LOVED UNTO THE END
[p. 86] LOVED UNTO THE END
I have read these verses with a desire that the Lord may awaken us to the reality and greatness of the thoughts of divine love. Nothing can be sweeter than to repose in that love when it is known, and the heart is free to rest in it. The soul may have a long journey to reach it experimentally; there may be many needs and exercises to be met and removed on the way; self and the world may have to be learned; but the great end of all our exercises — and, I may add, of all our deliverances is that we rest in the thoughts of divine love, and that love becomes in a very real way the portion of our hearts. If our hearts are not in the circle of divine love they have really got nothing, for as Christians we have no portion on earth or in the world; our portion is in divine love. Thank God! it is a blessed and a satisfying portion.
The disciples had left all and followed Jesus with the kingdom in prospect. They looked for righteousness to be established here, and were much occupied with the thought of how they would stand in the new order of things — disputing who should be the greatest, and so on. But instead of righteousness being established here, the Righteous One was rejected; the Lord was crucified. As to this world the disciples had lost everything and gained nothing, but to compensate for this they got divine love. Many are content to have assurance of pardon and eternal security, without forsaking all to follow a rejected Christ; that is, they have not in heart and spirit broken with the world, and they do not know what it is to have a portion in divine love.
I should like, in the first place, to bring before your hearts the statement of verse 3. “Jesus knowing ... that he was [p. 87] come from God, and went to God”. How much is conveyed in these simple words! What infinite and amazing facts conveyed involved in this brief and pregnant sentence! Jesus came from God into a world of sin, of man’s ruin, of Satan’s triumph, and of God’s grief and dishonour; and He has secured everything for God, so that He could go back to God as the One who has removed every hindrance to the full display and triumph of divine love. We must not expect to find that the work of the Lord Jesus is looked at in this Gospel from the sinner’s standpoint. That which will meet the need of a sinner’s conscience must be sought elsewhere. But, beloved brethren, let us not deprive our hearts of the deepest and richest spiritual joys by thinking only of the death of the Lord Jesus as that which meets the dire necessity of our souls. Let us seek to enter into what that death was for God, and into the wondrous blessings of divine love for which it opens the way according to the counsel and purpose of the heart of God. The work of Christ is infinitely great in moral grandeur as the everlasting basis on which the purposes of divine love are secured, and it is from this point of view that it is presented to us in John’s gospel. Let us turn to five scriptures which bring before us some of the things that have been secured for the satisfaction of divine love.
1. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29). In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth for His own pleasure, and pronounced them very good; but sin came in and deprived God of satisfaction in His created universe, and no reparation was, or could be, made until Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take up the whole question of sin, and to maintain all that was due to divine majesty and holiness in connection therewith; so that God, being perfectly glorified as to it, might be free to set up a “new heaven and a new earth” — a universe of perfect bliss where no trace of sin or its effects can ever come. The created universe of Genesis 1 will be cleared of [p. 88] sin, and brought into perfect suitability to God. The Fulness of the Godhead will reconcile all things to itself, “whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1: 20). And all this will be established on the everlasting basis that God has been glorified in respect of sin, and that basis will ensure its eternal stability. Here, then, at the outset we obtain a view of things too vast to comprehend. The magnitude and scope of it are beyond us, but surely the feeblest heart will rejoice to know that a world of bliss has been secured for God — a world where divine love will have eternal satisfaction and rest — all secured by Jesus, who will be the Centre and Sun of that universe of bliss.
2. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep ... . My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and none is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one” (John 10:11; John 10:29-30). For some years I thought that John 10 was written to make the believer sure that eternal blessing was secured to him. I rejoice to know that it does this, but there is far more in it than this. The Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep that He might have the joy of securing them for Himself and for the Father. The Father and the Son wanted the sheep for themselves, and the death of Christ is the righteous title of divine love to take possession, and to keep possession, of them. The Father and the Son wanted a company whom they might introduce to the circle of divine love, with a nature suitable to that circle, and capable of appreciating and responding to it. The right to have such a company has been secured to God by Jesus, and none of those who compose it will ever be lost. God set up man in innocence on the ground of responsibility, and lost him. But the sheep are held on the ground of redemption, they are partakers of the divine nature, and they [p. 89] are secured for the satisfaction of divine love. No one can question the right of the Father and the Son to have and to hold the sheep: and if we see what it has cost the Father and the Son to secure us, it cannot fail to give us the most blessed assurance. Much may yet have to be done for us. We shall need support, preservation, discipline. If we are left here a little longer we shall need the grace, mercy, and forbearance of God in a thousand ways, but all that will be needed in the future to keep us for the Father and the Son is small compared with the stupendous cost at which divine love secured us. “Hereby perceive we love, because he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3: 16).
