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John 15:12-17.

Article Excerpt
John 15:12-17 (Easter 6, Year B) stands at the very heart of the Farewell Discourse and speaks pointedly of love, the distinguishing mark of the community that continues to exist in the world in Jesus' name. At the outset of the discourse, upon announcing his imminent departure, Jesus introduces a "new commandment": "just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples," he said, "if you have love for one another" (13:34-35). In John 15:12-17, the theme of love is resumed and receives its most extensive development in the Fourth Gospel. As one engages John's particular contribution to the church's reflection on this theme, three startling dimensions of it come into view.

First, the Gospel of John focuses the love commandment on the community of disciples, both here and in 13:34-35. While the other gospels exhort disciples to love their neighbors and even their enemies (Mark 12:28-34; Matt 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-28; and Matt 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36), John speaks of in-house love, calling Christians to "love one another." We ought not to assume, however, that this makes John's love commandment easier to follow. Indeed, Gail R. O'Day cautions against dismissing its ethical seriousness, noting that "the history of the church and of individual communities of faith suggests that to love one another may be the most difficult thing Jesus could have asked. There are many circumstances in which it is easier to love one's enemies than it is to love those...