Love Like Jesus: He Commands

~~~ Fifth Sunday of Easter ~~~

 

~~Acts of the Apostles 14:21-27~~Psalm 145~~Revelation 21:1-5a~~John 13:31-33a, 34-35~~

 

After Judas has left the group of men closest to Jesus...

after he had humbly washed their feet...

this is when he speaks of love.

 

Knowing that he was about to be betrayed by one from his inner circle...

one who had walked with him, broken bread with him,

 heard him speak words of healing and compassion;

this is the moment when Jesus commands us to love.

 

My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

 

It is easy to give commands to those who are under your control.

Parents give their children commands.

Military personnel give commands to those under them.

You know some common commands...

come here, stand up, sit down, stop.

We are good at giving our dogs commands.

We expect them to obey;

giving them rewards for their prompt response.

 

Jesus gives us the command to love at a time in his own life

when most of us would hardly consider a time of love.

 

His message to his apostles seems to be no matter what

I am commanding you to love...even in the face of pain, sorrow,

and certain death.

 

But how does one command another to love?

Love is a strong emotion, given freely to others.

It is not as simple as sitting or standing.

Love is very complex.

Jesus led by his example; this is why he can command us to love.

 

 

The chemical emotion of love is strong stirring up passion,

but perhaps the love Jesus speaks of today is the love

through which we make a conscious deliberate

decision toward loving another.

 

This love is not driven by chemicals this love is driven by our intellect.

Jesus is commanding us to see the world as it is with all of its

shortcomings and love anyway.

This is the greatest commandment because it is precisely very difficult.

Loving those who would do us harm goes against our natural instinct to love.

 

Why would you want to feel love for someone

who wants to hurt or betray you?

 

I believe the message today is to love in spite

of not having the feelings of love.

Love even those who would wish harm to come upon you.

 

So many times we see Jesus exhibiting compassionate unconditional love,

but his love for Judas surpasses all.

Our society today is filled with many reasons not to love.

 

If we are to be true followers of Christ

then we must go beyond the emotions of love.

We must obey the command of Jesus to love others.

 

This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.

 

We must love when we do not feel love in our heart.

We must love when it goes against every fiber of our being;

this is the kind of love Jesus shows us in today's Gospel.

 

Love is not just for those for whom it comes easily;

love is for all including those we would rather not have in our life.

 

Ask God to show you how to love like him.

This may be one of the great blessings of Easter.

 

Pray for those you find difficult to love.

Pray for those you do not want to love.

 

The Saints are wonderful examples of how to love at all times.