Throughout his ministry, the scribes and Pharisees tried to trick Jesus on matters of the Law. He deflected their ploys by consistently going back to the most basic and most important commandments in the Old Testament: "you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deut.6:5) and "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). In today's gospel, Jesus gives his disciples and us a new commandment, "love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" (John 13:34).
This new commandment to love one another as Jesus loves us is the greatest challenge facing most of us as Christians. This love is total, unconditional, selfless, merciful, sacrificial and forgiving love. It is a force so absolute and boundless that St. Paul declares " I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
This new commandment to love one another as Jesus loves us is the greatest challenge facing most of us as Christians. This love is total, unconditional, selfless, merciful, sacrificial and forgiving love. It is a force so absolute and boundless that St. Paul declares " I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
The challenge for us is putting this commandment into practice. Talking about love is easy. Practicing total, unconditional, selfless, merciful, sacrificial and forgiving love is something each of us most struggle with every day. What Jesus is telling us in this new commandment is that we must love the people who hurt us, we must love the people who hate us, we must love the people who are angry with us and we must love the people who let us down and disappoint us. There is no room for compromise here. In Luke 6:27-35, Jesus makes his point explicitly clear: "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked."
By striving to love one another as Jesus loves us, we are building the "new Jerusalem" that St. John saw so vividly in Revelation 21:1-5a. We are working in partnership with God our Father to "make all things new" so that he can dwell with us here in Peachtree City, Georgia and we can prove we are his people.
God, loving Father,
you made us aware of the depth of your love
when your own Son laid down his life for us.
Jesus asks us to love one another
the way he has loved us.
you made us aware of the depth of your love
when your own Son laid down his life for us.
Jesus asks us to love one another
the way he has loved us.
Make this new commandment of love
the very foundation of our lives,
so that, loving you and loving one another
we may show that we are Christ’s disciples.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
the first-born from the dead,
who lives and reigns with you
the very foundation of our lives,
so that, loving you and loving one another
we may show that we are Christ’s disciples.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
the first-born from the dead,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
God for ever and ever.
AMEN
