The Triumph of Love
Commentary
One of the problems about living in the present is that the only perspective we get on our current troubles is by looking backwards. It would be wonderful if you could pull the equivalent of sneaking a peek at the last page of the mystery you’re reading so you know whodunnit and could then read the rest of the book in that light. But we can’t (except look below) so it’s by studying the past that we see ultimately, love wins!
Prejudice, suspicion, even hatred from both sides of the divide have separated Jew and Gentile over the centuries. Evidently (I’m only guessing here) the Holy Spirit has had enough of this because in the passage from Acts, two sides were set on a collision course that did not end in destruction but cooperation. Peter is excited to share the Good News, and that the Holy Spirit is the author of it.
Much of the revelation of Jesus Christ speaks to the present. The language of the apocalypse is not a code to be unraveled but a method of storytelling that bypasses oppressors and tells history from the viewpoint of the oppressed. However, the last chapters of Revelation give us a clear view of the end of history. Good news. God wins. Love wins. We win.
As new commandments go, this one sounds pretty old, but it’s not worn or threadbare, because for the most part, we haven’t tried it. That’s why Jesus can call the command to his followers to love one another a new, untried, untested, but true commandment. If we put it into action, guess what? Love wins!
Acts 11:1-18
Prejudice, suspicion, even hatred from both sides of the divide have separated Jew and Gentile over the centuries. Evidently (I’m only guessing here) the Holy Spirit has had enough of this because in the passage from Acts two sides were set on a collision course that did not end in destruction but cooperation. Peter is excited to share the Good News, and that the Holy Spirit is the author of it.
Now Peter has already lived the story and told the story to Cornelius and his household. Now in today’s passage Peter is telling the believers in Jerusalem, who demand an accounting of why he has baptized Gentiles, the same story he lived and then told to Cornelius. Peter tells the story a third time to the religious leaders of Jerusalem and demonstrates this is the action of the Holy Spirit. Those who objected to what Peter did are silenced, since it is now clear that it was the Holy Spirit, not Peter, who was behind it all.
The positive part of this questioning by the authorities is the reminder that we are all accountable to each other. We are not free agents or lone guns. The body of Christ is just that, a body, and we need to work together.
The negative side of this is that God does work through individuals, and sometimes innovations, fresh ideas, and the spark that’s been missing is squelched by other individuals who are afraid of innovations, or threats to what they imagine is their power.
Eating with Gentiles was a big step. The tendency nowadays when it comes to doing the hard work necessary to be true multi-cultural church is that “they” (however we define they) should have their own church. Wouldn’t they be happier?
The church can be hyper-critical and micromanaging and alarmist. But the church can also disintegrate into a group of individuals who do their own thing and have no interest in working together. There’s a balance here that’s to be maintained. That’s the way love wins.
Revelation 21:1-6
Whether or not you think the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ recorded by John the revelator are written by the same person or not (I suspect they are), there’s little question these writings are connected, and addressed to what is sometimes called the Johannine Community.
So it’s no surprise that history begins and ends on the same note. In John 1:14 we read that, “The Word was made flesh and tented among us,” and concludes with the descent of the new heaven and the new earth, with a great voice from the throne saying “Behold, the tent of God is with humanity, and God will tent with them.” Okay, yeah, the Greek word skene and its various forms as a noun and a verb are usually translated “dwelt,” but the word is literally “tent.” We get the word “skin” from this word, and tents are made from animal skins. We get the word “scene” from this word because painted scenic backdrop of the ancient Greek dramas also comes from this word. And the tent is also the tabernacle, the movable tent that was the place where God’s people worshipped their Creator as they travelled through the desert.
God is with us, at the beginning, and at the end, coming to our level, roughing it, tenting it, with us. Things are as they should be. The New Jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband, is revealed as a sign that love wins!
John 13:31-35
In the thirteenth chapter of John the most astounding thing happens. Jesus, the Master, girds himself with a towel and performs the unutterably menial task of washing the feet of his disciples. It shocks the disciples speechless, all except Peter, of course. And then Jesus tells them that they must follow his example and wash feet if they are truly his disciples. I think they’re still a little shellshocked when Jesus tells him, in today’s passage, that he will soon be taken from their midst, that they will look for him and not find him, and that they cannot follow where he is going.
Then he says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Now love gets complicated in the Greek – there are four different words for love. Jesus uses agape, generally considered the most divine, selfless love. But this is a translation of what Jesus actually said in Aramaic, a Semitic language related to Hebrew. In those languages, love is not just a feeling – it is an action. You demonstrate love by what you do, not what you say, nor how you feel. And what Jesus did was wash his disciples’ feet. They are to be willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how menial the task, no matter how undignified, to demonstrate their love. This is supposed to be our distinguishing mark.
As new commandments go, this sounds pretty old. In Leviticus 19:18, we’re told to love our neighbors as ourselves, and in Leviticus 19:34 we’re told to love the resident alien in our midst as ourselves. In the other gospels Jesus quoted the first Leviticus passage as one of the two greatest commandments. So, it is an old commandment, but it’s not worn or threadbare, because for the most part, we haven’t tried it. That’s why Jesus can call the command to his followers to love one another a new, untried, untested, but true commandment. If we put it into action, guess what? Love wins!
