“Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father.

                      Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end” (John 13:1, MSG).

On April 23, 1962, Karl Barth, a twentieth century Swiss-German theologian reportedly spoke at Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago. During the question and answer time, a student asked Karl Barth if he could summarize his theology in a single sentence. As the story goes, Barth responded by saying, “In the words of a song learned at my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”

 

Barth had an amazing mind. He wrote volumes of theological treatises as an attempt to describe the spiritually indescribable. Yet for all his work, Barth claims that the witness of the Scriptures can be boiled down to three words: Jesus loves me.

 

Take a few moments to reflect on this reality. Imagine Jesus saying, “I love you.” In fact, sing the words of the wonderful hymn aloud:

 

Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so,
Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so. (Five minutes.)

 

Now, share this personal message of God’s love with one or more people today. You may wish to email a musical link of “Jesus Loves Me,” to someone you know who is feeling unwanted. Find your own creative way to let this person or persons know how passionately God loves them.