Loving to the End

“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”(John 13:1)

As I was walking through a grocery store yesterday I could not help seeing the decorations of flowers, balloons and cute little stuffed animals all waiting for someone to buy them and give them to a sweetheart, wife or husband on this Valentine’s Day. 

Jesus set the standard for true love. He loved his disciples around the Passover table, “to the end,” as our text says.

I have a good friend whose wife was ill for the last several years of her life, depending on him for everything. He loved her and ministered to her to the end. A ninety-one year old man in the church where I am pastor has loved his wife of seventy-one years.  She had a stroke a few years ago, and he lovingly waits on her and looks after her, providing whatever she needs. No amount of flowers or balloons can replace that kind of love.