https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102923.cfm
Jesus loves people, especially the weakest, and it gets Him into trouble. He is doing things no one ever did: touching lepers when he heals them, eating with publicans and sinners at the same table, and calling a tax collector to be his disciple. It’s just too much.
So far, no one has been able to entrap Jesus or even get him into a debate. He’s just too shrewd to wize for them. However, to get the best of Jesus, a lawyer asks, “Which commandment of the law is the greatest?”
Jesus gives an answer that is not very surprising; it was part of the Shema.” This is the first sentence every Hebrew child learned. They prayed this before going to sleep at night to remind them of the heart of their faith.
There is no opportunity for a debate here, so his opponents start to leave. While walking away, Jesus said, “The second is like the first,” and everyone stopped. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Everyone knew this from the book of Deuteronomy. They stopped because it surprised them how Jesus put these two commandments together, almost on par with each other.
I offer this illustration from Dick Hill, a former American missionary to China, in a book entitled, “Love, Is a Costly Thing.”
He remembers, “She was lying on the ground.
In her arm, she held a tiny baby girl.
As I put a cooked sweet potato in her outstretched hand, I wondered if she would live until morning.
Her strength was almost gone. But her tired eyes acknowledged my gift.
The sweet potato could help so little – But it was all I had.
“Taking a bite, she chewed it carefully.
Then, placing her mouth over her baby’s mouth, she forced the soft, warm food into the tiny throat.
Exhausted from her effort, she dropped her head to the ground and closed her eyes.
In a few minutes, the baby was asleep.
I later learned that during the night, The mother’s heart stopped, but her little girl lived.1
“Love is a costly thing.
My friends, I can’t say how much I appreciate the love you have for the people we are helping eat some healthy meals in Venezuela. I couldn’t help but think of you and them when I read this experience of Dick Hill.
God, in his love for us and a lost world, ‘spared not his own Son’ to tell the world of his love. This young mother and Jesus are teaching us a valuable lesson: we love Christ Jesus the moment our love for someone cost us something.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.
Gospel Challenge:
Tonight and every night, I ask myself, ”Did I love Jesus enough today?”
Peace Everyone.
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
pastor@bscchurch.com
1 Sermons Based On The Lectionary Of The Syrian Orthodox Church. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.malankaraworld.com/Library/Sermons/Sermons_John-3-16-Gods-Love-Munche
