On our Paschal Journey, we come to the fourth step in which we learn the Great Commandment of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus teaches his disciples the Great Commandment of loving God, neighbor, and oneself early on in his ministry. He then explains in depth what those words mean. “Love your enemies.” “Pray for those who persecute you.” Not content to just leave this teaching at speaking mere words, Jesus in the remainder of the Gospels teaches his disciples by putting those words into action in the way he lived his life.
In John’s account, Jesus does not teach this Great Commandment early on in the Gospel. He reserves this teaching to the night prior to his torture and execution at the hands of Jewish religious authorities and Roman authorities.
After he has washed the feet of his disciples, and then shared a meal with them (it should be noted that Judas Iscariot was present for both of these events), knowing that his disciples’ lives and faith would be shaken to the core, he teaches them one last time. Scripture scholars call this the “Last Supper Discourse”. During this teaching, he warns his disciples of the events that are about to take place, and tries to comfort them. He then gives his greatest teaching, that is “to love one another as I have loved you.” The next day, Jesus demonstrates to the disciples and to the world the weight of his words. The great biblical scholar, Fr Jerome Murphy-O’Connor stated in his commentary on Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians that it was God’s love that gave us the Eucharist, and Jesus’ love for us, demonstrated in his passion, death, and resurrection, gave substance to the words of the Eucharist.
Regardless of which Passion account from the four Gospels, it should be observed that even though Jesus was tortured, spat on, kicked, abused and was cruelly nailed to one of the greatest instruments of pain, torture and execution, he did not curse any of those who heaped so much spiritual, emotional, and physical hatred upon him. The Jewish religious leaders deride him, mock him, and curse him as he hangs in intolerable agony, yet, Jesus does not call upon his Abba God to kill them. Jesus does not wishes them any harm whatsoever. Rather, he calls upon his Abba God to forgive them. As he breathes his last breath, Jesus exhales not hatred but love for his enemies. He prays for all those who have plotted, tortured, and executed him.
In this fourth stop on our Paschal Journey, to prepare for the Crucible that looms ahead for us, we are called by Jesus to love as he loves.
This is so utterly simple a commandment, and at the same time, given our human nature, so seemingly an impossible commandment to keep. We have all suffered abuse from others. In our second stop on this journey we have asked God to open our awareness to the stony places that the abuse and mistreatment of others has placed in our hearts. In this fourth step, we are now called by God to forgive those who have caused us so much pain. Why?
Henri Nouwen, in a book he co-authored about Aging, wrote that we have two choices in life as we age. We can either age into grace, or we can age into bitterness. If we do not learn and to put into practice the Great Commandment of Jesus, we are doomed to have bitterness consume our lives. This does not mean that we cannot be critical of the behavior of others. Jesus did not hesitate to point out the falsehoods and the false teachings of his religious authorities. He was quite implicit about speaking against their shortcomings. But, he also demonstrated that he did not hate them, rather, he was raising his concern out of love for them.
When I was dating my beloved Ruth, I remember my mother-in-law, Rose, correcting one of Ruth’s siblings. Rose said, “I love you, but right now I don’t like you very much.” Rose was not going to excuse the bad behavior of her children, but at the same time she expressed and reassured them that she would love them to the end. (It should be noted that I never heard my mother-in-law express this to my beloved bride. Ruth was always a respectful and perfect child.)
So here, in this fourth step of our Paschal Journey, we sit with Jesus and his disciples and listen once more to this great teaching that Jesus imparts to us before he leaves for the Kidron Valley, his subsequent arrest, torture, and execution.
As we listen to this music, let us meditate on whom we are called to love. Who are we called to love more than others, namely, our enemies and those who persecute us? Do we find ourselves plotting revenge against them? The great comedian W.C. Fields expressed this as “thinking thoughts that would make a coroner quail.”? Can we motivate ourselves to pray for them? This is a major part of our Paschal Journey. This very necessary step prepares us for the hardship that awaits us. It is not easy. I am still fighting the inclination to wish harm upon my enemies. In the words of my dear departed mother-in-law, to “Love them even though I don’t like them right now.”
