Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
34. A new commandment ] The commandment to love was not new, for ‘thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Lev 19:18) was part of the Mosaic Law. But the motive is new; to love our neighbour because Christ has loved us. We have only to read the ‘most excellent way’ of love set forth in 1 Corinthians 13, and compare it with the measured benevolence of the Pentateuch, to see how new the commandment had become by having this motive added. There are two words for ‘new’ in Greek; one looks forward, ‘young,’ as opposed to ‘aged;’ the other looks back, ‘fresh,’ as opposed to ‘worn out.’ It is the latter that is used here and in Joh 19:41. Both are used in Mat 9:17, but our version ignores the difference ‘They put new wine into fresh wineskins.’ The phrase ‘to give a commandment’ is peculiar to S. John; comp. Joh 12:49; 1Jn 3:23.
as I have loved you ] These words are rightly placed in the second half of the verse. They do not mean ‘love one another in the same way as I have loved you;’ but they give the reason for the fresh commandment ‘ even as I have loved you.’ S. John states the same principle in the First Epistle (Joh 4:11) ‘If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.’ Comp. Joh 15:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A new commandment – This command he gave them as he was about to leave them, to be a badge of discipleship, by which they might be known as his friends and followers, and by which they might be distinguished from all others. It is called new, not because there was no command before which required people to love their fellow-man, for one great precept of the law was that they should love their neighbor as themselves Lev 19:18; but it was new because it had never before been made that by which any class or body of people had been known and distinguished. The Jew was known by his external rites, by his uniqueness of dress, etc.; the philosopher by some other mark of distinction; the military man by another, etc. In none of these cases had love for each other been the distinguishing and special badge by which they were known. But in the case of Christians they were not to be known by distinctions of wealth, or learning, or fame; they were not to aspire to earthly honors; they were not to adopt any special style of dress or badge, but they were to be distinguished by tender and constant attachment to each other.
This was to surmount all distinction of country, of color, of rank, of office, of sect. Here they were to feel that they were on a level, that they had common wants, were redeemed by the same sacred blood, and were going to the same heaven. They were to befriend each other in trials; be careful of each others feelings and reputation; deny themselves to promote each others welfare. See 1Jo 3:23; 1Th 4:9; 1Pe 1:22; 2Th 1:3; Gal 6:2; 2Pe 1:7. In all these places the command of Jesus is repeated or referred to, and it shows that the first disciples considered this indeed as the special law of Christ. This command or law was, moreover, new in regard to the extent to which this love was to be carried; for he immediately adds, As I have loved you, that ye also love one another. His love for them was strong, continued, unremitting, and he was now about to show his love for them in death. Joh 15:13; greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. So in 1Jo 3:16 it is said that we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren. This was a new expression of love; and it showed the strength of attachment which we ought to have for Christians, and how ready we should be to endure hardships, to encounter dangers, and to practice self-denial, to benefit those for whom the Son of God laid down his life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you
The new commandment
I. WHY IS THIS CALLED NEW?
1. Negatively. Not as if it was not enjoined before (1Jn 2:7; Lev 19:18).
2. Positively.
(1) Newly freed from the false glosses of the Jews (Mat 5:43-44).
(2) Newly infused into the heart as well as commanded.
(3) Christ adds a new authority to it, and a new obligation on us.
(4) Because it is so excellent (Psa 32:3).
(5) It is to be performed according to a new pattern, viz., Christs love to us.
II. BY WHAT POWER DOES CHRIST LAY HIS COMMANDS UPON US?
1. AS God (Joh 20:28).
2. As King and head of the Church (Mat 28:18).
III. WHAT LOVE IS IT WE SHOULD HAVE TO ONE ANOTHER?
1. Pray for one another (1Ti 2:1).
2. Forgive one another (Mat 6:14).
3. Help one another.
(1) In temporals (Mat 7:11).
(2) In spirituals (Lev 19:17).
4. Sympathize with one another.
(1) In prosperity (Rom 12:15).
(2) In adversity.
5. Relieve one anothers necessities
(1) In obedience to God (1Jn 3:17).
(2) Proportionably to our estates (1Co 16:2).
(3) Humbly, not thinking to merit thereby (Luk 17:10).
IV. HOW IS CHRISTS LOVE TO US TO BE A PATTERN FOR OUR LOVE?
1. Negatively.
(1) Not that we can suffer so much for others as He has done for us.
(2) Nor do so much; for He has obtained the pardon of our sins 1Jn 2:2); peace with God (Rom 5:1); heaven Joh 14:2).
2. Positively.
(1) Our love must proceed from the same principles.
(a) Obedience.
(b) Compassion.
(2) In the same manner.
(a) Readily (Tit 3:1; Psa 40:7-8).
(b) Sincerely
(c) Effectually, in deeds as well as words (1Jn 4:18).
(d) Humbly, thinking nothing too low for us to do for others Php 2:6-8).
(e) Constantly (verse 1).
(3) To the same objects, His enemies (Rom 8:1-39; Rom 9:1-33; Rom 10:1-21).
(4) To the same ends
(a) Gods glory (Joh 17:4; 1Co 10:31).
(b) Others good (Act 10:38).
V. Use. Consider
1. Unless you love others you have no love for God (1Jn 3:17).
2. It is the fulfilling of all the law (Rom 13:9).
3. No duty is accepted without it (1Co 13:1-3).
4. It is the badge of a Christian (verse 35).
5. It is an everlasting grace (1Co 13:8; 1Co 13:13).
6. Christ will judge us according to this command (Mat 25:45). (Bp. Beveridge.)
The new commandment
It is new, because
I. FOUNDED ON A NEW RELATION.
1. Our relation to Christ. We are united to Him by faith, and receive from Him, as the branches from the vine, the life by which we live.
2. This new relation to Christ involves a new relation with each other. We are brethren, members of one family–as many as received Him, etc.
3. On this new relation the new commandment is based. As the relationship of nature gives rise to natural affection, so this spiritual one begets love in accordance with itself. It is more than philanthropy, patriotism, party attachment, friendship, etc. It is love to those who love Christ and are beloved by Him: love to the Elder Brother in His brethren and ours.
II. PRESENTED IN A NEW FORM–As I have loved you. It must be the same in kind, although in a lesser degree; just as a drop from the ocean, or a ray from the sun, is the same as the fulness from which it comes. These conversations exhibit several characteristics which we ought to imitate.
1. Tender consideration for each others needs. He thought of them more than He thought of Himself.
2. Humble ministration to the welfare of the brethren (Joh 13:4-5). Christs was not a sentimental, but a practical love.
3. Self-sacrifice for our sakes. He gave Himself, not merely certain blessings, and not merely to teach and minister, but to die. Greater love hath no man than this. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
III. ENFORCED BY A NEW POWER. It is in this respect that the new covenant differs so widely from the old. The law enjoined the duty of loving our neighbour; but it had not sufficient motive power to carry the commandment into effect. Hence it remained a dead letter, and spoke only to condemn. But the new commandment is The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and its word is with power. It is attended by the constraining influence of the Saviours love. We have not received the Spirit of fear, etc. As we contemplate this great love, we become the subjects of a new emotion of admiration and gratitude. Above all, His Spirit writes the new commandment on the fleshy tables of our hearts.
IV. DESIGNED FOR A NEW PURPOSE (Joh 13:35). It is not only a law to be fulfilled; but its fulfilment is a distinction and evidence of our relation to Christ.
1. A peculiar distinction. Of old time, discipleship was known by dress, language, meat, and drinks, creeds, etc.; but our Lord declares that the distinct mark of His disciples shall be, beyond everything else, love like His own.
2. A certain distinction. For what is there more directly opposed to the sinfulness of the human heart? And what is the saving change, but one from selfishness to love? We know that we have passed from death unto life, because, etc.
3. An influential distinction. For wherever it exists, men cannot but recognize us, and Christ in us, and be attracted to His love and service. (B. Dale, M. A.)
The new commandment
We all know the Ten Commandments, is there another besides? Yes, says–
I. THE WORLD. Thou shalt not be found out in breaking any of the ten. It acknowledges their excellence, breaks them, and strives to conceal that it has done so, wishing above all things to escape detection. This is the object which the bad part of the world pursues with all its cleverness and energy.
II. THE CHURCH. It is remarkable that in the version of the Ten Commandments by the oldest of existing sects, the Samaritans, this is added, Thou shalt build an altar on Mount Gerizim, and there thou shalt worship. And for commandments such as this, half the energies of Christendom have been spent, and spent in vain.
III. CHRIST. Love one another. We can imagine the surprise of the apostles, What I are not the ten enough, or the two; may we not rest and be thankful in these? True in these are the substance of all duty; but there is a craving in the human heart for something beyond mere duty, for a commandment which should be at once old and new–new with all the varying circumstances of time and thought and feeling, and which should give a new, fresh, undying impulse to its ten elder sisters. The ten older commandments were written on blocks of stone, as if to teach us that all great and good works were like that primeval granite of Sinai, more solid and enduring than all the other strata, cutting across all the secondary and artificial distinctions of mankind. As that granite block itself had been fused and wrought together by the central fire, so the Christian law of duty, in order to fully perform its work in the world, must have been warmed and fed at the source of a central fire of its own–love of God and love of man. And that central fire itself is kept alive by the consciousness that there has been in the world a love above all other love–the love of Christ. Learn the importance
1. Of personal kindness.
2. Systematic beneficence.
3. Making the most and the best of everyone. (Dean Stanley.)
The new commandment
It is new because love
I. RENEWS US.
II. MAKES US NEW CREATURES.
III. MAKES US HEIRS OF A NEW COVENANT.
IV. ENABLES US TO SING A NEW SONG. (Bp. Christ. Wordsworth.)
The new commandment
What are Christs parting instructions to His Church? How are His followers to vanquish all the banded opposition of the world? Does He counsel them to amass wealth? to secure high offices? to acquire learning? to equip fleets and armies? to employ craft and intrigue? No, the first disciples were poor, destitute of learning, humble and despised, nor did they ever kill or wound a single human being. The power with which the Redeemer arms His Church is love.
I. THE COMMANDMENT.
1. Love is the only badge by which the Church of Christ is known (Joh 13:35). Armies have their banners, and families their heraldry. In the days of Christ, Jews and Gentiles had their emblems–different sects and schools being distinguished by symbols and mottoes. At this day, churches called Christian glory in names, titles, orders, and parade. But there is only one badge of the true Church which will be recognized and honoured by all men. The banner over us is love.
2. Love is the only law by which a Church of Christ is to be governed. Church government!–how much pride, prejudice, ambition, selfishness, cruelty, have been sanctified by this phrase. A king dabbling with astronomy once said, Had I been present when God arranged the solar system, I could have made some important suggestions. So vain men have thought as to the Saviours regulation of His Church, and they have sought to improve His system. As in the natural world the Creator secures order without monotony, by forming each particle of matter with its own peculiar properties, and throwing around all substances the law of gravitation; so in the Church, there are many members and diversities of gifts, etc., but the law of love binds all into one harmonious whole. If love reign in a church, it will almost supersede discipline.
3. When from the internal administration of the Church we turn to its outward enterprise, we find a mission entirely of love. It is this which makes the gospel the religion suited to all climes and ages.
4. It is love which is to secure the perpetuity, and final and universal triumph of the Church. Force, stratagem, heredity, prescriptive authority, are the foundations of earthly kingdoms. Christ founded His empire on love.
5. Love is the glory, the happiness, the perfection of the Church of Christ. It is greater than faith and hope, because it comprehends them both; for it hopeth all things, believeth all things. We every day see loving hearts hoping against hope, and trusting in spite of the basest perfidiousness. Love, indeed, is the crowning flower in which all the Christian graces will expand and bloom in eternity. The highest heaven knows nothing more exalted and blessed than love.
II. IN WHAT SENSE IS IT NEW.
1. In the new principle to which it appeals. It is not attachment to a human being for his natural excellencies, but complacency in the image of God reflected by him. Every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.
2. In its extent–embracing all who are the children of God. All other ties and relations are subordinated to this religion–this new spiritual affinity which rebinds us to Christ and to each other. Separated from God, men are walled off from each other by selfish and hostile distinctions. To repair these unnatural breaches, the Son of God became the Son of Man, that He might attract us all to God, and unite us all to one another by new and heavenly ties.
3. Its spirituality. It is love not only for the bodies, but for the souls of our brethren. How few really and practically recognize the soul. In Christs teachings the soul is everything. He heeded neither the trappings of the prince nor the rags of the beggar. Beneath all, through all, He saw a soul whose dignity and worth transcend finite thought. The only charge which His enemies could ever prove against Him was, This man receiveth sinners. And, catching His spirit, what a new passion inflamed the souls of His disciples.
