the opportunity to change his mind – because Jesus even loved Judas.
His unconditional love was on display!
Contemplation
How has the Lord shown you His unconditional love lately?
What opportunities is He giving you to pass on that unconditional love to others today?
Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see the glory of Your unfailing love for me, and help me to be a channel of Your love to others. Amen.
Dave's Diary 
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