Jesus Loves Me

This beloved children’s song teaches a lesson that lasts a lifetime.

                On May 10, 1837, banks in NY City began responding to a financial crisis in the U.S.  From 1837 until the mid-1840s, the U. S. was mired in a major depression.  Anna and Susan Warner and their father Henry (a successful lawyer), were severely impacted and had to move from their up-scale home into a Revolutionary War era home on Constitution Island, right across from the United States Military Academy at West Point.  They lived there until they died.  For forty years they conducted Bible classes for the cadets at West Point.  They were buried with full military honors in the military cemetery at West Point.  They are the only civilians buried there.

In order to help with family finances, they began writing novels and poems. They wrote a novel titled Say and Seal. 

In order to help with family finances, they began writing novels and poems.  They wrote a novel titled Say and Seal. 

In this novel a small boy, Johnny Fox, is dying.  His Sunday school teacher comforts him by singing a little song that he makes up ….. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. 

William Bradbury picked up the words to this little song and composed the music to accompany the words.  This was the beginning of what has become the most well-known children’s hymn in history.

                Let’s look at the first line of the first stanza of the hymn:  “Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so.” Where would one go in the Bible to see that Jesus (therefore God) loves me?  Well, there are many, many places to confirm that wonderful truth.   Let’s start with one of the most well-known verses from the Bible (ESV):

We could cite many more passages. But, clearly the Bible tells us over and over again that God (Jesus) loves us.

                While God is love, he also has other important characteristics such as:  wisdom, justice (wrath), knowledge, mercy, holiness, goodness, omnipotence, omnipresence, faithfulness, and more.  So God’s love also acts in concert with his other attributes.  Why is this important?  It is critical because when we begin thinking very deeply at all about God’s love, we run into some tough questions.  Questions such as why God allows suffering or evil or Hell surface pretty quickly.  Now this is a very deep subject, therefore we can only take a surface look at it here.  So, I want to suggest one fundamental idea; God does not love everyone the same.  What do I mean by that outrageous statement?  Well, let’s look at some examples:

                God loved Moses differently that the Pharaoh

                God loved Jacob differently than Esau

                God loved David differently that Saul

                God loved Nineveh differently than Sodom and Gomorrah

                God loved Priscilla and Aquila differently than Ananias and Sapphira

                God loved Lazarus differently than the Rich Man

                God loved One thief differently than the Other thief.

                God loved Paul differently than Agrippa

                God loved Peter differently that Judas

Think about God’s love for Peter and Judas.  They were both given common grace, Jesus had compassion or sympathy for both, Jesus issued the gospel call to both of them.  Jesus warned them both of the consequences of rejecting that call.  But, Jesus loved Peter with an eternal love which is reserved for those who believe and obey.  Judas, on the other hand, ended up in destruction.  He was not a true believer. He rejected the Gospel and Jesus.

                So, God (Jesus, for they are one) does love the world (Matthew 5:44-48), but He loves His own with a “great love” (Ephesians 2:4-7) so that His own are “seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.

                May God love each of us with this “great love” described in Ephesians 2.