Berean Bible Church of Dublin Ohio

His Unconditional Love

Over the next several weeks, we will especially be celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Jesus gathers with His disciples in the Upper Room that evening before His arrest, the statement is made in John 13:1, “ He loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the uttermost.”

To truly understand Jesus’ love as expressed here, we need to understand the context of that statement. There are several conditions in the context that help highlight just how great His love was for His own.

A.       He Had Perfect Knowledge of All That Was Going On      1.        John 13:1   “When Jesus knew that His hour was come.”
2.        John 13:3 “Jesus knowing that the Father has given all things into His hands.”
3.        His love was not blind; rather it was love with full understanding of all things.

B.       He Was Perfectly Aware of the Carnal Contentions of His Disciples
1.        The parallel account in Luke 22: 24-27 tells us of His disciples quarrelling over who would be considered the greatest.
2.        This argument probably took place over the order of seating at the Passover table.
3.        Even with that carnal contention among them, Jesus loved them to the uttermost.

C.       He Had Perfect Knowledge of Judas’ Plot to Betray Him
1.        John 13:2 tells us this plot was already agreed to by Judas.
2.        We know from the other gospels that Judas had met with the high priests the night before and was just awaiting the proper timing to betray Jesus.
3.        Judas probably claimed the chief seat at that Passover meal.
4.        With His perfect knowledge of this plot, Jesus treats Judas with the same respect as everyone else so that no one else even suspects Judas.

D.       He Had Perfect Knowledge That He Was About to Go Back to Heaven
1.        John 13:3 tells us He knew where He came from and where He was going.
2.        Yet, He was not distracted by the prospect that in less than 24 hours He would enjoy the glory He had known with the Father from all eternity.
3.        His focus was on His love for His own and finishing the work of redemption.

Thank the Lord for that great love of Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Have you accepted His gift of eternal life? John 3:16, “But God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”