Fifth of Easter C
May 2007
I John, saw a new heaven and a new earth: I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, 'Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God with them.
There is a Hebrew word in the Bible which means; God lives among human beings. He has made his home among us; we are his people, and he is our God, God with us.
And that word is? Yes -'Immanuel.
This is the great prophecy, the great promise of the Old Testament. As the Prophet Isaiah said 'The Lord will give you a sign: It is this: the young woman is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the concrete, visible, tactile sign given to us by God our Creator that He is with us always. So this 'holy city', this 'new Jerusalem' which has come down from heaven, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband, is any group of people who, aware of God's presence among them, try to live as Jesus of Nazareth lived.
In today's Gospel Jesus explains to us what living like God means -I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognise you as my disciples.'
So there we have it. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem is already established among us. It is up to you and I to make it visible. All this sounds reasonably pleasant and hygienic but in reality involves a lot of 'washing each others feet.' It involves a terrible lot of hard-headed self-sacrifice.