This past Sunday, Catholics around the world were treated to a reading from the First Epistle of John. This letter, likely written between 95 and 110 A.D. in Ephesus, is addressed to believing Christians and covers themes of love and genuine fellowship with God.
The excerpt read at Mass this week, 1 John 2:1-5, covers precisely these topics, with a focus on learning to recognize when God—and by extension, love—truly abides in a person. This is an important subject that is worth meditating on, and I hope you’ll benefit from my reflections on it.
But first, the reading:
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. 4 Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; 5 but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him: 6 whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.
The significance of this reading lies in its focus on ethical behaviour, or “Right Conduct,” to borrow an eastern term. It reminds us that no matter what we claim to believe, if our lifestyle doesn’t match it, then we’re doing it wrong: “By this we know that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.” Actions speak louder than words.
Walking as Christ walked
But what does it mean to walk the same way Christ walked? The Christ-like lifestyle is summed up in the climax of the Gospel narratives: Jesus’ Passion.
The story goes something like this. After receiving his sentence from the authorities, Jesus was mocked, beaten and flogged by Roman soldiers. He was then forced to carry his cross up to Golgotha, where he was brutally crucified for all to see. After several hours of agonizing torture, Jesus finally bowed his head and died. He was removed from the cross and buried in a rock-cut tomb.
The Passion is, on the one hand, a bone-chilling narrative highlighting the darkness of humanity. It combines themes of violence, injustice and betrayal, placing evil on full display. At the same time, it’s also a story of ultimate love. This makes sense in light of something Jesus said to his disciples the night of his arrest: the day Catholics call Holy Thursday.
It was Passover and the 12 disciples were gathered together, sharing one last meal before Jesus’ execution. At some point during the dinner, Jesus took a loaf of bread, gave thanks and broke it apart for them to eat: “This is my body, which is given for you.” Afterwards, he did the same with a cup of wine, saying “this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” While the theological meaning of this has been debated endlessly, one thing is certain. At the Last Supper, Jesus prefigured the salvific nature of his upcoming death.
Indeed, Jesus willingly entered into his arrest, trial, torture and execution. He did so out of pure, divine love for us. Jesus’ death cleansed the sins of all people and “of the whole world,” as our reading this week reminded us. The magnitude of this gesture can’t be overstated. Sin leads to death. Therefore, Jesus gave up his life to save ours. Even greater, he died to save the whole world.
Accordingly, the life of Jesus is defined by the practice of self-sacrifice for the good of the other. This ties together the entirety of his ministry, which was spent in humble service of others. It likewise echoes Jesus’ great commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves. With this in mind, this week’s reading serves as an exhortation to imitate the self-sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
This can be thought of as a spontaneous response to what Christ did for us, as we’re compelled to repay his ultimate act of love. And how can we “repay” Christ?: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40). The First Epistle of John is asking us to forgo our selfish desires in favour of service of our fellow man. Only then can the truth and the perfected love of God exist in us.
Spontaneous service to humanity
Self-sacrifice doesn’t always need to involve grand gestures of generosity. In our everyday lives, it might manifest more in the “little” things. Maybe we wash the dishes or take the trash out for someone who does it all the time. Make dinner for someone who’s usually in charge of cooking. Take on an extra task at work if it means lightening the load of a stressed co-worker.
We should make these sacrifices not because we expect something in return, regardless of whether that’s praise or money. Rather, they should flow out of us spontaneously for their own sake. This is analogous to God Himself, who (according to many spiritual traditions) created the world not to achieve a certain end, but as a mere spontaneous, sportive act. Jesus himself is also in agreement: in Matthew 6, we’re warned against practicing righteousness openly in order to be seen. When we give alms, pray or fast, we are to do these in secret.
The true test then is this. The next time we’re about to do something nice for someone, we should first ask ourselves, if no one would ever know about it, would I still do it? If the answer is no, then we should rethink our motivations. If yes, we’re probably on the right track.
Just as Christ died for us, so must we “die to ourselves” for the sake of humanity, by being of service to people whenever we can. Thankfully, though, our story doesn’t end in death. The Passion narrative continues. Three days after the crucifixion, a group of women went to Jesus’ tomb to visit the body. To their shock, they found that the stone used to seal the tomb had been rolled away. Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ closest followers, began to weep:
As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 (John 20:11-17)
Jesus returns triumphantly as the Resurrected Christ. His body glorified, heavenly. So, too, will our sacrifices lead to resurrection. Indeed, with death comes new life. Only when we come to understand this can we truly be called “Christian.”
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