Do you drink the same kind of coffee you drank thirty years ago? Probably not. I have gone through about twenty different brands of coffee, and the one that I drink now I just came upon about six months ago. We are a culture of “fads.” We quickly get bored with what we have and are always looking for something to replace it. This even applies to our philosophies of life and choices of churches. Our fascination with “what’s new” makes it difficult for us to remain with anything for any significant length of time.
I wonder if Jesus thought of this when he gave commandments to his disciples at the Last Supper. Listen to what he said (John 15:9-17).
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”
Do you think the Father ever gets tired of loving Jesus or Jesus ever gets tired of loving his Father? They’ve been remaining in love with each other since before the beginning of time and will continue to do so for all eternity. From this mutual love sprang all of creation, including us. Jesus is giving his disciples a simple commandment: “Remain in my love.” If, for some reason, they got tired of Jesus and started looking for a “replacement,” they would begin the dangerous journey to personal destruction. Once a person has experienced Jesus’ love for them and chooses to love him in return, they have found the secret to life.
How does one remain in love with Jesus? Does this mean to keep “feeling” love for him?
“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just Ihave kept the Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”
By obeying the Father, Jesus remained in His love. Do you think Jesus always felt likedoing the Father’s will? Do you think Jesus liked the idea of having Judas Iscariot, the thief, as an Apostle? Do you think he liked the idea of turning over the authority of the Church to the impulsive, loud-mouthed Peter. If he had his way, he would have chosen Matthias (whose feast day we celebrate today) instead of Judas, and John, his beloved disciple, instead of Peter to lead the Church. And we know from his struggle in the garden of Gethsemane that he wasn’t exactly excited about being whipped, mocked, and crucified. Jesus remained in the Father’s love and exhorted the disciples to remain always in his love—especially when they didn’t feel like it.
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
Jesus then added a second commandment. They were to love each other “as Jesus loved” them. Whoa! Jesus loved them to the point of being crucified that they might be saved. Was he suggesting that their love go that far? He told them that he was giving them the gift of friendship with God, and that by obeying his commandments, they would maintain this highest level of relationship. Jesus is offering them the super-human power to love each other as he loved them and make heroic sacrifices to maintain this gift of friendship with God.
At that moment the disciples of Jesus did not have the power to obey his two fundamental commandments. When the Holy Spirit came into them after the Ascension of Jesus, however, they received the extraordinary power to live as Jesus lived, to obey his commandments heroically, and to remain forever in the embrace of his love.
And so, this final week before Pentecost, we ask St. Matthias and the other disciples to help us prepare to receive the greatest of all gifts, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Daily we pray, “Come Holy Spirit, Come.”
