The power & meaning of love!

John 20:2-8

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus ' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed.

Food for thought 

The part that love plays in this story is extraordinary. It was Mary, who loved Jesus so much, who was first at the tomb. It was John, the disciple whom Jesus loved and who loved Jesus, who was first to believe in the Resurrection; when John saw the scene, he believed. Why? Because he was the disciple who loved Jesus most; he is the only disciple who followed Jesus until the end, on the cross. All the other disciples run away. Love gave John the power to follow Jesus to the cross; love gave John the eyes to read the signs and a mind to understand that Jesus had risen. No wonder, two days after Christmas, we remember and celebrate John, the disciple of love.

Here we have the great law of love. Love is the great interpreter. Where there's love there's understanding; if you love someone, you will understand them; you can't understand someone you hate. Indeed, we only hate those people we don't love. If you don't understand someone, like your spouse, your boss or colleague at work, it is because you don't love him or her enough. You will never understand someone whom you don't love.

It is good news to know that love is true, and truth is immortal. We can suppress love / truth, accuse it of being a lie, condemn it, torture it, kill it, bury it in the grave but on the third day love / truth will rise again. 

Remember this and do not give up on Love / Truth even when everybody seems to give up on it. Do not give up on Love / Truth; do not give up on Justice. Do not give up on doing what is right. Do not go corrupt because everybody around you has gone corrupt. True will always be true. Just will always be just. Right will always be right even when the world around us would have it otherwise. 

We must learn to believe in the sun even when it is not shining, knowing that sooner or later it will shine again. It is the end of the story that counts.