Reflection on Jn 14:23

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,

and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Jesus said these words the night before His death. These and other words, which He said before His death, are contained in chapters 13-17 of John’s Gospel. Jesus speaks about love which is necessarily connected with the keeping of His commandments. Jesus repeats: “He who loves Me will be loved by My Father.” (v.21) There are commandments given by God in the Decalogue and commandments and various obligations related to the rites of purification, especially burnt offerings of bulls and lambs and the sprinkling of blood. It is contained in the Second to Fifth Books of Moses. This just prefigured the redemptive death of Christ on the cross. In Christ, this all was accomplished. The record of debt was cancelled (cf. Col 2:14). Jesus the Son of God acts as the Law-giver on His own authority. He repeats several times: “But I say to you…” Jesus does not abolish the Decalogue; on the contrary, He points out its essence. He points to the root of sin, lusts, pride, hatred, revenge. Citation of Christ’s commandments: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Mt 5:21-26)

Next, Christ makes more accurate the commandments of the Decalogue: “You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mt 5:27-30) The sixth and ninth commandments of the Decalogue are also clarified by the words: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8) “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person.” (Mt 5:38-42) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:43-48) The last of the Beatitudes reads: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt 5:11-12) These words are extremely topical for every genuine Christian and Catholic believer today. Jesus adds to this: “They will put you out of the synagogues (temples); yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.” (Jn 16:1-2) Among Jesus’ commandments is the following too: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Mt 16:24f) Furthermore, one cannot omit Jesus’ commandments saying that the love for Him, the love for God, requires that we should not sacrifice something but everything. It does not mean that you should become a beggar or disclaim responsibility. Everything means not only your property, your relationships to people and things but also your health and mainly your soul with its abundance of thoughts, plans, feelings… Jesus says: “Whoever desires to save his life (soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (soul) for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35) To lose your soul for the sake of Jesus means to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength, which is the first and great commandment. Regarding property and relationship to people and to yourself, love as “agape” means that you have given your all to God and you are not the owner any more but a mere steward who will give an account of your stewardship. When Jesus speaks about love, the Evangelist expresses it with the word “agape”. This is pure, self-sacrificing love for God and neighbour. He does not use the word “philia” because it is the love for relatives or the nation, and he can by no means use the word “eros” – this belongs to sexual sphere which is restricted by two commandments of the Decalogue. The present world contaminated by impurity and moral perversion calls sexual immorality and perversion “love”. The height of hypocrisy is that heretical theologians have brought this thought into the Church.

“Agape” is love crucified. Jesus loved you so much that He shed His Blood and sacrificed His life for you so that you may have eternal life in God. The Father so loved you that He gave His only-begotten Son that you who believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16). God’s Word says that the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all things that Jesus said (see Jn 16:26). In verses 20 and 21, Jesus said that he who loves Him will keep His commandments and will be loved by His Father. And Jesus promises: “I will manifest Myself to him.” This is very important. A personal relationship. No academic Christianity which wants you to be up to standard, learned, educated, decent… This way of thinking has brought Christianity into the pit of heresies and internal decay. The fruit is mass apostasy of believers. The future priests in seminaries have not been formed in the first place in a personal relationship to God, repentance, conversion, the following of Christ and interior prayer. The first place has been given to “academism” which welcomes anything new or original in spite of the fact that it is artificial and lifeless, and it even includes a whole system of heresies which deny the truth of divine teaching as well as God’s commandments. The fruit is that this apostate Church is to blame even for the elimination of the Decalogue from the political sphere of USA and the EU. The Decalogue used to be the foundation for just relations between people and hence the foundation of legislation. And now it has been replaced by antilaws, perversion, homosexuality, legalization of mass suicides – euthanasia, narcotics, child stealing and child abuse by the juvenile justice system. This is the fruit of the apostasy of Christianity in Europe and America. The vacuum has been filled by systematic satanization of humanity with the intention of perpetrating autogenocide of the nations (reduction to the so-called golden billion). The Vatican’s prayers for peace are hypocrisy. Instead of intervening with the international organizations and appealing for peace (Ukraine) the Vatican is hypocritically silent on crimes or even urges a civil war (Card. Husar). Peace prayers in unity with pagan religions in Assisi and the constant repetition of such meetings is a great deceit. Making this gesture, the Vatican expressed the supreme heresy holding that redemption obtained for us by Christ is useless because pagans can be saved too by worshipping demons and do not need to be converted. The Assisi peace prayers deny the truth: “There is salvation in no one else.” (Acts 4:12) as well as the truth: “What accord has Christ with Belial?” (2Cor 6:15) They promote a false way and false love which lead to spiritual blindness. Jesus, by contrast, shows true love for Him and promises that He will manifest Himself to them who love Him. And He adds: “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (v.23) Who will come? The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, i.e. the Holy Trinity. Do you understand it? You will become a living tabernacle like the Blessed Virgin. Try to receive her every day as your Mother, ask her every day to teach you to love and follow Jesus, to die to your self-will, faultfinding… Love Jesus! He will manifest Himself to you. He will not manifest Himself to you through theological studies in Germany or Rome. He will manifest Himself to you if you keep His commandments. The whole Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – will make Their home with you. It is wonderful, incomprehensible. What great dignity! When you face suffering and death, you can taste God’s presence most intensively. And what after death? Then your eyes will be fully opened. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” So the condition of this eternal glory and happiness is to love God – Jesus. The dwelling of your soul, unity in Christ, your abiding in Him and His in you will be eternal. Jesus said clearly: “We will come.” Jesus tells no lies. He is God Himself. He and the Father are one. He is the Creator of the world. We will come! Where? To you. Into your purified heart. Therefore it is necessary (Jn 19:26-27) to receive a new heart and a new spirit right there (eis ta idia). Receive the Mother of Jesus every day, or rather renew the act of receiving her which you have already made once. Verses 24 and 25 are the continuation of verse 23: “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”