He Loved Them to the End
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:31-35)
Today's gospel portion drops us in at a fascinating moment in John's telling of the good news. Jesus and his friends are gathered at what will come to be known as the Last Supper. The "he" who has just gone out is Judas, on his way to make the final arrangements for his delivery of Jesus into the Roman authorities' hands. The conversation is heavy, as Jesus reminds the disciples that he will not be with them much longer and everyone wonders what is to come next.
Jesus knows that Judas has gone to betray him. He knows that none of his friends will manage to stay awake to comfort him in the garden. He knows that Peter will deny him. He knows that most of the friends present at this dinner will soon abandon him as he is crucified. And Jesus doesn't spend a single moment talking about any of it.
Jesus is not interested in condemning those who will hurt him. He is interested in giving the disciples a plan for how to carry on when he is gone. Jesus wants to make sure that the community he has worked so hard to build can continue the ministry they have started together without his constant leadership.
It cannot be a lengthy plan of grand strategy. It has to be a plan that these people can remember and act on even in the midst of the confusion and grief that Jesus knows is coming. They need a sign, a calling card, that will mark them out for one another and to the world. A simple commandment will do: "Love one another, just as I have loved you." And it worked.
By the third century, Christians had grown dramatically in number from the group following Jesus in the 30s. Estimates suggest that, by 300, there might have been as many as six million Christians in the Roman Empire. A minority, but a large enough one that every Roman knew who they were. And a recognisable enough minority that Christians made convenient scapegoats for all of the ills of Roman society.
Christians were accused of illicit occult practices, cannibalism, infanticide, sexual immorality, and generally not meeting the expectations of proper Roman society. Crime, economic difficulty, illness, political strife, and every other problem that would be a headline today was the fault of Christians.
If Christians were such reprehensible people, how did they attract so many converts? In 250 years Christians had grown to account for about 10% of the population in the Roman Empire. Christians were widely known for being excessively charitable. They would establish hospitals, hospices, and other helping agencies. But they were unusual in that they helped everyone who came, regardless of their background or other affiliations. Christians were even willing to put themselves at risk if that was what caring for another required.
Plagues were sadly common in the third century and Christians were some of the only people who would comfort the sick and dying. Charitably-minded people and the families of those to whom the Christians ministered became interested in this strange group of people and their God. Disease is indiscriminate and it would only take a few wealthy and influential families to be afflicted and then comforted by Christians before the good news of Jesus was known among elite Romans, further hastening its spread. By 350, the persistent charity of Christians had grown their numbers from a distinct minority to as much as 56.5% of the empire's population.
Active love is a powerful witness, especially in a world dominated by voices of selfishness, decline, greed, and exploitation.
When it comes to evidence that will persuade others of our knowledge and relationship with God, it is not our correctness of thought, not our great moral superiority, not even how many facts about Jesus we can recite. It is the powerful witness of imitating our God's actions in self-sacrifice and loving service.
Loving others is a sign to the world of what it means to be a Christian. We can see all around us that humans and our institutions are far too readily inclined to draw lines that mark some as "in" and deserving of love and care, while others are "out" and deserve nothing of the sort. We do this in our own minds and hearts, sorting people into categories of more and less deserving of love.
Loving those we agree with and find likable is easy. We are quite naturally inclined to do good for the sake of those we care about and find easy to love. It is another demand entirely when we consider what it is to love those who make us uncomfortable. Or, worse yet, those who we find difficult, disagreeable, always getting the wrong end of the stick. I suspect these are the people Jesus had in mind when he made this kind of active love a commandment, rather than a helpful suggestion.
Living a Christian life is a big task and, taken up faithfully, it should permeate all of our choices. The question of "How will this choice reflect my faith?" should always be at the forefront for us. Just as Jesus tells the disciples in today's gospel passage, there should be characteristics of Christians that cause others to take notice of us. Sometimes to our benefit—what kind and generous people those Christians are—and sometimes not—those Christians are always helping the wrong sort of people, encouraging them to hang around in our neighbourhood where they're not wanted.
Sometimes being a faithful witness is a costly choice. Jesus loved, quite literally, with every ounce of his being. He poured out love in teaching, in action, and continues to do so every week for us in his body and blood, that we might have nourishment for the road ahead. Our calling today is the same as it was for the disciples at the Last Supper and all of our ancestors: To make ourselves known in the world through our willingness to love. Even when it's difficult. Even when we know others will disapprove. Especially when we know that no one else will.
