John 12:50 “And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Jesus says, His commandment is “Eternal Life”.
What are the commandment? The Lord gave the ten commandments to Moses. Jesus Christ has upgraded the 10 commandments and made it into two in a compressed form.
Mar 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
Mar 12:31 "The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
He also added, “There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The ten commandments have so much of in depth meaning in it. It comprises the whole life of man. His individual, family, social, political, intellectual, spiritual life, all are included in this.
Take the case of Russian Ukranian war, ecological problems, or any lawsuit filed in the courts . The root cause will be violation of any one or more of the ten commandments.
Take any crime committed in the society today, it is either violation or negligence of a commandment.
The proper teaching of the ten Commandments and its after effects SHOULD BE AN INDISPENSABLE FACTOR OF THE SOCIETY.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life
Jesus said, ‘The commandment given by the Father are “Eternal Life”.
Every human being, whichever religion he belongs to, has a conscience which makes him believe in life after death or “Eternal life”. The beliefs in various religions may be different but almost all, even atheists believe in life after death.
During Jesus Christ’s earthly life various types of people were anxious to know about Eternal life and how they can attain it.
We see ordinary people coming to Jesus with queries about “Eternal Life”.
Mat 19:16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Lawyers came and asked Jesus about Eternal Life.
Luke 10:25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Rulers also came to Jesus and asked about Eternal Life.
Luke 18:18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
In answer Jesus said,
“His commandments are Eternal Life”. “His” here is The heavenly Father’s..
When we study human history, it gives a lot pleasant surprises to know how God, the Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit interfere with individuals.
Let’s note the word here “His Commandments”.
Once in my mission trip, when I stayed in a house, I saw first time an electronic device connected to drive mosquitoes. (Mosquito bats, mats, “All outs” all came later). In the morning, out of curiosity I asked them, “This looks cute. Where did you buy this? Immediately that sister plugged it off, packed it and brought it to me. I felt so bad. I realized my mistake of showing interest in that object which belonged to them. I asked sorry but she was adamant in inserting that package in my suitcase.
I learned a lesson.
Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet ……..anything that is your neighbor's.”
Whether you covet or not you should not even show a sign of coveting. That also is wrong.
Heavenly Father: Let’s obey your commands meticulously for it brings eternal life to us. We ask pardon for neglecting your commands many a times knowingly or unknowingly. Put the fear of your commandments in our heart. Amen.
Sr. Roger AOJ