2 John 5 --- And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
Today we journeyed into verse 5 of 2 John. What jumped off the page at me as we started was the word, "ask".
It really caught my attention that John has this beautifully powerful opening, then goes into rejoicing over finding this lady's or church's children walking in truth, then the very next thing he does is ask her to do something. John was an apostle, an elder, one of Jesus' inner circle and he has already boldly stated and commanded things in this book but then he says, "now I ask you".
The word ASK in the Greek is erōtaō and means: to ask, request, entreat, beg, beseech. Also, it is worth pointing out that this word is mostly translated as "ask" or "beseech".
Merriam-Webster definition of ASK is: to make a request
Definition of BESEECH is: to beg for urgently; to request earnestly
Definition of EARNESTLY: characterized by or proceeding from an intense and serious state of mind; Grave, Important
As I was looking up definitions here and pondering over why John switches to asking someone to do what has already, many times over, been commanded of believers to do, which is to agape selflessly/sacrificially love one another, the words of Jesus came loudly to my me, "He who has ears, let him hear."
Matthew 11:15 --- He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:9 --- He who has ears, let him hear.
Matthew 13:15 --- (Jesus quotes from Isaiah) For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
Matthew 13:43 --- Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Mark 4:9 --- And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 4:23 --- If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Luke 8:8 --- And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Luke 14:35 --- It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
It became quite clear after hearing Jesus' words over and over. Just because something is commanded and just because it is clearly laid out to those who follow and profess to believe in Jesus, does not mean they truly hear or heed what is commanded. Just because someone has ears doesn't mean they use them to truly listen.
Christian brothers and sisters you have been commanded to abide in Jesus, abide in love and love one another as Jesus Christ loved us. Are you listening?
Art today is from Lord of the Rings, Smeagol ignoring the voice of Gollum. He isn't listening, are you?
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