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Why does Jesus call the commandment to love one another a “new” commandment? Jesus spoke of a “new” commandment only once. On the eve of his passion, he said to his disciples, “I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). In what way is this commandment new? Is not mutual love required by the previous commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18)? Jesus offers a new measure for love. He says “just as I have loved you” at the very moment when, for love, he gives everything. “Before the Passover celebration, Jesus (…), having loved his own who were in the world, showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1). He begins by washing their feet while saying, “I have given you an example” (verse 15). Then, deeply troubled by the fact that one of the Twelve, the apostle Judas, is going to betray him, he still keeps on loving him, expressing that love by handing him a piece of bread: “He took it and gave it to Judas” (verse 26). And finally, the gift of an example and the gift of a piece of bread culminate in the gift of the commandment: “I give you a new commandment.” Just before the new commandment there are some enigmatic words: “Now the Son of man has been glorified” (verse 31). How is Christ glorified before he enters into the glory of his Father by his cross and resurrection? He is already glorified, because his glory is to love. That is why his glory is manifested now, when he “shows the full extent of his love.” Judas “went out into the night” to hand him over. But Jesus does not submit passively to the event: while being handed over, he gives himself, continuing to love in a situation that seems hopeless. That is his glory. With the new commandment, Jesus makes his disciples a part of his own way of life; he enables them to love as he loves. That evening he prayed, “May the love with which you loved me be in them and I in them” (John 17:26). Henceforth he will dwell within them as love; he will love in them. With this gift of the new commandment, Jesus bestows his presence. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Judas’ exit is immediately followed by the institution of the Eucharist; in John’s Gospel, by the gift of the new commandment. Like the Eucharist, the new commandment is a real presence. That night Jesus “took the cup and said: this cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Corinthians 11:25). His commandment is new because it belongs to the new covenant, announced by the prophet Jeremiah: “I will make a new covenant (…); I will place my Law deep within them and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). In the new covenant, the former commandment is given in a new way. God’s Law is no longer engraved on tablets of stone, but written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who unites our will to the will of God. What is the importance of the commandments in our relationship with God? According to the apostle John, communion with God is expressed by observing the commandments. “Whoever keeps his commandments remains in God and God in them” (1 John 3:24). On Sinai, God made a covenant with “those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9). As we go back still further towards the beginning, the Bible tells us that when he created human beings, God gave them a commandment straightaway (Genesis 2:16-17). It is as if, without a commandment, there is no relationship with God. This ubiquitousness of the commandments can seem burdensome. But, though it may appear paradoxical at first glance, God’s commandments affirm our freedom. Through the commandments, God speaks to us. What we call the “ten commandments” are referred to as the “ten words” in the Bible (e.g. Exodus 34:28). Through the commandments, God speaks to us and invites us to choose (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). God enables the animals to do instinctively what is right. To human beings, he gives the commandments, running the risk of our freedom. “The turtledove, swallow, and crane observe the time of their coming; but my people do not know the ordinance of the Lord” (Jeremiah 8:7). God does not program human beings nor force them to behave in a certain way. God speaks to us. Jeremiah complains about the situation that this can create. But if God does not want to guide us except by speaking to us by his commandments, that is because our free response—whatever it may be—matters more to him than correct behaviour. One day, a young man said to Jesus, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:16-17). Why does Jesus oppose, in his reply, simply keeping the commandments and asking questions about what it is good to do? Commandments are different from information about what is good or evil. Jesus recalls that “only One is good.” Through the commandments, God does not so much communicate knowledge about good and evil as call us to listen and to put into practice what we hear. Jesus’ reaction makes us think of the first commandment God gave in the Garden of Eden which forbids to “eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). This is a curious commandment that calls us, at least to begin with, to give up trying to know good and evil! The commandment asks us to leave this knowledge to God. At the center of human existence it conserves a zone of unknowing, a space free for trusting, for listening to God. The commandments bring to life our relationship to God when we discern in them an echo of the commandment given in paradise, the voice of God that tells us: “Let me be your God; let me show you the way; trust in me!” Letter from Taizé: 2004/2
