We know nothing of Christ's love

And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. (Mark 3:16-19)


From Mark 1-3, I made some observations which startled me. Firstly, Christ's first advent was totally an initiative of the sovereign God. This is also evident in the calling of His disciples. I noticed how the author made special mention of those whom He called. They were named and for some, their brief genealogy was mentioned, even their character! Here lies a very strong contrast to how others were being mentioned, those being healed or freed from evil spirits. 


In the passage above, it once again showed me that God's love for us is truly above all and incomprehensible. Christ's love for man is of the highest order. According to my limited human knowledge, Christ's love is the pinnacle of what we comprehend of love itself.


1) He loved us to the extent that He was willing to die for us.
One way of determining the extent of your love for someone else is the degree to which you are willing to sacrifice yourself for the benefit of the other party. Christ emptied Himself for us, as written in the book of philipians. He loved and died for the unworthy.


2) He loved us despite His foreknowledge, He loved despite even betrayal
I know this is grammatically erroneous but yea. In the passage of scripture above and in fact in mark's previous records, mark penned the fact that Christ knew the hearts of all men. But the record on Judas Iscariot invoked a flurry of emotions within me. Shock, anger, joy, thanksgiving altogether. But it does not really matter how I feel about this, its not the point. God has been extremely gracious to choose each and every christian, despite knowing the state of us today, what we have become, how we will become. He loves us despite. 


"Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him."




LORD, teach me to hear your Word, fear you and love you.