Catalyst Question
H0w do you understand the word “gospel”? More than just a definition, what does the Gospel of Jesus mean to you?
Gospel in the Law
It’s official: commencement season has officially started. Across the country, many high schools and colleges have already held their graduation ceremonies. From South Cameron High in Louisiana, where the entire graduating class was 1 person, to the University of Texas at Austin, where more than 11,000 students are receiving diplomas, there are many people of various ages who are culminating education careers with earned degrees.
What’s fascinating is that graduation isn’t required. Most laws require education until a student turns 18. School attendance doesn’t equal graduation; after all, it’s possible to attend classes without passing and it’s possible to withdraw from school prior to completing coursework. Collegiate education isn’t required at all. Yet, there’s something about the mandate to learn that leads people to follow through to these experiences that recognize the effort they’ve put into their educational journey. This education requirement helps people discover academic passions, develop professional skills, and learn social responsibility. At some point, rather than being forced to learn, we choose to keep learning. Hopefully, this lasts for the rest of our lives!
In this way, graduation–both the earning of the degree and the experience of commencement–offers a good example of the Gospel within the Law: how we can experience good news in something we’re initially told we must do.
In John 13:31-35, Jesus gives his disciples a commandment to love. In some ways, this is strange. After all, Jesus came to fulfill God’s law on our behalf, ensuring we can share in the resurrection to eternal life. If that’s completed, then why is he doling out new laws?
It’s because this law of love directs us toward something that we all desire, and even need: love itself. A commandment to love one another isn’t about forcing us to do something unrelated to our own benefit. Instead, it fosters a world where we are loved by others, even as we love them, too. There is Gospel–good news–in this law because a world where we love one another is a world where everyone is loved.
That’s no useless law. It might just be the best news of all.
Ask Yourself
What are things in your life that someone has told you that you must do and that you know are also good for you? Name at least three.
Ask a Friend
What are two new ways that you can show love for someone else? What are two different ways that you want others to show their love for you?