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Zašto Isus zapovijed da ljubimo jedni druge naziva «novom»? Isus je o «novoj» zapovijedi govorio samo jednom. Na večer svoje muke, rekao je svojim učenicima: «Zapovijed vam novu dajem: ljubite jedni druge; kao što sam ja ljubio vas, tako i vi ljubite jedni druge» (Ivan 13,34). Po čemu je ta zapovijed nova? Ne traži li se uzajamna ljubav starom zapovijedi: «Ljubi bližnjega svoga kao samoga sebe» (Levitski zakonik 19,18)? Isus pruža novu mjeru za ljubav. On govori «kao što sam ja vas ljubio» u trenutku kad, iz ljubavi, daje sve. «Bijaše pred blagdan Pashe. (...) Budući da je Isus ljubio svoje, one u svijetu, do kraja ih je ljubio» (Ivan 13,1). On započinje s pranjem njihovih nogu govoreći: «Primjer sam vam dao» (redak 15). Zatim, duboko mučen činjenicom da će ga jedan od Dvanaestorice, apostol Juda, izdati, on mu, i dalje ga ljubeći, pruža komad kruha: «Uze ga i dade Judi» (redak 26). I konačno, dar primjera i dar kruha dosižu vrhunac u daru zapovijedi: «Novu vam zapovijed dajem». Prije same nove zapovijedi slijedi nekoliko zagonetnih riječi: «Sada je proslavljen Sin čovječji» (redak 31). Kako je Krist proslavljen prije nego je po križu i uskrsnuću ušao u slavu svoga Oca? On je već proslavljen, jer je njegova slava ljubav. Stoga se njegova slava očituje sada kada «ljubi do kraja». Juda «iziđe u noć» predati ga. No Isus ne podnosi događaj pasivno: dok biva predan, predaje se sam, nastavlja ljubiti u naizgled beznadnoj situaciji. To je njegova slava. S novom zapovijedi Isus čini svoje učenike sudionicima svog vlastitog života: on ih čini kadrima ljubiti kako on ljubi. Te je večeri molio: «Da ljubav kojom si ti mene ljubio bude u njima – i ja u njima» (Ivan 17,26). Od tada će on boraviti u njima kao ljubav, on će u njima ljubiti. S tim darom nove zapovijedi Isus posvećuje svoju prisutnost. U Markovu i Matejevu Evanđelju, Judin izlazak slijedi neposredno ustanovljenje Euharistije, u Ivanovu Evanđelju slijedi ga dar nove zapovijedi. Kao i Euharistija, nova je zapovijed stvarna prisutnost. Te je večeri Isus uzeo «čašu govoreći: Ova čaša novi je Savez u mojoj krvi» (1 Korinćanima 11,25). Njegova je zapovijed nova jer pripada novom savezu, naviještenom po proroku Jeremiji: «Sklopit ću Novi savez (...), zakon ću svoj staviti u dušu njihovu i upisati ga u njihovo srce» (Jeremija 31,31-34). U novom savezu je stara zapovijed dana na novi način. Božji Zakon nije više urezan u kamenim pločama, već upisan u srcima po Svetom Duhu koji ujedinjuje našu volju s voljom Božjom. Koju važnost imaju zapovijedi u našem odnosu s Bogom? Prema apostolu Ivanu, zajedništvo se s Bogom ostvaruje čuvanjem zapovijedi. «Tko čuva zapovijedi njegove, u Bogu ostaje i On u njemu» (1 Ivanova 3,24). Na Sinaju je Bog sklopio savez s «onima koji ga ljube i drže njegove zapovijedi» (Ponovljeni zakon 7,9). Sežući još dalje prema početku, Biblija nam govori kako je, stvorivši čovjeka, Bog odmah dao i zapovijed (Postanak 2,16-17). Kao da bez zapovijedi nema odnosa s Bogom. Sveprisutnost zapovijedi može se osjećati kao teret. No, iako se to na prvi pogled može činiti protuslovnim, Božje zapovijedi potvrđuju našu slobodu. Po zapovijedima nam Bog govori. Ono što nazivamo «deset zapovijedi» u Bibliji se zove «deset riječi» (npr. u Izlasku 34,28). Po zapovijedima nam Bog govori i poziva nas na izbor (Ponovljeni zakon 30,15-20). Bog daje životinjama da instinktivno ispravno postupaju. Ljudima daje zapovijedi, preuzimajući rizik naše slobode. «Grlica, lastavica i ždral drže se vremena kad se moraju vratiti. A moj narod ne poznaje prava Gospodnjega» (Jeremija 8,7). Bog ljude ne programira niti ih sili da se ponašaju na određeni način. Bog nam govori. Jeremija se tuži zbog prilika do kojih to može dovesti. No ako nas Bog ne želi voditi nego nam govori to svojim zapovijedima, jer mu je naš slobodni odgovor – ma kakav on bio – bitniji od ispravnog ponašanja. Jednog je dana neki mladić rekao Isusu: «Koje mi je dobro djelo činiti da imam život vječni?» Isus odgovori: «Jedan je samo dobar! Ali ako hoćeš u život ući, čuvaj zapovijedi» (Matej 19,16-17). Zašto Isus u svom odgovoru suprotstavlja jednostavno čuvanje zapovijedi i pitanje što je dobro činiti? Zapovijedi se razlikuju od informacije o tome što je dobro ili zlo. Isus podsjeća da je «samo jedan dobar». Po zapovijedima nam Bog ne daje toliko znanja o tome što je dobro ili zlo već nas poziva slušati i u djelo sprovoditi ono što čujemo. Isusova reakcija podsjeća na prvu zapovijed što ju je Bog dao u Rajskom vrtu zabranivši «jesti sa stabla spoznaje dobra i zla» (Postanak 2,17). To je neobična zapovijed koja poziva, barem na početku, odustati od spoznaje dobra i zla! Zapovijed od nas traži da tu spoznaju prepustimo Bogu. U središtu ljudskog postojanja ona čuva područje neznanja, slobodni prostor za povjerenje, za slušanje Boga. Zapovijedi oživljuju naš odnos s Bogom kada u njima razaberemo odjek zapovijedi dane u raju, Božji glas koji nam govori: «Daj mi da budem tvoj Bog, pokažem ti put, imaj povjerenja u mene!» Pismo iz Taizéa: 2004./2