What’s New?
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Two weeks ago we began thinking about what God has made new. He made an Old Covenant with Israel but in Christ has made a New Covenant with believers. The heart of the Old Covenant was seen in its commandments and ordinances. When we think of that covenant of commandments, we usually think immediately of the Ten Commandments, which lie at its heart. Of course, God through Moses gave Israel many more than 10 commands. In fact, it is traditionally stated that an ancient rabbi identified 613 commandments associated with the Old Covenant.
When Jesus gave His famous summary of Old Covenant commands in response to being questioned about which command in the law was the greatest, He reduced the multiplicity of old commands into the two-part summary declaration, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:36–39). The heart of the new commandment is love, both for God and for others.
Then on the night He observed the last Passover meal with the disciples, Jesus became even more pointed about the second part of the new commandment, saying, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). In His earlier instruction about loving others, Jesus gave as the standard loving one’s neighbor as you love yourself. This was the standard set forth in Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In the Last Supper summary of that part of the new commandment, Jesus gave a new model and a higher motive. The model moved from how we love ourselves to how Jesus loves us. The motive for doing so is stated to be His love for us. We love others because He first loved us.
As we continue to live into the New Year, we can profit greatly by reflecting on Jesus’ love as our model and motivation. How does He love us? It takes several ideas even to begin to grasp the dimensions of this model and motivation. Jesus loves us with a love that is constant.
The testimony in John 13:1 is that when Jesus entered the upper room for His last Passover with the disciples, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” As with the Twelve, so with us: nothing we do or have done can cause Him to stop loving us. He loves us with love that is sacrificial and self-giving. How unwavering and constant is our love to others? Jesus loves us unconditionally. We do not have to get better in order to be loved by Him. Do we love as Jesus loves us or do we expect people to change in some way before we love them?
Love others
Since Jesus loves us selflessly and sacrificially, His new commandment tells us this is how we are to love others.
During the evening of the Last Supper, Jesus showed the disciples love in a very practical way: He washed their dusty feet as they reclined at the table. Is our love demonstrated in practical deeds of kindness to other? Does it go beyond mere verbal expressions?
The New Commandment under the New Covenant tells us to love others in the manner that Jesus loves us: constantly, selflessly, sacrificially, unconditionally and practically.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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