THE WAY OF LOVE

SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST

1 Jn 1:1-4; Ps 97:1-2,5-6,11-12; Jn 20:2-8

The Man who plumbed the Depth of God

The most concise and connatural presentation of God to us in the scriptures is Saint John’s statement that God is love. As creatures of God, we are made of and fashioned in love. As we have presented in our reflections, man is designed and made by God to be a temple of God. If we follow John’s simple presentation of God as love, then it follows that we are made to contain love. So, we see that love is inherent to us and a language we all understand and easily relate to. From this background, we have considered the power of the Good News we have received this Christmas, concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God. His nativity in our nature speaks powerfully to us about his love for us; for there is no stronger way of communicating the spousal love than when a suitor presents himself or herself as being comfortable and at home with the living conditions of the spouse. The birth of the Son of God as a baby is the most powerful and effective communication of his love and marriage proposal to us, sinners. One can contend that his death is more powerful, but his death is already presumed in his Incarnation, for death is part of our mortal conditions, which he assumed by taking on our nature. Saint John, the Evangelist, presents his Gospel narratives in this light, which makes him the deepest plumber of divine depth.

Since love presupposes a good knowledge of the lover in the beloved, the Evangelist commenced with emphasis on the Godhead of the Eternal Word who became flesh and lived among us. We see this both in his Gospel, which we read on Christmas day, and in his first epistle that is given to us today. “Something which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word, who is life—this is our subject.” How is it possible that we are able to see what has eternal existence, which before now we could only hear about, but now are able to see, follow about, and touch with our hands? Only love can make what is impossible possible; for to the lover, nothing is impossible in order to fulfil his desire to be with the beloved. Especially when the lover is the Eternal Word. This is the answer Saint John provided for our question: “That life was made visible: we saw it, and we are giving our testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us.” Love makes it possible for us to see eternal life.

He presents the impossible to us, the irreconcilable ends and their reconciliation in fact, and allows us to draw the conclusion by reasoning out the impossible means or method. He leads us gently to that conclusion by letting us understand that only God and the lover can do the impossible. He coincides the two when he made the famous and apt statement: God is Love. If these two are the same, then one who walks in love walks in God. We have found our way or methodology for all that is impossible for human nature. The holy apostle, Saint John, walked this way to enter deeply into the mystery of the Godhead. Because he had made love his usual path in life, he did not need much fact or persuasion to arrive at the possibility of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is impossible by human reckoning. “So, Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in.” What he saw was enough to conclude through or via the way of love, but he waited for the official testimony of Peter. When that was done, he presented personal testimony, which will constitute the official testimony of the Church eventually, for love, supported solidly by faith, cannot err. “Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.” We note that love, which is more of God, goes first before faith, which is more human. In love, he saw God, and as a man, he believed in God. When we walk by love, we let God the Holy Spirit lead the way, while our human nature comes along in faith. Saint John, the beloved Apostle and Evangelist, shows us the way of love.

Let us pray: O God, who through the blessed Apostle John have unlocked for us the secrets of your Word, grant, we pray, that we may grasp with proper understanding what he has so marvellously brought to our ears. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.