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John’s Gospel reveals Jesus, the revolutionary Redeemer, as the Messiah for all people, marked by an uncompromising desire for unity in the Beloved Community. Jesus mandates love as the foundation for all relationships. Even as he stares down death – and not just any death, but the brutality of the crucifixion – Jesus takes the time to share with us a new commandment: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). It’s overwhelming to consider how, even in Jesus’ final hours, he was so deeply concerned for others. If I had less than a day to live, I wonder what would most concern me? As we later learn, in these last moments Jesus even changes his relationship with his disciples. “I do not call you servants any longer,” he tells them. “…but I have called you friends” (John 15:15).
This message is excerpted from “Beloved community” by Angela T. Khabeb in the March 2019 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate John, Apostle and Evangelist.