The New Command

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The New Command

Excerpt
What made the command new when Jesus gave it was not its content. The Old Testament contains the command to love one’s neighbor (Lev 19:18), and Jesus quotes it in some of the Gospels (Mt 19:19; 22:39; Lk 10:27). Neither does Jesus have in mind a new kind of love or a new expression of love. The God whom Jesus knows and proclaims is a God of love (Jn 3:16).
But the command to love one another can be called new for two reasons: First, it points to a new example of love, that of Jesus’ own life. We see his love most fully manifested in his death on the cross (compare Jn 13:1; 1 Jn 3:16; 4:9–10). Second, Jesus’ death creates the new fellowship in which obedience to his command is possible. Jesus’ death is the act by which all God’s people can be gathered together (Jn 10:16; 11:51–52; 12:24). The command to love was given and modeled by Jesus, and now it is to be put into action by the believing community (2:8). Through their love for one another they testify that the light brought into the world by Jesus’ life continues to shine. More
Thompson, Marianne Meye. 1–3 John. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992. Print. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series.

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