My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15: 12, 13.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5: 6, 8.

In our Friday Zoom Retreat this morning, we listened to a video by John Ortberg about Love with the above Scripture verses cited. As we listened and then discussed together the impact of that message…Don’t let your heart be troubled…I couldn’t help but think about Creator God – the Son – coming as one of us to live here with us. Imagine! And I shared with the group how I woke up during the night with the answer springing forth – Choose the Good! And it all made sense and I hoped and prayed I wouldn’t forget anything from an obvious conversation begun with prayer and extending into sleep. Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is not far away and judging us. He is loving us. And He is the Good that if we could only completely grasp, would change our lives for eternity.

And in our chapter, Mark 14, we have such extreme examples of choosing the good or choosing wrong leading to unbearable suffering and harm. Hasn’t that always been the choice? The chief priests and teachers of the law are scheming how to have Jesus arrested and killed, but not during the festival for fear of the people, v. 1-2. And meanwhile, while Jesus was with the twelve in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman comes to worship God. She came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head. v. 3. And Jesus’ response to her devotion? “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have Me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on My body beforehand to prepare for My burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” v. 6-9. The contrasting choice? Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand Him over. v. 10-11. And for the Passover meal eaten at the place prepared, Jesus told them plainly that one of them would betray Him, v. 12-18. Can you imagine what that was like for the eleven or for Judas, or for Jesus? And now the time had come for the new covenant and Jesus teaches them. While they were eating, Jesus took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, “Take it; this is My body.” Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” He said to them. “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” v. 22-25. This is at the Passover meal. Lambs were slain for this very meal to commemorate when the blood of the lambs was put on the doorposts so they would be saved from the angel of death. And this meal happens the night that Jesus is betrayed into the hands of sinners…You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. And after this meal together, they go to Gethsemane. Remember the choices? Jesus takes with Him deeper into the garden, at night, Peter, James and John, so that He can pray in private to the Father for strength. He specifically warns Simon Peter to watch and pray so that he will not fall into temptation because “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” v. 32-38. Jesus does pray and does draw strength from that time with His Father. Peter and the others fall asleep 3 times. Peter ended up denying knowing Jesus, v. 66-72; Jesus goes on to fulfill all that was known from before the creation. Judas left them after the Passover meal. But he returns to the garden with a crowd armed with swords and clubs, and Jesus is taken to the high priest where they were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death, but they did not find any. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against Him: “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree, v. 53-59. Choices for wrong. It was only when the high priest asked Jesus if He was the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One, that Jesus answered him. “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” v. 60-62. Choice for good! The truth! But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.

We live in a world where trouble and tribulations abound, in nature’s force of floods, earthquakes, tsunamis; in cancers, sickness, disease; in wars and atrocities against human beings; in lies all springing from the father of lies, Satan, who hates Creator God and hates us and hates God’s creation. That’s a lot of hate and we see it reflected in every choice for wrong. And through everything in every age, Creator God tells us to choose the good! Our choice always. And the Good is the love of Creator God for us His children dearly loved. He came to live among us! He showed us what God’s love is. And He asks us to love Him and to love one another and to trust Him. How can He not? He knows how wonderful is our lives as we turn to closeness with Him. How can we not? He is the One who saves us from ourselves as we believe the lies of the deceiver, lies that will one day be no more. And in believing and trusting in Creator God, we find hope and our true home. We find closeness with Him as He lead us gently into the truth of our lives. Creator God IS…and we are loved by Him!