Love One Another as I Have Loved You

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide

The Gospel text this morning is another short excerpt from the Gospel of St. John. It is taken from the farewell address of Jesus to his apostles. The farewell address is the longest, continuous discourse in the New Testament.

First Jesus speaks of glory. To fully understand this intricate statement about glorifying the Father and the Father glorifying the Son, we have to remember that for the Middle Easterner, life is driven by the effort to preserve one’s dignity or honor and the necessity of avoiding anything shameful. Jesus speaks these words the night before his death on the cross. He was executed in the most shameful way known to humans. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “Cursed is the man who is hung from a tree.” However, through the resurrection, the Father erases the shame of the crucifixion and bestows honor upon the Son who has obeyed the will of the Father.

Following this hymn about glory, Jesus asks us to love one another as he has loved us. As a former English teacher and as an avid reader, I have a deep appreciation for the English language. However, when we listen to the Gospel text for today about loving one another, I have to recognize the poverty of the English language when it comes to the subject of love. The New Testament is written in Koine Greek, a language that has at least six different words that English simply translates as love. Consequently, for people whose native language is English, today’s Gospel is often misunderstood.

In Greek, the word “Eros” refers to a passionate desire for something or someone. The connotation of this word tells us that there is often something intimate about this kind of love. The Greek word “philia” is used to explain affection or friendliness between two equal persons, friendship or brotherly love. The Greek word “storge” speaks of the kind of affection or regard between a parent and a child, of a brother for a sister, or a nephew for an uncle.

The word used in today’s Gospel text is “agape,” a word that implies self-sacrifice and loyalty. St. Thomas Aquinas describes “agape” as willing the good of another. This kind of love sets aside any egotism and a involves a willingness to give everything we have for another. Jesus asks us to love one another as he has loved us. Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to die for us. How can God ask this of us? It is an unachievable goal that we must pursue all of our lives.

Jesus goes on to say that this kind of love is the thing that will identify us as his disciples. We are called to unconditional love, charity; the love of God for a person and of a person for God. This kind of love is often the hallmark of a saintly or holy life. It is the love that St. Vincent de Paul had for the poor or the love that St. Damien of Molokai had for the lepers. It is the kind of love that made St. Maximilian Kolbe offer to take the place of a condemned man in a Nazi concentration camp.

To be sure, this kind of love calls for great sacrifice. One must be willing to strip away the last vestige of egotism to express this kind of love. St. Paul offers a wonderful expression of “agape” in the thirteenth chapter of his First Letter to the Corinthians, a passage that is often read at weddings. This kind of love is something that we will struggle with until our dying day, for it is the kind of love that constantly asks us for more. It is this kind of love that Jesus expressed for us through his death on the cross.