Christ spoke of love when asked what He deemed to be the greatest commandment. This blog entry focuses only on the second part of His reply, quoted without references [1]:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
What is this love? To answer the question, one needs to take into context in which the question was posed to Jesus, quoted without references below [2]:
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus said "Love your neighbor as yourself" probably because He knew that many people, in particular those Pharisees who wanted to trap Him, could not love unconditionally and thus, for love to have a bit of meaning for them, He had to refer to a self-centered love, so that they, and many people throughout the world, would know what that means, and would hopefully check their own consciences to see if they are being sincere or hypocritical. In other words, the best Jesus could hope for them to do was to reference the only love they could understand.
However, for those who are on a higher plane of existence than the rest will understand these words of Christ on love, quoted without references [3]:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
In these words, Christ was asking those who wish to follow Him, to be like Him, to love as He loved--unconditionally and self-sacrificially--not as one who conditionally, and self-preservedly, loves one's neighbor.
No comments:
Post a Comment