Love one another as I have loved you…
How is the love of God revealed?
It may be hard to get our head around why Jesus had to suffer and die for us. In his Last Supper Discourse in John’s Gospel, Jesus tells the eleven disciples that the moment has come for Jesus to be glorified, and God is glorified in him. Jesus’ death – an act of extraordinary mercy – makes manifest the love of God for God’s people. In Jesus’ death and rising, God is revealed in all his glory and the Son of Man is revealed in God and their union is made clear. All of this is the context for Jesus’ single most important instruction to the disciples: As I have loved you, so you should also love one another. The disciples are to live lives of service, service that is grounded in love for one another. This is how they, following Jesus’ example, will reveal that God is at work in them: by dedicating their life to loving and supporting one another and their world. For that is glory: when love wins.
In the Acts of the Apostles, after their long journey preaching the good news throughout Asia Minor, Paul and Barnabas will return to Antioch, where they call the church together and report what God has done with them and how he has opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Throughout their travels and their trials, God was active in their lives; throughout it all, good or bad (and some of it was very bad, and required undergoing many hardships), God was there with them on their journey. By their witness, Paul and Barnabas reveal God’s goodness. And the church that is growing is cognizant of God dwelling with the human race, as John says in the Book of Revelation. By his death, Christ makes all things new; those who are one with Christ, members of his Body, living their lives in Christ, are creating a new bond, a new access for the world. This is the New Jerusalem, in which all are transformed by the death and rising of Jesus – as we are, today.
Consequently, we as Christians are to be united in that love that is greater than us, a love God has had for God’s people from of old. Jesus Christ is revealed in our love of other. We give witness to that love by, as Psalm 145 says, letting all our works give the Lord thanks! We are the manifestation of God’s kindness and generosity and goodness; our lives declare God’s identity. May we live in gratitude for the love he showers upon us, and give witness every day to the power of God’s love in our lives!
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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