God Believes in Love by Gene Robinson

Author:Gene Robinson [Robinson, Gene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-96175-4
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2012-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

These seemingly harsh words point to a redefinition of family, based not on biology but on shared interests and values. Jesus seems to be saying that relationships by blood count for little compared with those familial relationships formed by intention, based on common beliefs and values.

What can we surmise from this? Jesus would not be shocked by or opposed to new definitions of family. He would understand the families of gay and lesbian people, based on intentional choice and shared values, rather than merely on biological origin.

Jesus had some relationships that were especially deep and meaningful. From the disciples, he clearly singled out Peter, James, and John to share his most personal moments. These three men were with Jesus at pivotal times in his life and work, sharing his more private and powerful experiences. It is Peter, James, and John whom Jesus takes away with him from the crowd to pray. It is these three men who are exposed to glimpses of who Jesus really is, culminating in his transfiguration on the mountaintop in which he is seen in dazzling white robes talking with Moses and Elijah, a mystical experience the disciples don’t fully comprehend. But as a result, they now see him clearly in the line of succession of Moses and the prophets. He is heir to the promises made to the Jews for their salvation.

The Gospel of John mentions one other special relationship Jesus had. To me, it is remarkable that this mention of such a relationship was left in the text. Four times, the disciple John is referred to as “the one whom Jesus loved.” It is John who is depicted as reclining next to Jesus (New Revised Standard Version) and sitting on Jesus’s right in the place of honor (New English Translation) at the Last Supper. The New English Translation even says, “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved leaned back against Jesus’ chest” and asked him a question (John 13:25). And then, dramatically, John is depicted at the foot of the cross with Jesus’s mother, watching Jesus suffer and die of crucifixion. From the cross, in moments before his death, Jesus speaks to John and his mother:

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. (John 19:26–27)

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