Jesus said:
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. John 13:34-35
Over the years, I have heard very little about this new commandment.
I’ve heard it mentioned several times, but not with much, if any, elaboration.
Some people do not find Commandments of great importance.
Jesus gave us the other two Great Commandments while He walked on Earth
even though they had already been given.
They were given in the Old Testament
after the Ten Commandments were given.
The interesting thing I just realized is that Love Thy Neighbor was given before Love Thy God. Love thy neighbor as thyself appears in Leviticus.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18
That does not make it more important, but maybe it was accentuated first
in Leviticus because people weren’t getting that one yet.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Jesus called the first commandment The First Commandment
as it was obviously more important when He taught these:
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is,
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29-31
Then comes the additional Commandment:
That ye love one another; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. (see scripture above)
Maybe because some people don’t love themselves all that much,
so Jesus said, love one another as I have loved you.
There are likely other reasons I haven’t considered.
Those three Commandments are intertwined.
They are God’s heart for us and for those we encounter, to share His love.
These three Commandments also cover all the Ten Commandments
and allow the followers of Christ no escape when it comes to loving others,
even our enemies, those who have wronged us, etc.
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 4:20
Just so there is no confusion here, Jesus said:
If ye love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15