Add a New Commandment?

If you ask most church attenders, “What is the greatest commandment?” They will give you the same or similar answer that Jesus gave in Matthew 22:36, as follows:

 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Ok, so love God first with all that it means to be you.

Love your neighbor as you do yourself; that’s a bit harder, but doable.

Jesus was referencing the Law given to Moses in Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor (assuming still of your own people) as yourself: I am the Lord.

But then he takes it a step further in the Sermon on the Mount.  He basically steps beyond the Law as follows:

Matthew 5: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Yikes! Love God, your neighbor as yourself, and love your enemy…now it’s really getting tough!

What a lot of folks don’t realize is that he didn’t even stop the progression at this point.

One of my favorite passages is in the book of John, where he reveals in fuller detail the final private conversation Jesus had with his disciples at the Last Supper. John Chapters 13-17 are the most intimate, powerful, and loving words Jesus spoke during his time on earth. It’s almost like the other gospel writers were so busy getting the facts down during the short time allotted to them, that they left out or shorthanded these so powerful last moments with Jesus. John lived the longest and basically had more time to meditate on and even to discuss with others the teachings Jesus gave.  

And here, in John 13:34-35, he records that Jesus took this teaching to what can be, for some, the hardest point of all.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So now it’s, love God with your entire self, your neighbor as yourself, love and pray for your enemy, and love those who are following Jesus- the same way that He does!

This time, it’s not: “hey, let’s take this a step further….” It is a new command.

Why does this command seem so difficult? Well, for the disciples, they were still struggling, as they had been from the beginning, with who was the greatest, who got the best seats, basically, who got to be in charge. In case you haven’t noticed, the church has never gotten over its attraction to power.

People who are following Jesus may not agree politically, not unlike these disciples: Simon the zealot, fighting against the Romans, and Matthew the tax collector, collaborating with them. Strange how Jesus did not side with either of them; he called them away from their former allegiances to follow Him and now tells them to love one another.

There were other differences. John was close to the religious establishment to such an extent that he was able to get Peter into the inner courtyard when Jesus was taken before the high priest. Thomas was a doubter. One was orthodox in his theology, the other stood back with a skeptical attitude. That can lead to conflict.

Andrew was always bringing people to Jesus-his brother Simon, the boy with the lunch, even Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. Philip also brought Nathanel. On the other hand, James and John wanted to call down fire on those who rejected Jesus and tell the man to stop, who wasn’t one of the twelve but was casting out demons. So, we have the gatekeeping- keep the faith- religious purists versus those who would throw the doors open to anyone. (Even Greeks..Gasp!)

Economically and socially, some were fishermen, blue-collar workers for sure. Tax collectors, maybe wealthy but with dirty money. The disciple known to the high priest- assumed to be John- was powerfully connected. Snobs, like Nathanael, who famously wanted to know if any good thing could come from Nazareth.

I wish Jesus had followed his command with detailed steps to accomplish this feat, and with possibly a few exceptions, addendums etc. But he didn’t. He just said this was the only way that everyone would know that it is truly Him we are following. We might be disciples of some denomination, religion, political party, or leader, but if we are HIS disciples, we WILL love one another.

The only answer I find is that the Holy Spirit had to come fill them, and they had to learn to walk and live in that Spirit before it even became remotely possible. Later in this same Last Supper Discourse, Jesus states, John 14:26

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

We are going to need a lot of reminders!