14TH APRIL 2022
LOVE MAKES THINGS POSSIBLE
EXODUS 12:1-8. 11-14
PSALM 116:12-13. 15-18
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
JOHN 13:1-15
Today’s Gospel reading as we remember the night of the Lord’s Supper has moving words that summarize all that Jesus did from the beginning of his ministry to the end of it on the cross.
The words say,” Having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end.”
This Gospel passage mentions Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and Judas later departing to betray Jesus (if we were to read the passage further that is what is indicated).It is also indicated that the disciples were in a state of confusion and in the midst of all these we are told that Jesus loved His own in the world and He loved them to the end.
This kind of love that Jesus had is surely not romantic love, nor is it simply being nice, nor is it only loving those who love you back.
Think about it when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, Judas who betrayed Him was there yet his feet were washed by Jesus. Even Peter who denied Him was there and Jesus still washed his feet. How can we describe this kind of love that does not concentrate on the bad things that people will do to you?
Apart from Jesus demonstrating just how much He loves His own, He further shows just how much God loves the world by dying for those who manifestly do not love Him. Love is hard because it is self-sacrificing. It means putting the good of the other first.
According to the Jewish customs, the feet were considered the dirtiest part of the body yet it is those dirty feet that Jesus touches, washes and dries, and after the washing he offers this love on the cross for our sins, meaning also that the feet are a symbol of our unworthiness before God who is holy and who later makes us worthy out of that love.
The scene in today’s Gospel reading enables us to hear again and know the importance of these words and remind us that we actually can and often do love one another.
Sometimes the love situation seems so challenging we assume it’s an ideal lofty goal that none of us will ever reach but again it is an invitation to us to think about recent situations where we found it difficult to love another.
It is indeed difficult to love those who give you a hard time at your work place. It is difficult to love those who wish you evil or even malign your name or even disappoint you.
The call here is to try our best to love when it is really difficult to love. This is what the prodigal son’s father did when the son came back to him after squandering his money and wealth with harlots. Infact the father’s love celebrated.
Today we learn that love matters and love challenges us to think of what we have never thought to be possible just because it appears difficult but what is difficult in the presence of genuine love? Nothing is difficult. Infact, love makes things possible.
We may succeed or fail in our attempts to love one another yet God in Jesus loves us in many ways than we can possibly imagine.
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