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1. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Thy glorious rest above!2. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches oer His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth oer them from the throne!3. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of every love the best!
Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
Tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee!
by Samuel Trevor Francis
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 8:38-39 ESV
Yes, we know Jesus loves us intellectually, but it doesn’t always filter to our hearts when we are struggling. We forget the pain and agony Christ’s death involved. We don’t think through what the separation from the Father meant to Him, for the first time in all eternity! It is impossible for us to conceptualize what that would be like!
During this Lenten Season, we try to take time to think more about what the last 40 days of his earthly life must have been like as He lived it out, knowing what was ahead.
During Jesus’ last days on earth, the people around Him were doing a variety of things that contrasted starkly with what He was doing. How do you identify with these contrasts, if at all?
He, the King of glory in heaven with all of His rights and privileges there, was born to parents who were barely above poverty themselves. Now he was living out the final days here with those closest to Him. Some in the crowds liked Him for what He could do for them. Others worshipped Him for who He was. Even His disciples understood so little of who He really was and they were living with Him most of the time.
Then there were many of the religious leaders who were trying to figure out how to kill Him! The contrasts must have been stark! It is a reminder of Philippians 2 (see below) where He talks about His mindset, that of a servant.
It is amazing to think about how He lived out those last weeks humbly serving many of those who had no clue what was ahead. Think of how He raised Lazarus from the dead; was adored by the crowds on Palm Sunday; washed the disciples’ feet before serving Passover to them; watched as they fell asleep in the Garden while He prayed; and endured the humiliation and torture that led up to the crucifixion while everyone deserted him.
Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,even death on a cross.Philippians 2:5-8 ESV
