Loving Others: Two Formulas
Our Savior, when someone inquired, "Which is the first commandment of all?", answered by the formula of the Shema, with its Deuteronomic injunction that a man must love God with all his heart and being. Then Jesus, although no one pressed him further, thought it important to add that there is, in fact, a similar second commandment—this one from Leviticus—obligating human beings to love their neighbors as themselves. Perhaps most significant in this juxtaposition of mandates is the fact that both of them employ the same verb for "love," agapao.
It is instructive to observe that the Septuagint, Israel's Greek translation of the Scriptures, used this identical verb in both of the passages to which Jesus alludes (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18). What is new here is the Lord's joining of these two commandments in a way that makes them inseparable (cf. 1 John 4:20–21).
Now with respect to the "second" commandment, the New Testament speaks of it in two forms. The first and dominant form is the Lord's direct quotation from Leviticus: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This is how the commandment is expressed in multiple sources: James (2:8), Paul (Rom. 13:8–10; Gal. 5:14), and all the Synoptic Gospels (Matt. 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27).
Since this formulation was given already in the Torah, the command to love the neighbor might not appear, as a first impression, to be new or especially unique. All devout Jews knew this. Indeed, Jesus' inquirer felt sufficient confidence to declare, "I have done all these things from my youth."
Unique & Unexpected
In the terms in which our Lord promulgates it, nonetheless, we take note of two features that make this version of the command not only new but also unique and completely unexpected.
First, there is the Lord's extension of the meaning of "neighbor." The burden of this noun was explicitly brought to the fore when that same inquirer, "wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'" In response, we recall, the Lord told the parable of the compassionate Samaritan, who rescued the traveler mugged by thieves and ignored by passing clergymen. Then, at the end of the story, he ironically turned the inquirer's question back on himself, asking who "became a neighbor (plesion . . . gegonenai) to him who fell among the thieves." Stop theorizing, in other words; go out and do it.
Second—and this feature is most unique—"neighbor" is widened to include even one's enemies—perhaps even especially one's enemies. Indeed, the New Lawgiver asks, "If you love those who love you, what prize do you get?" Anybody can do that. The love of enemies is arguably the singular and most unexpected aspect of Christian ethics.
The New Testament, however, has a second form of the Lord's commandment to love other people, this form almost unique to the Johannine books: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you are to love one another. In this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34–35; 15:12,17; 1 John 3:11,23; 4:7,11–12; 2 John 1:5).
Here the commandment's context is clearly different. Although I am obliged to love my enemies in addition to loving those who love me, it is impossible to love my enemies in the same way I love my friends. How can I love my enemy as though he were my friend, even if I hope he might become my friend? Jesus loved his enemies, but that love did not always make them his friends, because they still hated him.
Here is the difference: Contrast the very diverse situations implied in "Father, forgive them" and "Lazarus, come forth." The first case illustrates the mandate to love one's enemies. The second case is entirely different; it exemplifies love between friends. Here there is not only agape (divine love humanly shared), there is also philia (friendship love), and it seems impossible to separate them.
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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