Every true believer loves the Lord. Peter, speaking to believers about the Lord, can say, "Whom having not seen, ye love." In the presence of the proud Pharisee, the Lord can say of the woman who kissed His feet, "She loved much." Thus Scripture recognizes this love, and the Lord delights in it. Moreover, love to the Lord carries with it the promise of many blessings, not the least being the special realization of the presence of the Lord and of the Father (John 14:21-2421He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. (John 14:21‑24)).
Yet Scripture recognizes the varied measures of love for the Lord found among His disciples on different occasions. The love of Mary of Bethany, who anointed the Lord with the "very precious ointment," was surely greater than that of the indignant disciples who said, "To what purpose is this waste?" The love of Mary of Magdala, who "stood without at the sepulcher weeping," exceeded on that occasion the love of the disciples who "went away again unto their own home."
Moreover, our love may wax and wane. Under pressure, the love of many may "wax cold." In the presence of the allurements of the world, this love may dim, as in the case of a believer of whom the Apostle Paul could say, he "hath forsaken me, having loved this present world."
Yet, while love to the Lord is very precious in His sight, and is to be cherished and desired by the believer, it is clear we cannot trust in a love that is so liable to change. The love that we alone can rest in must be the love that knows no change-the love that abides-the love of Christ for His own.
"Our souls through many changes go; His love no change can ever know."
It is the realization and enjoyment of the love of Christ that awakens our love to Him. "We love Him," says the Apostle, "because He first loved us." Hence our love to Christ will be according to the measure in which we realize His love to us. If we then would love the Lord with more singleness of heart, let us not turn in upon our own hearts and think of our love to Him, but let us seek to delight our souls in His love to us.
The effect of a soul thus delighting itself in the love of Christ is blessedly illustrated by the Apostle John in the closing scenes of the Lord's life. In contrast, the same scenes depict the sorrowful effects of confidence in our love to the Lord, as in the case of the Apostle Peter. Both disciples loved the Lord with a true and deep affection beyond that of most, for it led them to leave all and follow Him. One disciple, however, trusted in his love to the Lord, while the other rested in the Lord's love to him. This is the outstanding difference between these two men, so often found in close association in these last scenes.
When the Lord, in His wonderful grace, washes the disciples' feet, Peter can ask, "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?" And when he learns that without the feet-washing there can be no part with Christ, immediately he exclaims with a glow of ardent love, "Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." A little later, with genuine love to the Lord, he can say, "I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death"; and again, "Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended." Then at the betrayal scene, Peter, in his ardent love for the Lord, drew his sword in defense of his Master. Thus, both by words and deeds, he seems to say, "I am the man that loves the Lord." In contrast to Peter, the Apostle John says, as it were, "I am the man that the Lord loves"; for indeed he describes himself five times in these last scenes as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." It is wonderful that His love should have so wrought with us that we should love Him, but far more beautiful that He should love us in the first place. John delighted in this wonderful love, and it was on this boundless love which he rested.