3. “He prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” (John 11: 51, 52). In the company secured by divine love there can be no fleshly distinctions. It is a company in the unity of the divine nature — “one flock”. Hence the Lord prays, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17: 21). The present thought of God is to have a company in the unity of the divine nature. In that company “there is neither Jew nor Greek” — no religious distinctions;
“neither bond nor free” — no social distinctions; “neither male nor female” — no natural distinctions; but “ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3: 28).
4. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12: 24). The “flock” of chapter 10, and “the children of God” of chapter 11, are evidently the same company. Now we get the additional fact presented that those who compose this company are of Christ’s order. He has gone into death that He might become the Parent-grain of this company. He bears fruit [p. 90] after His kind. His death is the end of all that we were as children of Adam, that we might be in association with Him as the Risen One His brethren — “all of one” with Himself, and introduced by Him to His own position and relationship with His God and Father.
5. “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1: 18). “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14: 9). Thus far I have spoken of His death, but it is important to remember that He did not go back to God without having first perfectly revealed the Father. By doing so He exposed the true character of the world, as we read, “Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15: 24). On the other hand, He brought the perfect revelation of the Father to those who, by divine grace, could appreciate that revelation. But think what an infinite satisfaction it was for God to have One here who could fully reveal Him. The Father delights to be appreciated, and in order to this He must be revealed, and Jesus has revealed Him. He must have been equal with the Father to do so. Even in human things I could not give perfect expression to a person’s mind and character if I was not equal to that person. Keeping this in mind it is very blessed to see how He revealed the Father. It was by never speaking a word or doing an act of His own will. His words were the Father’s words, and the Father that dwelt in Him, He did the works. In that lowly, obedient One the Father was perfectly revealed. Every thought of the Father’s heart was perfectly expressed in Him.
Now in chapter 13 everything is looked at as secured. Jesus came from God alone, but He has gone to God as the Head of a new and blessed race, and as the One who has secured everything for God. He is the perfect contrast to Adam the first, who came from God, and lost everything, and went to the dust. The Last Adam came from God, secured everything for God, and has gone to God as the glorified Head of a new race [p. 91] brought into divine love in association with Himself, and Head of a new creation in which all the thoughts of that love will be effected and displayed for ever. For the Father has “given all things into his hands”. Think of the greatness of it. Jesus stepped into the midst of all the ruin and moral chaos which sin had caused, and so secured everything for God that the Father has given all things into His hands. He has acquired, may we say, the right to be Head of the new creation — to be the Centre and Sun of that universe of bliss which He has secured for God, and which He will fill with divine glory. Those far-reaching realms of light and glory are fitly inherited by Him who has put them all in suitability to divine love. In such a circle our souls are lost, dazzled, bewildered. The expanse of divine glory is too great for us. We cannot comprehend divine greatness; thank God! the portion of our hearts is divine love.
Nothing can be of greater importance for our hearts than to apprehend the meaning of the words, “Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father” (John 13: 1). His coming into the world has secured everything for God, and has brought the perfect revelation of the Father into it, but it has also proved in the fullest way the true character of the world. It is a scene of darkness, hatred, and dishonour to God. The fact that the Son of the Father has been here has demonstrated that there is nothing in the world for the Father. So that He could say, “Now is the judgment of this world” (John 12: 31), and again the Holy Ghost convicts the world “of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16: 11). The character of the prince of this world is fully revealed, and in that revelation the whole system of which he is the head is fully exposed. The world is controlled by, and derives its character from, one who hates the Father and the Son. There is no place in the world for the Father or the Son. This has been fully proved; so that the world is not at [p. 92] all in the experimental stage so far as God is concerned. It is so with men; they are trying to improve it, and to see what they can make of it. But for God the world is a judged thing; it has been tried, proved, and fully exposed. The whole truth as to it is out. Some people say the world is getting better, and others say it is getting worse. They are both wrong. It is no better than when the Son of God was here, and it could not possibly be worse. Jesus has left it because there was nothing in it for the Father; He has left it as a scene fully exposed and judged. Many believers have not accepted this; they think the world can be improved; their hearts have not apprehended the immense fact that Jesus has left this world as a judged thing, and has gone to the Father. The result is they do not enter into the precious things revealed in John 13 - John 17. If the world is not a judged thing for our hearts I am sure we shall never understand these chapters.
