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301 entries for this category:
 | Why does Jesus call Love One Another a New commandment? |
Jesus spoke of a ?new? commandment only once. On the eve of his passion, he said to his disciples, ?I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also should love one another? ''John 13:34''. In what way is this commandment new? Is not mutual love required by the previous commandment: ?You shall love your neighbour as yourself? ''Leviticus 19:18''?
Jesus offers a new measure for love. He says ?just as I have loved you? at the very moment when, for love, he gives everything. ?Before the Passover celebration, Jesus '','', having loved his own who were in the world, showed them the full extent of his love? ''John 13:1''. He begins by washing their feet while saying, ?I have given you an example? ''verse 15''. Then, deeply troubled by the fact that one of the Twelve, the apostle Judas, is going to betray him, he still keeps on loving him, expressing that love by handing him a piece of bread: ?He took it and gave it to Judas? ''verse 26''. And finally, the gift of an example and the gift of a piece of bread culminate in the gift of the commandment: ?I give you a new commandment.?
Just before the new commandment there are some enigmatic words: ?Now the Son of man has been glorified? ''verse 31''. How is Christ glorified before he enters into the glory of his Father by his cross and resurrection? He is already glorified, because his glory is to love. That is why his glory is manifested now, when he ?shows the full extent of his love.? Judas ?went out into the night? to hand him over. But Jesus does not submit passively to the event: while being handed over, he gives himself, continuing to love in a situation that seems hopeless. That is his glory.
With the new commandment, Jesus makes his disciples a part of his own way of life; he enables them to love as he loves. That evening he prayed, ?May the love with which you loved me be in them and I in them? ''John 17:26''. Henceforth he will dwell within them as love; he will love in them. With this gift of the new commandment, Jesus bestows his presence. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Judas' exit is immediately followed by the institution of the Eucharist; in John's Gospel, by the gift of the new commandment. Like the Eucharist, the new commandment is a real presence.
That night Jesus ?took the cup and said: this cup is the new covenant in my blood? ''1 Corinthians 11:25''. His commandment is new because it belongs to the new covenant, announced by the prophet Jeremiah: ?I will make a new covenant '',''; I will place my Law deep within them and write it on their hearts? ''Jeremiah 31:31-34''. In the new covenant, the former commandment is given in a new way. God's Law is no longer engraved on tablets of stone, but written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who unites our will to the will of God. By: Olivia Babirye
Category: Love One Another - Jesus
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