Final exams. Those two words can strike fear in the bravest students’ hearts. They are either the light at the end of a semester-long tunnel of study, or they are the light of the last of many academic freight trains that have run you over and left you for dead.

Jesus also faced tests and trials daily. His earthly ministry began in the wilderness where he was tempted for (Luke 4:2) and after (Matthew 4:2) 40 days. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, Satan dogged his every step. Once, Jesus had to rebuke one of his disciples so severely that he said, “Get behind Me, Satan!”

But Jesus’ final exam was like no other. It was not an examination of his knowledge; it was an examination of his love. Unlike his previous tests, his final exam was not designed to see what he would live for; it was constructed to see what he would (literally) die for. It probed to the depths of his soul, his love for three things.

First, Jesus’ final exam tested his love of truth. The “charge” that the Jews contrived to give him to Pilate for a “trial” was that Jesus claimed to be “The King of the Jews” (Mark 15:2). When Pilate asked about it, Jesus acknowledged that he was both a king and had a kingdom, though not of this world and thus of absolutely no threat to Pilate or his superiors (John 18:33-37). Unlike human empires, Jesus’ kingdom was a kingdom of truth.

Because of his love of truth, Jesus endured ridicule and mocking, scourging, blasphemy, jeering, reviling and execution by crucifixion. Yet, throughout this gauntlet, he refused to compromise the truth or lessen his tenacious love for it. He chose death instead. Surely his example on his final exam illustrates what the wise man meant when he wrote: “Buy the truth and sell it not” (Proverbs 23:23).

Secondly, Jesus’ final exam tested his love for God. Unlike the frivolous definitions of love that cloud the thinking of many people today, Jesus’ definition of love is quite simple: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He had to obey his father to show his love for God. Note carefully the words of Jesus in Luke 24:46: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer …”

In the shadow of the cross, he had earnestly and fervently prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times he entreated his father to take the cup of suffering away from him. Yet, with each request, Jesus concluded with “not what I will, but what you will.” With each of his son’s requests, the father said, “No.” Therefore, “He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

For us to get an accurate picture of his obedience and the spirit in which he obeyed, it must be noted that it was “for the joy set before him” that he endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). He did not go to the cross and suffer the horrific things that he did with a spirit of resentment or bitterness. Surely, Jesus’ example on his final exam illustrates what he means when he commands his followers to “be faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10).

A third component of his final exam tested his love of his enemies (Romans 5:10). While on the cross, he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” In his crucifixion, he willingly bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He volunteered to be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities and chastised for our peace. He atoned for our sins – all while we were his enemies. Surely his example on his final exam makes his words even more weighty when his lips uttered, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

What a final exam. It literally was a killer. Jesus died because of his uncompromising love of truth, his obedient love of God and his unquenchable love of his enemies. He rose the third day because he had aced his final exam.