He Loved Them to the End

John 13:1 "Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." (ESV)

Jesus loved His ragtag bunch of disciples. Outspoken, impulsive Peter who would deny Him. James and John who would ask for higher positions of authority than their counterparts. Thomas who would doubt Jesus' resurrection. And Judas. Judas who was a thief in charge of the money bag. Judas who would betray Him to those who would kill Him.

And Jesus loved them. He taught them and encouraged them and washed their feet. We probably dont't think much about the foot washing but it was a dirty job that was reserved for the lowest of  the low of the foreign slaves. And then Jesus loved them all the way to the cross.

Last Sunday Pastor Perry preached a sermon called "Going for the Big ASK" where he talked to us about asking THEM...our friends and family...to church this Sunday as we have "salvation Sunday". But he also told us we should always ask HIM...God...to save those we invite.

We don't berate those we care about for their lifestyle or for their poor choices. Jesus didn't. He washed their feet. He loved them to the end. So then we never give up on our family and friends. We never stop inviting. We never stop praying for God to save them. We never stop looking for opportunities to speak Jesus into their lives. We love THEM to the end as we continually ask HIM to save them.