One Whom Jesus Loves

 

I love Easter! Not only is it less stressful and more relaxed than Christmas, Easter celebrates the most important event in Christian history. Several years ago, I put together an extensive Easter playlist. I tweak it a bit every year, but it currently stands at 56 songs with a runtime of 4 hours and 4 minutes. The first half of the playlist is carefully arranged to follow the chronology of Holy Week while the second half celebrates the resurrection before pointing to the Second Coming in the last few songs.

As long as the playlist is, it only begins to scratch the surface of the music that has been written to celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thousands of songs have been written about this one event in history. And why not? Jesus loved us so very much that He came to die for us, and then He defeated death itself!

I have enjoyed going through the book of John over the past year, both at church and in my personal reading. One thing that has stood out to me is that the author refers to himself several times as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Growing up, I always heard this talked about in a joking way, as if John was being a bit bold and presumptuous. It wasn’t until last year that I read a different perspective, which I believe is closer to the truth. John was placing his identity in being loved by God. He did not talk about himself as an apostle, evangelist, or author—though he was all of those things. He identified himself as loved by God.

In our world today, there is a lot of talk about identity. What political party do you belong to? What gender do you identify as? What denomination are you a part of? In our personal lives, we can often worry about how others perceive us through what we do, titles we hold, achievements we are proud of, or shortcomings we are ashamed of. But what would happen if you saw yourself first and foremost as one whom Jesus loves?

One of the songs on my Easter playlist is “When Love Sees You” by Mac Powell. It’s from the album Music Inspired by the Story, which I highly recommend. The chorus and bridge speak to how Jesus sees us:

“Tell Me your story, show Me your wounds
And I'll show you what Love sees when Love looks at you
Hand Me the pieces, broken and bruised
And I'll show you what Love sees when Love sees you.

I see what I made in your mother's womb
I see the day I fell in love with you
I see your tomorrows, nothing left to chance
I see My Father's fingerprints

I see your story, I see My name
Written on every beautiful page
You see the struggle, you see the shame
I see the reason I came.

I came for your story, I came for your wounds
To show you what Love sees when I see you.”

God looks at us with the greatest love that has ever been or ever will be. It is immense beyond measure and incomprehensible. As we celebrate on this Easter, I invite you to place your identity in being loved by Jesus.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

 

--Concetta Swann