Love That Makes All Things New
Intersections for Easter 5, Year C
Love That Makes All Things New
Intersections for Easter 5, Year C
John 13:31–35 • Revelation 21:1–6 • Acts 11:1–18 • Psalm 148
Opening Reflection
This week, we’re not just reading about resurrection.
We’re watching what it does.
It widens the welcome.
It dismantles the old divisions.
It draws the world into praise.
And at the center of it all is love.
Not abstract. Not polite. But love that stoops, love that listens, love that says,
“As I have loved you.”
This week’s readings show us resurrection isn’t about escaping the world.
It’s about transforming it: into new creation, new connection, new community.
Love isn’t the result of resurrection.
Love is the evidence of it.
Intersections for this week:
1. Love Is the Mark of Resurrection
Resurrection isn’t proven by power - it’s revealed in love. This is how the world will know we follow Jesus: not by certainty or strength, but by how we love like he did.
John 13:31–35 – Jesus gives one final command: love one another as I have loved you. This love becomes the core of resurrection life.
Revelation 21:3 – “God’s home is now among the people.” Love draws near, wipes tears, and makes all things new.
2. New Creation Breaks the Old Rules
God’s love isn’t bound by our assumptions. In Acts, resurrection spills over boundaries. In Revelation, heaven comes to earth. The Spirit keeps surprising us, especially when we try to draw lines.
Acts 11:1–18 – Peter’s vision leads to radical inclusion. “Do not call unclean what God has made clean.”
Revelation 21:5 – “Look, I am making all things new.” Not just people, but systems, structures, and stories.
3. Testimony Changes Everything
Peter doesn’t argue, he tells a story. Testimony is how resurrection spreads. Not certainty, but witness. When we share what we’ve seen love do, we open space for others to believe again.
Acts 11:17 – “Who was I to stand in God’s way?”
Psalm 148 – The whole world testifies. Creation itself becomes a witness to God’s faithfulness.
4. Every Voice Belongs in the Song
Resurrection reweaves the world into one chorus. Psalm 148 reminds us: nothing is too wild, too small, too broken to be part of the praise. Everything that breathes has a part to play.
Psalm 148 – Mountains, animals, elders, children—all are named. All are invited.
Acts 11 – Even the excluded are given voice and Spirit.
5. Love Makes a Home, Here and Now
Heaven is not a far-off rescue plan. It’s already arriving in every act of love, every circle that gets wider, every stranger who becomes kin.
Revelation 21:3–4 – God dwells with us. Tears are wiped. Death loses its grip.
John 13 – This is how people will know: “By your love for one another.”
What Intersections Did You Find This Week?
Please comment below, as I desire to learn from you.
The Invitation
Where is love already doing resurrection work in your life?
Where is the Spirit expanding your welcome, softening your assumptions, or inviting your voice into the song?
This week - may you be surprised by inclusion.
May you risk loving like Jesus.
And may you see heaven breaking in, not someday, but now.
