In this short book of mediations on the Passion according to Saint John, Martin L. Smith shows how in the Christian mystery love itself must be crucified, must die to be reborn as the grace of communion, as love set free. Through the simple pledging of Mary to the beloved disciple and of him to her, the author of the fourth gospel takes the new commandment to love one another and places it directly in the vortex of death and self-offering. By doing so, he squeezes every remaining drop of sentimentality out of our understanding of love. In a mysterious sign the evangelist points to the new home of the beloved disciple as the place where this has happened, the household from which the church's authentic identity has its origin.