4. Its comprehensiveness; for it embraces and renders superfluous all other commands.
III. THE EXAMPLE BY WHICH IT IS ENFORCED–As I have loved you. A love
1. How attentive! as considerate and assiduous as the love of a woman.
2. How confiding! Having loved His own, which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. Often had they been faithless. Yet He trusts them, opens His whole heart to them, and commits His cause to their keeping.
3. How condescending! Stooping to the most menial office of kindness and hospitality (Joh 13:4-5).
4. How compassionate! He not only pronounces every sin, however aggravated, pardonable, if only against Himself, but He is ingenious in finding apologies for all the weaknesses, even for the baseness and treachery, of those whom He had trusted.
5. How disinterested! He entirely forgets Himself when His friends are in sorrow or danger. (R. Fuller, D. D.)
The new commandment
These words fall strangely on our ears. A commandment to love! We have placed law and love in contrast, and have imagined affection to be below our reach. Yet Jesus enforces love. We are, therefore, reminded that love is within our own reach. Christ lays it upon us not as an ideal which we may admire, and which may exert some kind of influence on us, nor as a standard which we may attain to in heaven; but as a commandment. In what sense can it be called a new commandment? Surely in the old dispensation God commanded love. The newness of the law may be found in the prominent position which is given to it, and the standard set before us. The first fruit of the Spirit named in the list of graces is love. Christ especially singles out this affection as being illustrative of His own character, and giving most effectual testimony to Him.
I. IN WHAT FORM MAY THIS NEW COMMANDMENT BE FULFILLED?–As I have loved on you. Study the love of Christ. His love showed itself
1. In a generous appreciation of the characters of those around Him. In that little group there existed the utmost differences. You find a publican like Matthew, a man with very dim perceptions like Philip; a determined and resolute doubter like Thomas; a boastful man like Peter, etc. These are men from whom we should be inclined to shrink, but Christ could appreciate them all. Be quick, like Christ, to see virtues, and slow to see faults. Generous appreciation will encourage public men to hold their position. It will encourage men of worth, who are retiring in disposition, to come to the front and bear their share of public duty. Unkind criticism will keep in the background men who can best serve the Church and commonwealth. This generous appreciation is a wonderful force to elevate society. Suspicion has a tendency to create what it suspects. If you suspect a lad of untruthfulness, you are tempting him to falsehood. If high estimates are formed of us by others, we are encouraged to rise to the estimate.
2. In patient endurance! When reviled He reviled not again. We are to forbear one another and to forgive one another, even as God, for Christs sake, has forgiven us. If we are doing good work we cannot afford to be turned aside by any unkindness. God has overcome our evil with His good, and turned the hostile forces of our nature into helpful influences for His purposes. Thus seek to conquer the evil which you have to endure by good. It is the noblest of all triumphs.
3. In unselfish service.
(1) In little deeds of kindness, of which sometimes the recipients shall know nothing, but which shall bring some fresh gladness and hope into their lives.
(2) In words. What did God give you the power of speech for? Is it to hide your feelings? Love will die like a smothered fire if you give it no expression.
(3) In looks. If your face is dull, sad, cross, to the extent of your influence you are saddening all that come within your circle.
II. WHAT WILL BE THE RESULT OF SUCH CHRIST-LIKE LOVE?
1. That you can sympathise with God. On many sides of the Divine nature you cannot sympathise with Him.
(1) With His mighty power, for you have not an arm like His.
(2) With Divine wisdom.
(3) With burning purity.
(4) But you can sympathise with His love. You can feel for men as God feels for them.
2. That you will show your union with Christ (verse 35). No Christian grace exercises so much influence on the thoughts of men. They are not able to appreciate Christian holiness, prayerfulness, zeal; but Christlike love they can.
3. Such love will gladden your own life as well as the lives of others. There is perhaps no joy greater than that of loving. The bliss of the blessed God lies chiefly in His loving heart. (C. B. Symes, B. A.)
The new commandment
It was new because He had only then come to explain it; it was new because it could not have been conceived before His life exhibited its meaning; it was new because the love which He showed was something altogether beyond the power of man to have imagined for himself; and as in science we reckon him to be the discoverer of a new law, who rises above the guesses and glimpses of His predecessors, and establishes upon new ground, and in a manner which can never afterwards be questioned, some great principle which had been perhaps partly conceived before, so I think we may say, that the law of brotherly love, as illustrated by the example of the Lord, which stamps the great principle of selfishness as a vile and execrable principle, might be truly described as a new commandment which Christ gave to His disciples. (Bp. H. Goodwin.)
The new commandment and the old
Christ is our Lawgiver as well as our Saviour. And He made obedience to His laws the test and the manifestation of love to Him (Joh 14:15). The Church of Christ is in fact the spiritual Israel. Israel according to the flesh had their laws fitted for their place in Gods purposes; we have ours adapted to our position also. And we may well be thankful when we compare the two codes together. Theirs, as necessary in a state of imperfection and bondage, was cumbrous and intricate. Of all the commands of the old law, none remain for us, but those which are based on the nature of God, and His attributes. And our new commandment comes to us, not sanctioned by lightnings and thunderings, etc.
but from the dying lips of our dearest Friend; it is prefaced by His deed of deep humiliation, is embosomed in His words of consolation and peace–is enforced by His own constraining example. A new commandment. And what is it which we are to hear from the lips of Divine wisdom, after such an announcement? Long had the world disobeyed His law written in the conscience; and then He defined that law, and wrote it on tables of stone, and set apart a people for Himself, among whom it might be observed. But that people had rejected Him, and disobeyed His laws. And now, what new commandment will He promulgate to His rebellious world? What, to the Gentile, sunk in moral degradation–what to the Jew, mocking Him with empty hypocrisy? Shall it not surpass in strictness and in terror all that have gone before? Shall it not be such as to awe the passions into submission to awaken the conscience into energy, to drive the sinner to repentance or to his doom? Nay! Can He, who invited to Him the weary and heavy laden, speak aught but words of gentleness and comfort? Had Gods new revelation of His will been an increase in severity, would this Messenger have been sent to make it? Anew commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. (Dean Alford.)
Christs law of love
Look for a moment, by way of recall, at three or four characteristics of that love which Christ showed to His disciples. In the first place, love was the principle of His life. Some men are like Western farmers who have their one hundred and sixty acres, and put one hundred and fifty-nine and a half acres in hay and grain and grass for the cattle, and half an acre around the door is a garden and grass-plot, and a fraction of that the wife cultivates in flowers. So men give the larger part of their life to self or justice or righteousness or fair-dealing, and they cultivate a little plot with flowers which they call love (and generally they are very like the Western farmers in that they leave the wife to raise all the flowers). know, love was not thus a mere incident of Christs life. It was the essence of His life. He lived for love. Love was the inspiration of His life. It was a wise love, not a mere sentiment, not a mere blind enthusiasm. It was well considered. He measured men and adapted His gifts to their capacities. Christs love was not either a mere sentimental love. It was not a love that cannot bear to look upon suffering, or that intervenes to stop all suffering. It was not a love that could not rebuke and reprove. There was flash in the eyes of His love, and there was thunder, sometimes, in the tones of His love. He loved, too, with infinite patience and long-suffering. He loved not only with benevolence–that is, well wishing to all men, and with pity–that is, with love to those that are in suffering, but with mercy–that is, love to those who do not deserve love. He loved when love andconscience seemed to antagonize each other. Impossible I do you say? Well, then, let us say frankly it is impossible to be a Christian. Impossible? Then impossible to follow Christ. Not human nature? No, it is not human nature. It is Divine nature: and that is the very object of Christianity–to confer upon all who will be the disciples of Christ a Divine nature, not a mere human nature; that they may be lifted up out of the plane of the human, and walk in the plane and atmosphere of the Divine ever more. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)
The new commandment of love to one another
The commandment of love issued appropriately at the Feast of Love, and not long before the great Act of Love. For the love of Christ was no fine saying; it cost Him His life to say these words. It is difficult to grasp the meaning of this command, arising from the fact that words change their meaning. Love is, by conventional usage, appropriated to one species of human affection, which, in the commoner men, is most selfish. Nor is charity a perfect symbol of His meaning; for that is now identified with almsgiving. Benevolence or philanthropy, in derivation, come nearer to the idea; but yet you feel at once that these words are too tame and cold. We have no sufficient word. As I have loved you: that alone expounds it. Take
I. THE NOVELTY of the law
1. As a historical fact. Men before that had travelled, but the spectacle of a Paul crossing oceans not to conquer kingdoms, to hive up knowledge, to accumulate stores for self, but to give and to spend himself–was new in the history of the world. The celestial fire had touched the hearts of men and their hearts flamed; and it caught, and spread, and would not stop. Read the account given by Tertullian of the marvellous rapidity with which the Christians increased, and you are reminded of one of those vast armies of ants which move across a country in irresistible myriads, drowned by thousands in rivers, cut off by fire, consumed by men and beast, and yet fresh hordes succeeding interminably to supply their place. A new voice was heard; man longing to burst the false distinctions which had kept the best hearts from each other so long. And all this from Judaea–the narrowest, most intolerant nation on the face of the earth.
2. In extent. It was in literal words, an old Commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But the difference lay in extent in which the words were understood. By neighbour, the Jew meant his countrymen; so that the rabbinical gloss was, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. And what the Gentile understood by the extent of the law of love, we may learn from their best and wisest, who thanked heaven that he was born a man, and not a brute–a Greek, and not a barbarian. But Christ said, Love your enemies. And as a specimen of a neighbour he specially selected one of that nation whom every Jew had been taught to hate. And just as the application of electricity to the innumerable wants of human life and to new ends is reckoned a new discovery (though the fact has been familiar to the Indian child and applied for ages to his childish sports), so the extension of this grand principle of Love to all the possible cases and persons–even though the principle was applied long before in love to friends, country, and relations–is truly and properly a new commandment.
3. In being made the central principle of a system. Never had obedience before been trusted to a principle, it had always been hedged round by a law. Now it was reserved for One to pierce down into the springs of human action, and to proclaim the simplicity of its machinery. Love, said the apostle after Him–Love is the fulfilling of the law. I may abstain from murder and theft, deterred by law and its penalties. But I may also rise into the Spirit of Charity; then I am free from the law; the law no more binds me, now that I love my neighbour, than the dyke built to keep in the sea at high tide restrains it when that sea has sunk to low watermark.
II. THE SPIRIT OR MEASURE of the law–As I have loved you. Broadly, the love of Christ was the spirit of giving all He had to give–Greater love hath no man than this, etc. He saved others; Himself He cannot save. These words, meant as taunt, were really the noblest panegyric. How could He, having saved others? How can any keep what he gives? Love gives itself. The mother spends herself in giving life to her child; the soldier dies for him country; nay, even the artist produces nothing that will live, except so far as he has merged his very being in his work. That spirit of self-giving manifests itself in
1. Considerate kindness. Take three cases.
(1) When He fed the people with bread, there was a tenderness which, not absorbed in His own great designs, provided for the satisfaction of the lowest wants.
(2) Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile. He did not grudge from duty the interval of relaxation.
(3) Woman, behold thy son! In that hour of death torture, He could think of her desolate state when He was gone, and with delicate, thoughtful attention provide for her well-being. There are people who would do great acts; but because they wait for great opportunities, life passes and the acts of love are not done at all. Observe, this considerateness of Christ was shown in little things. And life is made up of infinitesimals. And these trifles prepared for larger deeds. The one who will be found in trial capable of great acts of love is ever the one who is always doing considerate small ones.
2. It was never foiled by the unworthiness of those on whom it had once been bestowed. There was everything to shake His trust in humanity. As we mix in life there comes disappointment, and the danger is a reaction of desolating and universal mistrust. The only preservation from this withering of the heart is love. The strength of affection is a proof, not of the worthiness of the object, but of the largeness of the soul which loves. The might of a river depends not on the quality of the soil through which it passes, but on the inexhaustibleness and depth of the spring from which it proceeds. The greater minds cleave to the smaller with more force than the other to it. Love trusts on–expects better things. And more, it is this trusting love that makes men what they are trusted to be, so realizing itself. When the crews of the fleet of Britain knew that they were expected to do their duty, they did their duty. And it is on this principle that Christ wins the hearts of His redeemed. He trusted the doubting Thomas; and Thomas arose with a faith worthy of his Lord and his God. He would not suffer even the lie of Peter to shake His conviction that Peter might love him yet; and Peter answered nobly to that sublime forgiveness. Therefore, come what may, hold fast to love. Learn not to love merely, but to love as He loved. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Love one another
A little girl, three or four years old, learned the Bible text, Love one another. What does love one another mean? asked her next eldest sister, in honest doubt as to the meaning. Why, I must love you and you must love me; and Im one and youre another was the answer. Who can improve on that? (J. L. Nye.)