But if the blessed Lord has no link with the world, He has a most intimate and precious link with a certain company in the world — the “flock” of chapter 10; the “children of God” of chapter 11; the “much fruit” of chapter 12 — now spoken of as “his own which were in the world”. His heart is bound to that company in inconceivable love; it is His peculiar treasure — the “pearl of great price” to obtain which “he sold all that he had” (Matthew 13: 46). Indeed, the consideration of all that is involved in being “his own” would carry our hearts over the whole range of divine grace, and would lead us in a wonderful way into the thoughts of divine love. The saints are His own by the Father’s gift. “Thine they were”, says the Son, “and thou gavest them me” (John 17: 6). Before time began the Father took possession of us by making us the subjects of His gracious thought and counsel, and His purpose and object in thus taking possession of us was that He might give us to the Son. In the thoughts of divine love we are of such value as to be [p. 93] a suitable gift from the Father to the Son — a gift worthy of the Giver and the Receiver. We shall be for ever the expression to the Son of the Father’s love to Him. This is beyond our comprehension, but is it not precious to think of?
His own by His choice of us. “I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15: 19). When He was here He called to Him whom He would. It was no indiscriminate or haphazard company that gathered round Him, brought together by chance of circumstance or by the decision of human will. It was a called and chosen company, and it is just as true, beloved brethren, that He has chosen us. He wants us for Himself; He must have us; now He has got us; we are His own.
His own by redemption. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10: 11). He has an indisputable right to us, for He has redeemed us, and in doing so has proved that His love was “strong as death”. He could only secure us for Himself at the cost of His life, and He has given “his life for the sheep”. There can never be such an expression of His love again, but the love that thus expressed itself remains unchanged.
His own by moral conformity to Himself. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17: 16). The world is made up of “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2: 16). In perfect contrast to this there was divine love, divine light, and divine lowliness in Him. He was not of the world. And as we are formed in, and grow up in, the divine nature these same things will characterize us who are “his own”.
His own in the affection of our hearts. “The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus” (John 1: 37). He had not said a word to them yet, but the raptured gaze of the Baptist had rested upon Him, and the delight of his heart had expressed itself in the involuntary exclamation, “Behold the Lamb of God”. And in simple, spontaneous [p. 94] affection the two went after Him — His own in their affections. Again, Peter as the spokesman of the twelve says in a moment of testing, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6: 68). He had made Himself indispensable to their hearts — He was unrivalled in their affections. There was something about them which made them precious to the Father — “The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me” (John 16: 27). May God give us hearts like theirs!
His own to be loved by Him. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15: 9). Could anything equal this? Does it not fill the heart with unspeakable satisfaction and joy? Nothing can measure this love; no sounding-line can fathom it. If we had, like Paul, “suffered the loss of all things” here, would not His love be a sufficient compensation? Rebecca lost her own country, but she got Isaac’s love. The servant could speak of “flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses” (Genesis 24: 35), but you may depend upon it that Isaac’s love was the great thing to Rebecca. We are often occupied with our blessings, but the great thing is the love of Christ. And this love never fails. “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end”.
We must understand the character of the company and the character of the world in order to apprehend the meaning of John 13. It would be a natural thing for such a company to go out of the world, as Jesus was about to do, for “his own” are in the circle of divine love, and there is nothing in the world that answers to that love. “The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not” (1 John 3: 1). The world was so unsuited to Him that He must needs leave it and go to the Father, yet He leaves His own in it. So that there is a company suited to divine affections and brought into the circle of those affections, and yet left “in the world”. This is the position of “his own” at the present moment. Left in the world, and yet within the circle of divine love; that is, belonging to the very circle into which Jesus has gone. He has gone to the Father; He has returned to that blessed circle of divine affections where all is suited to Him; but He has not left His own outside the circle of those affections. That circle touches the earth and holds within itself “his own” which are in the world. As to divine affections, Jesus is not in one circle and His own in another. The circle of divine and heavenly affections where the Son is with the Father touches the earth, and includes His own which are in the world. It is a circle of heavenly love, but we come within it even here.
This peculiar and blessed fact must be apprehended if we wish to understand this chapter. That is, we are within the circle of divine affections, but not yet taken out of the place where there is nothing for the Father or the Son. If we were altogether in the circle of divine affections, divine love could rest in our undisturbed blessing. But we are still in a scene, and in a condition, where there are innumerable elements at work which are of a nature contrary to those affections. And therefore so long as we are in the world divine love cannot rest; that love must needs consider all these contrary and hindering elements, and must serve in its solicitude to maintain us in the enjoyment of, and in suitability to, that heavenly circle to which we belong. Hence the service of Jesus — so beautifully and touchingly presented to us in figure in this chapter.
