One of the greatest parting words of Jesus to his disciples in John’s Gospel is the new commandment of love. They are to love one another as Jesus loved them. Jesus loved through selfless service, and by giving his life for others. It is a sacrificial love. The love that Jesus commands is not just an ordinary affection. It involves a selfless dedication to the welfare of others. This love begins with total commitment to the teachings of Jesus: “Anyone who loves me will keep my word” (Jn 14:23). The practical implications of loving Jesus and keeping his word inform the readings of this day.
Loving All Without Discrimination
The greatest challenge of love among the early Christians was the controversy surrounding the acceptance of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish converts, into the Christian Community. In the first reading from Acts 15, we find how some overzealous members of the new faith tried to ruin the work of evangelization among the Gentiles by preaching their own opinions rather than keeping to the word of the Master. For these false teachers, the primary condition for gaining salvation is physical circumcision and not faith in Jesus. This nearly tore the young Christian movement apart.
The disciples had to address the matter through a Council in Jerusalem, which redirected the Christian Community on the path of love for the new converts. The faith thrived more in the atmosphere of this love and not in the rigors of the fanatical preachers who wanted to impose the old law on the Gentiles. Fanatics always destroy what God takes time to build. But in their ignorance, they think they are serving God.
Loving Jesus and Becoming a Dwelling Place for God
Loving Jesus is expressed through obedience to his word. The Gospel text from John 14 makes this abundantly clear. Such love makes the lover an abode of the Trinity. In other words, the one who loves and the community that loves become the dwelling place of the Godhead. The community becomes transformed into a new mode of living. This new mode of living is actually the foretaste of the new heaven, and the new earth mentioned in the Second reading from Revelation 21. The text gives a practical example of the new world that comes about as a result of living as a community of love and obedience to God’s word. As John sees in his vision, it is a world, a city radiant with beauty and the glory of God. In such a world, all will continue to in harmony and peace.
Hope of a New World of Love
Every Christian together with every Christian Community is called to be a light in a darkened world. This mission of light is mostly expressed through loving without discrimination. This is the vision of Jesus for his community. Guided by this love, we shall succeed in realizing the radiant new world that John sees in his vision today. But if we continue to impose our own old ideas, bereft of love and compassion, we can only continue to witness a society of darkness, conflict, tears and gloom.
It is only through living in the love of Jesus and his word that we can realize that peace which the world cannot give. With this type of peace, our hearts can no longer be troubled as they are often terribly troubled today. So, with the Psalmist of today we pray: “O God be gracious and bless us, and let Your face shed its light upon us: So, will Your ways be known upon earth and all nations learn your salvation!” (Ps 67:2-3).
[Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29]