The winning power of love
Alexander the Great, being asked how he had been able at so early an age and in so short a period to conquer such vast regions, and establish so great a name, replied, I used my enemies so well that I compelled them to be my friends; and I treated my friends with such constant regard that they became unalterably attached to me.
The victorious power of love
A lady brought a little ragged orphan girl to her house for a playmate for her three daughters. But the little thing would venture no further than the lobby, where she sat crying as if her heart would break. The lady said to her daughters there was one secret of four letters she thought would win the little one. The eldest girl tried her doll, the second her new muff, but still the little stranger kept on weeping. At length the youngest sister ran into the lobby, sat down beside her, began to weep with her, and then put her arms about her neck and kissed her, till at last she easily got her into the room; and then it was found that the secret was love. (Clerical Library.)
Love the cure for coldness
One of the common complaints in our day, in Christian societies, is this, There is no love among us. Sometimes the complaint is uttered in holy sorrow. But sometimes it only means, I am not getting my just share of love from others; the place feels cold around me. If this is what the complaint means, the remedy is that the complainer should love till he warms up the whole neighbourhood. I am to love when I am not loved. I am to love when I am suspected. I am to love when men are trying to discover what selfish feeling moves me, or what my price is. I am to love those who do not care for my love. I am to love even when I have indignation. I am to love as the sun shines–its beams going forth on all sides without asking for an object, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof; the love I show being the love of God in me.
The eleventh commandment
I. ITS PRINCIPLE. We are to have love like that of Christ.
1. In one sense this is impossible. Measure the waters in the hollow of thine hand; mete out heaven with a span, etc.–these are measurable things, but the love of Christ is measureless. To love like Paul–like John–would be a lofty aim, but who can love like Christ?
2. He asks not that our love should equal, but resemble His; not that it should be of the same strength, but of the same kind. A pearl of dew will not hold the sun, but it may hold a sparkle of its light. A child, by the sea, trying to catch the waves, cannot hold the ocean in a tiny shell, but he may hold a drop of the ocean water. There is an ocean of love in My heart, says Christ, let a drop of that ocean be received into yours.
3. Divine love, therefore, is but another name for that Divine life which animates all the disciples. None need despair of his ability to obey his Lords will, for Christ gives the love which He commands, and you need only ask in order to have (Eph 3:14-19).
II. THE MODE OF ACTION it prescribes. If we love as Christ loves
1. We shall be ready to love others before they love us. If He had waited until we loved Him, where should we now have been? Herein is love, not that we loved Him, but that He loved us. His love explains His death, but what can explain His love? Sublime as it is, our love must acknowledge no lower law.
2. Our love will be a practical thing. Some are in danger of becoming mere religious sentimentalists. They feel much, but do little. They are ready for sympathy, but not for sacrifice. They are the sensitive plants of the Church, and not fruit-bearing trees of righteousness. This fine sensibility, cherished for its own sake, and having no outforce in deeds for the good of others, both weakens the soul and itself. Abiding alone, it is but soft effeminacy or weak indulgence; luxury, not love. Christ has not said, By love feel for one another, merely; but By love serve one another. Let us interpret His law by His life. His love speaks to us through a glorious deed; then our love, like His, must speak through action. His love found expression through a sacrifice; then ours must express itself through sacrifice. His love was displayed when He bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows; then, bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Redemption was His own personal act. Then our love is not to have a mere representative utterance.
3. Our love will be humble. All love is lowly. You often see a loving purpose kept in cheek by a haughty will, and the ice of pride seal the river of love. You have seen the father and son proudly stand apart. Each yearns to fling himself into the others embrace, but pride forbids the younger to confess his fault, and the elder his sorrowful tenderness. But where love lives in its strength it will be stronger than death. It will come down, cast aside state and ceremony, submit to a thousand indignities, stoop to save, and stand at the door and knock. If you would know what humility can do, study redeeming love, and though Christ sits enthroned on the riches of the universe His heart is still unchanged. Like the sunshine that falls with magical flicker on pearl and ruby, lance and armour, in the royal hall–yet overflows the shepherds home, and quivers through the grating of the prisoners cell–floods the noblest scenes with day, yet makes a joy for the insect–so does the Saviours love, not deterred by our unworthiness, come down to teach and bless the meanest and the lowliest life in the new creation.
4. Our love must be bountiful. Love can never do enough for its object. When you were lost, unsearchable riches were poured forth as the price of your redemption. When you were found, what was the language of the Heart of Hearts? Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, etc. When, therefore, your heart is disposed to give a brother disciple but a scanty and penurious affection remember Freely ye have received, freely give.
5. We shall breathe a spirit of gentleness and patience towards the erring or offending members of the Christian brotherhood. The effects flowing from the violation of this principle might fill a library with sad histories.
6. We shall love all the disciples. Christ is not now speaking of His universal love, but of His peculiar and discriminating love to those who have accepted Him, and who are already partakers of His life. He loves them, as you love your child none the less because it is now only learning to read, or just beginning, with many a fall, to totter along alone. He loves all His disciples, and all are His disciples, who, however they differ in other respects, unite in the sentiment, for us to live is Christ.
7. Our love will last forever. Whom He loves He always loves. This is an inference from His nature.
III. ITS NOVELTY. It is a new commandment
1. As it enjoins love after a new model. Love had always been commanded, but never before had it been so exemplified.
2. As it is addressed to a peculiar class of Gods subjects, and is a law for the new creation alone. The old commandments were given to the world this new commandment to the Church.
3. As it arose out of a new necessity, and was intended to be the distinguishing sign of Christs disciples. To prevent confusion, and secure a defined place in society, each office and every class has its peculiar sign. As every lord giveth a certain livery to his servants, charity is the very livery of Christ. Our Saviour, which is the Lord above all lords, would have His servants known by their badge, which is love (Latimer).
4. As it has a new impressiveness–an affecting power all its own. The old commandments had a power to alarm; this, when truly understood, has a power to subdue; they smote the conscience, this captivates the heart. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
The eleventh commandment
The little town of Anworth was the home and the pride of that sweet soul, Rutherford, the Covenanter. One Saturday evening, so the story runs, his household were gathered together for their usual cotters Saturday nights devotions, when an alarm was heard at the outer door. A stranger sought admission. He was welcomed with true hospitality, and took his place in the circle of those who were then answering the varied questions in the Catechism. It so chanced that the question, How many commandments are there? came to this newcomer, as the one to which he was to make reply, and instantly he answered, Eleven. What! said Rutherford; a man so experienced in life as you seem to be, and so educated in the law and the Scripture of God, not to know that there are but ten commandments! The stranger answered, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. Startled by the answer, Rutherford proceeded with his service. The next morning before the hour of service, he walked from his humble manse along that pathway which is still spoken of as Rutherfords Walk, towards the little church. It was early in the day, and he scarcely expected to meet anyone in the path; but over in the wood he heard the voice of someone in supplication. The moment he listened he recognized the strangers tone. He sought him out, and demanded to know who he was. The stranger answered, My name is Usher. He was the Archbishop and Primate of all Ireland. Having heard much of the piety of the Presbyterian Rutherford, he had, in this secret way, sought his society that he might judge for himself. Their hearts flowed together in the common devotion which they both felt toward the Lord Jesus, their Master; and when the hour of service came, together the Covenanter and the prelate walked to the little Anworth church, and Usher of Ireland preached to the Covenanters of Scotland on the new commandment, that ye love one another. His presence there, his welcome there, his spirit and his words, were expositions of the truth of that which the Lord gave as the summing up of His own life. (S. H.Tyng, D. D.)
Brotherly love
(Sermon to Children):–Brotherly love should show itself
I. In KINDNESS to each other. Love will have to get outlet. If I do not see brotherly kindness, I conclude that there is not brotherly love.
1. There will be kind words. In most families there are many unkind, scolding, fault finding, angry, irritating, coarse, uncourteous words. Not to speak of kindness, there is sometimes scarcely common civility. There is a rudeness–demanding things of each other–driving each other out of the way, etc., when, if a request were made politely, it would be so much better. I like to see children in a kindly way bidding each other Good night, and again, greeting each other when they meet in the morning. All this would change the whole face of many a family circle. Though you may say it is but words, it would soon tell on everything else. And do not tell tales. A tell-tale is an ugly character (Lev 19:16; Pro 26:20; Pro 26:22). Did you ever notice an echo? If you fire a gun, or sing, or whistle, or shout, or whisper, you get exactly what you give. And so it has passed into a proverb, Kind words awaken kind echoes.
2. There will be kind looks, You know how much there is in a look–a displeased, angry, sulky, scornful, off-taking look. How they can vex and do a world of mischief! But if looks can do evil, they can also do good. There are kind, encouraging, comforting, winning looks. And just as kind words produce kind echoes, so kind looks call forth a return in kind. You must have noticed what an effect the look you gave has sometimes had on a dog. In the case of an infant, how you can, without difficulty, make him either laugh or cry merely by a look. That tells what a look can do for good or evil. Others will look at you just as you look at them. You have looked into a mirror, and seen reflected there your own face. As you looked pleased or cross, so did it. Just so is it in a family.
3. There will be kind deeds. I have heard of a mother who was in the habit of asking her children, each night before they went to bed, what they had done that day to make others happy. It would be well for the members of each family to ask themselves that. How many little services of love you might render without being asked. Now, if you love each other you will pray for each other. This is one of the greatest of all kindnesses, as it is one of the most tender of all bonds, and will be likely to lead to all the rest.
II. In SYMPATHY for each other. To sympathise is to feel for, or rather with one. I have heard of a girl who, alter having lost a little brother, went back to school; and I have this account of her from one of her companions: All the time she studied her lesson, she hid her face in her book and cried. I felt so sorry that I hid my face on the same book and cried with her. Then she looked up, and put her arms around my neck; but I do not know why she said I had done her so much good. It was the power of sympathy. When there is any trial, be it light or heavy, pressing on anothers mind there is nothing you can give to be compared to sympathy. It is wonderful the effect of even inquiring for the sick one. I am sometimes amazed, in asking children about a little brother or sister who has been ill, when they say they dont know! Why do they not know? Had they lost their tongue, or had they not rather lost their heart? When your brother has got up in his class; when he has carried off a prize; when he has got some present; when his birthday has come round; when he is raised up from a sick bed–give him your hearty sympathy.
III. In SELF-DENIAL. Selfishness is the great cause of unhappiness in many homes. Where children are unselfish they must agree–they cannot fail to be happy. But the reverse meets us on every hand in most painful and humbling ways. I once offered a friend a copy of a little book for his three children. But, no. He said, I must have three or none, otherwise there will be no satisfying them. I am not sure but they had even to be all of the same colour. Two of these books were thus very much thrown away. Now, it should not be so.
IV. In FORBEARANCE and PATIENCE. Love suffereth long, etc. In every family there is much to annoy. But love enables one to bear a great deal, and keeps the wheels running smoothly. Especially is it the part of the elder members of the family to bear with the younger, as it is the duty of the younger to pay deference to the elder. You have got some unkind, rude, impudent thing said or done to you. Your first impulse is to pay the evildoer back in his own coin. Do you ask, What should I do? I say, Bear it. Try to be like God–slow to wrath. Some one gives the advice to count ten before you speak, when you are angry. Even in the worst case, a soft answer turneth away wrath. There is a saying, He begins the fight who strikes the second blow. That is true of the tongue as well as of the hand.
V. In FORGIVENESS. A mother can forgive when none else can because she loves. God can forgive when none else can, because He loves. And if we love like Him we shall forgive like Him. To be unforgiving, whether young or old, is one of the worst characters that could be given to one. (J. H. Wilson, M. A.)
The social principles of Christianity
(1):–In what sense is this a new commandment? This epithet distinguishes it from
1. The Mosaic code. The law of Moses was mainly an embodiment of justice. It admitted the cultivation of mutual love, and even enjoined it. But this was not its salient characteristic. Whereas the gospel is preeminently and characteristically a law of love. Again, the love which Judaism recognized was inferior in quality. A Jew behoved to love his neighbour as himself. A Christian must love his brother so as to sacrifice himself if need be.
2. From all common worldly affection. There are
(1) Instinctive affections, such as the parental, filial, etc.
(2) Elective affections, such as those of friendship, patriotism, etc.
