As we come close to the end of the Easter season, today’s Gospel — John Chapter 15 — brings us back to the Last Supper, when we hear Jesus’ new commandment. At the Last Supper, after Judas left the Upper Room to accomplish his act of betrayal, Jesus gave his most important teaching and commandment to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment: love one another” (v. 12a). Thinking of his imminent sacrifice on the cross, He adds: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you” (v. 13-14). These words, said at the Last Supper, summarize Jesus’ full message. Actually, they summarize all that He did: Jesus gave His life for His friends. Friends who did not understand Him, in fact they abandoned, betrayed and denied Him at the crucial moment. This tells us that He loves us, even though we don’t deserve His love. Jesus loves us in this way!

For many of us, love is just an ordinary word. We often use it so lightly in our conversation that it has lost its real meaning and value. So we casually say, “I love this car”; “I love this airport”; “I love my dog”. “I love Manchester United football club.” We are not even bothered when we use it in a contradictory sense: “I love money”; “I love my ambition”.

Today’s Gospel points out several important elements of love according to the mind of Christ. In the first place, love is not something trivial and superficial. Rather, it is the central essence of Christian Life, for indeed, God is Love. Hence, love has the qualities of the divine: eternal, universal and infinite. And if we truly love, God dwells in us and we ourselves take on the qualities of God. This is what St. John the Apostle pointed out: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1John 4:16). The disciples are to love as Jesus loved, and by demonstrating this love, the world will recognize them as Jesus' disciples. Thus, Jesus remains present through the love of his disciples for one another. Jesus continues to exist in the world and is recognized through the love of his disciples.

Second, to love is not easy because the essence of love is self-giving. Jesus showed us this characteristic: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (v. 13). Self-giving is never easy. On the contrary it is always painful. Blessed Mother Teresa said: “True love causes pain. Jesus, in order to give us the proof of his love, died on the cross. A mother, in order to give birth to her baby, has to suffer. If you really love one another, you will not be able to avoid making sacrifices.”

Third, although love is a free and voluntary act, Jesus has commended it: “This is my commandment” (v. 12a). This may sound highly unusual. If love is commanded, then there is no more voluntariness, and hence it cannot be love. But this is not true in the case of Christian love or Jesus’ love. Jesus is talking about love as agape – an act of the will whereby a person makes a decision to love the unlovable, and those who do not deserve to be loved. Jesus gives this command for he has done it himself and has set the example: “As I have loved you so you also should love one another” (v. 12).   The criterion for loving one another is Jesus' love for us; we are to love others as he has loved us, as our Lord and Master. 

Fourth, Jesus shows us the path to follow Him: the path of love.   His commandment is not a simple teaching which is always abstract or foreign to life. Love originates from Jesus himself. He gave His flesh and thus the law of love is written upon the heart of man (cf. Jer 31:33). And how is it written? It is written with the fire of the Holy Spirit. With this Spirit that Jesus gives us, we too can take this path! It is a real path, a path that leads us to come out of ourselves and go towards others (Pope Francis).  

Fifth, Jesus showed us that the love of God is realized in love for our neighbor. Both go hand-in-hand. The pages of the Gospel are full of this love: adults and children, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, just and sinners all were welcomed into the heart of Christ. Therefore, this Word of God calls us to love one another, even if we do not always understand each other, and do not always get along… it is then that Christian love is seen. A love which manifests even if there are differences of opinion or character. Because Love is greater than these differences (Pope Francis).

Lastly, it is a New Love and commandment, because Jesus and his Spirit renewed it. Christ’s commandment is new because He realized it first. It is a redeeming love, free from selfishness. A love which gives our hearts joy, as Jesus himself said: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn 15:11).  

Today presents an opportunity to evaluate our love for one another. Are we expressing Jesus' love in simple yet concrete ways? Is our love limited to those we know and like, or does it extend to others, giving life to them? How can we align our love with Jesus' love as the standard? Let us pray for the grace to love as Jesus loved.