God’s saving love

Many doctors have died serving Covid-19 patients. They willingly served and suffered knowing full well the risks involved. Their suffering was not the result of their karma but a consequence of love. Engaging in work, after all, means getting our hands dirty. What about God? Is God so high that He cannot dirty himself while serving? Certainly not! When God incarnated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, he dirtied his hands and revealed His divine love on the planes of history and time.

God’s saving love and His passionate care for the fallen and wayward humanity is clearly stated in John 3:16; “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When people were trying to kill Jesus (5:18), he responded with a love that wanted to save them (5:34). An incident recorded in the Bible tells us that Jesus was present in Cana, considered by all as an insignificant little town, but not by God, who made all places and people with equal worth. Jesus was attending a wedding there and helped meet the need and save the host from embarrassment, even though the host did not know a shortage had occurred. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had informed Jesus of the need and Jesus met the need (2:1,11).

Jesus was a boundary breaker. In another show of love, Jesus crossed racial and gender barriers to talk to a Samaritan woman, which was unheard of during Jesus’ days. Having truly encountered God in the person of Jesus, her life was transformed and this led to the liberation of many people, who found new life and identity as children of God.

John the Baptist called Jesus the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (1:29). Indeed, Jesus is the light of the world (8:12) who came to save and not to judge (3:17). Like Jesus, we should be willing to actively engage in order to save lives no matter the consequence.