(3) But none of these afford the highest exhibition, development, and gratification of mans social nature. In a manner far to surpass them Christian love is to be cherished. Christ has introduced among men an altogether new principle of social existence. This social aspect of the gospel will be fully displayed in heaven. Meanwhile it is intended to show itself in churches. The singularity of this affection will better appear if we consider a few of its distinctive features. Consider
I. ITS SPIRITUAL BASIS. It is not founded upon any natural relationship or sentiment, but upon a common participation in the benefits of Christs redemption. Observe
1. How this circumstance connects us with the same loving Lord.
2. How it supposes in each of us the same spiritual experience.
3. How it guarantees in each and all the same elements of a pure and estimable character.
4. How it furnishes the prospect of our being united together in perfect blessedness forever and ever. Is there any other love which has such a profound and solemn basis as this?
II. ITS DISINTERESTED PURITY. III. ITS DEVOTED FERROUS. It should lead us, if need be, to die for our brethren, after the example of Christ.
IV. ITS PRACTICAL PURPOSES.
1. It supposes times of persecution and trial, and then it is serviceable to encourage and comfort us.
2. It relates to the exigencies of our spiritual cultivation, and is intended to supply the means of instruction and guidance.
3. It glances at the work which we are to do for Christ in the world, and it ensures strength, cooperation, and success. Apply specially to Church members. The Church ought to be the happiest circle of our acquaintance. Do we observe the new commandment? The way to promote it is to love Christ more. Thus to act is most important for the sake of our piety, our peace, and our usefulness. (T. G. Horton.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 34. A new commandment I give unto you] In what sense are we to understand that this was a new commandment? Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, was a positive precept of the law, Le 19:18, and it is the very same that Christ repeats here; how then was it new? Our Lord answers this question, Even AS I have loved you. Now Christ more than fulfilled the Mosaic precept; he not only loved his neighbour AS himself, but he loved him MORE than himself, for he laid down his life for men. In this he calls upon the disciples to imitate him; to be ready on all occasions to lay down their lives for each other. This was, strictly, a new commandment: no system of morality ever prescribed any thing so pure and disinterested as this. Our blessed Lord has outdone all the moral systems in the universe in two words:
1. Love your enemies;
2. Lay down your lives for each other.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The commandment of loving one another is strictly no new commandment, we find it in the law of Moses, Lev 19:18; often pressed in the New Testament, Joh 15:17; Eph 5:2; 1Jo 4:21; 1Jo 2:7 saith, it is no new commandment, ; see also 2Jo 1:6. It is therefore called a new commandment, either because of the excellency of it, as new seemeth to be taken, Psa 33:3; Isa 65:17; Mat 26:29; or because it is expounded in the gospel in a new manner, pressed more plainly and in new arguments, and urged by a new example of their Lord and Master.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. a new commandment I give untoyou, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also loveone anotherThis was the new feature of it. Christ’slove to His people in giving His life a ransom for them wasaltogether new, and consequently as a Model and Standard for theirsto one another. It is not, however, something transcending the greatmoral law, which is “the old commandment” (1Jo2:7, and see on Mr 12:28-33),but that law in a new and peculiar form. Hence it is said tobe both new and old (1Jn 2:7;1Jn 2:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
A new commandment I give unto you,…. As parents, when they take their leave of their children, in their dying moments, give them proper instructions and orders, and lay their dying injunctions on them, so Christ taking his leave of his disciples, gives them his; which were, that they
love one another: as brethren in the same family, children of the same Father, and fellow disciples with each other; by keeping and agreeing together, praying one for another, bearing one another’s burdens, forbearing and forgiving one another, admonishing each other, and building up one another in faith and holiness: and this he calls “a new commandment”; that is, a very excellent one; as a “new name”, and a “new song”, denote excellent ones; or it is so called, because it is set forth by Christ, in a new edition of it, and newly and more clearly explained, than before; and being enforced with a new argument and pattern, never used before,
as I have loved you; and to be observed in a new manner, not “in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit”: besides, though this commandment, as to the matter of it, is the same with that of Moses, Le 19:18; yet it takes in more, and “new” objects; since by “neighbour” there, seems to be meant “the children of their people”, the Jews; and so they understood it only of their countrymen, and of proselytes at furthest, whereas this reaches to any “other” person; see Ro 13:8; and as the measure, as well as the motive is new, for it is not now “as thy self”, but “as I have loved you”, the Jew has no reason to object as he does m, to its being called a “new commandment”: and its being “new”, carries in it a reason or argument, why it should be observed, as does also the following clause;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another; than which, nothing can, or should, more strongly engage to it: as Christ has loved his people freely, notwithstanding all their unworthiness and ungratefulness, so should they love one another, though there may be many things in them observable, which are disagreeable; as Christ loves all his children without any distinction, so should they love one another, whether poor or rich, weaker or stronger, lesser or greater believers; and as Christ loves them not in word only, but in deed and in truth, so should they love one another with a pure heart fervently, and by love serve one another.
m R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, l. 2. c. 54. p. 444.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
New (). First, in contrast with the old (, ), the very adjective used in 1Jo 2:7) of the “commandment” () at once called old (). They had had it a long time, but the practice of it was new. Jesus does not hesitate, like the Father, to give commandments (John 15:10; John 15:12).
That ye love one another ( ). Non-final use of with present active subjunctive of , the object clause being in the accusative case in apposition with . Note the present tense (linear action), “keep on loving.”
Even as (). The measure of our love for another is set by Christ’s love for us.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
New [] . See on Mt 26:29.
Commandment [] . The word for a single commandment or injunction, but used also for the whole body of the moral precepts of Christianity. See 1Ti 6:14; 2Pe 2:21; 2Pe 3:2. See also on Jas 2:8. This new commandment embodies the essential principle of the whole law. Compare also 1Jo 3:23. Some interpreters instead of taking that ye love one another, etc., as the definition of the commandment, explain the commandment as referring to the ordinance of the Holy Communion, and render, “a new commandment (to observe this ordinance) I give unto you, in order that ye love one another.” It is, however, more than improbable, and contrary to usage, that the Holy Supper should be spoken of as ejntolh a commandment.
That [] . With its usual telic 45 force; indicating the scope and not merely the form or nature of the commandment.
As [] . Rev., better, even as. Not a simple comparison [] , but a conformity; the love is to be of the same nature. There are, however, two ways of rendering the passage.
1. “I give you a new commandment, that ye love one another with the same devotion with which I loved you.”
2. “I give you a new commandment, that ye love one another, even as up to this moment I loved you, in order that you may imitate my love one toward another.” By the first rendering the character of the mutual love of Christians is described; by the second, its ground. The Rev. gives the latter in margin.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “A new commandment I give unto you,” (entole kaine didomi humin) “A new commandment I dole out to you all,” new in the sense that it had never been given or stated in this measure before, that is to be obeyed, to express your love and obedience to me, Joh 14:15; 1Jn 5:3; He gave not the commandment to the world, but to His “you all,” church disciples, Joh 15:16-17.
2) “That ye love one another;” (hina agapate allelous) “In order that you may love (have and show priority affection to) one another,” in your personal and church behavior, Joh 15:12; Joh 15:17; 1Th 4:9.
3) “As I have loved you,” (kathos egapesa humas) “Just as I love you all,” or have had and shown love to you all; It is this measure of love that makes it new, Eph 5:2; Joh 10:11; Joh 13:1.
4) “That ye also love one another.” (hina kai humeis agapete allelous) “in order that you all also may love one another,” with an high, holy love, of an high priority of affection, or earnest care for each other; That you love one another with a constant, practical, self-denying affection, to show that you love, and are my disciples, and obedient to me, 1Jn 4:7; 1Jn 4:11; 2Jn 1:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
34. A new commandment I give you. To the consolation he adds an exhortation, that they should love one another; as if he had said, “Yet while I am absent from you in body, testify, by mutual love, that I have not taught you in vain; let this be your constant study, your chief meditation.” Why does he call it a new commandment ? All are not agreed on this point. There are some who suppose the reason to be, that, while the injunction formerly contained in the Law about brotherly love was literal and external, Christ wrote it anew by his Spirit on the hearts of believers. Thus, according to them, the Law is new, because he publishes it in a new manner, that it may have full vigor. But that is, in my opinion, far-fetched, and at variance with Christ’s meaning. The exposition given by others is, that, though the Law directs us to the exercise of love, still, because in it the doctrine of brotherly love is encumbered by many ceremonies and appendages, it is not so clearly exhibited; but, on the other hand, that perfection in love is laid down in the Gospel without any shadows. For my own part, though I do not absolutely reject this interpretation, I consider what Christ said to be more simple; for we know that laws are more carefully observed at the commencement, but they gradually slip out of the remembrance of men, till at length they become obsolete. In order to impress more deeply, therefore, on the minds of his disciples the doctrine of brotherly love, Christ recommends it on the ground of novelty; as if he had said, “I wish you continually to remember this commandment, as if it had been a law but lately made.”
In short, we see that it was the design of Christ, in this passage, to exhort his disciples to brotherly love, that they might never permit themselves to be withdrawn from the pursuit of it, or the doctrine of it to slip out of their minds. And how necessary this admonition was, we learn by daily experience; for, since it is difficult to maintain brotherly love, men lay it aside, and contrive, for themselves, new methods of worshipping God, and Satan suggests many things for the purpose of occupying their attention. Thus, by idle employments, they in vain attempt to mock God, but they deceive themselves. Let this title of novelty, therefore, excite us to the continual exercise of brotherly love. Meanwhile, let us know that it is called new, not because it now began, for the first time, to please God, since it is elsewhere called the fulfilling of the law, (Rom 13:10.)
That you love one another. Brotherly love is, indeed, extended to strangers, for we are all of the same flesh, and are all created after the image of God; but because the image of God shines more brightly in those who have been regenerated, it is proper that the bond of love, among the disciples of Christ, should be far more close. In God brotherly love seeks its cause, from him it has its root, and to him it is directed. Thus, in proportion as it perceives any man to be a child of God, it embraces him with the greater warmth and affection. Besides, the mutual exercise of love cannot exist but in those who are guided by the same Spirit. It is the highest degree of brotherly love, therefore, that is here described by Christ; but we ought to believe, on the other hand, that, as the goodness of God extends to the whole world, so we ought to love all, even those who hate us.
As I have loved you. He holds out his own example, not because we can reach it, for we are at a vast distance behind him, but that we may, at least, aim at the same end.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(34) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another.There is no reference in the context to the Ten Commandments, and we are not therefore to seek the meaning of the new commandment in any more or less full contrast with them. They also taught that a man should love his neighbour as himself; and the fulfilment of the law is love. The contrast here is between what our Lord had said unto the Jews and what He now says to the disciples. He had said, and says again, Whither I go ye cannot come. To the Jews he added, Ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins (Joh. 7:34-35). For those who believe in Him, He has no such decree of separation, but a new and different commandment, by which His spiritual presence would be at once realised and proved. Love to one another, and therefore sacrifice of self for anothers good, would be, in the truest sense, a realisation of His presence in their midst. (Comp. Note on 1Jn. 2:8.)
For the meaning of the word commandment, comp. Note on Joh. 10:18.
