You know that friend that keeps going back to their crazy ex, no matter how toxic they are and no matter how many times you beg them to stay away? We all have at least one. We quote Proverbs 26:11 to them, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.” But it doesn’t do any good, they are head strong, dead set, DETERMINED that they are going to love this person no matter what. And we have to keep watching them get hurt in some idiosyncratic combination of bravery and complete disregard for self. They smile and insist that they love them, and that maybe this time it will be different.. It rarely is, but there’s a small part of this perceived naivety that is almost admirable.. And have we ever stopped to consider that maybe Jesus would be one of those people?  Maybe Jesus IS one of those people?

Come with me quickly to Matthew 26:40, but let’s set the scene. This is Jesus’ LAST NIGHT on earth, and at this moment, He is with not just his apostles, but the three He is absolutely closest with, Peter, James, and John. Here’s what happens:

“Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow… Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?” When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, “My Father, if there is no other way than this, I’m ready. Do it your way.” When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time. When he came back the next time, he said, “Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners.” - Matthew 26:36-46

These are Jesus’ three closest friends, and on His last night on earth, His last night ALIVE, they can’t even be bothered to stay awake… So what does He do? He uses them as the foundations on which to build the church. This is Peter, the rock on which Jesus said He would build his church. John, the one we are told is “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” And this is far from the first time something like this has happened. Throughout the New Testament there are constant examples of the disciples letting Jesus down, and yet, He chooses them. Over, and over, and over, He chooses them. The Bible repeatedly refers to the church, (that’s us) as the bride of Christ. Constantly throughout scripture, it is like an endless Groundhog Day loop in which the Lord pursues and loves His people, only for them to mistreat Him, fail to properly value Him, to treat Him with infinitely less than the adoration that He deserves… And yet in his infinite kindness, patience, and love, He still chooses us, over, and over, and over.

 Maybe we shouldn’t encourage our friends to go back to “crazy exes”, or act like it’s always a good idea, it usually isn’t. But maybe we should thank God every day that the love of Christ has no regard for what is perceived as foolish, naive, or lacking in self-regard. That in His infinite love HE is willing to get hurt and be abandoned, to risk it all, that we might experience His love. Thank you for a Jesus that throws boundaries to the curb and trades self care for a cross. Because when it comes to Christ, the crazy ex was us.

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