Who is cut off
from the love of God?
To follow Jesus is
to establish and nurture a relationship with him, to recognize that he provides
me something I cannot get any other way. In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells the Jews
assembled on the Portico of Solomon, I know
my sheep and they know me; no one can
take them out of my hand. No matter
how frightened I (or any disciple) might become, nothing can ever stand between
me and God except me, because I can
step away. But once I know God loves me,
I can’t turn off that access; I can’t stop God from loving me. God loves us into existence and his love will never
change; we may willfully block God’s access to us, but we cannot change his love
for us, nor are we ever cut off from it, though we might choose to turn away
from it.
When, in the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas encourage the converts they made the first
week they preached in Antioch in Pisidia to come back a second week, many do,
but much of Paul’s Jewish audience is filled
with jealousy. Paul does not condemn
them, but his concern is clear: you reject the word of God, he tells
them, and condemn yourselves as unworthy
of eternal life. It is Paul’s way of
clarifying what stands in their way, so that they can change as they need to. In no way is the Jewish audience cut off from
God’s love; they have but to believe in
Jesus Christ for salvation to be possible.
They too are God’s people, the
sheep of his flock, as Psalm 100 puts it; he made us, his we are. They
must simply come to know in their heart that this is the case, and believe.
Likewise, in the
Book of Revelation, John’s vision includes a
great multitude from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They have survived
the time of great distress, the elders tell John, and they will be shepherded by the Lamb who is in the center of the throne, joining their lives to
his, as we must do, that we might encounter springs
of life-giving water and stand before
God’s throne as well.
Who is every cut
off from the love of God? Simply put, no
one – no one who chooses to hear the word
of the Lord and know that the Lord is
God and join their life to his – for
we are all in the Father’s hand. May we one day stand before God’s throne as well, in perfect union, in perfect
love.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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