As I have loved you.More exactly, Even as I loved you. (Comp. Note on Joh. 13:1.) The punctuation of our version is to be maintained. It is not, as it has sometimes been read, That ye love one another, as I have loved you . . . The earlier clause gives the principle of the new commandment. The latter clause repeats this, and prefaces the repetition by words referring to His own acts of love, which should be an example for them. The word as, or even as, does not refer to the degree of His love, but to the fact; and the special instance of love then present to the mind was the feet-washing upon which the whole of this discourse has followed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
34. A new commandment The commandment to love was not indeed new: but in Christ it was so freshly energized that it became new; having a new motive, depth, and force. By his death he has revealed the infinite depth of divine love. And that love of Christ constrains his true followers with and to a love not known in the old covenant.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 13:34. A new commandment I give Our Lord calls this a new commandment, not because mutual love had never been enjoined on mankind before, but because it was a precept of peculiar excellence: for the word new, in the Hebrew language, denotes excellence and truth. See Psa 33:3. Mar 1:27. Rev 2:17. And the reason of the idiom seems to have been, that novelty often has the same effect upon the mind with excellence, rendering an object acceptable, and raising admiration. That the term new does not always relate to time, is evident from the use of it in Xenophon, who calls the laws of Lycurgus , very new laws, several hundred years after they were made; because, though they had been commended by other nations, they had not been practised by them. Our Lord calls this a new commandment also, because they were to exercise it under a new relation, according to a new measure, and from new motives. They were to love one another in the relation of his disciples, and with that measure and degree of love which he had shewn to them. See 1Jn 3:16. Withal, they were to love from the great motive of his love to them, and in order to prove themselves his genuine disciples by the warmth of their mutual affection. Some have thought that this expressiona new commandmentsignifies no more than merely a renewed commandment: but it certainly contains a strong and lively intimation, that the engagementstomutuallove,peculiartotheChristiandispensation,areso singular and so cogent, that all other men, when compared with its members, may seem uninstructed in the school of friendship; and Jesus may appear, as it were, the first professor of that divine science. Dr. Clarke well observes, that our Lord seems to have laid this peculiar stress upon philanthropy, as if it was the principal part and great design of religion, and, as if he had a particular view to that general corruption and destruction of true Christianity, which the want of it would cause among those who should call themselves his church. Perhaps our Lord may here insinuate a reflection, not only on the party-spirit which then prevailed so much among the Jews, but likewise on the emulations and contentions among the apostles themselves, which mutual love would easily have cured. In this sense, it is unhappily still a new commandment to too many of us, who generally act as if they had not yet time to learn, or even to read it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 13:34 . Commandment now of the departing Lord for those who, according to Joh 13:33 , are to be left behind, which He calls a new one, i.e . one not yet given either in the Decalogue or otherwise, in order the more deeply to impress it upon them as the specific rule of their conduct. The novelty lies not in the commandment of love in itself (for see Lev 19:18 , comp. Mat 5:43 ff; Mat 19:19 ; Mat 22:37-38 ), nor yet in the higher degree of love found in . ., so that the requirement would be, that one should love one’s neighbour not merely , but (Cyril, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, and many, including especially Knapp, Scr. var. arg . p. 369 ff.), since does not indicate the degree or the type (see below), and since, moreover, the O. T. does not exclude, but includes the self-sacrifice of love. The novelty lies rather in the motive power of the love, which must be the love of Christ which one has experienced . Comp. 1Jn 3:16 . Thereby the commandment, in itself old, receives the new definiteness ( , Chrysostom), the definiteness of loving , and therewith the new moral absolute character and contents, and is given forth with this specifically N. T. definition, founded on faith in Christ, a new commandment. Comp. Luthardt, Ebrard, Brckner; also Baeumlein, Hengstenberg, and Godet, who, however, take along with this the circle of Christian love ( ) as a point of novelty. Grotius treats this in a similar way to these last-named commentators, when he, as also Klbing (in the Stud. u. Krit . 1845, p. 685 ff.), regards Christian brotherly love , in its distinction from the general love of one’s neighbours, as the new commandment which is prescribed. Nevertheless, this distinction rests simply upon the fact that Christian brotherly love must be mutually determined and sustained by the personal experience of the love of Christ , or else it is destitute of its peculiarly Christian character; hence it is always this point alone which forms the substantial contents and the distinguishing moment of the new commandment as such, as none could be more intensely and truly conscious of it than John himself, especially whilst he wrote the and the . Opposed to the sense of the word are the interpretations: a commandment which contains all laws of the N. T., in opposition to the many laws of the O. T. (Luther); praeceptum illustre (Hackspan, Hammond, Wolf), mandatum ultimum = Testament (Heumann); further: , a youngest commandment (Nonnus); further: a commandment that never grows old , with ever youthful freshness, as though were expressed (Olshausen [134] ); further, a renewed commandment (Calvin, Jansen, Maldonatus, Schoettgen, Raphel, and already Irenaeus), or even one that renews the old man (Augustine); further: a commandment unexpected by you (Semler, on the presumption of the dispute about precedence which had just taken place, Luk 22:24 ff.). According to De Wette, refers to the fact, that in the commandment lies the principle of the new life brought by Christ . Thus, therefore, would be here a new moral principle (comp. Gal 6:2 ), opposed to the O. T. principle of righteousness. That that is the new (comp. already Melanchthon) is, however, not expressed by these simple words. Against the sense, finally, and without any indication in the text, is Lange’s view: a new which is the institution of the Supper which Christ here founded. This, besides, is opposed to the obvious parallel passages, 1Jn 2:8 .
. .] The contents of the commandment are set forth as the purpose of the . . . .
. .] is to be separated only by a comma from ., containing the agens [135] of the . ., and then, by means of , . . ., the ethical purpose of the . . which belongs here is added; the emphasis, however, lies on , . Hence: that ye may love one another, in conformity with the fact that I have loved you , and, indeed, have loved you with the design that you also , on your part, etc. That here , however, does not express the degree , but the corresponding relation, which constrains to the . ., appears with logical necessity from the subjoined sentence denoting purpose . . . (without an , which Ewald interpolates in his explanation). It is similar to our wie denn (as then) (comp. on Joh 12:35 ; 1Co 1:6 ; Eph 1:4 ; Mat 6:12 ), stating the ground , as also is very frequently used in the classics (Klotz, ad Devar . p. 766; Ast, Lex. Plat . iii. p. 584). To take the sentence as a parallel to the preceding . ., whereby . . is emphatically placed first (so many commentators, from Beza to Hengstenberg and Godet), would cause no difficulty in the case of Paul, but does not correspond to the simple style of John elsewhere.
] Aorist; for Jesus sees Himself already at the end of the work of His loving self-devotion. Comp. Joh 13:1 . Further, Joh 13:34 is not to be explained in such a manner that Christ imparts a new legislation , in opposition to the Mosaic (Hilgenfeld, comp. above, Luther). He, indeed, does not say . The belongs rather to His of the law (Mat 5:17 ), especially in respect of Lev 19:18 , and does not exclude, but includes, the other moral precepts of the law. [136]
[134] So also Calovius, who, however, mingles together many other interpretations of various kinds.
[135] This agens can be the love evinced by Christ only on the ground of faith ; hence John fully accords with the Pauline view of faith, which is operative through love , but does not (against Baur, N. T. Theol. p. 397) place love immediately in the position which faith holds with Paul.
[136] Comp. in Paul love as the fulfilment of the law; see also Weiss, Joh. Lehrbegr. p. 166.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Ver. 34. A new commandment, &c. ] New, ratione claritatis et facilatis; for now there is abundance of spirit given by Christ, who writes this affection in our hearts, as of old the law was written in stone. Besides that, he is become a new pattern and example of the rule; and so it is become a new commandment, not in respect of the matter of the duty, but of the form of observing it. For the old rule was, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” But now that form (“as I have loved you”) hath something in it that is more expressed; and, for the incomparable sufficiency of the precedent, is matchless, and more full of incitation to fire affection; there being far more incentives and motives to love, since Christ came and gave himself for us. And this is appointed here, for the disciples’ and our solace in the want of Christ’s bodily presence, as loving fellow members to strive by all means to delight in the loving society one of another.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
34. ] The of this commandment consists in its simplicity and (so to speak) unicity . The same kind of love was prescribed in the O.T. (see Rom 13:8 ): ‘as thyself’ is the highest measure of love, and it is therefore not in degree that the new commandment differs (Cyr [178] , Euthym [179] , Theod. Mops [180] ) from the old, nor in extent , but in being the commandment of the new covenant, the first-fruit of the Spirit in the new dispensation ( Gal 5:22 ): see 1Jn 2:7-8 (and note), where is commented on by the Apostle himself.
[178] Cyril, Bp. of Alexandria, 412 444
[179] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[180] Mops. Theodore, Bp. of Mopsuestia, 399 428
I cannot agree with Stier (ver. 148, edn. 2), that in the second sentence is not [181] . with in the first, but signifies (‘I have loved you’) “in order that &c.” The sentence is analogous to Joh 13:14 , and the new point in it is the . ., which is therefore set first, and should be (as in E. V.) retained so.
[181] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 13:34 . , : “one another,” not “all men,” which is a different commandment. So, rightly, Grotius: “ Novum autem dicit quia non agit de dilectione communi omnium sed de speciali Christianorum inter se qua tales sunt,” and Holtzmann: “Es ist die im Unterschied von der allgemeinen ”. The necessity of love among those who were to carry on Christ’s work had that night become apparent. It was “new,” because the love of Christ’s friends for Christ’s sake was a new thing in the world. Therefore the kind rather than the degree of love is indicated in the clause . . .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
John
‘AS I HAVE LOVED’
Joh 13:34 – Joh 13:35
Wishes from dying lips are sacred. They sink deep into memories and mould faithful lives. The sense of impending separation had added an unwonted tenderness to our Lord’s address, and He had designated His disciples by the fond name of ‘little children.’ The same sense here gives authority to His words, and moulds them into the shape of a command. The disciples had held together because He was in their midst. Will the arch stand when the keystone is struck out? Will not the spokes fall asunder when the nave of the wheel is taken away? He would guard them from the disintegrating tendencies that were sure to set in when He was gone; and He would point them to a solace for His absence, and to a kind of substitute for His presence. For to love the brethren whom they see would be, in some sense, a continuing to love the Christ whom they had ceased to see. And so, immediately after He said: ‘Whither I go ye cannot come,’ He goes on to say: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’
He called this a ‘new commandment,’ though to love one’s neighbour as one’s self was a familiar commonplace amongst the Jews, and had a recognised position in Rabbinical teaching. But His commandment proposed a new object of love, it set forth a new measure of love, so greatly different from all that had preceded it as to become almost a new kind of love, and it suggested and supplied a new motive power for love. This commandment ‘could give life’ and fulfil itself. Therefore it comes to us as a ‘new commandment’-even to us-and, unlike the words which preceded it, which we were considering in former sermons, it is wholly and freshly applicable to-day as in the ages that are passed. I ask you, first, to consider-
I. The new scope of the new commandment.
Now then, brethren, do not let us forget that, although to obey this commandment is in some respects a great deal harder to-day than it was then, the diverse circumstances in which Christian individuals and Christian communities are this day placed may modify the form of our obedience, but do not in the smallest degree weaken the obligation, for the individual Christian and for societies of Christians, to follow this commandment. The multiplication of numbers, the cessation of the armed hostility of the world, the great varieties in intellectual position in regard to the truths of Christianity, divergencies of culture, and many other things, are separating forces, But our Christianity is worth very little, if it cannot master these separating tendencies, even as in the early days of freshness, the Christianity that sprang in these new converts’ minds mastered the far more powerful separating tendencies with which they had to contend.
Every Christian man is under the obligation to recognise his kindred with every other Christian man-his kindred in the deep foundations of his spiritual being, which are far deeper, and ought to be far more operative in drawing together, than the superficial differences of culture or opinion or the like, which may part us. The bond that holds Christian men together is their common relation to the one Lord, and that ought to influence their attitude to one another. You say I am talking commonplaces. Yes; and the condition of Christianity this day is the sad and tragical sign that the commonplaces need to be talked about, till they are rubbed into the conscience of the Church as they never have been before.
Do not let us suppose that Christian love is mere sentiment. I shall have to speak a word or two about that presently, but I would fain lift the whole subject, if I can, out of the region of mere unctuous words and gush of half-feigned emotion, which mean nothing, and would make you feel that it is a very practical commandment, gripping us hard, when our Lord says to us, ‘Love one another.’
I have spoken about the accidental conditions which make obedience to this commandment difficult. The real reason which makes the obedience to it difficult is the slackness of our own hold on the Centre. In the measure in which we are filled with Jesus Christ, in that measure will that expression of His spirit and His life become natural to us. Every Christian has affinities with every other Christian, in the depths of his being, so as that he is a great deal more like his brother, who is possessor of ‘like precious faith,’ however unlike the two may be in outlook, in idiosyncrasy, and culture and in creed, than he is to another man with whom he may have a far closer sympathy in all these matters than he has with the brother in question, but from whom he is parted by this, that the one trusts and loves and obeys Jesus Christ, and the other does not. So, for individuals and for churches, the commandment takes this shape-Go down to the depths and you will find that you are closer to the Christian man or community which seems furthest from you, than you are to the non-Christian who seems nearest to you. Therefore, let your love follow your kinship, and your heart recognise the oneness that knits you together. That is a revolutionary commandment; what would become of our present organisations of Christianity if it were obeyed? That is a revolutionary commandment; what would become of our individual relations to the whole family who, in every place, and in many tongues, and with many creeds, call on Jesus as on their Lord, their Lord and ours, if it were obeyed? I leave you to answer the question. Only I say the commandment has for its first scope all who, in every place, love the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there is more than that involved in it. The very same principle which makes this love to one another imperative upon all disciples, makes it equally imperative upon every follower of Jesus Christ to embrace in a real affection all whom Jesus so loved as to die for them. If I am to love a Christian man because he and I love Christ, I am to love everybody, because Christ loves me and everybody, and because He died on the Cross for me and for all men. And so one of the other Apostles, or, at least, the letter which goes by his name, laid hold on the true connection when, instead of concentrating Christian affection on the Church, and letting the world go to the devil as an alien thing, he said: ‘Add to your faith,’ this, that, and the other, and ‘brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity.’ The particular does not exclude the general, it leads to the general. The fire kindled upon the hearth gives warmth to all the chamber. The circles are concentric, and the widest sweep is struck from the same middle point as the narrow. So the new commandment does not cut humanity into two halves, but gathers all diversity into one, and spreads the great reconciling of Christian love over all the antagonisms and oppositions of earth. Let me ask you to notice-
II. The example of the new commandment, ‘As I have loved you.’
What do we see there? I have said that there is too much of mere sickly sentimentality about the ordinary treatment of this great commandment, and that I desired to lift it out of that region into a far nobler, more strenuous, and difficult one. This is what we see in that life and in that death:-First of all-the activity of love-’Let us not love in words, but in deed and in truth’; then we see the self-forgetfulness of love-’Even Christ pleased not Himself’; then we see the self-sacrifice of love-’Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ And in these three points, on which I would fain enlarge if I might, active love, self-oblivious love, self-sacrificing love, you have the pattern set for us all. Christian love is no mere sickly maiden, full of sentimental emotions and honeyed words. She is a strenuous virgin, girt for service, a heroine ready for dangers, and prepared to be a martyr if it be needful. Love’s language is sacrifice. ‘I give thee myself,’ is its motto. And that is the pattern that is set before us all-’as I have loved you.’
