As Judas leaves to set in motion the events that will lead to the death of Jesus, there is no attempt to stop him. Instead, he is invited to act with haste. It is clear that Jesus understands His death as central to the purposes of God. Jesus is so completely at one with this purpose than the departure of Judas is like an overture to His exclamation.
It is clear, step one, that Jesus sees His death as a glorification and as a revelation of what divine love will do to save those who are lost. This revelation retells the truth about who Jesus really is: the One who is lifted up for all to see and who draws all people to Himself. In this one action he will reveal the truth about God, as a self-giving flow of life and of love to his children in their most frightening moment – the moment of their death. The twofold revelation of the Son of Man and of His Father strengthen each other. Their unity expressed and celebrated as mutual glorification.
It is also clear that the death of Jesus will change the bonds of Love which have grown between Him and His disciples. But it isn’t simply that it is His time and not theirs. Rather, He is moving ahead of them, pioneering the way. This is why St. Paul refers to Him as first-born from the dead. (Col.1:18-19)
Finally, Jesus sees His dying as the supreme expression of the Love He has been talking about from the beginning. As He lays down His life for His sheep (Jn.10:15) He creates a new Commandment. The world of His disciples is rocked when they are lifted far outside their human inability to love God and their neighbour, into a first love that flows through the person of Jesus. The new Commandment is an invitation to recognise and remember the Son of Man who joins us in our deepest fears and sustains us in our greatest losses.
This new beginning – God loving us without regret, without end and to breaking point – requires a huge shift in the imagination of every disciple. Consider this insight from James Mackey,
“I simply will not feel my own life, my own self, as grace of gift of God, unless someone values me … I may see, at first blush, this stands the whole logic of the reign of God on its head… The logic should surely read: first feel all life land existence as grace, and then feel inspired to be gracious to others. Not, first feel the grace of some human presence, feel forgiven, accepted, served then begin to feel all life and existence as grace, and feel inspired to be gracious to others. But it is really a universal human idiosyncrasy that is operative here, not a matter of logic… Most of us can only sense ourselves and our world valued and cherished by God when we feel valued and cherished by others”. (Jesus: The Man and the Myth [Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1970]170)
In other words, we come to know and love Sacredness through our humanity. This is the colossal insight of the New Commandment. If disciples can keep faith with the memory of what Jesus has done. If they can aspire to uphold and live a kind of loving that springs from the heart of God’s Heart, the presence of Jesus will be eternally available to them. And when other people witness and experience the disciples of Jesus upholding the primacy of Sacred Love in all things, they will be drawn to the well from which it springs. Love will be the tip-off that we are disciples of Jesus.
I imagine that every home is filled with loves reminders. There might be photographs of people we have loved and lost. There may be other objects which, worth next to nothing should they be presented at the antiques road show, hold immeasurable richness of the Love that we have grown and shared with others. Some of us may even have a crucifix to remind us of the gift of that ‘first love’ which flows through Jesus. Most of the time we may take their presence for granted. But every now and again they call to us to pause and remember moments of joy and laughter or moments of prayer.
But the cross of Jesus should be a unique and priceless treasure in every disciple’s home. We belong to a community and to a tradition which has carried the memory of Jesus through time and space so that we can touch it and make it our own. This is the legacy of people who tried their best to live in the Love that does not fail. When they stumbled and fell, they found their way to forgiveness and started again. The community to which I belong has bridged the centuries from the time of Jesus so that He can speak to my own heart.
We have this gift and we also have the gift of Sacred Scripture. Both are needed if we are to remember the love of Jesus and His Commandment that we should uphold the primacy of Love in all things and bring Love to bear on every violation of Love which we meet along the way. Whenever two or three people are gathered by this truth, an indestructible community is formed. We call this ‘the church’. But what I am beginning to see more clearly is this. Remembering the love of Jesus so that we can love one another takes a home and a heart big enough to hold the photographs of cherished family, friends and even pets, and allowing them to stand side by side with the cross.
