Welcome to Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad.

God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. Today's topic, the greatest commandment according to Jesus. I'm reading today from 1 John 2, beginning at verse seven. This is the writing of the beloved apostle John, probably the closest human companion to Jesus.

He writes, 'Beloved, I'm writing to you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I'm writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

John goes on in that paragraph to say, whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he's going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I'm struck by this phraseology that John uses. I'm writing no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning." And then he says, at the same time, it is a new commandment that I'm writing to you, which is true in him and in you. Isn't that intriguing? It seems like he's almost contradicting himself, but he's not. What is he saying? He's saying the commandment that I'm giving to you is the commandment that the Lord Jesus gave to us as his followers. But in the giving of that commandment, it is reflection and expansion of the commandment that God gave in the Old Testament, what we call the Old Testament, the first passages of the word of God. And we find that in Deuteronomy chapter six and also in Leviticus 19.

But let me set us up again. You see this question about the commandment was asked of Jesus even in the days of his flesh. We find the account given to us in Mark's gospel. Actually, it's given in all four gospels in one way or another, but Matthew and Mark and Luke do record where Jesus talks about the greatest of the commandments. But Mark gives, I think, the fullest expression because he quotes all of the Shema, that is, the great hero Israel. Yahweh, your God, is one. And this is what Mark says; I'm reading to you. Mark 12:28.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating, and noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, of all the commandments, which is the most important? Now, I'm sure Jesus was asked that question more than once, but this time it's being a respectful questioner who's asking him this question. And Jesus answered him; the most important one is this. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There's no commandment greater than these.

Now it should be noted that he didn't ask him for the second commandment. He just asked him what was the greatest. But Jesus combines them and then he says, well said teacher, you're right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all of your heart, with all of your understanding, with all of your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. He was well pleased with the Lord Jesus's answer because he knew it was reflecting the truth of God's word. Now, this is what I believe John is referring to when he talks about, I'm writing no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. And so where is that found? Well, it's found in Deuteronomy, which is the great statement of faith of the Hebrew people, of the nation of Israel.

And it reads, Hear, O Israel, the Lord, and that is the personal name of God, His covenant name, Yahweh, Y-H-W-H, all consonants in Hebrew. Yahweh, our God, is one, Yahweh, and you shall love Yahweh, your God. with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might. Deuteronomy chapter six, verses four and five.

Now this is the greatest commandment because it specifies the uniqueness of God and that he is the one being that we are to love above all others. And so, it's a call for allegiance to the one God, allegiance of heart and mind, of soul and strength. That is the greatest commandment in the law and in the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ says it is the greatest of all commandments.

And in fact, other commandments simply reflect how we flesh it out. If I look at the 10 commandments as given to Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, we are told how to flesh it out. That is, that we are to love God and have no other God but Him. And we are to hold His name, His very character and nature and everything about Him in reverence. We are to give to Him our time. We are to worship Him. And we are not to worship Him with creations of man's hand, idols. idols of the mind, my idols of the body. God is not a creature and therefore he must not be worshiped in a creaturely form.

But the second commandment is interesting. This is given; Jesus is referring to it in Leviticus chapter 19 in verse 18. Now, it's very interesting, I want to read some of Leviticus 19 to you, because it just seems to be dropped in there. Because Leviticus 19 just gives a lot of various laws. So, let me just read a few of them to you, okay? Bear with me.

The Lord, says Yahweh, said to Moses, speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them, be holy because I, Yahweh, your God, am holy. Now that's repeated in the New Testament in Peter's epistle. He goes on, each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I'm Yahweh, your God. Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I'm Yahweh, your God.

When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to Yahweh, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. You're not just cast aside, see that? Because it's holy. Then it is eaten on the third day, it's impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he's desecrated what's holy to Yahweh. That person must be cut off from his people.

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of the field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I'm Yahweh, your God. Do not steal, do not lie, do not deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.

Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. Do not curse the death or put a stumbling block in front of the blind but fear your God. I am Yahweh. Do not pervert justice. Do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great but judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am Yahweh. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people. But love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

So, you notice that what the law has done is it's spelled out very practical ways in which we would be showing love to our neighbor because we will not speak wrongly about them. We will be fair. We will be reverent in our worship of God. We'll have respect for our parents and for our elders. And we will also be considerate of those that are handicapped. We're going to tell the truth and not be dishonest. You'll notice that several of what are found in the Ten Commandments are found here, repeated in these various laws in the book of Leviticus.

So, this is what Jesus is quoting, Leviticus 19, and at the very end of a verse, right in the middle of it, right in the verse, do not seek revenge or bear grudge against one of your neighbor, but love your neighbor as yourself. It's just the end of a phrase, and Jesus plucks that out of it and said, the second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

Now, what John in his epistle is doing, is he's commenting on this. This is the old commandment, but he says, it's an old commandment you've had from the beginning, but it is at the same time a new commandment, which I'm writing to you, which is true in him and in you.

So, what's new about the commandments? Well, let's look at the context in which Jesus actually gives this commandment. It's found again by John in the Gospel of John chapter 13. It was just before the Passover feast and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served. The devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the father had put all things under his power and that he'd come from God and was returning to God. And so, he got up from the meal. He took off his outer clothing. He wrapped a towel around his waist. And after that, he poured water into a basin and he began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

That's what Jesus did. You know, there's a dialogue between he and Peter, because Peter didn't want him to do it. And then Jesus said, well, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. And then Peter said, well, don't start with my feet, wash my whole body.

Here Jesus gives a practical example. He loves his own, his own beloved disciples, and he is laying down his life for them because he loves them. And so, what's new about the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself and to love the Lord your God with all of your being? What's new about it is that Jesus himself, the Messiah, the man, Christ Jesus, who is also the Word made flesh, the God-man, loved the Father with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he loved his own as himself. He loved them to the point that he laid down his life for them.

Now, his own extends beyond those 12, extends to all of those who come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we show love to our neighbor by actions, by the practical things we do, and by the consideration that we show him. We love not only in word, but we do love in word, but in deed, we love in deed.

So, what's new about the commandment, you see, is what he says in verses 13, chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. Here is where he gives the commandment itself, and this is what he says. A new commandment I give you. Love one another as I have loved you. So you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. This is the new commandment.

You see, it is the old commandment, but it is new because it's fleshed out by the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and his actions for his people. And what's so new about it is that he is the standard of love. He shows us the picture of love. We're to love one another just as Christ loves them. This is our standard. Love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. This agape, this unselfish, unconditional concern for others, along with affection that belongs to the household of God, is what's new about the commandment.

So, the new commandment, the old commandment, is considered new because it sets Christ's love as a standard And Jesus, as the lawgiver and the grace bestower, is the one who gives us the commandment.

Now, let me show you how it's fleshed out. In Galatians chapter six, in verse 10, the apostle Paul is writing, and he says, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of God. You see, we are commanded to love people, but love has gradations. There's grades and levels of love. Certainly, we can love our neighbor in our neighborhood, but certainly our love for our family should be a primary and preeminent love. We have friends and there are certain friends that are closer than other friends because of the hearts that we share, the mind, the various things that make it.

We are to do good to all, but we are especially to show love to the household of faith. Why? Because they're our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all together members of the eternal family of God. So, we are to demonstrate, to show, to have a heart of love that comes from Christ who loves us. And the love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit that Christ has given to us. It's God and Christ's own love in our own hearts, in our own experience, that overflows in our love for one another.

This is the old new commandment that Paul, John is talking about. He's echoing the teaching of Peter and Paul and Jesus. It's the teaching of John, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I'm writing to you an old commandment, but it's also a new commandment. This is the commandment to love. Love God. Love the Lord Jesus Christ. Love the Father in the Son and by means of the Spirit of God and reflect that love in your love for fellow believers.

This has been Wayne Conrad with Bible Insights.