I have tried to show you how the commandment was new in many particulars, and it is for ever new in this particular, that it is for ever before us, unattained, and drawing faithful hearts to itself, and ever opening out into new heroisms and, therefore, blessedness, of self-sacrifice, and ever leading us to confess the differences, deep, tragic, sinful, between us and Him who-we sometimes think too presumptuously-we venture to say is our Lord and Master.
Did you ever see in some great picture gallery a copyist sitting in front of a Raffaelle, and comparing his poor feeble daub, all out of drawing, and with little of the divine beauty that the master had breathed over his canvas, even if it preserved the mere mechanical outline? That is what you and I should do with our lives: take them and put them down side by side with the original. We shall have to do it some day. Had we better not do it now, and try to bring the copy a little nearer to the masterpiece; and let that ‘as I have loved you’ shine before us and draw us on to unattainable heights?
And now, lastly, we have here-
III. The motive power for obedience to the commandment.
That love of Christ to us, received into our hearts, and there producing an answering love to Him, will make us, in the measure in which we live in it and let it rule us, love everything and every person that He loves. That love of Jesus Christ, stealing into our hearts and there sweetening the ever-springing ‘issues of life,’ will make them flow out in glad obedience to any commandment of His. That love of Jesus Christ, received into our hearts, and responded to by our answering love, will work, as love always does, a magical transformation. A great monastic teacher wrote his precious book about The Imitation of Christ. ‘Imitation’ is a great word, ‘Transformation’ is a greater. ‘We all,’ receiving on the mirror of our loving hearts the love of Jesus Christ, ‘are changed into the same likeness.’ Thus, then, the love, which is our pattern, is also our motive and our power for obedience, and the more we bring ourselves under its influences, the more we shall love all those who are beloved by, and lovers of, Jesus.
That is the one foundation for a world knit together in the bonds of amity and concord. There have been attempts at brotherhood, and the guillotine has ended what was begun in the name of ‘fraternity.’ Men build towers, but there is no cement between the bricks, unless the love of Christ holds them together, and therefore Babel after Babel comes down about the ears of its builders. But notwithstanding all that is dark to-day, and though the war-clouds are lowering, and the hearts of men are inflamed with fierce passions, Christ’s commandment is Christ’s promise; and though the vision tarry, it will surely come. So even to-day Christian men ought to stand for Christ’s peace, and for Christ’s love. The old commandment which we have had from the beginning, is the new commandment that fits to-day as it fits all the ages. It is a dream, say some. Yes, a dream; but a morning dream which comes true. Let us do the little we can to make it true, and to bring about the day when the flock of men will gather round the one Shepherd, who loved them to the death, and who has bid them and helped them to ‘love one another as’-and since-’He has loved them.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
new. Greek. kainos. See note on Mat 9:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
34.] The of this commandment consists in its simplicity and (so to speak) unicity. The same kind of love was prescribed in the O.T. (see Rom 13:8):-as thyself is the highest measure of love, and it is therefore not in degree that the new commandment differs (Cyr[178], Euthym[179], Theod. Mops[180]) from the old, nor in extent, but in being the commandment of the new covenant,-the first-fruit of the Spirit in the new dispensation (Gal 5:22): see 1Jn 2:7-8 (and note), where is commented on by the Apostle himself.
[178] Cyril, Bp. of Alexandria, 412-444
[179] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[180] Mops. Theodore, Bp. of Mopsuestia, 399-428
I cannot agree with Stier (ver. 148, edn. 2), that in the second sentence is not [181]. with in the first, but signifies (I have loved you) in order that &c. The sentence is analogous to Joh 13:14, and the new point in it is the . ., which is therefore set first, and should be (as in E. V.) retained so.
[181] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 13:34. , a new commandment) The commandment is called new, not so much in respect to the Old Testament, as in respect to the school of Christ; on account of the new measure [standard] established, concerning a love which goes so far as that even life is to be laid down for those who ought to be, or who are, the objects of that love; with which comp. 1Jn 3:16, Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Previously the following after Jesus in His several steps had guided the disciples, and this by implication comprised love [such as He now gives as a new commandment]: but they cannot follow Him now that He is departing from them; therefore the sum of their duty is prescribed to them in this commandment. Comp. as to prayer, ch. Joh 16:24, Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full; as to giving them the appellation, friends, Joh 15:15, Henceforth I call you not servants, but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father, I have made known unto you; as to the hatred of the world, ch. Joh 16:4, These things (as to persecution) have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. Thence it is that it is called the law of Christ, Gal 6:2, Bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Thus it is that the commandment heard from the beginning, and the new commandment, are opposed to one another, 1Jn 2:7-8, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye had from the beginning; again a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and you: (Joh 13:10) He that loveth his brother, etc. , a commandment [precept, charge, injunction], is moreover the term applied to it, in this sense: inasmuch as it is enjoined, not on slaves, but on freemen. Moreover, at the same time a most sweet taste of its newness is added to this commandment, resulting from the perception of the glory, the mention of which goes before. Moses before his death, more than ever previously, in Deuteronomy,[340] recommended the love of God; so Jesus, before His departure, gives to the disciples a new commandment, that they should cherish mutual love. Thus the second law and the new commandment may be compared with one another.–, that ye love-that ye love) This sentiment is twice set forth: first simply, then afterwards with Epitasis [Some augmentation, or emphatic addition, or explanation added. See Appendix on this figure]. A similar instance is that one, peace [I leave with you: then with Epitasis], My peace ch. Joh 14:27. Comp. Gen 48:5, Thy two sons-(are) mine: as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine; Psa 27:14, Wait on the Lord, etc.: wait, I say, on the Lord; Psa 37:20, They shall consume; into smoke they shall consume; Psa 47:7, Sing praises, etc., sing praises with understanding; Psa 68:24, Thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God in the sanctuary; Psa 118:16, The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly; Eze 7:2, An end, the end is come.
[340] = The Second giving of the law, just as the New commandment here-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 13:34
Joh 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another;-This was given in anticipation of what would befall them. Moses had said unto them,’Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Lev 19:18).
even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.-Jesus introduced a higher order of love-a love that caused him to leave heaven, come to earth, and suffer and die for them. His disciples must partake of the same degree or measure of love, and give up earthly and temporal good for their spiritual and eternal good. [The commandment to love was not new, but such love as Jesus commanded was. This love demands that we give up all as Jesus did.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The New Commandment
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.Joh 13:34.
When the Lord spoke to His disciples the words of the text, Judas had just left the company for the purpose of carrying out his plans. It was a night much to be observed, the events of which are recorded in the chapter from which the text is taken; it was the night upon which the sacrament of the Lords Supper was instituted, in which Judas joined; it was the night upon which Christ gave that remarkable lesson in humility to His disciples by washing their feet, the feet of Judas apparently amongst the rest; it was the night, too, on which the Lord gave distinct warning to this same Judas of the treachery which he was about to commit; and it was after receiving this warning that Judas went out to do his work, leaving the eleven faithful disciples behind. Any lesson, therefore, given on such a night would be likely to be well remembered, to sink deeply into the heart, and one cannot be surprised that the Lord should take advantage of such an occasion to impress some important precepts and doctrines upon His disciples; one might expect that some things which the Lord would desire to say to the Apostles before His passion, and which could scarcely be said in the presence of Judas, would now be uttered without reserve. And indeed it does seem as though the departure of Judas had taken (if one may venture to say so) a weight from off the heart of the Lord, for He enters at once into some of His deepest and most affectionate conversations with the faithful eleven.
The time is short, and there is much to be done. The preparations for His capture will begin forthwith, and He has many things to say to His Apostles which cannot be so well said at any other time. What lesson shall He take first? Upon what doctrine shall He chiefly lay stress? A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Can we wonder that this new commandment should have afterwards so completely absorbed St. Johns own mind, when we remember that he heard it enunciated under such circumstances as these?
I
The New Commandment
1. The emphatic word of the text is the word translated one another. And the moment we place the emphasis there the meaning is evident. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. Jesus had only the eleven disciples with Him; for the traitor had already gone out into the night. In the hearing of these eleven He had already announced the old commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, with an added emphasis and extended grasp. In particular, He had pointed out that their neighbour included their enemy, even such as the hated and despised Samaritan. Now He says, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye lovenot your enemies, butone another. The old commandment is not taken away; it lies upon these men with a great obligation, such as never was known by Jew or Gentile before. But another is added to it, another and a different commandment, that Peter love John, and John love Andrew, and Andrew love Judas-not-Iscariot. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.
In the seventeenth century the minister of Anwoth, on the shores of Galloway, was the famous Samuel Rutherford, the great religious oracle of the Covenanters.
It is one of the traditions cherished on the spot, that on a Saturday evening, at one of those family gatherings whence, in the language of a great Scottish poet,
Old Scotias grandeur springs,
when Rutherford was catechizing his children and servants, a stranger knocked at the door of the Manse, and (like the young English traveller in the celebrated romance which has given fresh life to those same hills in our own age), begged shelter for the night. The minister kindly received him, and asked him to take his place amongst the family and assist at their religious exercises. It so happened that the question in the Catechism which came to the strangers turn was that which asks, How many commandments are there? He answered, Eleven. Eleven! exclaimed Rutherford; I am surprised that a person of your age and appearance should not know better. What do you mean? And he answered, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
The stranger proved to be the great divine and scholar, Archbishop Ussher, the Primate of the Church of Ireland.1 [Note: R. E. Prothero, The Life and Correspondence of Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, ii. 272.]
2. It is the love of one follower of Christ to another. And it was new, altogether new; for till then there were no Christians to love or be loved. The disciples recognized it as new. Of this we have an immediate and conclusive proof. When a new thing comes into the world, one of the first needs is a new name to call it by. A new invention or discovery must have its new namethe telephone, let us say. So the disciples, recognizing that a new thing had appeared in the world chose a word,like telephone, compound of two things,a word not absolutely new, but rarely used before, to name it. Phil-adelphia they called it, love of brothers, brotherly-love. And their use of this word shows us that they recognized this commandment as not only new, but different in kind from the old commandment of love. In the rope of Christian virtues, as it has been well called, which St. Peter weaves in the first chapter of his second letter, the last two strands are brotherly-love and love, as the Revised Version does well to inform us: In your faith supply virtue and in your godliness love-of-the-brethren, and in your love-of-the-brethren love. The two virtues are kept distinct, for they rest upon two separate and distinct commands, the one very old, and the other altogether new.
The Law had also already taught some points of this duty. Thus the Mosaic statute said, Thou shalt not suffer sin upon thy brother,a mode of brother-love which, though negative in its form, was positive in its spirit. But in its expressiveness and comprehensiveness this command was new. It was now given in direct phraseology, and it developed the one principle to which all preceding enactments were to be traced. Incidental injunctions had contained some one or other of the features of this brother-love; but all such commands were absorbed in this novel and engrossing declaration, Love one another. Various practical elements had been previously delineated; but now, and for the first time, the theory was enforced.1 [Note: J. Eadie, The Divine Love, 244.]
This new love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Church. It is like the difference between carrying water with great exertion from a distant fountain and having a stream from that fountain flow by ones own door, from which he can drink copiously, by whose invigorating scent he feels his spirits revived, into which he can throw himself for a refreshing bath. The Holy Spirit comes with glorious blessings to the children of God under the New Covenant. They drink, not with scant measure, but from a full and overflowing cup. They revel in the fulness of eternal love. And He that creates this blessedness is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, whom Jesus has sent from the Father.2 [Note: A. Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit, 574.]
