Both the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John focus us clearly on the essential elements of our religious life, namely faith and love. In the Gospel we have the core of the Gospel or the Gospel within the Gospel in the famous passage John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
The core teaching of John’s Gospel is that God loves us, and God revealed and made his love concrete or incarnate by sending his Son into the world.
In today’s first reading from the Epistle of John the focus is on faith and love as the core elements of our Christian life
“And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.”
First, John notes that faith and love go together. They are not two separate commandments but one commandment. We believe in Jesus because he shows us the love of God in his teachings, his life, and his death. We love one another because God has first loved us:
“We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:19-20).
God teaches or shows us how to love in the life and death of his Son. God’s love is action as Jesus’ love is action. God’s action is to send his Son into the world. Jesus’ action is to welcome tax collectors, sinners and the outcast of society, to heal and to forgive. We show our faith in Jesus by our actions of showing compassion to the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the immigrant, and anyone in need. We show our faith in Jesus by also seeing the goodness and love in ourselves. God’s love dwells in us and we are called upon to show forth that love in our daily life. Only one commandment is required:
“And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them…”
Image: “<div class=’fn’> <div style=’font-weight:bold;display:inline-block;’><div style=’display:inline-block’ dir=’ltr’ lang=’en’><i>Saint John the Evangelist</i></div></div><div style=’display: none;’>label QS:Lit,’S. Giovanni Evangelista'</div> <div style=’display: none;’>label QS:Lde,’der Evangelist Johannes'</div> <div style=’display: none;’>label QS:Len,’Saint John the Evangelist'</div></div>” by Unidentified painter is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.