IS IT REALLY A NEW COMMANDMENT?

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

When Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself he was summarizing Leviticus 19:17-18:

“17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

This is not a new commandment. Yet later we read:

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Every English translation has this as “new”. Yet the Greek word can mean unused, fresh, noble, etc.

We, know it is not a new command but more of a fresh command of an unused commandment.

The same word is used in:

Matthew 26:29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

We know Jesus has drunk wine, turned water into wine. So what does he mean new? I think the better translation is afresh are anew.

Anew can mean “once more; again.”

Listen to how it now sounds. [I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it once again, with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

John in his epistle speaks of it being new and yet an old commandment.

1 John

¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. ¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, ¹² not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brothers righteous.

⁷ Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. ⁸ Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

Which goes on to say to love your neighbor.

2 John 1:5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.

It is not a new commandment but the old one that everyone neglects and does not want to be true.

The other day I was speaking with someone, and they told me what John the Baptist did with Herod was foolish! I was in shock.

Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down your life. If your kid was shacking up with someone you would not hesitate to tell (love) them this is not beneficial. Telling your kid does not really cost you. Yet to tell a stranger cost you, telling an emperor really can cost you, because it can cost you your life. Therefore, loving an emperor can cost your life!

Telling me it was foolish is to tell me we should be selfish. That we should hate emperors with silence and per 1 John that makes us murderers. Thus, this man was telling me to be a murderer. God told Ezekiel that if he did not warn the sinner (both righteous and wicked alike See Ez 3) that their blood was upon his hands!!! This has NOT changed.

So, I tell you a fresh, unused commandment, that you should love your neighbor as yourself even it if means laying down your life. Is this not why they crucified Jesus? Jesus was killed for the same reason as John so to call John foolish is to call Jesus foolish. Further to call John foolish is to call God foolish who sent John.

11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This man is a blasphemer. He has called God foolish!