The Lord gives a new commandment

Jesus told his followers: “A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). What makes this commandment of love new? This question could lead to a brief enquiry into the life of the Jewish nation and the understanding of love in the Jewish context. In the Old Testament narrative, twelve tribes made up the Israel that was delivered from bondage in Egypt by Moses. They were descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob. God changed the name of Jacob to Israel when he wrestled with the Angel (Genesis 32:28). One of the sons of Israel was Judah. His descendants were later nick named Jews by the neighbouring nations. King David was from the tribe of Judah but he and his son Solomon ruled over the twelve tribes. After Solomon, the nation was split into the Northern Kingdom with ten tribes and Southern kingdom with Judah and Benjamin. After Solomon, the Northern Kingdom existed for about 200 years before the conquest by the Assyrian Empire. The Southern kingdom was later captured by the Babylonian Empire. “Seventy years later, a group of Jews returned to Jerusalem with a unique culture under the Roman Empire until the time of Jesus.

The concept of love centred on the love of God for Israel and the reciprocity of this love. Love for the Israelites was exclusively from the Jews to the Jews. This love did not extend to the Gentile nations as shown in the Parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Women were not loved, they were only used and dumped. The way and manner Jesus loved and commanded human beings to love akin to the way God loved Israel. In the Old Testament, Love is an attribute of God. God created the universe and humanity out of love. God made Israel his people out of Love (Hosea 11:1). God shows his love to individual human beings in a very unique way (Isaiah 38). The love of God for Israel was unconditional: “The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).

God needed faithful reciprocity from the people. “Therefore know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Then God says: “I made you thrive like a plant in the field, and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful” (Ezekiel 16:6-7).  God hates wickedness and the workers of iniquities (Psalm 5:4-7). The people of God did not respond to the love of God who said to them. “But you began to trust in your beauty. You used the good name you had and became unfaithful to me. You acted like a prostitute with every man who passed by. You gave yourself to them all” (Ezekiel 16:15)! On the other hand, God remained constant and faithful such that he renews his covenant of love.

At the time of Jesus, the Jews were colonised by the Roman Empire. The Hellenistic world and the Greek nations understood the categories of love. For the Greeks love was either Eros, Filial or Agape. Eros is the love you express when you have something to gain from the other person. It is erotic in the sense that it is love based on utility. Erotic love is when for instance, a man loves a woman because she is young and beautiful. You love the woman just to have sex with her. When she grows old or she loses her beauty, you abandon her. A woman could love a man to get money from him. When money goes, the woman goes! Erotic love is drink the water and throw away the cup. Filial love is family love. I love you because you are my son, daughter or relative. Filial love is relationship by consanguinity. Agape is sacrificial love. It is the love that is so unconditional. This love is based on the common humanity that human beings share. It is the love that can make you sacrifice your life for the person you love (John 3:16).

The new commandment of love is reformative in a way that the narrative of the kingdoms that existed before and after Jesus could change the world. Apart from Yemen, the world of the Arabian Peninsula before Islam had no political organization. The outcome was lawlessness, jungle justice and lack of value for life. Killing of human beings was normal such that the only protection people had was the family. The desert life was survival of the strongest. Economically, the Jews were the leaders of Arabia. They were the owners of the best arable lands in Hijaz, and they were the best farmers in the country. They were also the entrepreneurs of such industries as existed in Arabia in those days, and they enjoyed a monopoly of the armaments industry. Slavery was an economic institution of the Arabs. Male and female slaves were sold and bought like animals, and they formed the most depressed class of the Arabian society. Women had no status of any kind other than as sex objects (https://www.al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-ashgar-razwy/arabia-islam)

When Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), he meant do what I say and do what I do. Jesus wants his followers to change the world through witness of life. Jesus healed out of love not to show power as a miracle worker. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).  In raising the dead to life Jesus showed the human emotion of love as in the case of Lazarus. “Jesus wept (John 11:35). Deeply moved, Jesus came to the tomb” (John 11: 38). Out of love he fed the hungry. “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” (Matthew 15:32). Jesus fed the people with his body and blood as we do today in his memory in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus preached the word of God to take people to heaven. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34). In love Jesus prayed for unity of the world. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20-21). In love, Jesus sacrificed his life for the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The application of the new commandment of love is very imperative in our world today. This application will expel fear and despair from the hearts of many. The rate of suicide has increased. This shows that some people are living in pain and lack of hope for the future. There is need today to care for each other and one another. It is an act of love to check on your neighbour whom you have not seen for some time. It is love to see the ugly expression in the face of the other and you care to ask, “Hope all is well?”  It is an act of love for the government to provide jobs for the youths so that they do not go into depression, despair, crime and suicide. In love we can change the narrative the current situation has given to the society where what matters is material acquisition. The application of this new commandment from Jesus would help us to love a neighbour the way we love ourselves. May we love to cherish unconditional love that could move us to make sacrifices for the good of others.

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) ([email protected]).