The film “The Resurrection of Christ

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)

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.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (Jn 14:15)

What is it – Christ’s commandments? What the Ten Commandments are, it is clear. They are God’s laws formulated in ten clear commandments of God. And what are Christ’s commandments? Is it the same or is it something different? Nobody speaks about them, nobody emphasizes them. Nobody has taught us about them. Christ’s commandments are partly expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, then in the words of Jesus the night before His death, and in other places of the Scripture too. His commandments touch the heart. They are related to the inner life of man. For example, the sixth commandment says: “You shall not commit adultery!” But Christ’s commandment says – if you look at someone lustfully, you have already committed adultery in your heart. Or the fifth commandment: “You shall not kill!” But Christ’s commandment says – if you hate your brother in your heart, you commit a sin and call down a just punishment.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

The message by Patriarch Elijah on the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God

(celebrated in Ukraine on Oct. 14)

In relation to this feast, Jesus says in the Gospel: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Lk 11:28) The first thing is to hear the word of God and the second thing is to keep it. How many obstacles there are in us and around us which prevent us from hearing the word of God, thinking about it and keeping it so that it may become incarnate in us. This word should become incarnate in us just like in the Blessed Virgin – in her the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And how did it happen? She was prepared. She lived by faith, wholly devoted to God. When the angel came to her, she said: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.” These were not mere words, this was her life. And what did it involve? In that situation she risked her life. Any woman in Israel who was pregnant without being married was stoned to death. However, Mary knew Isaiah’s prophecy: “The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” She asked: “How can this be?” The angel said to her: “The Holy Spirit will do it.”

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

and I will love him and manifest Myself to him

Reflection on Jn 14:21

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Jesus highlights this truth in verse 23 too. True love for Him is connected not only with the receiving of the Word but there is also one condition: the keeping of His commandments. In fact, it means the following of Christ, which involves the loss of our soul for His sake: “Whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35) If a disciple keeps Christ’s commandments, he will be loved by the Father and by Jesus, and Jesus will manifest Himself to him (see v.21). “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (v.23) We thus become a living tabernacle like the Blessed Virgin. So the knowledge of Christ cannot be acquired through theological, philosophical or psychological studies but only through love – agape – which becomes manifest not in phrases but in the following of Christ, i.e. in the keeping of Christ’s commandments.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

Victory over sin

If you judge yourself – that means, you admit your sin truly before God here in time, you can taste forgiveness in this light. God’s Word says: “If we judge ourselves, God is so good and just to forgive us our sins.”

People can overcome sin neither by means of psychology, nor by modern theologies, nor by oriental meditations… The victory depends on our deep communion with Christ. The essential thing is to be in Christ Jesus, our Lord, by faith. It means that in the particular present moment I am in Him not only passively but at that moment I love Him with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength.

To love Him means to offer Him my spiritual powers – heart = emotions, soul = powers of the soul, i.e. memory and reason, as well as my members. To love Him with all my strength means to give Him my will.