What does it mean to be a good friend?
Imagine if Jesus were to tell you in person that he loved you! In the Last Supper discourse in John’s Gospel, Jesus does just that: As the Father loves me, so I also love you, he tells his disciples, and so he is ready to lay down his life for his friends. It is an extraordinary gift. But to understand that gift, the disciples must do as Jesus has done: they must pay attention to God’s will and follow his commandments: You are my friends if you do what I command you, he tells them. Jesus explains that he is willing to sacrifice his life for us because he loves us, loves us so completely that he subordinates himself to all of humankind, so that in the end he might raise us up.
Moreover, the invitation is open to all, as Peter discovers in the home of the Gentile Cornelius in the Acts of the Apostles: In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. God sends his Holy Spirit into the hearts of all who are open to that Spirit at work in them and willing to help others to open to the Spirit as well. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be free of self-concern, focused on the world in which we live rather than on ourselves. The Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts, freeing us of all that might stand in the way of relationship both with God and with one another. It is a fulfillment of the covenant that God made with all of humankind, as Psalm 98 explains: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God, a salvation that is manifested in God’s kindness and faithfulness toward all nations.
For our part, we are called to see the death and rising of Jesus as a pattern for our own lives – to die to self, that we might rise in love. Love one as I have loved you, he says: love one another, in other words, enough to want to serve one another, to put others’ needs above your own. The First Letter of John reiterates this invitation: let us love one another, because love is of God. Once again, love here is experienced as mercy revealed through the death and rising of Jesus for the expiation of our sins. Such an extraordinary expression of love transcends our sins; we experience God’s love as we come to know God’s mercy and forgiveness, and every experience of that love will change us, leaving us different than we were before, leaving us ever more ready to be good friends through the love and mercy that we share with one another, manifesting God’s love to all.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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