First Sunday After Trinity (22 June 2025)

Today’s meditation is about “Love”. The love of our Almighty God is described in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. The Almighty Father’s love was so great that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to save us from eternal death. Jesus ministered in this world and called the people to repentance to inherit eternal life. He consolidated the Ten Commandments into two prime commandments. We can read the commandments in Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20. The first four commandments talk about our relationship with God. The commandments say: “I am the Lord thy God, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”. Jesus consolidated these first four commandments into one prime commandment in Matthew 22:37: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. When we follow this commandment of loving our Lord, we will fulfil the first four Old Testament commandments. 

Commandments 5 to 10 talk about God’s expectation on our relationship with other humans. They say, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's”. Jesus consolidated these six commandments into one prime commandment in Matthew 22:39: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (). This second New Testament commandment is a more stringent than the Old Testament Commandments. When we follow this commandment of loving our neighbours, we will fulfil the next six commandments. When Jesus consolidated the two commandments, He based them on love.

It is a common understanding that the Old Testament laws and commandments became invalid when Jesus gave these two New Testament commandments. But when consolidating the commandments Jesus said “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”. Jesus lived His life following and fulfilling these laws and commandments. He is the example for us to follow. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He did not come to destroy the law or the prophets but that He came to fulfil them.

The reading we heard from Luke 16:19-31 is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. It is a very familiar passage to us. Some theologians believe this is a real incident and some believe this is a parable. The rich man’s name is not mentioned in the Bible. But the poor man’s name Lazarus means ‘God is my help’. There was a rich man who lived a very comfortable and luxurious life. There was a beggar named Lazarus who was laid at the rich man’s gate. The rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen but Lazarus was full of sores and dogs licked his sores. The rich man ate delicious meals but Lazarus desired to be fed with crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. After a while, both of them died. The angels carried Lazarus into Abraham’s bosom. Lazarus was in heaven and the rich man was in hell. The rich man lifted upon his head and saw Lazarus in heaven and sitting in Abraham’s bosom. The rich man requested Abraham to send Lazarus with his finger in water to cool his tongue. Abraham said it was not possible. The rich man requested Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house to testify to his brothers. But Abraham told him that his brothers had the prophets and that they had to listen to them.  

In the parable, we read that Lazarus was always sitting in front of the rich man’s house. In those days, after they had eaten enough, people used to wipe their greasy hands with a piece of bread and throw it away. Poor people used to wait to fill themselves with these bread pieces that were thrown away. Lazarus was also waiting to be fed with these leftovers from the rich man’s table.

When God gave the laws to the Israelites, He expected the people of Israel to take care of the less fortunate. He expected the Israelites to treat strangers well, help the poor, offer tithe to support the Levites, aliens, the fatherless, and widows, be generous to the needy and so on. The rich man had plenty, but he did not obey God’s laws. He was not generous to the poor man who was sat at his gate. He did not exhibit love and kindness.  

Let us self-reflect on the commandments and the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The Almighty Father loved us and gave only begotten Son Jesus who laid down His life to redeem us from our sins and eternal death. He showed us He loved us this much when He hung with outstretched arms on the Cross. Do we love our Lord with all our heart, soul and mind? What will be our answer if Jesus asks if we love Him? I am sure we will all say we love Jesus. Jesus’s response will be, “If ye love me, keep my commandments”. 

Like the rich man, we have been blessed abundantly by our Lord. Are we sharing our blessings with others? Are we mindful of and reaching out to those in need? Matthew 7:12 says “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Are we following this teaching of Jesus? Are we doing to others as we would want to be done to us? There are many around us who need our support. Are we reaching out and supporting them? 1 John 4:20 says, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” We cannot say we love God without loving our neighbours. Our Lord expects us to love our fellow humans and show them His love. Do we love our neighbours as ourselves? “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” If we are lacking in loving God or our neighbours, let us look up to our Lord and pray that He fills us with His love. It is very important to seek guidance of the Holy Spirit to follow the commandments. We cannot follow the commandments by our own strength or willpower. We need the Holy Spirit to lead us to walk in the narrow path that leads to eternal life. Let us spend time in our Lord’s presence and receive the Holy Spirit to follow the commandments and walk in our Lord’s love.

Let us pray! 

Our heavenly Father, we thank you for Your words. Thank you for your love that redeemed us from or sins. Thank you for You love that has made us worthy by Your precious blood. We pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to follow Your commandments and fulfil Your will in our lives. Give us Your grace to love You. Help us to love others and share your love with them. Help us to keep Your commandments and prepare us to inherit our eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!