A NEW command I give you: Love one another

[tonychanyt]

Leviticus 19:18

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Proverbs 25:21

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

Matthew 5:

43 You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'Hate your enemy.'

Loving one another seems to be derived from the OT. What's new about this new commandment?

During the meeting of the last supper, Jesus said to his disciples in John 13:

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

First, the model standard of this love is new. This love is demonstrated by Jesus for us to imitate.

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Second, the result of this love is new. As a consequence of this loving one another, others will recognize that we are lovers of Jesus. This practice is supposed to be the sign that distinguishes Jesus' disciples from everyone else in the world. Then the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, atheists, etc. will know that we are united as one in Christ.

John 15:12-13:

"This is My commandment, that you love one another even as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

That's the new model standard.

 

[Soyeong]

Matthew 5:

Loving one another seems to be derived from loving your neighbor. What's new about this new commandment?

During the meeting of the last supper, Jesus said to his disciples in John 13:

First, the model standard of this love is new. This love is demonstrated by Jesus for us to imitate.

Second, the result of this love is new. As a consequence of this loving one another, others will recognize that we are lovers of Jesus. This practice is supposed to be the sign that distinguishes Jesus' disciples from everyone else in the world. Then the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, atheists, etc. will know that we are united as one in Christ.

John 15:12-13:


That's the new model standard.

According to Deuteronomy 4:2, it is a sin to add to or subtract from God's law, so Jesus did not add any brand new commandments. Rather the Greek word used refers to newness with respect to quality rather than with respect to time.

3501 /néos ("new on the scene") suggests something "new in time" – in contrast to its near-synonym (2537 /kainós, "new in quality").

We are commanded to love our neighbor in Leviticus 19:18, so there is nothing brand new about that command, but rather what is new about it is the quality of the example by which we are to love our neighbor. In order to correctly obey the command to love our neighbor as ourselves we need to know how we should love ourselves, and the answer to that is that we should love ourselves as Christ loves us, which is therefore also how we should love our neighbor. So Jesus was not violating Deuteronomy 4:2 by giving his own commands, but rather he was fulfilling the law by teaching how to correctly obey it as it was originally intended.

 

[timothyu]

What's new about this new commandment?

Loving your enemy.