When visiting Jerusalem, the final days often lead through places that carry deep meaning. The walk begins near the traditional site of the Upper Room, where Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples, and continues along the Via Dolorosa to the place of the skull and the Garden Tomb. It is a journey that traces love in action. John 13:1 sets the tone: “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Everything that happened in that room flowed from that love. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, an act that quietly overturned expectations. He took bread and said, “This is my body, which is broken for you.” He lifted the cup and spoke of a new covenant sealed in His blood. These were not abstract ideas. They were expressions of a love that would soon be carried to the cross.
That kind of love is difficult to grasp, especially when measured against everyday experience. We are often more comfortable receiving love than giving it at great cost. There is an old image drawn from the Psalms that helps illustrate this. In Psalm 102 6, the writer says, “I am like a pelican of the wilderness.” Over time, the pelican became a symbol of sacrifice. Early Christians believed that in times of famine, the pelican would wound itself to feed its young with its own blood. Whether the detail is literal or not, the picture is powerful. It suggests a love that gives of itself when there is nothing else to give. It is humbling to consider how far that is from our usual approach, which often involves giving what is convenient rather than what is costly. Even small inconveniences can feel large when they interrupt our plans, which says more about us than we might prefer to admit.
The New Testament reveals that what the pelican symbol only hints at is fully realized in Jesus. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). This was not poetic language for Him. It was a declaration of what He would do. Through His death, the new covenant was established, and the depth of God’s love was made visible. As Scripture says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The journey from the Upper Room to the cross is a journey of love given fully. It is a love that does not hold back, a love that reaches to the end and beyond.