When love meets sin, the cross is the result. But when love meets sin, the opportunity to fall in love is offered to us. This is why it isn’t so strange to say Good Friday. And not so strange for the cross (of Jesus) to become the symbol of God’s love. And for churches to have crosses in and on their buildings. The cross of Jesus is self-sacrificing love for us. There is no remainder. Jesus, out of love for us, endures the cross for our good.
And because Jesus is a victim of what he saves us from – sin - we are loved at even this low point of crucifying the Son of God. Literally or metaphorically crucifying each other is a low point and does not earn anything but condemnation. But God’s love doesn’t just hold at this point; God seeks us out at our lowest point of failure and saves us. (We are saved by the death of Jesus, the low point of human sin.)
In John’s Gospel, the opposite of sin is faith. Faith that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son for us. Faith is how we fall in love. And when we fall in love with God because of the cross of Jesus, we are on the path of faith. Continuing down the path of faith will bring more to this initial falling in love (for example, hope), but what is added along the journey will never be contrary to the initial conversion to God’s love.
To have faith in Jesus is to be overwhelmed with love. God’s love for us, a love that goes so far as to be sent into the world of sin and be cruelly tortured, crucified, and killed. To have faith is to know that we are loved as we are (even if it seems unbelievable), and to grow deeper into that knowledge and love. God loves you and has poured that love into your heart. Think about that. God’s love for you has been poured into your heart so that you might come to know the depth of God’s love for you. (Romans 5:5) And more than this, God gave the Son for us, as we are, so that we can become more than we are. And if there are times when that might seem unbelievable, and times you can’t see God’s love for you, then look to the cross. And fall in love with God’s love again.
Simultaneously, to have faith in God’s love crucified is also to see God’s love for all people. To fall in love with the cross is to be on a journey of opening our hearts in love toward others. God loves me and seeks me out even while still a sinner? Yes. This changes us. Being loved transforms the human heart. (See Ezekiel 36:26) To love God and Jesus is to love all those whom they love. As St John says:
Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1John 4:11-12)
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