Acts 14:21-27; Rev 21:1-5; Jn 13:31-35
The teaching of Jesus concerning love for fellow human beings takes
different forms.
On one occasion, the Lord says, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself” (Mt 22:39). Ordinarily, Jewish people would consider “neighbor” only
their fellow Jews. But Jesus widens the concept of neighbor so as to include
any individual who is in need of help. This is what we understand in the
Parable of the Good Samaritan: Every person in need, whether he lives next door
or a town away, whether she is Black or White, is a neighbor.
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Jesus asks his disciples to
use as measure in loving people the love they have for themselves. They are to
treat another person as their own flesh and bone. This is not easy to do. As a
matter of fact, we normally have different standards for ourselves and for
others. The natural tendency is to give ourselves first priority or utmost care
and to provide others with lesser or no attention. By asking us to love a
neighbor as our own self, the Lord simply is helping us overcome narcissistic
tendencies. We all belong to the one Body of Christ and we need to behave like
we really are part of one another.
In today’s gospel, Jesus presents a more demanding version of the
commandment of love. He says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another
as I have loved you” (Jn. 13:34-35). The Lord instructs his followers to use as
their standard for loving not only their love for themselves but his love for
them. He knows that our way of loving can easily be tainted with selfish
motivations. Hence, he challenges us to love one another according to the way
he has loved us.
But what does it mean to love as Jesus loves?
It is significant that every time the Bible speaks about the love of
Jesus, it uses the Greek word agape.
His love is agapaic, meaning self-sacrificing, unselfish and unselective.
Interestingly, every time Jesus says something about love, he also uses agape. For instance, when Jesus invites
his disciples to love one another, he is asking them to love in an agapaic way,
that is, in a life-giving, disinterested manner.
The love of Jesus is not conditional love, which only is given to those who meet certain conditions laid down
by the lover. It does not say: “I will love you if you can make it to the
dean’s list” or “I will love you if you can afford to buy me a big house.” The
love of Jesus also is not merited love, which only is bestowed upon those who
possess adorable qualities. It never says: “I love you because you are
considerate” or “I love you because you are faithful.”
Rather, Jesus’ love is one that initiates and offers freely. Jesus
called his disciples prior to any good showing or merit on their part. He loved
them in spite of their lack of understanding and lack of faith. He continued to
love them even after they abandoned, denied, or betrayed him. Jesus loved them
not because they were lovable but because he possessed within himself the love
of the Father who loves the unlovable and takes the first move in loving us.
And so he says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you” (Jn. 15:9).
Jesus, like his Father, loves every person without any exception.
We are called by Jesus to do the same thing: To love individuals not because
they are lovable but in spite of the fact that they may not be lovable. We are
to love even the enemy, the sinner, or the despised. The true disciple of Jesus
loves with a “love in spite of”, not with “a love if” or “a love because.”
The love commanded by Jesus in various ways for disciples to practice
seems very difficult. If we are to depend only on our own strength, we would
not be able to love the way Jesus loves. Somebody explains that the newness of
Jesus’ commandment of love consists not only in the sublimity of love’s
demands, but in the grace that accompanies the command. If we sincerely intend to love, God will provide the grace that
will transform our hearts and make them like the heart of his Son.
