John 13:31-33a, 34-35
Glory in the Cross
by Fr. Joseph M. Rampino
Reprinted with permission of "The Arlington Catholic
Herald"
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John wrote to show that Christ was
the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.
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."
“I
give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another” (Jn 13:34).
During
the season of Easter, the church, following ancient tradition, revisits the
Lord’s words and deeds, understanding them more deeply now that the Resurrection
has completed the picture. Thus, this Sunday’s Gospel places us back at the Last
Supper, at the beginning of Christ’s final words to those he loved.
He
begins the Last Supper discourses by speaking of two things. He talks about his
glory, saying “now is the Son of Man glorified” (Jn 13: 31), and he talks about
his love, telling the disciples to “love one another … as I have loved you” (Jn
13: 34).
Of
course, the first time the apostles heard these words they could not have known
what Jesus meant. All they knew was that, with Judas gone, Jesus seemed to open
up and turn his mind to the future. This would have made sense to them. In the
previous few days, Jesus had silenced his longtime opponents, the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, and had done so in the Temple itself. We are told “they no longer
dared to ask him anything” (Lk 20: 40). In the eyes of the apostles, Jesus had
finally won, and this was supposed to be a victorious Passover.
When
Jesus spoke about his glory, commanding them to love one another, they may have
thought this was the moment his triumph would begin. He would be glorified by
claiming the throne of Israel, and they would love one another as fellow kings,
ruling Israel with him as he promised.
This,
however, was not to be the case. When Jesus says that he is to be glorified, and
will show his love for his disciples, he is talking about the cross. It is on
the cross that Jesus is truly glorified, crowned with the crown of David and
raised up for all to see. It is also on the cross that Jesus shows us a perfect
act of love, a love that receives nothing in return, that holds on to God alone
and loves others for his sake. When Jesus speaks to the apostles that night of
the Last Supper, he is commanding them to imitate the glory of his crucified
love.
The
apostles were not ready to hear these things. Their hearts were not yet prepared
to make that kind of offering, and had the Lord clarified everything at that
time, they might have simply run away, as they did when Jesus was arrested. Only
after the Resurrection were they ready to understand. Then, seeing the Lord
alive again, they understood that the glory and love of the cross did not simply
end in death, but passed through it like a conqueror. Only then, they had the
hope that makes real Christian love possible. That is why we read these passages
again after Easter. We too are called to find our glory in the cross of Jesus,
and to love God and others as he did that day. The hope of the Resurrection
reminds us that when we offer ourselves on our own crosses, we are not simply
going to our deaths, but are passing through the moment of pain and sacrifice on
the way to our true glory. If we remain close to Jesus, offering our lives with
him, we will also share his new life, and, as he promised the apostles, we “will
sit on thrones,” ruling peacefully in the kingdom of our Father forever (Lk 22:
30).
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