What follows is the first chapter of a book I’m writing called The Jesus Shortcut: How to Become More Like Jesus (in the shortest possible time). (That’s a working title by-the-way. If you have an idea for a better title, I hope you’ll share it with me.) Last week we posted the introduction to the book and if you’re interested, you can read that here: Loneliness and Isolation. For the next few weeks, I’ll post a chapter of this book on the God Running blog, until the book is completed. Thank you in advance to my brother in Christ and editor, Wes Beyer, for your help with this book.

Khesed

In this first chapter we’re going to look at a very important word, and that word is a Hebrew word we see all over the Bible. The word is . . .

Khesed.

This word (pronounced by most English speakers as hessed, with the accent on the first syllable) is often translated as simply love. But I’ve learned that it’s really a combination of ideas including love, generosity, and enduring commitment and faithfulness in a relationship. To understand the deep meaning of the original word, we can look at how various Bible translations have rendered it. These different translations include steadfast love, goodness, kindness, loving kindness, faithfulness, and of course love. So, the meaning of this word khesed is deep and big, much bigger than the word love in the English language. (Bible Project, ESV, KJV, YLT, WEB, NASB, NIV)1

Khesed is a deep, abiding, unwavering love.

We see it used 26 times in Psalm 136 to describe God’s great love for us: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his khesed endures forever.” That’s how it starts. And as we read we hear over and over again how God’s great “khesed endures forever.”

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

Psalm 136:1-7

Jesus’ Khesed

We see khesed described in Ephesians 3:18-19: How great is the depth of Christ’s love.

“. . . may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

You and I already know how great God’s love is for us because of how Jesus left his throne and came to Earth in complete humility, as a helpless baby, born into lowly circumstances. How for years he worked with his hands as a carpenter. And how Jesus who was completely innocent endured mocking, false accusations, torture, and a grueling death: for us, for our faults and our sins.

How great is the depth of Christ’s love.

How great is the depth of Christ’s love.

How deep is his love for us.

This is khesed.

Your Khesed, and My Khesed

So, as we think this through, we see how the word khesed transcends the word love and we see how great Jesus’ khesed is for us.

And then we see what Jesus commanded, that we should love one another as Jesus loved us. We’re to love “just as I have loved you,” Jesus said. Our khesed is to be the same as his, the same as Jesus’ khesed.

Jesus even said we’d be known as his disciples because we love each other the way Jesus loved. And Jesus loved with this khesed love.

So, this is the main characteristic of what a group of Jesus followers should look like. They should khesed like Jesus.

The group should be a high khesed group.

And you and I should do everything we can to find such a group and connect ourselves to such a group.

When we do, we’ll see our ability to love others, like Jesus loved, grow: even difficult people, even enemies.

We’ll be discussing how to connect to such a group of people in the rest of this book. But it’s important we start where we have the most control: with ourselves.

“Father, please, we are pleading with You, fill the dear person who’s reading this right now and fill me with the khesed of Jesus. And help us to find a group of Jesus followers to connect with face to face on a regular basis. A group with high khesed.

“Use this group of Your people to transform us into the likeness of Jesus.

“In Jesus’ name we ask this of You.

“Amen.”

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [emphasis mine]

John 13:34-35

Notes:

Exploring the Hebrew word khesed by Bible Project Team

Jim Wilder, Michel Hendricks, The Other Half of Church, Moody Publishers, August 4, 2020

Kurt Cameron Bennett best known for his book Love Like Jesus. After attending church and studying the Bible for most of his adult life, he was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven-year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote Love Like Jesus for himself as much as for others. He currently lives in Hillsboro, Oregon, just a few miles from his son Gabe, daughter (-in-law) Charise, and grandson Andrew. He has another son Nate and daughter (-in-law) Anastasia who live in Sammamish, Washington. His blog, God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

Featured Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay