Love's Hour

 

"Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." (John 13:1)
These words set the tone for all that we celebrate in these days. They also mark the beginning of the second half of John's Gospel, often referred to as The Book of Glory.
"Well, it just wasn't her time," we might say of someone who has survived a horrible car accident. Or of someone who dies after a long and full life, we might say "Well, it was his time." Throughout the first half of John's Gospel Jesus has been telling us that his time had not yet come or that his time was coming soon. Instead of "time" Jesus uses the word "hour" to refer to his dying and rising and returning to the Father. As the second half of John's Gospel begins we are told that "Jesus knew that his hour had come." It is the hour of love.
Extreme Love colors everything that happens from this point on: his Last Supper with his friends, his Passion and Death, his Resurrection. Jesus has shown his love for his disciples throughout the time that he has spent with them, but now he will show them to what extemes love will go. The Greek phrase that is translated above as "to the end" can also mean "utterly." Some translations have "He showed them the full extent of his love" or "He showed them how perfect his love was." It's time to let Love fall deep into our hearts.