II
The Old and the New
1. There rest upon the follower of Christ two different commands to love. The old is not taken away; the new is added to it. Thou shalt love thine enemies, thou shalt do good to them that hate thee, thou shalt bless them that curse thee, thou shalt pray for them that despitefully use thee. That is the great Mosaic command: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Christ added nothing to it when He gave it to His followers. He simply pointed out its scope and intensity. Then, when the time came, He gave them another commandment to love, of a different scope and a different nature. And thenceforth these two separate commandments have lain upon every follower of Christ.
If we would take even the old commandment and live up to it, it would solve a great many perplexing problems. Lay it down along the line of life, and see in imagination how lifes problems would find in it their solution. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Let the slave-master simply apply that rule, and will he not straightway manumit his slave and set him free? Let us apply that rule to the perplexing problem of immigration. What if you or I were living under the harrow in Italy or Germany, and we saw the broad acres of America ready with fruitful juices to answer to our plow and our hoe,what should we want America to do for us? Apply it to the labour problem. Let all working men, banded together as Knights of Labour or any other organization, do to the employer as they would have the employer do to them; and let the employers, the board of directors, the railroad managers, do to their employed as they would wish done to themselves, the relation being reversed: would there be any labour problem left? Our labour problem as it actually presents itself in real life is simply this: How can a community of men that are dealing with each other selfishly live peaceably? And the answer is, They cannot at all. Peace can be brought about only when that law of justice which is expressed by the Golden Rule and the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, are inwrought into the industrial fabric of society. Why, if the girl in the kitchen would always act as she would wish to be acted by if she were mistress, and the mistress would always act to the girl in the kitchen as she would wish to be acted by if she were the girl in the kitchen, the greatest plague of life would be a plague no longer.1 [Note: L. Abbott, Signs of Promise, 234.]
2. But is it possible for the Christian to love in two different ways? Yes; it is not only possible, it is inevitable. Not only must he love the world out of Christ in one way, and his brethren in Christ in another, but he cannot help it. Mark Guy Pearse, in his inimitable way, tells a story which lends itself readily to illustration. Said one of my little ones to the youngest, in that threatening tone which is usually adopted in teaching, You must be good, you know, or father wont love you. Then I called him to myself, and I said, gravely and tenderly: Do you know what you have said? It is not true, my boynot a bit true. Isnt it? said the little one, surprised and doubtful. No, I said; it is far away from the truth. But you wont love us if we are not good, will you? he asked. Yes, I said, I cant help loving you; I shall love you for ever and ever, because I cant help it. When you are good I shall love you with a love that makes me glad; and when you are not good I shall love you with a love that hurts me; but I cant help loving you, because I am your father you know.
Truly God has bound Himself by loves sweet constraint to make us capable of a love that is similar to His own; that is to share the highest of all things with us to the full. The self-sacrificing love that began in God must also go on in us. By every means, our hearts must be made capable of possessing and reciprocating it all. God knows how sweet it is to love and to be loved. And so the glory that He gave to Jesusthe supreme glory of self-sacrificing loveHe has given even to us also, that we may be one in love even with the Father and the Son. Having therefore equipped us with this highest power, He lays on us the command which, enforced by His example, finds such an echo in our hearts. Above all things have fervent love among yourselves!1 [Note: Frank W. Crossley.]
(1) God the Father loves with this twofold love. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Was the love that demanded that a love that made Him glad? Was it not a love that hurt Him? But, says Jesus, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him. Why, the Father loves every man, whether he keeps the commandments of the Lord or not. But this is a new lovea love that makes the Father glad. So also is God the Son capable of a twofold love. What a yearning love there is in that cry over the self-doomed city: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How different from the love He bore to that disciplethe disciple whom Jesus loved!
If you are reverent, you may see the love of Jesus by loading in succession Joh 11:1-5, Mar 14:3-9, and Luk 10:38-42. Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. And one man is known to all history as the friend of Jesus. They called Him the friend of publicans and sinners, a name that dimly reveals the inner secret of His life. And the last hours of His life were reserved, not for the crowd or the impenitent, but for those who loved Him best, and whose love He trusted when He went down to death.2 [Note: F. W. Lewis, The Unseen Life, 18.]
(2) And so also to the follower of the Lord is this double love not merely possible but quite inevitablea love that hurts, and a love that makes him glad. Sharing the love of Christ which sent Him to die for sinners, he loves those for whom Christ died, though they do not recognize Him as a Prince and a Saviour. It is a real love in the true Christian, an anxious, eager, almost consuming love sometimesa love which brings no gladness, but burns the breast with yearning desire. It is a love which suffers persecution, which makes the gentle woman courageous, which amazes and staggers the unbeliever. But there is a love also which makes the follower of Jesus glad.
In a block of Londons poorest abodes a woman was visiting one night. Trying room after room, she found only misery, filth, brutality. When to the weary knock at one more door a cheerful Come in was the response, and she found herself welcomed at the bright fireside of a poor but real follower of Jesus, there rushed forth to meet that welcome a love that made her glad. The one is a love that demands self-denial, the other is spontaneous, irresistible. The one makes us fit for the inheritance of the saints in light, the other proves us saints upon the earth.
III
The Example
1. As I loved youthese words point to an action which is past and done, not to a continued state. Westcott endeavours to preserve the tense and yet apply it in a general way. The exact form (I loved), he says implies that Christs work is now ideally finished. But a much simpler explanation lies to our hand. That ye love one another; as I loved you. The act He refers to is just past. It is the washing of their feet. We view that marvellous action chiefly as a great wonder of condescending love. He meant it as an instance of true brotherly love. If I, your Lord and Master, act as a brother towards you, ye ought to act as brothers towards one another. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye act towards one another as I have just acted towards you. The whole strange action of the feet-washing leads up to this command; and the command interprets the action. As I have just loved youthe exact meaning of the word is brought out better by that translation than by any other. In washing their feet He offered them a single instance of the brotherly love He commanded. It was, however, an instance which involved the principle, and was capable of endless application.
2. The instance of washing the disciples feet involves, we say, the principle. From this and other instances of Christs love St. John deduces that principle and applies it: Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Not die for the brethren. We may be called to death, and we may not; but we are to lay down our lives for the brethren. It is a comparatively easy thing to die for other people; but to live for them,to lie down in the muddy road and let other men walk over us, to stand and let other people climb upon us, to be underneath our equals, to be the means by which they climb to preferment and reward,that is hard. And that is what Christ did, and what Christ held up as the ideal for His children evermore.
It is well, said John Wesley, that you should be thoroughly sensible of this: the Heaven of Heavens is Love, there is nothing higher in religion, there is in effect nothing else. If you look for anything but more Love, you are looking wide of the mark: you are getting out of the royal way.
Beloved, let us love one another, says St. John,
Eagle of eagles calling from above:
Words of strong nourishment for life to feed upon,
Beloved, let us love.
Voice of an eagle, yea, Voice of the Dove:
If we may love, winter is past and gone;
Publish we, praise we, for lo it is enough.
More sunny than sunshine that ever yet shone,
Sweetener of the bitter, smoother of the rough,
Highest lesson of all lessons for all to con,
Beloved, let us love.1 [Note: C. G. Rossetti.]
3. Brotherly love is to be so openly shown that the followers of Christ will be recognized thereby. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Discipleship had previously been recognized by various tests. But no master had ever dreamed of imposing such an obligation, and creating by it such a characteristic. The scholars of the Academy, the Portico, or the Lyceum were at once known by their modes of reasoning, their attachment to distinctive theories, and their frequent appeals to Plato, Zeno, or Aristotle. The Jew was recognized by his dress and language, his reverence for Moses, his selection among meats and drinks, and his antipathy to all the races of the uncircumcision. If you entered a company of Greeks, and found them theorizing upon pleasure, its nature, enjoyment, and modes, you would at once pronounce them to be Epicureans; or if, mixing with another crowd, you were met with such sounds as fate, liberty, necessity, wisdom, and chief good, you would feel in a moment that you were among the Stoics. Did you, in any city of Juda, see a man clothed with a robe fringed deeper than common, and adorned with a phylactery of unusual breadth; did you follow him, and hear him pray with a stentorian voice to attract all passers-by, or see him give alms so ostentatiously as to draw upon him the public gaze and admiration, you would have no doubt that you beheld a Pharisee. And if, on the streets of Jerusalem, you met one in whose dress the prominent portions of the national uniform were carefully pared down, who, as he passed with you near the temple, observed with a quiet sneer that the scent of the burning sacrifice tainted the air, or who, as he looked on the place of sepulchres, assumed a philosophic air and spoke of death as the debt of nature, as a hard and universal necessity; smiled at the idea of a spirit-land, and hinted that the prevailing belief on that point was not consonant with reason, or based on a rational interpretation of Scriptureyou would have no difficulty in detecting the speaker to be a Sadducee. But our Lord discards what is external; and His followers are to be known not by dress, language, or occupation, but by the mutual kindness which they cherish and exercise towards one another. They are to be known not by mind, but by heart; not by intellect, but by soul.
In the first age of the Church the critical importance of the mutual love of Christians was recognized. Jerome preserves an anecdote of St. John which admirably illustrates this fact. In his last days, when he had to be carried into church, and was too old to speak for any length of time, the Apostle used in addressing the congregation to repeat simply the old commandment, which yet is, indeed, always new, Little children, love one another. Then, as ever since, Christians were impatient of that teaching. His disciples, weary of the continual repetition, asked why he always said this. Because, he replied, it is the Lords commandment: and if it only be fulfilled, it is enough. Tertullian, in a famous passage of his Apology, describes the impression made on the heathen by the mutual love of believers. They could not understand it. See, say they, how they love each other! for they themselves hate each other. And see how ready they are to die for each other! for they themselves are more ready to slay each other.1 [Note: H. H. Henson, Godly Union and Concord, 161.]
Two centuries later than Tertullian a still more illustrious ChristianChrysostomdescribes the scandal caused to the heathen by the lovelessness of believers. His language is on many grounds very remarkable, and singularly apposite to the conditions of the modern Church. He is commenting on Christs new commandment, and the testimony which, by obeying it, Christians are to deliver to the world; and, after his practice, he draws on his intimate knowledge of the religious life of his time in order to illustrate the sacred text, and to press home on his hearers its practical lessons. Miracles, he says, do not so much attract the heathen as the mode of life; and nothing so much causes a right life as love And with good reason. When one of them sees the greedy man, the plunderer, exhorting others to do the contrary, when he sees the man who was commanded to love even his enemies treating his very kindred like brutes, he will say that the words are folly We, we are the cause of their remaining in error. Their own doctrines they have long condemned, and in like manner they admire ours, but they are hindered by our mode of life. Chrysostom goes on to say that it is vain to point out to the disgusted heathen the virtues of famous Christians of former times. About them they are sceptical so long as the Christians whom they see and know are scandalously unworthy of their profession. Wherefore, he concludes, I fear lest some grievous thing come to pass, and we draw down upon us heavy vengeance from God.2 [Note: Ibid. 162.]
Almost twenty years ago, while living in America, I went to reside in a little town called Delaware, in Ohio; and the first Saturday evening of my residence I went as a young man to the Y.M.C.A. prayer-meeting. There were about one hundred young men present, and the meeting was of a most hearty type. The last hymn sung was
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love.
And during the singing of that hymn there was a general handshaking going on, and I, as a stranger, was specially singled out for attention. The result, so far as I was concerned, was that I attended that prayer-meeting regularly for more than five years. That may be a trifle too unconventional for our Churches, but we want more, much more, of the spirit that prompted that exhibition of sympathetic Christian friendliness and love.1 [Note: W. Lee, From Dust to Jewels, 96.]
What is love, Mary? said Seventeen to Thirteen, who was busy with her English lessons.
I think it is a verb, said John, and I think it must have been originally the perfect of live, like thrive, throve, strive, strove.
Capital, John, suddenly growled uncle Oldbuck, it was that originally, and it will be our own faults, children, if it is not that at last, as well as, ay, and more than at first.2 [Note: John Brown, Hor Subseciv, 2nd Ser., 299.]
If we really and lovingly studied the characters of others we should often end by being interested and even fascinated where at first we were only repelled. A portrait-painter must often feel this. Some of us may be reminded of the lines of Browning. Beside the Drawing-board:
Little girl with the poor coarse hand
I turned from to a cold clay cast
I have my lesson, understand
The worth of flesh and blood at last.
Nothing but beauty in a Hand?
Because he could not change the hue,
Mend the lines and make them true
To this which met his souls demand
Would Da Vinci turn from you?
And, more than that, if we love and care for others we shall often find that the very fact of our loving them helps them to make themselves more love-worthy, just as a carefully tended plant responds to the gardeners care.3 [Note: E. Wordsworth, Onward Steps, 129.]
