Scripture Scribbles: May 18, 2025
the Gospel
John 13:31-33a, 34-35
When Judas had left them, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself,
and God will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
the scribble
‘I give you a new commandment; love one another.’
What word stood out to you? While I attempted to unpack this short and sweet Gospel, wanting desperately to pull out the Good News, my eyes lingered on one word……commandment!
Jesus didn't make a suggestion to His disciples, he gave them a new COMMANDMENT.
He made it very clear what he expected of them: love one another.
Not as we love ourselves, but ‘As I have loved you.’
Do you think the disciples were questioning, ‘well, how much do you love us Jesus?’ They very well may have. He had not yet died on the cross, He had not yet risen from the dead…maybe this new commandment seems confusing to them at that moment.
What about us?
Unlike His disciples, we know! We know what comes next. We know His disciples will almost all walk away. We also know Jesus hung on the cross and said “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” We know he rose on the third day, we know He walked among them. We know. So, what's our excuse? Why do we find it so hard to love like Jesus? We are human, this is our excuse, we can’t do it on our own.
We need His grace to love like Him.
We need the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives, we need to pray, we need to ask HIM.
This is probably where you would have lost me a few short years ago…..”we need the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives?”
Ok, how? (and who talks like that?)
I confess, I didn’t even realize I possessed the gift of the Holy Spirit. That gift, the one Jesus gave to His disciples, He also gave to little ol’ me, and you! Have you opened it?
You need to open it.
We won’t be able to love as we should without it. He commands us to love, but also gives us His grace to do so. So, if it is feeling impossible to love, perhaps that gift is still wrapped up. Perhaps you can gently undo the ribbon and discover what this gift holds for your life. I promise you this, you will not be disappointed if you open your gift. You most likely will be surprised. You may wonder what took you so long. You may start to realize His timing is perfect. You may start to see the world through new eyes.
I know, since the time I decided to open up my tightly wrapped gift, the grace I have witnessed in my life has ranged from soft slow gentle drops to torrential buckets being poured over my head. When you open your gift, you may see answered prayers and witness beautiful Godwinks that will totally delight you. You may find yourself being able to handle a normally stressful situation just a little differently, and you might start to recognize that the cross that He has laid on your shoulder is for your good, for your salvation and He is going to help you carry it. Will you let Him? He plans to do something amazing in your life. He does promise us that, right?
John 10:10….’I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’
I hope when we unpack our gifts that we have received and we dive into our faith and we dive into His word, we start to feel and see the abundant Joy that is being offered. I believe we recently all got a chance to witness what that Joy looks like in St. Peter's square on May 8th! While the whole world seemed to look on with joyful anticipation for the announcement of the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. I saw the joy on the faces of the young and old, those gathered in the streets waving flags and cheering. That right there, looked like true JOY. Let’s heed His words ‘love one another; as I have loved you.’ I think that was what I was witnessing that day, LOVE!
If I may quote our new Pope;
“God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God.”
~Pope Leo XIV
Today’s devotion was written by Beth Brennan