Divine love considers everything — knows what the world is — knows what we are — and loves to the end. It is an out-and-out love — love in spite of everything. You may say, “I find so many things to hinder”. Do you think you have found something the Lord overlooked? No! the Lord sees all, and knows all, and loves to the end. Nothing can turn that love. It was the darkest moment for the blessed Lord; He [p. 96] was just about to suffer; the dark clouds of that dreaded “hour” were closing in upon Him; and yet He rose from supper and girded Himself to wash their feet. He was thinking not of Himself but of them. On the other hand, it is as “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God”, that He rises and girds Himself for His service of love. The greatness and glory of which He was so perfectly conscious give an inexpressible depth of meaning to this unique act of divine love. Their condition, too, perfectly known by Him, did not stay that love. He knew that one would deny Him, and all forsake Him — the treachery of Judas and the weakness of Peter were alike before Him — but His love retired, if we may so say, into itself, and acted altogether from itself. “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded”.
That it was a service with an unknown meaning at the time we may gather from the Lord’s words to Peter. “What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter”. This shows it was much more than an object lesson in humility; for if that had been its chief intent the force of it was never so apparent as at the moment. We are constrained to look for a wider meaning and a deeper significance than this in the action of the Lord. And, indeed, He gives us the key to it when, in answer to Peter’s objection, He says, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”. Solemn and impressive words. May their force and meaning come home to our hearts with divine power.
I must again remind you of the fact that, although we belong to the circle of divine love, we are still “in the world”. The Lord is altogether in the circle of divine love — He has gone to the Father — and as our hearts enter into that circle we have part with Him. But here is another solemn disclosure [p. 97] of the nature of the world, and of the true character of all its influences; a solemn warning, too, as to our susceptibility to those influences, and as to the condition in which we remain while “in the world”. We are entitled to be in the circle of divine love; divine grace has called us into it; and as being partakers of the divine nature we are of that circle; we are of it as belonging to the Father and the Son; and yet it is not less true that the blessed Lord says to each one of us, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”. There is an absolute necessity for this service of love to maintain our hearts in freedom from the influences of the world, and in such superiority to all that is incidental to our present condition, that in heart and spirit we may really enter the circle of divine affections, and have part with Him who has gone to the Father. We are in a condition that renders this service necessary. There is that in us to which the dust of the world sticks, if I may be allowed to express it thus simply. In the case of our blessed Lord there was nothing to which the dust of the world could adhere. He was altogether the Holy One of God, and all the influences and tendencies of this world were repelled from Him by the absolute holiness and purity of His Person. There was no moral point of contact between Him and the world, though He passed through it in lowly and perfect grace. We are not only in the world as to our bodily condition, but there is that in us which affords a point of moral contact with the world. There is that in us to which the dust of the world can adhere. Our blessed Lord did not need to have His feet washed, but we do. Our condition renders us susceptible to the influences of the world. It is not that we sin, but we are affected by things here; they have a tendency to occupy our hearts, and to influence us in such a way that we are taken out of the enjoyment of that circle of divine affections into which Jesus has gone, and to which, through infinite grace, we belong. So far from the defilement of John 13 being actual failure or sin, I believe [p. 98] the most spiritual person is the one who will most appreciate this service of love — he is the one who will have the deepest sense of the need of having his feet washed. It would be a sad thing to suppose and certainly Scripture does not assert — that there is absolute necessity for a believer to commit sin. But there is absolute necessity for the feet-washing in order to have part with Christ, and hence the defilement which that washing removes must be a necessity too. It is that which is unavoidable so long as we are “in the world”.
But let us follow the instruction of the chapter a little further. Peter, looking upon the scene in a natural way, had first of all refused to allow the Lord to wash his feet; but on hearing that the washing was with a view to having part with Him, he exclaims with his usual fervency of spirit, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head”. This gives occasion to the Lord to make the important statement of verse 10, “He that is washed [bathed] needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit”. It is evident that the figure used is that of a person who has bathed, and in walking from the bath has defiled his feet with the dust of the floor. He does not need to return to the bath; he only requires that his feet should be washed, to be “clean every whit”.
