(member of the
congregation)
Christ Church Clifton congregation reading the Bible in a year. Reflections from members and friends of the church.
Aug 1st
John 15 Jeremiah 28 Acts 19 (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)
In Monday’s reading
(John 13:34) we saw Jesus giving His new command: “… love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another”. Here, in today’s reading
(John 15:13), Jesus reiterates the message: “My command is this: Love each
other as I have loved you”. This repetition was surely no accident – we are to
be left in no doubt of the importance – and the imperative – of this new
commandment. And in the very next verse He continues with words that are both
an illustration of the depth of the sort of love He is talking about and at the
same time a poignant prophesy of the coming crucifixion: “Greater love has no
one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”. Two things strike me
about this verse. First, when Jesus talks about laying down one’s life I don’t
think He is only talking about a sacrifice in the instant of death, but also of
a continual unconditional selfless love in the way a whole life is lived.
Second, Jesus is saying that it is for His friends that He will lay down His
life. The idea that Jesus – the personification of the Creator of the universe
– is a friend to each one of us is both humbling and comforting.