As every lord giveth a certain livery to his servants, says Latimer, Love is the Livery of Christ.
The New Commandment
Literature
Abbott (L.), Signs of Promise, 232.
Alford (H.), Quebec Chapel Sermons, iv. 223.
Bernard (T. D.), The Central Teaching of Jesus Christ, 113.
Eadie (J.), The Divine Love, 242.
Goodwin (H.), Parish Sermons, iii. 258.
Greenhough (J. G.), in Great Texts of the NT, 97.
Henson (H. H.), Godly Union and Concord, 153.
Horne (W.), Religious Life and Thought, 13.
Horton (R. F.), The Commandments of Jesus, 319.
Hughes (H. P.), The Philanthropy of God, 15.
Jack (J. W.), After His Likeness, 13.
Kuyper (R.), The Work of the Holy Spirit, 570.
Lee (W.), From Dust to Jewels, 85.
Lewis (F. W.), The Unseen Life, 13.
Lilley (J. P.), The Pathway of Light, 79.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions: John ix.xiv., 226.
Maclaren (A.), Last Sheaves, 56.
Mantle (J. G.), According to the Pattern, 75.
Marjoribanks (T.), The Fulness of the Godhead, 77.
Morgan (G. C.), The Ten Commandments, 203.
Robertson (F. W.), Sermons, 1st Ser., 234.
Senior (W.), Gods Ten Words, 345.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, li. (1905), No. 241.
Stanford (C.), Central Truths, 153.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit) xiii. (1876), No. 1008.
Wilson (J. H.), The Gospel and its Fruits, 233.
Wilson (J. M.), Rochdale Sermons, 239.
Wordsworth (E.), Onward Steps, 123.
Christian World Pulpit, xlvii. 166 (Klein); lx. 305 (Henson); lxxvi. 49 (Ronald).
Church of England Pulpit, lii. 290 (Henson); lxi. 322 (Plummer).
Churchmans Pulpit: Holy Week: vi. 490 (Robertson).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
A new: Gal 6:2, 1Jo 2:8-10, 1Jo 3:14-18, 1Jo 3:23, 2Jo 1:5
That ye love: Joh 15:12, Joh 15:13, Joh 15:17, Joh 17:21, Lev 19:18, Lev 19:34, Psa 16:3, Psa 119:63, Rom 12:10, 1Co 12:26, 1Co 12:27, 1Co 13:4-7, Gal 5:6, Gal 5:13, Gal 5:14, Gal 5:22, Gal 6:10, Eph 5:2, Phi 2:1-5, Col 1:4, Col 3:12, Col 3:13, 1Th 3:12, 1Th 4:9, 1Th 4:10, 2Th 1:3, Heb 13:1, Jam 2:8, 1Pe 1:22, 1Pe 3:8, 1Pe 3:9, 2Pe 1:7, 1Jo 4:7-11, 1Jo 4:21, 1Jo 5:1
Reciprocal: Gen 45:24 – See that Psa 85:13 – shall set Mat 13:52 – things Mar 9:50 – have peace Joh 13:1 – having Act 17:19 – new Rom 15:7 – as 1Co 1:10 – that ye 1Co 16:14 – General Eph 4:3 – General Col 3:14 – charity 1Th 5:13 – and be 1Jo 3:11 – that we 1Jo 3:16 – and we 1Jo 4:11 – General 1Jo 5:2 – General Rev 1:5 – him
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE NEW COMMANDMENT
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.
Joh 13:34
The command to love is always new. Every individual and every generation must have a new way, because the circumstances of the world are always changing, and the minds of men are always widening.
The command is in another sense old. It has been from the beginning. But Christ revealed a new idea of man and a new idea of God. His love offered a new measure of greatnessLove one another; as I have loved you.
For us the command is also new, because our times are new and unlike any other time. How are we to love one another as Christ loved? What does the duty of service enforce on this generation?
I. What are the characteristics of the present time?The question is vast, but it may be possible to outline four features
(a) The individual counts for more to-day than in any previous day. Every one asserts himself and resents a slight. The complaint is sometimes made that there are few great men, but it may be replied that all little men are greater. There may be no excellence, but there is a high average. Individuality is thus one marked feature in our time, and Socialism may be described as the uprising of the individual.
(b) Independence has been exalted by democratic government.There are now no dependent classes; every class has its place, and an equal place, in the economy of government. A social conscience has been substituted for the philanthropy which made one class regard itself as the keeper of another. Patronage is now out of place, and has become the subject for ridicule.
(c) Education has opened every ones eyes to see more of the possibilities of life.Whole classes of the population have acquired a taste for culture, and they resent the contrast which allows to a few the pleasures of beauty and knowledge, while it condemns the many to sordid existence in close streets. There is thus a widespread demand for a larger share of lifes good things. Materialism has become a power in public life, which, let it be noted, is an advance on a period of indifferentism. Any conviction as to a theory of existence, even though it be one of material comfort, is better than the selfishness which thinks only of getting advantage for itself, be the theory what it may.
(d) Science has given a new direction to thought. It may almost be said to have created thought. The child in the street and the most ignorant of the people ask for facts, and to some extent reason from facts. Their facts may be uncertain and their reasoning faulty, but thought has to-day a new importance. Every proposed reform must make its appeal to the mind, and nothing can be ventured without inquiry and study.
Here, then, are some of the characteristics which make the present unlike any former timesindividuality, independence, common education, and the scientific spirit. The old command of love holds as it has held from the beginning; but how is it to be applied?
II. How must you and I show our love?What is now the social mission of the State? (1) Our love must be thinking love; (3) it must be sharing love.
(a) Thought and love must go hand in hand. The parent who loves his child must think about his character, watch him in his idle moments, foster what is good, fit education to his needs, and cherish his individuality. Reformers must not be content to advocate a new socialistic State; they must think of what is practicable and restrain themselves to do the next thing. The State in its domestic legislation must inquire before it acts, seek causes before it applies remedies, and follow scientific methods. But, some one says, look what all this means! Parents have no time for such thought about their children. They have their business, their work, their pleasures. They will love their children, but their teachers must think about them. They will give them money, but they will not give up their own way of life. Look, too, some one will say, what thought about the structure of society involves, what changes will be introduced, what patience may be necessary, what new ideas will be encouraged! People are content that millions shall be spent yearly on poor relief, but too much thought about the causes of poverty may be dangerous to their quiet, to their property, or to their schemes. The needs of others in this generation demand, then, thoughtful love. We are willing to give generously. Never was giving more generous. Many are willing to advocate revolutionary changes. But we all shrink from thinking. It involves too much; it is dangerous; it is too slow. Yes, but the measure of love is Christs love, which gave what cost the most. It is Christ Who says to us, Think, even if it spoils your plans and imperils your pleasures. Love one another as I have loved you. Love must still suffer.
(b) Love is sharing. Whatever good thing we have found to be the best for ourselves is that which our neighbours must also have. Do we live in pure and clear air? So must they. Do we enjoy health and beauty and knowledge? So must they. Our advantages confer on us no privilege; they give us no right to command; they are simply ours to share. This means an end to the ostentation and the show, whose delight is in possessing what others cannot possess. This means an end to expenditure on luxury, be it on drink or on diamonds. This means a great increase of expenditure on the education of the people. But here comes the protest: I will give, but I cannot have my income reduced so that others may receive as a right the knowledge and the joy in life which I give as a favour. I will give, but I will not give up my position of privilege. Yes, but the generation has come into sight of equality of culture, and it has cast away the idea of a dependent class. The needs of others demand a love which shares. Is this too costly? Do we, like the rich young man, say, We give generously. We obey the command as our fathers obeyed it; but we cannot give up our rights, we cannot come down from our high place; we cannot share? Well, the love which is above all love, as it offers us eternal life, still says, You must take up a cross. You must love as I love. The more it costs, the more like it is to Mine. To love is to share.
Consider, then, the times in which we live. There have been no such times in the past. We are sailing on an unknown sea, across which float sounds from undiscovered lands, and there are strange storms which threaten our safety. Let us as good sailors consider what these sounds and these dangers are. Let us ask what is the service the times demand. It is sure to be costly service. Then let us consider the love of Christ, the love which has drawn the hearts of men to itself, the love of God in which we move.
Canon S. A. Barnett.
Illustration
In the days of the early Church, beneath what might seem the merely natural duty of feeding the hungry, there lay the spiritual interest of so helping the body as not to hurt the soul. The Christian idea was that everybody was to be helped by his brethren to become a perfect member of the Church of Christ by the gift of what he happened to lack, whatever it was. His particular burden was to be borne in common. That was one great lesson taught, and understood to be taught, by Holy Communion. As a modern poet has well expressed it
The Holy Supper is kept indeed
In whatso we share with anothers need,
Not what we give, but what we share.
And the predominance of the spiritual interest becomes more conspicuous when we go on to consider the care of the sick, and those in trouble and in prison. They were to be visited, so as to be supported, not only by the alms, but by the prayers of the Church. We are told that the Christians of Egypt went even as far as to the mines of Cilicia to encourage and edify their brethren who were condemned there to hard labour; and to visit those in prison they took long journeys. We feel as we read these stories of Christian philanthropy that, while money was not spared when money could do good, it was yet the least part of what the Christian contributed to the relief of his brethren in Christ.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
4
New commandment. The people of God have always been commanded to love each other, hence that was not what was new. But the motive for that love was new, namely, because I have loved you. This was not an arbitrary reason but a logical one. If I know that Jesus loves my brother, I would conclude that the brother was entitled to that love. And if he is good enough to obtain the love of the Master, surely he is good enough for the love of me who am only a fellow-servant of the Master.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; even as I loved you that ye also may love one another. The new commandment is love, such love as Jesus had Himself exhibited, and as had been His glory (Joh 13:31); and this love to one another they would need, that in an evil world they might be to one another sources of strength and comfort. It is again the lesson of the foot-washing; though here it appears not so much in the form of general love to all men as of that specific love which can only be exercised towards the members of the body of Christ. By commandment is meant not a definite precept, but rather a sphere of life in which the disciples are to walk (chaps. Joh 10:18, Joh 12:50); and it is this, rather than the character or quality of the love, that makes the commandment new. The whole life of Jesus had been love; the life of His disciples, as that of those in Him, was to be love also. There was to be a transition in them from the outward to the inward, from the letter of an injunction to its felt experience. Hence the first half of the verse is complete in itself; and the second half points out the ground upon which this love was to rest, and the means by which it was to be obtained. It was the very purpose of the love of Jesus that He might form a community all whose members, born again into His love, might love one another,Even as I loved you, that ye also may love one another. Out of Him is selfishness; in Him, and in Him alone, we love.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour having mentioned his departure from his disciples in the former verse; I go away, and, whither I go ye cannot come: in this and the following verses, he gives them a strict charge, that in his absence they should love one another.
This he calls a new commandment: not that it was new in regard of institution, but of restitution: not new in regard of the substance of it, for it was a branch of the law of nature, and a known precept of the Jewish religion; but he calls it a new commandment:
1. Because purged from the old corrupt glosses of the Pharisees, who had limited this duty of love, and confined it to their own countrymen; whereas Christ enlarges the object, and obliges his disciples to love all mankind, even their very enemies.
2. Because this duty of love was so greatly advanced and heightened by our Saviour, as to the measures and degrees of it, even to the laying down of our lives one for another.
3. It is called a new commandment, because urged from a new motive, and enforced by a new example. As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Never was this duty so effectually taught, so mightily encouraged, so much urged and insisted upon, by any teacher, as our Saviour; and never was there such an example given of it as his own.
4. It is a new commandment, because with the rest it was never to wax old; but to be always fresh in the memory and practice of Christ’s disciples to the end of the world.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Having announced their inevitable separation, Jesus now began to explain what He expected of His disciples during their absence from Him. They were to love one another as He had loved them. They had seen His love for them during His entire earthly ministry and most recently in His washing of their feet, but they would only understand its depth through the Cross.
The command to love one another was not completely new (1Jn 2:7-8), but in the Mosaic Law the standard was "as you love yourself" (Lev 19:18). Now there was a new and higher standard, namely, "as I have loved you." It was also a new (Gr. kainen, fresh rather than different) commandment in that it was part of a new covenant that Jesus would ratify with His blood (Luk 22:20; 1Co 11:25). In that covenant God promised to enable His people to love by transforming their hearts and minds (Jer 31:29-34; Eze 36:24-26). It is only by God’s transforming grace that believers can love one another as Jesus has loved us. The Greek words for "love" appear only 12 times in John 1-12, but in chapters 13-21 we find them 44 times.