Eastertide Love
Scripture — John 13:1 (NRSV)
“Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
Focus
In order to believe this fruit of resurrection, we must be planted in this soil of resurrection.
Devotion
He loves you until the end, Inés.
This is such an intimate line! That Jesus will love you until the end and has loved you from the beginning is one of those mysteries that is hard to explain. It is like a warm fire on a cold night. A friend placing a blanket on your body when you are recuperating from a stomach virus. Your grandma making some hot noodle soup to bring back your strength.
In order to believe this fruit of resurrection, we must be planted in this soil of resurrection. That soil is God’s everlasting and unconditional love.
If the Spirit is to resurrect us from the dead places, we must be transplanted into a soil where the dirt is alive with this love—fertilized by a divine love that goes over and over and over, until the end. May you know this kind of love and may you grow where this love grows. May this journey through Eastertide take you into this kind of loving that the Spirit’s fruit may abound more and more in you and through you.
Reflect
How does it make you feel to know that Jesus will love you until the end?
Act
Pray this nighttime breath prayer when you go to bed:
Thank you for loving me until the end.
Inhale and exhale three times.
Thank you for loving me until the end.
Pray
God of life, thank you for sending your beloved son to be with me until the end. Thank you that he is with me until the end of this sentence, the end of this day, and the end of all my days. You are the love that never runs dry. You loved me first and you will love me last. May your Spirit grow in me this love so that it spills over into the world in this resurrection wildness. Amén.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Servant Leadership (John 13:1-20).
Inés Velásquez-McBryde
Chaplain at Fuller Theological Seminary & Pastor, Preacher, Speaker
Inés Velásquez-McBryde is a pastor, preacher, reconciler and mujerista theologian. She is the lead pastor and co-founder of The Church We Hope For. She is originally from Nicaragua, a third generation pastor, and the first pastora in her family. Inés earned her MDiv at Fuller Theolo...