Love is something perfect, it is the life of God himself. But in an imperfect world, the price of love is sometimes suffering. Some say that suffering is too high a price to pay, that life should be the avoidance of suffering, and all attachments, even love, should be avoided so that they will not bring about suffering. But Jesus, who is God come into the world to bring the truth to us and us to the truth, has something to say to us about love. Jesus loves even though he knew it will cost him: he does good for people in the face of those who hate him for it, he knows he will be killed for it, and yet he keeps going. When the evil time comes and Jesus is handed over to his enemies, when he is condemned to die in a travesty of justice, and is being tortured to death, Jesus uses his last breaths to love: he forgives his killers, he provides for his mother, he receives the repentant thief. Jesus, in loving people in the face of opposition, and suffering and dying for it, shows that he believes love is worth the suffering. And it is, because this is not a tragic story, but a glorious one: Jesus’ enemies could not keep him dead. Jesus rose from the dead and in so doing, he shows that love is more powerful than death: in the end, it is the love, not the suffering, that matters most.
This is the truth at the heart of Christianity, the thing that makes Christianity different from other religions: Jesus is God come into the world to show us the truth about God, the truth that can save us, and that truth is this: love – the very life of God – is something to be entered into and held onto, even when it hurts, even when it leads to suffering. The suffering is not the point, suffering is just the price you pay for love. Love is the point, and love is worth the price.
Copyright 2016, Agapios Theophilus
Agapios Theophilus
Agapios Theophilus is the "nom de plume" of a catholic layman who has loved Jesus from when, as a young boy in the 1970s, he first learned about him. His First Communion, at the age of seven, was the happiest day of his life, and he celebrates its anniversary each year. He lives in a large city with his beloved wife, two wonderful children, and an affectionate orange and white cat. He has no formal qualifications whatsoever to write about Jesus: he writes only because he has been given the great gift of knowing and loving him, and he would like others to come to know and love him too. See Agapios' posts at https://sites.google.com/view/agapios-theophilus and follow Agapios on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/a9apios
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