2013-06-07       John W                           John W's previous articles

"Over the top" - the love in Jesus' heart

The phrase "over the top" seems to have been first used in World War I when soldiers left the safety of their trenches and went "up and over" to charge the enemy ....a foolhardy venture ....a display of recklessness ....suggesting excessiveness. "Over the top" is now sometimes used in a positive sense, suggesting excessive love, kindness, help etc

Such is the love in Jesus' heart: it's over the top .....excessive by human standards

I was thinking about this yesterday during a prison visit.
How come Jesus said "I was in prison and you visited me"?
Why did he identify with prisoners? With drug dealers and thieves and swindlers and extortionists and murderers and sex offenders

Human thinking is to regard such people as scum, as rubbish, as "good for nothing"

But it was precisely for scum that Jesus died.  Jesus regarded scum as worth dying for.  And if Jesus died for someone, we cannot say that person is good for nothing. 

This is not to excuse the wrong that offenders have done. They have hurt people ...and have hurt God.
But "over the top" love has a special concern for such bad apples at the bottom of the barrel

It was for such "outcasts" that Jesus showed special concern during his earthly ministry ....as opposed to the religious leaders who regarded outcasts as people to be avoided, as "untouchables"

Jesus' over the top love knows the background of offenders: how so many of them came from troubled homes, had  restricted opportunities for education, were exposed to unhealthy influences, were in desperate financial situations etc

The more we remember Jesus' over the top love, the more we become aware of how conditional our love is: someone makes fun of us, so we try to avoid them

The more we remember Jesus' love, the more we become aware that every one of us has benefited from his over the top love: by protecting us, by rescuing us, by healing us ....from scum situations

May the image of Jesus' heart remind us of Jesus' over the top love ....and encourage us to leave our trenches of conditional love

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for your "over the top" love and generosity. Please help me be more loving and generous towards other people

---------------

Comments welcome here