Prejudice, suspicion, even hatred from both sides of the divide have separated Jew and Gentile over the centuries. Evidently (I’m only guessing here) the Holy Spirit has had enough of this because in the passage from Acts, two sides were set on a collision course that did not end in destruction but cooperation. Peter is excited to share the Good News, and that the Holy Spirit is the author of it.
Much of the revelation of Jesus Christ speaks to the present. The language of the apocalypse is not a code to be unraveled but a method of storytelling that bypasses oppressors and tells history from the viewpoint of the oppressed. However, the last chapters of Revelation give us a clear view of the end of history. Good news. God wins. Love wins. We win.
As new commandments go, this one sounds pretty old, but it’s not worn or threadbare, because for the most part, we haven’t tried it. That’s why Jesus can call the command to his followers to love one another a new, untried, untested, but true commandment. If we put it into action, guess what? Love wins!
Acts 11:1-18
Prejudice, suspicion, even hatred from both sides of the divide have separated Jew and Gentile over the centuries. Evidently (I’m only guessing here) the Holy Spirit has had enough of this because in the passage from Acts two sides were set on a collision course that did not end in destruction but cooperation. Peter is excited to share the Good News, and that the Holy Spirit is the author of it.
Now Peter has already lived the story and told the story to Cornelius and his household. Now in today’s passage Peter is telling the believers in Jerusalem, who demand an accounting of why he has baptized Gentiles, the same story he lived and then told to Cornelius. Peter tells the story a third time to the religious leaders of Jerusalem and demonstrates this is the action of the Holy Spirit. Those who objected to what Peter did are silenced, since it is now clear that it was the Holy Spirit, not Peter, who was behind it all.
The positive part of this questioning by the authorities is the reminder that we are all accountable to each other. We are not free agents or lone guns. The body of Christ is just that, a body, and we need to work together.
The negative side of this is that God does work through individuals, and sometimes innovations, fresh ideas, and the spark that’s been missing is squelched by other individuals who are afraid of innovations, or threats to what they imagine is their power.
Eating with Gentiles was a big step. The tendency nowadays when it comes to doing the hard work necessary to be true multi-cultural church is that “they” (however we define they) should have their own church. Wouldn’t they be happier?
The church can be hyper-critical and micromanaging and alarmist. But the church can also disintegrate into a group of individuals who do their own thing and have no interest in working together. There’s a balance here that’s to be maintained. That’s the way love wins.
Revelation 21:1-6
Whether or not you think the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ recorded by John the revelator are written by the same person or not (I suspect they are), there’s little question these writings are connected, and addressed to what is sometimes called the Johannine Community.
So it’s no surprise that history begins and ends on the same note. In John 1:14 we read that, “The Word was made flesh and tented among us,” and concludes with the descent of the new heaven and the new earth, with a great voice from the throne saying “Behold, the tent of God is with humanity, and God will tent with them.” Okay, yeah, the Greek word skene and its various forms as a noun and a verb are usually translated “dwelt,” but the word is literally “tent.” We get the word “skin” from this word, and tents are made from animal skins. We get the word “scene” from this word because painted scenic backdrop of the ancient Greek dramas also comes from this word. And the tent is also the tabernacle, the movable tent that was the place where God’s people worshipped their Creator as they travelled through the desert.
God is with us, at the beginning, and at the end, coming to our level, roughing it, tenting it, with us. Things are as they should be. The New Jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband, is revealed as a sign that love wins!
John 13:31-35
In the thirteenth chapter of John the most astounding thing happens. Jesus, the Master, girds himself with a towel and performs the unutterably menial task of washing the feet of his disciples. It shocks the disciples speechless, all except Peter, of course. And then Jesus tells them that they must follow his example and wash feet if they are truly his disciples. I think they’re still a little shellshocked when Jesus tells him, in today’s passage, that he will soon be taken from their midst, that they will look for him and not find him, and that they cannot follow where he is going.
Then he says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Now love gets complicated in the Greek – there are four different words for love. Jesus uses agape, generally considered the most divine, selfless love. But this is a translation of what Jesus actually said in Aramaic, a Semitic language related to Hebrew. In those languages, love is not just a feeling – it is an action. You demonstrate love by what you do, not what you say, nor how you feel. And what Jesus did was wash his disciples’ feet. They are to be willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how menial the task, no matter how undignified, to demonstrate their love. This is supposed to be our distinguishing mark.
As new commandments go, this sounds pretty old. In Leviticus 19:18, we’re told to love our neighbors as ourselves, and in Leviticus 19:34 we’re told to love the resident alien in our midst as ourselves. In the other gospels Jesus quoted the first Leviticus passage as one of the two greatest commandments. So, it is an old commandment, but it’s not worn or threadbare, because for the most part, we haven’t tried it. That’s why Jesus can call the command to his followers to love one another a new, untried, untested, but true commandment. If we put it into action, guess what? Love wins!