Let us seek, in the first place, to understand what is meant by “he that is washed”. It has sometimes been taken as the cleansing of the blood, but this has no warrant in the scripture. It is expressly cleansing by water, and where we find this in Scripture it seems to me to be a figure of passing into a wholly new order of things, and of being made suitable for it. The priests were washed in the day of their consecration. (Exodus 29: 4.) It was a ceremony indicative of the fact that they were set apart for this special service; it was their introduction to a new order of life; and was expressive of the fact that they were introduced to it in a way that rendered them suitable for it. Scripture speaks of the “washing of regeneration”
([p. 99] Titus 3: 5), where the thought is evidently that of introduction to a totally new order of things; and Paul says to the Corinthians, “ye are washed” — enforcing thereby the fact that they had been brought out of everything that constituted their former life. Now, how had the disciples been “washed”? May we not learn something as to it from John 15: 3? “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you”. The word of Christ had wrought in power in their hearts, and they had been introduced by it to an entirely new order of things. No doubt the new birth is essential to this, and the “washing” involves the thought of the death of Christ; and is, so to speak, the application of His death as that which separates us from the world and from ourselves as in the flesh; but it evidently includes the knowledge of Christ by His word. “Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you”. Christ had made Himself known, by His word, in the hearts of the disciples. His word expressed Himself, and the knowledge of Himself had freed their hearts from everything that was of the world. It was a great thing for a few fishermen to be found in complete superiority to all the political, social, and religious influences that were around them. They were delivered from the whole current of things and opinions that prevailed in the world. They were brought outside it all — morally purified from it all — by the knowledge of Christ. “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life”, are words which express the heart-feelings of the company thus “washed” and “clean”. They had, if I may so say, the moral cleansing of a new object. The knowledge of that blessed Person had delivered them from the thoughts of men, and from the motives and principles of the world. The “expulsive power” of the knowledge of Christ had displaced other things, and by the knowledge of Him they entered into an entirely new world. They were “washed”.
“He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet”.
[p. 100] The cleansing of the whole moral being, in the way of which I have spoken, is a divine operation that is never repeated, but there is continual need for the feet to be washed. It is the point of contact with this present scene which is the point of danger, and we cannot avoid this so long as we are in the world. The very thought of this may well move our affections deeply when we consider that it necessitates the untiring and devoted service of the One who loves “unto the end”. It furnishes Him with opportunity to give continual expression to His love. But for this ministry of divine love our contact with the world, and our susceptibility to the influences of this present scene, would have the effect of permanently withdrawing our hearts from part with Christ in the circle of divine affections. Little do we know how the blessed Lord longs to have our hearts in company with Himself in that wondrous circle. May He be graciously pleased to draw us near to Himself, and give our hearts a deeper sense of His love.
The question may be asked, “How does the Lord wash our feet?” I cannot say much about it, but it seems to me that the washing of the feet partakes of the same nature as the washing all over. It is of the same character, though with a more limited range according to the present need. I believe our feet are washed by a fresh presentation of Christ to our affections. He brings Himself and His love before our hearts, and thus He displaces the dust of the world. It is a distinct service — the special service of His love while we are in the world. If our hearts are really touched by this I am sure we shall count more upon the Lord for His service, and we shall look more to Him for it. No doubt this service of love is for all “his own”, but we ought to be exercised as to whether we have been in a condition to get the good of it. One must be consciously of “his own”, and have the world as a judged thing, before he can realize the good of this precious service of divine love. There must also be a response — [p. 101] a looking for the service. I am afraid we are often like Peter; we will not allow the Lord to wash our feet. We give Him no opportunity of doing so. Do we not often read the Word and pray without turning to the Lord for His present and personal ministry of love?
Christ loves His own which are in the world, and He washes their feet. If we have part with Him we shall love His own, and we shall wash their feet. Those who taste the joys of that circle of divine affections cannot help longing that others should have their feet cleansed from the dust of the world, that they might enjoy their true portion according to the thoughts of divine love. It is as our own feet are washed that we become instrumental in washing the feet of our brethren. If my feet are not washed my heart is more or less under the power and influence of things here, and if I speak of these things I put a little more dust on my brother’s feet. But if my feet have been washed the love of Christ and of the Father are known in my heart — I am in the circle of divine affections — and I naturally speak of the things that are in that circle. If I am enabled to bring these things before my brother’s heart I wash his feet. It is not by telling him of his faults that I wash his feet. If he has sinned, or been overtaken in a fault, I must go to other scriptures to know how to treat him. This chapter does not suppose any actual sin or fault, though I am convinced that if our feet are not washed we are in the greatest danger of falling into sin; if the dust accumulates on our feet it will undoubtedly result in sin. We must know the thoughts of divine love to understand this precious service of Christ; and I shall be thankful if the Lord uses His word tonight to lead us a little more into those thoughts.