© 1984 Adair

“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

Many of you, I do not doubt, have heard the story of Arch-bishop Usher¹ and Mr. Rutherford;² but it is so appropriate to this subject that I cannot help telling it again. The archbishop had heard of the wondrous power of Rutherford’s devotion and of the singular beauty of the arrangement of his household, and he wished to witness it himself; but he could not tell how to do so until it occurred to him that he might disguise himself as a poor traveler. Accordingly, at nightfall, he knocked at the door of Mr. Rutherford’s house and was received by Mrs. Rutherford. He asked if he could find lodgings there for the night. She answered, “Yes,” for they entertained strangers. She placed him in the kitchen and gave him something to eat. It was a part of her regular family discipline on Saturday evening to catechize the children and the servants. Of course, the poor man in the kitchen came in among them.

Mrs. Rutherford put to all of them some questions concerning the commandments; and to this poor man, she put the question, “How many commandments are there?” He answered, “Eleven.” “Ah!” she said, “what a sad thing that a man of your age, whose hair is sprinkled with grey, should not even know how many commandments there are. There is not a child above six years old in our parish, who does not know that.” The poor man said nothing in reply, but he had his oatmeal porridge and went to bed. Later, he rose and listened to Rutherford’s midnight prayer. He was charmed with it, made himself known to him, borrowed a better coat from him, preached for him on the Sunday morning, and surprised Mrs. Rutherford by taking as his text, “A new commandment I give unto you.” [He commenced] with the observation that this might very properly be called the Eleventh Commandment. By-and-by, the archbishop went on his way; he and Rutherford had been refreshed together. It is the Eleventh Commandment. If the next time we are asked how many commandments there are, we answer, “Eleven,” we shall reply rightly enough.

But why is it a new commandment? Is it not included in the ten? You know how our Lord approved the lawyer’s summary of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luk 10:27). How is this a new commandment then—“That ye love one another”?

It is new, first, as to the extent of the love. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we are to love our fellow Christians as Christ loved us. That is far more than we love ourselves. Christ loved us better than He loved Himself. He loved us so much that He gave Himself for us, so that now no one of us is to say, “I am to love my friend, my brother, my fellow-creatures, as I love myself,” but to interpret Christ’s command thus, “I am to love my fellow Christians even as Jesus Christ Who died for me has loved me.” This is a nobler kind of love altogether to the love that we are to manifest to our neighbors. That is the love of benevolence,³ but this is a love of affinity⁴ and close relationship. [It] involves a higher degree of self-sacrifice than was enjoined by the Law of Moses…

Next, it is a new commandment because it is backed by a new reason. The old commandment was backed by this declaration: “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exo 20:2). The Israelite was to obey that law because of the redemption that God had wrought for His nation in Egypt. But we are commanded to love one another because Christ has redeemed us from a far worse bondage than that of Egypt, and with a far costlier sacrifice than the offering up of myriads⁵ of paschal⁶ lambs. “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1Co 5:7). He has brought us out from under the iron yoke of sin and Satan and has broken our bonds asunder. Our enemies have pursued us, but He has destroyed them at the sea, even at the Red Sea. He has redeemed us with His own heart’s blood, and therefore His new commandment comes to us with the greatest possible force, “That ye love one another as I have loved you.” It is a new commandment because of the extent of it and because of the reason by which it is supported.

Notes:

1. James Usher or Ussher (1581-1656) – Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, and professor of divinity at Dublin.
2. Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) – Scottish Presbyterian theologian, author, and Commissioner to the Westminster Assembly.
3. love of benevolence – love shown regardless of the character of the one who receives it.
4. affinity – kinship; family likeness.
5. myriads – vast numbers.
6. paschal – Passover.

Published with permission of Chapel Library.