On the last night that Jesus spent with his disciples, he chose to wash their feet, share a meal, and tenderly remind them of his love – love that would remain with them long after he left.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 34-35).
Christ’s love is the story I come back to time and time again when I find myself dizzy from despair and when everything around me feels like it is crumbling. I come back to Jesus tenderly loving his own on that final night before his crucifixion. It reminds me of who and whose I am: beloved child of God, washed and fed, claimed and nourished, loved and forgiven, now and always, no matter what.
On the empty cross and in the empty grave, there is a love that knows no bounds. A love that will continue to seek after us no matter where we find ourselves.
This message is excerpted from “Love becomes our story” by Minna Bothwell in the August 2024 Café online magazine. Today is the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Today we commemorate Erik, King of Sweden, martyr, 1160.
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