Monday May 4, 2026

John 14:21-26

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them

will be one who loves me;

and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father….

I wanna retranslate the reading above because I find it confusing. We know that we have the 10 commandments which have come to us from the time of our patriarch Moses. Is the Lord giving new commandments? Certainly not, the Decalogue will guide us forever.

What if we say, Jesus is talking about his teachings: Being a disciple is taking his teachings to heart and letting them lead us. Yes these teachings seem so easy to accept today but they were once radical. Nobody talked about loving enemies and praying for those who persecute us. This message/teaching of a God who gives “sonship” to all peoples was unheard of. Maybe we need to tap into that radical aspect of the gospels.

When I was in prison, you visited me. Who needs visiting and understanding today in your life? When I was hungry, you fed me? Who is hungering for love, acceptance, patience. Who is calling me and you to reevaluate our stance. Recently someone wrote to me about their journey of life and wondered who would bury them. It opened up a world of questions in my mind about ministry and how present I could be. Maybe I should pick up a book I was made to read in my early years of seminary “The Road Less Traveled.” It would be interesting to see what it opens up some 30 years later after the first read.