M: Arnold, do you agree with the idea that what made the commandment to live and love like God "new" is the unprecedented demonstration of love on the cross? I'm not comfortable with the suggestion that it only seemed "new" because it had been forgotten over time.
A: I'm not sure I agree with it. But since the "new" command was to love each other as Jesus loves us, if there was a new revelation regarding how much Jesus loves us, the extent of the command would have a "new" element. At this time, I would be comfortable either way.
T: If one says it was forgotten over time, that begs the question, "forgotten from when?" That is, when Jesus said to love others as He has loved us, when could this "new commandment" have been forgotten from? Or, to ask it another way, when did someone love as Jesus loved us?
Jesus demonstrated love throughout the OT. However, when Jesus spoke those words I believe He had in mind the cross. Ellen White wrote:
Jesus says, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Calvary reveals to every one of us the depths of that love. {TM 353.2} That love they knew not until they saw the suffering and death of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. {MM 120.4}
The disciples could not then comprehend Christ's words; but after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension they understood His love as never before. They had seen it expressed in His suffering in the garden, in the judgment hall, and in His death on the cross of Calvary. {8T 164.3}
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