On my writing desk at home, I have a framed photo of my husband taken a number of years ago. It’s a  simple head and shoulders pose on a plain background in a slender gold-toned frame from a drug store. In other words, objectively speaking, the photo and its frame are really nothing special. They have no particular artistic or monetary value in the marketplace. Yet no matter how full my desk gets with books and files, papers and more papers, there’s always room for that photo too, because I think of it as framed by love - the romantic love as husband and wife, the friendship and partnership love that has deepened over the years, the love we have for God who has joined us together.

The words of Jesus in our text this morning are also framed by love. At the start of our reading, he says, “…