May 2001

Jesus is giving his powerful, intense farewell address to his apostles, and he has just assured them, among other things, that they will see him again, because he will reveal himself to those who love him.
Then Jude asks him why he intends to reveal himself only to them and not to everyone. The disciple was hoping for a great public manifestation of Jesus, one that could change the course of history, and that would be, in his opinion, more effective for the salvation of the world. In fact, the apostles thought of Jesus as the long-awaited prophet of the last days who would reveal himself to everyone as the King of Israel and, putting himself at the head of the people of God, would definitively establish the Kingdom of the Lord.
Instead, Jesus explains that he will not reveal himself in a spectacular and external way. His will be a simple but extraordinary “coming” of the Trinity into the hearts of the faithful, wherever there is faith and love.
With this answer, Jesus indicates how he will remain in the midst of his own after his death, and he explains how it will be possible to establish a relationship with him.

«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.»

Jesus can be present in Christians and in the midst of the community not only after his death, but in a certain sense even now. There is no need to wait for the future. The temple that welcomes him is not so much one of bricks and mortar, but rather it is the very heart of the Christian, which thus becomes the new tabernacle, the living dwelling place of the Trinity.

«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (John 14:23).

But how can Christians achieve this? How can they have God come and dwell in their hearts? How can they enter into this profound communion with him?
Through love for Jesus, a love that is not mere sentimentalism, but a love that is translated into everyday living, and more precisely, into keeping his words.
It is to this love on the part of a Christian, verified by facts, that God responds with his own love: the Trinity comes to dwell in the person's heart.

«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (John 14:23).

“… keep my words”.
What are the words that the Christian is called to keep?
In John's Gospel, “my words” are often synonymous with “my commandments”. Therefore, the Christian is called to keep Jesus' commandments. But these should not be viewed as a list of laws. They should be understood as being summed up in what Jesus illustrated by washing his disciples' feet: the commandment of mutual love. God commands all Christians to love one another to the point of giving themselves completely, as Jesus taught and did.

«If anyone loves me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him» (John 14:23).

How can we live this Word of Life well? How can we reach the point in which the Father himself will love us and the Trinity will come to dwell within us? By loving one another with all our hearts, and doing it with decision and perseverance.
It is principally through loving in this way that we Christians can begin to live that deep-reaching Christian asceticism that the crucified Jesus demands of us. For, the practice of mutual love causes the other virtues to blossom in our hearts and this love is also the surest gauge of Christian holiness.

Chiara Lubich