This is the last reflection in the series “Love Is” which is a fuller, more comprehensive Bible Study I wrote this Spring. This reflection was written the week preceding Easter, so the message was very timely. I pray it still is for you today, as you read it. Remember also, that as we learn how God loves us, we are more able to love others fully. Thank you for following along.
“Love endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:7
Paul concludes his reflection on the facets of love with a triumphal message. With characteristic encouragement, he develops one more picture for his readers to contemplate as they consider how to love. Knowing his readers will be called to bear up under hardships, trials, and sufferings, Paul delivers a message of fortitude. Endurance, far from being passive resignation, is the facet of Christian love that takes an active, committed stance. It is love in action.
The Greek word hupomenó is often translated “endures” or “perseveres”. But it literally means to stay behind, to await, to stand ground, or to bear up against. Hupomenó has a military sense of sustaining assault in the course of battle, which is how it is used throughout the New Testament.[1] Certainly this was a necessary skill for the apostles and their growing communities of faith in the 1st century. And we know it is true for us today- in our faith, in our relationships, in our call to stand our ground for the Kingdom. Our commitment to stay in “the fight” – in spite of assault, injury, or fatigue – is sometimes our greatest act of love. Though faith may falter and hope wain in the struggle, all onslaughts are lost against love that refuses to retreat. Love endures to the end.
Perhaps my favorite promise in Scripture is the one God spoke to Joshua, the leader and military commander of the Israelites, as he stood on the edge of the promised land. God said, “I will not leave you or forsake you”.[2] This promise appears multiple times throughout the Old Testament and again in the New Testament.[3] It is the promise that God’s faithful presence will never retreat, or flee, or recede from those called into God’s love and service. Perhaps that is why we love Psalm 23 so much. David praises God, saying “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me…you prepare a table for me in the midst of my enemies.” (vs. 5). Though David walks that fine line somewhere between enemy attack and death, he revels that God has not only remained by his side, but has supported, refreshed and honored him in the process. He understands the greatness of a love that never subsides, will never leave him. God demonstrated that love again and again to his people, despite their wayward rebellion and sinfulness. God does not retreat.
Jesus was the personification of that love. There are two events which perfectly illustrate God’s committed love at work in Jesus. The night of the fateful Passover, just after the meal, Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room for the Garden of Gethsemane, where they often met together. It was not a far walk in the damp, cool night. The garden was located at the base of the Mount of Olives. From the garden it was a short, steep climb to the top, a hike that Jesus and his disciples made regularly. Every time Jesus came and went to Bethany (home to his friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha), he made that hike. On the other side of Bethany, the desert opened up. But on that one fateful night, Jesus chose to remain in the garden. Scriptures make it clear He was waiting – waiting for God’s direction, waiting for God’s strength, waiting for Judas and the officers to arrive. Though he struggled against his own flesh, he endured. Jesus did not flee, though the others did.[4] Jesus did not retreat from God’s call to him.
Of course, the painful agony of the cross was to follow that night. He knew that too. Throughout the horrific events of the next 18 hours, Jesus had several opportunities to recant his teachings and proclamations, to convince a confused and weak despot to release him, and to call down legions of angels to save him.[5] As the crowd shouted, “Surely he can save himself”[6]. But he didn’t. He endured the cross[7]. He stood in the place of suffering and shame – abiding the pain and degradation – for the sake of love. In so doing, he perfectly demonstrated his love for his Father. He faithfully accomplished his mission the Father had entrusted to him.[8] His endurance to the end was also the ultimate act of love for his beloved followers – the ones he came to serve and to save. He stayed behind so that we were not left behind. His commitment ensured our salvation, the right to dwell in the presence of God, all the days or our lives – and then some. Hebrews 12:2 says he did if for the joy set before him. What was his joy? Was it the Father’s pleasure with him, the Father’s favor crowned upon his head? Or was it us? Could his joy have been the prospect of unending communion with us? [9] Maybe both.
The Writer to the Hebrews encourages us that our love must be as stalwart as the love of Jesus. Love in the early stages is passionate, committed to the death. We say as much in our marriage vows. Love at the onset of every commissioning sees only victory. It is the length of the battle and the sustained injuries that tempers our commitment. We wonder if we really understood our conscription. This is true of any commitment, any relationship. Only when it gets hard can we begin to understand how endurance is a new way to love. Love is never AWOL. Love never leaves or forsakes but remains to stand its ground.
The Writer encourages his readers by reminding them of their enduring love:
“Remember those earlier days after you had received light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.”… [You did so ]“because you know that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.” … “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
(Hebrews 10:32-37)
“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:39)
This is our pep talk. Just when we think we are too weary to press on in battle, we are called to stay in the fight. We can! We can endure all things through Christ who strengthens us.[10] We are sometimes weary warriors. But we take heart. Jesus is with us on the battlefield. Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of danger and death, He sets a table for us. He is the feast. He refreshes us, gives us rest, and anoints us. If we endure, we will find his joy. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”[11]
Jesus,
My precious savior,
what strength of love you showed when you went to the cross.
You purposefully lingered, waited, held back,
to take the assault –
for my sake.
Now I know that you will never leave me or leave me behind.
Because you persevered then,
I know you are with me now.
Nothing can separate us now.
You are my strength, my fortress, my stronghold, my salvation.
In you, I too can answer the call.
I can uphold promises, I can stand in the place, I can be light.
Any assault I take is buffered by your presence in me.
You are my shield.
With you, I can persevere.
You are with me.
This is our joy.
You in me, and I in You.
We can endure all things, for the joy set before us.
Praise you, Lord Jesus.
Amen.
This is an excerpt from my new Bible Study called LOVE IS. If you would like to learn more, or participate independently online, click here: https://elizabethheadblack.com/love-is-study/.
[1] Hodge, p.240.
[2] Joshua 1:5
[3] Hebrews 13:5
[4] Matthew 26:56
[5] John 18:19-24,33-38
[6] Matthew 27:39-43
[7] Hebrews 12:2
[8] John 12:23-25, 27-30
[9] Romans 8:35-39
[10] Philippians 4:13
[11] Psalm 23:6