In gospel reading for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Jesus gives the disciples a new commandment.
They, of course, already had the 10 Commandments of Moses, but Jesus gives them a new one here: the commandment to love one another, which has become known as the “Greatest Commandment” or the “Golden Rule.”
We’re reading this morning from John’s Gospel, but this new commandment of Jesus is also given to us in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels, as well, where it says, “love one another as I have loved you” or “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Now, when Jesus first gave this commandment it wasn’t exactly new, and it wasn’t unique to Jesus.
All the world’s major faith traditions have some form of this same commandment in each of their Holy Books. Some of these traditions (like Hinduism and Judaism) date back centuries before Jesus of Nazareth was even born. So, this commandment isn’t unique to Christianity.
Isn’t it amazing how all of the different faiths have this same exact commandment? — The commandment to love.
And, in my opinion, the commandment to love is the toughest commandment to keep, especially during the times we are living, which are so divided and divisive.
I, personally, think the 10 Commandments are pretty easy to follow. It’s easy for me to love God and honor my parents and keep the Sabbath.
But Jesus’s new commandment is one I struggle with…almost on a daily basis.
“To love one another as I have loved you”?! Really? To love as Jesus loved??!! Who can do that?
Jesus loved people unconditionally, so much so that he said, “if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other cheek.”
He said to “bless those who persecute you,” to “love your enemy,” and forgive those who have wronged you, not just once, but “seventy times seven times.”
And, even after being stripped and whipped and spat upon and humiliated and nailed to a cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Jesus still loved those people who were whipping and spitting and nailing him to the cross…and he commands here us to love in the same way.
When Jesus and the other spiritual teachers spoke in their Holy Books of “Love,” it wasn’t about simply being “nice” to one other.
Sometimes, we think to “love your neighbor” means to “be nice” to everybody, but Jesus was speaking about something much more than that in his commandment to love.
In the Bible, the word “love” here comes from Greek word, “Agape,” which means much more than being simply pleasant to one another.
If you look up the definition of the word “Agape,” it means: “The sacrifice of self in service of another.”
The sacrifice of self in service of another.
You know, from time-to-time in our country, we hear about some Christian group another who wants to have the “Ten Commandments” displayed in a public square or a city hall or in a courthouse.
But, you know, I never hear about them wanting to display Jesus’s commandments of love and forgiveness.
Can you imagine in a public courthouse if it said up on the wall: “Forgive those who have done wrong” or “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”?
Can you imagine in a government building if it said up on the wall: “Forgive one another’s debts,” “Bear one another’s burdens,” “Serve the least of these in your midst”?
How come they don’t want those words up in public places? Because the 10 Commandments are easy, but the commandments of Jesus are hard.
But, if we are truly to call ourselves Christians, then we must follow not only the Ten Commandments given to us by Moses. We must also follow the commandments of Love given to us by Jesus, no matter how difficult those commandments may be to obey.
Following this Way of Love – following this Way of Life – may be difficult, but as we heard in our reading this morning, these commandments are not burdensome. Instead, they unburden us: they free us from the shackles of our selfishness and our ego.
It is why Jesus says: “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He wasn’t speaking literally, but spiritually.
To “lay down your life” means to “let go” of the Ways of the Ego, to die to the false self, so that you can awaken to the True Self, the Divine Self, the Christ Self….the Self that loves how God loves.
For as Scripture tells us “God is love,” and love is the essence of our being.
So, my friends, on this fifth Sunday of Easter – in this season of new growth and new life – let us find time each day to connect more fully with the power and presence of love that is within us.
And, may we go forth this day in the service of love…to love all people as God loves them…wholly and unconditionally.