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A Prayer about the Full Reach and Extent of Jesus’ Love

Having loved his own who were in the world, he [Jesus] loved them to the end—he showed them the full extent of his love. John 13:1 
     Dear Lord Jesus, this story always grabs my heart, but today it’s rekindling awe. It’s the night of your betrayal—the night you would be denied and abandoned, not just by Peter, but by all of your handpicked disciples. You knew their betrayal was looming, and yet you persisted in disrobing yourself, bending low, and washing the dirty feet of these broken, bungling men.
     The beauty and truth revealed in this scene is what keeps me sane—gospel sane. It anchors me when I lose my moorings, centers me when I feel crazy, quiets me when I’m restless, reels my heart in when I am in a wandering mode.
     The staggering thing is, this is exactly how you love each of your followers, all of your disciples, your whole bride. You’ve made us your own. You bought us with the very price of your blood. We were redeemed from sin and death and placed into your righteousness and embrace. Absolutely nothing can separate us from your love.
     While we’re in this world, you’re constantly loving us, without any regrets or reservations. You’re loving us when we’re alive to your presence and affections; you’re loving us when it feels like you’re ignoring our prayers, indifferent to our pain, or displeased with our lives. In fact, whether we perceive it or not, the most constant reality in our lives is not death and taxes, but your loving kindness.
     Lord Jesus, it’s the last line in this little verse that does me in and does me so good. As with the men in the upper room, so with us in any of a number of rooms right now: you remain committed to showing us the full extent of your love—its height, depth, width, and breadth. This turns our gaze to your cross, for it’s in your death, Jesus, that we realize that there’s no greater love to be found anywhere. On the cross, you laid down your life for others: for the rebel other, the foolish other, the sinful other—for me.
     Though you died for a huge pan-national bride, I declare today that the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20). This isn’t narcissism; it is necessity. It’s not selfish; it’s sacred. It’s not Western individualism; it’s deeply personal. I’m once again in awe, Jesus. Intensify my awe even more in response to your august love on this mid-August day. So very Amen I pray, in your truly astonishing name.

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