Why Should He Love Me So?

Love sent my Savior to die in my stead;
Why should He love me so?
Meekly to Calvary’s cross He was led;
Why should He love me so?

Nails pierced His hands and His feet for my sin;
Why should He love me so?
He suffered sore my salvation to win;
Why should He love me so?

O how He agonized there in my place;
Why should He love me so?
Nothing withholding my sin to efface;
Why should He love me so?

CHORUS
Why should He love me so?
Why should He love me so?
Why should my Savior to Calvary go?
Why should He love me so?

Written in the early 1900’s, this particular hymn was authored by Robert Harkness.  Unlike the first three hymns this week, this hymn asks a question that is difficult to answer (at least it is for me).  On Monday, the question was asked “What shall I do with Jesus?”  The answer is pretty simple – Believe on Him or reject Him.  On Tuesday, the question was “Are we able?”  The response was “No” without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Yesterday, the hymn asked “Must Jesus bear the cross alone?” And the answer to that question was “No, He mustn’t.”

But today, for me, I don’t have a good answer to the why should He love me so because I know He shouldn’t.  There wasn’t anything lovable about my heart that was black with sin.  There wasn’t anything that should cause Him to love me so much that God would send His only begotten Son to die in my place.  I have no good answer to the “Why?”  When I look for reasons within myself, I come up empty-handed.  But when I look to the nature and character of God, I discover the “Why.”  It is because of His great love of us.  John 3:16 says He “so” loved that He gave.  His love is perfect.  His love is everlasting.  His love is never ending.  His love sees past my sin, and that is why He loves me so, and that is why He loves you so.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Meekly to Calvary’s cross He was led” – Meekness is one of those spiritual qualities that I think American’s have trouble grasping.  We are so concerned about our rights, and it is so engrained in our culture to stand up for our rights that I think it is hard sometimes for us to truly understand meekness.  Meekness has been defined as strength or power under control, and I like that definition, but I also get the picture of someone being wronged and still humbling themselves, denying their rights, and taking the punishment and pain for something that they did not do.  That is the example that Jesus left us.  He meekly went to Calvary’s cross.  As a lamb before his shearers was silent, that is how Jesus faced the Cross.  What an example for me to follow when I feel wronged or feel persecuted.  To meekly endure tough situations in order that He might ultimately receive the glory.

• “Nothing withholding my sin to efface” – I wanted to share with you several synonyms for “efface” because I think they communicate powerfully what the Lord did for us.  To efface means to wipe out, to do away with, to expunge.  It also means to rub out, erase, or obliterate.  Here’s some Scriptural reminders of what God says about our sins and His forgiveness:

Psalm 103:2-4 – “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.”

Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Micah 7:19 – “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

I am sure you have seen movies scenes or television programs when a young girl picks up a daisy, plucks the petals one by one, and says “He loves me….He loves me not.”  I hope that if today for you is one of those “He loves me not” days, that you will be reminded of what He did for you on the Cross 2,000 years ago.  This is Passion week because that is the kind of love He has for you and for me.  A passionate love that would endure sin, shame, and unbearable suffering for you and for me.  Not because we are perfect.  Not because we were better than someone else.  But because He loved us then and because He loves us now.  I hope that as you focus on the events of Passion week that you are reminded by every scene that Jesus is saying directly to you “I love you,” and O how He loves us so.