Bible Notes

John's Hymn To Love

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the liturgy gives us a love feast. The second reading is actually taken from 1 Jn. 4:7-19 which is a passage that brings together in just one place what John's Gospel tells us about God's love in Christ. The passage echoes a lot of passages in John:

• Jn. 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son
• Jn. 13:1 ...having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end
• Jn. 13:34 (cf. Jn. 15:12)... a new commandment I give unto you: love one another as I have loved you
• Jn. 14:21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loves me, and he that loves me is loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him
• Jn. 15:9 As the Father has loved me so I also have loved you. Abide in my love.
• Jn. 16:27 For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God

In 19 instances out of 11 verses, a form of the Greek for "love" (agaph agape) appears in vv. 7-19 which is an exhortation to love. The members of the Johanine community are to love because love is the nature of God (v.7); they who know Him show proof of this knowledge in loving (v.8). God showed that He is love in sending His Son (9-10) as expiation for sins. The Spirit that He gave, the Son whom the Father sent -- by these we know that God has loved us (vv. 13-16). To abide in God means living in love and letting love have perfection in our lives (v.17). True love drives out servile fear (v.18). We are able to love because of God's love (v.19)

In the midst of this exhortation we find this Trinitarian formula:

^13. This is the proof that we remain in him
and he in us,
that he has given us a share in his Spirit.
^14. We ourselves have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son
as Saviour of the world.
^15. Anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.

The Spirit, the Father and the Son is God going out of Himself in love, and the disciple knows this and acknowledges this in the way he lives the life of love that -- in the words of Paul -- has been poured into him: because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. (Rom. 5:5).

Here are some snippets from the passage that are worth reflecting on:

• "Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God" (v. 7)
• "Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love (v.8)
• "In this way, the love of God was revealed to us: God sent His Son into the world so that we might have life through him. (v. 9; Jn. 3:16)
• "If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is brought to perfection in us" (v. 12; cf. Jn. 17:23)
• "God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him" (v. 16b; Jn. 15:9)
• "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear." (v. 18)
• "We love because He first loved us." (v.19)