There's Glory In Obedience

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟏𝟒:𝟓-𝟏𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟓: 𝟏-𝟒, 𝟏𝟓-𝟏𝟔 “𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟒: 𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟔

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑴𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” (𝒗.23) 

         In his letter to the Christian community in Rome, St. Paul says that those whom Christ has “𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅; 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅; 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅.” (𝑹𝒐𝒎 8:30)

         And today, our Gospel speaks of the glory that await the disciples of Christ, and which also awaits us when we die to ourselves and our lives are hidden with Christ in God and when Christ who is your life appears, then we will also appear with him in glory (𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟑:𝟑-𝟒).        

         As the words of the Sacred Scriptures will never lie as these were written with the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit the Gospel passage that we have today presents another truth that of something we can look forward to in this our journey of faith – that the Father and the Son will definitely come and dwell in each one of us who has faith.

         But as faith is a verb which means it is an action word and that we have to work on it if we want our faith to produce results because faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead (𝐉𝐚𝐦 𝟐:𝟏𝟕).       

         This is the lesson behind this Gospel passage we have for today and Jesus was not only emphatic but his words were carefully spoken so that his disciples would understand the depth and meaning of what he was saying.

         The beauty of the Scripture is that this was not only intended for the benefit of the early Christian Church but also for our own benefit for it is in the Scriptures that we will come to know God and the purpose for which we have been created.

         And what was the glory that Jesus was telling his disciples and which he is telling us now? This glory is the time when the Father and the Son will dwell and inhabit the deepest recesses of our being such that our lives are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

         However, as this Gospel passage today suggests this glorious habitation is largely dependent on one primary consideration – love – which is the one important thing that ushers in a compendium of all the other virtues particularly that of obedience which is what unites us with the Father and the Son.

        This is what is clear in today’s Gospel in that there shouldn’t be any doubt that God, Jesus and man are all bound together by the bond of love and the only proof of love is obedience and we can see this from Jesus whose love for the Father moved him to be obedient to death, even death on the cross and Jesus appeared when he rose from the dead not to the Scribes and the arrogant teachers of the law but to those who loved him.

         This is what Jesus is impressing upon us today that our obedience would provide us security and a fuller revelation of God. In reciprocity to our love and obedience, Jesus assures us that if we love and obey him that we too will be loved by the Father and that Jesus too will love us and show Himself to us (𝐯.𝟐𝟏).

         We are secure because the presence of God in our lives will spare us from the ruinous flow of the material world around us. The revelation of God, however, will be costly for us because it means we will have to turn away from many of the things that make us happy but it is when we deny ourselves and reach out to God that God also reaches down to have fellowship with us but this revelation of God is dependent on obedience and love.

         For many this mutually beneficial exchange between God and man will be hard to comprehend as the revelation of God in itself is a mystery. It is in situations like these when the Holy Spirit will come and teach us everything we need to know.

         As we have said many times before, a Christian is a man on the move which means we should not remain immobile or fixed wherever we may be. A Christian especially a disciple must be a learner by being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who will lead us to a deeper truth of God. This simply means that we will have to jettison our all-knowing nature in favor of the wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Spirit which means that we don’t move or make decisions unless we are pretty sure that such comes from the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

         When Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in His Name (𝐯.𝟐𝟔) it meant that there are at least two things the Holy Spirit will do in our lives and also to those who will love and obey Jesus. In terms of faith, the Holy Spirit will teach us that we may know the deeper meaning of the truth of the teachings of Jesus. In terms of human behavior, the Holy Spirit is the one who will make us aright in our conduct.

        This is how much God loves us and this is love is as real and tangible as the love of a mother for her child and the love of a lover who gives all for his beloved. God made us for love – to know him personally and to grow in the knowledge of his great love for us. And the Holy Spirit not only helps us grow in the knowledge of God’s love, but the Spirit assures us of God’s abiding presence in us and with us.  (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘔𝘢𝘺 19, 2025)