Scripture Study for
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 10:25–26, 34–35, 44–48 / Psalm 98:2b / 1 John 4:7–10 / John 15:9–17
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Understanding the Word
By Br. John R. Barker, OFM
The story of the early church takes another dramatic turn with the baptism of Cornelius and other Gentiles. Cornelius was a Roman centurion who is described as “devout and God-fearing,” or a “God-fearer,” a term that describes a non-Jew who accepted Jewish monotheism and even attended synagogue. Before the scene in today’s reading, Cornelius had received a vision in which he was told to send men for Peter. Before they arrive, Peter has had a vision in which he comes to understand that it is God’s will that the Christian proclamation extend to the Gentiles. The Lectionary reading omits Peter’s brief summary of the Christian kerygma, during which the Holy Spirit falls upon the Gentile listeners (see the first reading from Easter Sunday). The charismatic gifts of speaking in tongues and glorifying God give proof to Peter that God has indeed called Gentiles into the Christian fold.
The emphasis in the reading from First John is on the priority of God’s love for us, the foundation of everything. This love has been made most clearly manifest in the person of Jesus, whose very presence in the world, and whose salvific death, give incontrovertible proof of God’s love. Those who are “of the world” (4:5) do not recognize this gift of the Son and therefore do not know God’s love. And if they do not know God’s love, they do not know God, who is love. As John has said many times already, those who truly know and love God are “begotten by God,” and as such are (imperfect) images of God who, like God, love others.
This week’s Gospel is a continuation of last week’s, in which Jesus referred to himself as the true vine and exhorted his disciples to “remain in me.” Jesus develops this theme now by explaining that to remain in him is to love him, and to love him is to obey his commandment. Once again, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples reflects the relationship between the Father and the Son. To love Jesus is not just to obey him, but to imitate him, specifically his sacrificial love. Those who truly remain in Jesus cannot help but become like him, which means those who remain in Jesus will be his image in the world.