5th Sunday of Easter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May 19, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John 13:31-33a, 34-35<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Last Supper, after Jesus washed the feet of the\ndisciples, He gives them a new commandment: \u201clove one another as I have loved\nyou\u201d. If there is one single, most beautiful line in the Gospel of John or even\nin the entire Bible, this would be one of the strongest candidates. However,\nwhy does Jesus give us a new commandment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand what Jesus does in the Last Supper, we need to\ngo back to the Old Testament, particularly when the Lord God gave His\ncommandments. After the Lord God delivered Israel from the slavery of Egypt, He\nmade a covenant with them through the mediation of Moses. They shall be God\u2019s\npeople and the Lord shall be their God. This was the fundamental step in the\nlife of Israel because God formed them as the People of God. This was an\nunprecedented privilege and grace, but with great privilege comes the great\nresponsibility. God wanted them to live as the People of God and not as the\nother nations that surrounded them. Thus, the Lord gave them the Law that would\nseparate them from other peoples who worshiped false gods, and the most\nfundamental among these laws are the Ten Commandments. If they stubbornly\nfailed to observe the Law and lived as if like the Gentiles, they would be cut\noff from the People of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Last Supper, Jesus does the same as His Father in the\ndesert. He forms His disciples, His family, His Church by giving them a New\nLaw, the Law of Love. Only when the disciples keep the New Law, they will be\ndifferent from the rest of nations, and they may call themselves as the\nfollowers of Jesus. At first, we may perceive that Jesus\u2019 new law is easier\ndone than the Ten Commandment. Yet, when we go deeper to the meaning of love\nunderstood by Jesus, it is actually the opposite. Jesus\u2019 Law is much more\ndifficult and tougher to do. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Greek of the New Testament, there are several words for\nlove. \u201cEros\u201d is the love between husband and wife. \u201cPhilia\u201d is love among\nfriends. None of these two Jesus used to describe His love. It is \u201cagape\u201d.\nWhile eros and philia are love based on emotion, agape is love rooted in free\nwill. It is the love of action. That is why Jesus is able to teach us to love\nour enemies. Jesus does not say we should like our enemies because it is\nnaturally impossible, but we can still do good to our enemies despite the\nhatred and anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, this agape is not just any agape, it is agape of Jesus.\nFor Him, there is no greater love than one who lays down his life for his\nfriends. Agape of Jesus is sacrificial. It is Jesus\u2019 cross as well as His\nglory. Only when we love to the point of sacrifice, we may say that we have\nkept Jesus\u2019 commandment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muelmar \u201cToto\u201d Magallanes was a young Filipino who worked as\na construction worker. In 2009, monstrous tropical storm Ondoy battered Metro\nManila and caused an instant flood in many areas. When his area was flooded,\nToto first brought to safety his family. Yet, he did not stop there. He decided\nto rescue others who were still trapped by the mighty water. Braving the strong\ncurrent, he saved more than 30 people. He was already exhausted when he\nrealized a mother and her baby were still in danger. He made his last rescue\nattempt and brought the mother and her baby to the higher ground. Yet, losing\nhis strength, he was swept by the current. He was lifeless the following day.\n“He gave his life for my baby,” Menchie Penalosa, the child’s mother,\ntold Agence France-Presse. “I will never forget his sacrifice.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the new commandment of Jesus and only by keeping His\nCommandment, we can become His authentic disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deacon Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
5th Sunday of Easter
\nMay 19, 2019
\nJohn 13:31-33a, 34-35<\/p>\n
At the Last Supper, after Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, He gives them a new commandment: \u201clove one another as I have loved you\u201d. If there is one single, most beautiful line in the Gospel of John or even in the entire Bible, this would be one of the strongest candidates. However, why does Jesus give us a new commandment?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58],"class_list":["post-8520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8521,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520\/revisions\/8521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}