LOVE ONE ANOTHER
BY
The Gospel of John today
presents us with two powerful moments leading up to the Passion of
the Lord. First, the betrayal of Judas. In all four Gospels the
evangelists tell us that Judas was used by Satan. Judas is an
easy person to hate; he knows Jesus. He has been present during His
ministry, and he is one of the chosen twelve, yet despite all this,
he betrays his friend and teacher. The reading takes up when
Judas leaves the table; the wheels of his betrayal now in motion.
Jesus knows and understands what comes next. He tells the
remaining disciples that now is
the Son of Man glorified. Jesus focuses not on betrayal and
suffering, but on the resurrection and the glorification of God.
Then John throws us a curve ball. Jesus tells his disciples, “I
give you a new commandment:
love one another. As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.” This exchange appears
only in the Gospel of John who relates the story of Jesus through
personal encounters. Could it be that Jesus is asking the disciples
to love one another including Judas?
It’s natural to
love those who love us, it’s easy to love those who are indifferent
about us. It’s hard to love those we’d rather hate and it’s
very hard to love those that hurt us, betray us, cause us pain and
suffering. But Jesus doesn’t ask us to do the easy thing.
We all have a
‘personal Judas’ in our lives; how can we love them too? In the
first part of this passage, Jesus doesn’t linger on the betrayal of
Judas, instead He tells his friends what His love will do. If we,
like Jesus, look beyond the immediate and focus on what love will do,
we can love even those who hurt us the most. And in that
moment, when we give up that hate, that sting of betrayal, we glorify
God, and all will know that we are His disciples because we have love
for one another.
YOURS IN CHRIST,
FRANK
I always felt even the worst of criminals, people who have done wrong by hurting others, deserved forgiveness. Who are we to judge one another; is it not God's job to judge us in our final days on earth. While part of my says "put him to death for his crimes" the other part of me, the part of my inside my heart says "let God judge him. Keep him contained behind bars until his end of days, then let the Lord judge where he shall spend his eternal days".
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