The great love of Jesus Christ for us

I. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke iii. 6).

The Saviour of the world Whom the Prophet Isaias says men were one day to see on this earth — and all flesh shall see the salvation of God — has already come. We have not only seen Him conversing among men, but we have also seen Him suffering and dying for the love of us. Let us consider this great love which Jesus Christ has shown us.

"Christ," says St. Augustine, "came on earth that men might know how much God loves them." He has come, and to show the immense love which this God bears us, He has given Himself entirely to us, by abandoning Himself to all the pains of this life, and afterwards to the scourges, the thorns, and all the sorrows and insults of His Passion, and offering Himself to die abandoned by all, on the infamous tree of the Cross. Who hath loved us and hath delivered himself for us (Eph. v. 2).

Jesus Christ could save us without dying on the Cross, and without suffering. One drop of His Blood would be sufficient for our redemption. Even a prayer offered to His Eternal Father would be sufficient; because, on account of His Divinity, His prayer would be of infinite value, and would therefore be sufficient for the salvation of the world and of a thousand worlds. "But," says an ancient author, "what was sufficient for redemption was not sufficient for love." To show how much He loved us, He wished to shed not only a part of His Blood, but the whole of it, by dint of torments. This may be inferred from the words which He used on the night before His death: This is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many (Matt. xxvi. 28). The words shall be shed show that, in His Passion, the Blood of Jesus Christ was poured forth even to the last drop. Hence, when after death His side was opened with a spear, Blood and water came forth. What then flowed out was all that remained of His Blood. Jesus Christ, then, though He could save us without suffering, wished to embrace a life of continual pain, and to suffer the cruel and ignominious death of the Cross. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. ii. 8).

O Jesus, let Thy Blood flow upon me as upon the good Thief to wash me from my sins. May it inflame me with Thy holy love and make me all Thine own! I love Thee, O my Jesus, and I wish that I could die crucified for Thee as Thou didst die crucified for me.

II. Greater love than this no man hath that a man lay down his life for his friends (Jo. xv. 13). To show His love for us, what more could the Son of God do than die for us? What more can one man do for another than give his life for him? Greater love than this no man hath. Tell me, if one of your servants, if the vilest man on this earth, had done for you what Jesus Christ has done in dying of pain on a Cross, could you remember his love for you and not love him?

St. Francis of Assisi appeared to be unable to think of anything save the Passion of Jesus Christ; and thinking on it, he continually shed tears, so that by his constant weeping he became nearly blind. Being found one day weeping and groaning at the foot of the Crucifix, he was asked the cause of his tears and lamentations. He replied: "I weep over the sorrows and ignominies of my Lord. And what makes me weep still more is, that the men for whom He has suffered so much live in forgetfulness of Him."

O Christian, should a doubt ever enter your mind that Jesus Christ loves you, raise your eyes and look at Him hanging on the Cross. Ah! the Cross to which He is nailed, the internal and external sorrows which He endures, and the cruel death which He suffers for you, are, says St. Thomas of Villanova, convincing proofs of the love which He bears you. Do you not, says St. Bernard, hear that Cross and those Wounds crying out to make you feel that He truly loves you?

Ah, my Jesus, yes, Thou hast loved me even unto dying for me and I, too, wish to love Thee even unto dying for Thee! O my Lord, revenge Thyself upon me for my offences, but let it be the revenge of pity and of love!