To Him who loved us: What a beautiful title for Jesus! When loved is used, in the past tense, it points back to a particular time and place where Jesus loved us. It should be pointed out that many translations have loves us (such as NASB, NIV, and NLT), but there is something beautiful about loved us. It looks back to the cross. Every believer should be secure in God’s love, not based on their present circumstances (which may be difficult), but based on the ultimate demonstration of love at the cross. This is worth praising Jesus about.

Paul put it like this in Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The work of Jesus on the cross for us is God’s ultimate proof of His love for you. He may give additional proof, but He can give no greater proof.

No wonder many believers are not secure in knowing the love of Jesus towards them – they look to their present circumstances to measure His love. Instead, they need to look back to the cross, settle the issue once for all, and give praise to Jesus, to Him who loved us.

And washed us from our sins in His own blood: This is what happened when Jesus loved us at the cross. He washed us – cleansed us from the deep stain of sin, so that we really are clean before Him. This is worth praising Jesus about.

If we understand our own deep sinfulness, this seems almost too good to be true. We can stand clean before God – clean from the deepest of stains. No wonder the same Apostle John also wrote, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness(1 John 1:9).

In His own blood: If there were any other way to wash us from our sins, God would have done it that other way. To wash us in His own blood meant the ultimate sacrifice of God the Son. God wouldn’t do it this way unless it was the only way. “The priests could only cleanse with blood of bulls and goats; but he has washed us from our sins ‘in his own blood.’ Men are willing enough to shed the blood of others. How readily they will enter upon war! But Christ was willing to shed his own blood, to pour out his soul unto death, that we might be saved.” (Spurgeon)

Notice the order: first loved, then washed. It wasn’t that God washed us out of some sense of duty and then loved us because we were then clean. He loved uswhile we were dirty, but then He washed us.

In fact, washing proves love. If you had an old pair of pants, and got them covered in paint, you would only wash them and keep them for two reasons. First, you might wash them and keep them if you were poor. You can’t or won’t spend money on another pair of pants, so you wash them and keep them. Second, you might wash them and keep them if you really loved those old pants. Money isn’t the issue. You could go down and buy a new pair of pants any time; but you love that pair so much that you spend the time and the effort to clean them, and use them again. God loves us so much that He washed us. God certainly is not poor. With merely a thought, He could obliterate every sinner and start over with brand-new creatures. But He doesn’t. He loves us so much that He washed us.

Some scholars believe that John wrote and loosed us from our sins. There is only one letter different between the words washed and loosed in the ancient Greek language. Both words show up in ancient manuscripts, so it’s hard to say which one John wrote. Nevertheless, both are true – we are both washed and loosed from our sins.

And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father: This is status Jesus gives to those whom He loved in His work on the cross and who are washed… in His own blood. It would have been enough just to love them and cleanse them. But He goes far beyond, and makes us kings and priests to His God and Father. This is more than Adam ever was. Even in the innocence of Eden we never read of Adam among the kings and priests of God. This is worth praising Jesus about.

We are kings, so we are God’s royalty – this is privilege, status, and authority. We are priests, so we are God’s special servants. We represent God to man and man to God. We offer sacrifice unto Him (Hebrews 13:15). We have privileged access to God’s presence (Romans 5:1-2).

Kings and priests: In the Old Testament, it was forbidden to combine the offices of king and priest. King Uzziah of Judah is an example of a man who tried to combine the two offices, and paid the penalty for it (2 Chronicles 26:16-23). Under the New Covenant, we can be like Jesus in the sense that He is both King and High Priest (Luke 1:31-33; Hebrews 4:14).