Jesus Loved Them to the End
Monday, April 7, 2025 by Melissa McLaughlin

The church chimes echoed. A tender melody rang out over the traffic’s hum and the neighborhood’s hubbub.

After parents returned home from work, children came in from play, and families finished their meals. The evening sky dimmed as lights turned on in the homes.

The hour had come. Church bells tolled for the community near my apartment.

The chimes sang a lullaby of love for listening ears. The old hymns soothed. Softly and gently, resounding with hope. Memories of Christ on the cross, yet risen again, reverberated through the air.

Wafting over the world’s din, the church bells serenaded our souls.

We have since moved and there are no church chimes where we now live. However, I remember fondly that cherished sound, marking the time of evening’s end, calling us to rest with our Lord.

His Hour Had Come

As we consider Christ heading toward the evening of His earthly mission, we wonder what marked His time.

In John 13:1 (NKJV) we read – Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Can you imagine? What spiritual bell tolled that Jesus knew His hour had come?

Surely, each moment of Jesus’ earthly life marched ever forward to this sacred and sacrificial moment. Yet, when the time came, what was Jesus’ response?

Jesus loved.

Jesus Loved Them to the End

Though Christ willingly laid down His life to pay our sin-debt, this choice came at an unspeakable cost.

Jesus crushed Himself for us. And from the cross, an unheard song of justice, mercy, comfort, and forgiveness resonated to the ends of the earth.

“It is finished.” The song of the forgiven. The hymn of the redeemed. The chorus of the saved.

And grace upon grace, His blood-drenched love song never loses tempo or runs out.

For He is the source of love. God is love. We love Him because He first loved us. From that infinite spring, the Spirit infuses us with pure and holy love from His heart, flowing freely to refresh and satiate us and others who receive Christ as Lord.

Christ came to His own and His own received Him not. In some respect, this is all of us, for we all began in rebellion toward our Savior. Yet having loved His own, He loved them to the end.

And He loves us still.

For Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Imagine His eyes looking at you from the cross. Beneath red-soaked, thorny crown. His body broken for you. His blood shed for you.

Think of His compassionate voice promising paradise for the thief who believed. Those assuring words are also for you and me.

Jesus loved you to the end. Jesus loved me to the end. And for all eternity.

Christ has done it all. By faith, we are born again of His Spirit. Clothed in His righteousness. Anchored in His truth. Filled with His love.

May we join with the heavenly choir. Angels and saints gone before us, singing, “Worthy is the Lamb!”

May the church swell with the sound of rejoicing, so that all the world will know. The Savior has come and is coming again. The hour is late. May more people hear His salvation song.

Revelation 22:20 NKJV – He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

What helps you remember Jesus’ eternal love for you?

*This post was inspired by Bible Hub commentaries.

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Spiritual Life

Join author and teacher, Melissa McLaughlin, and grow in Truthful Grace as we ignite the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our hearts, minds, prayers and lives. Grow in Christ, grow in the knowledge of His Word, the Bible, grow the passion in your prayers.

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