<p>13:34 <i>A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. Even as I have loved you, you also love one another</i>- &ldquo;As I <i>have</i> loved you&quot; is another example of how the Lord spoke of His impending sacrifice as if He had already achieved it in His life. Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end in His death (13:1). 15:12-13 says the same: &ldquo;This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends&quot;. Only the cross can be a strong enough power to inspire a love between us quite different to anything known in previous times; a love so powerful that it in itself could convert men and women. The newness of the commandment was to love as the Lord loved us.</p><p>The Greeks had various words for love, <i>agape </i>(a rather general word, used in the LXX); <i>eros </i>(referring to the physical aspect) and <i>phileo</i>, referring (for example) to the love of parents for children. These terms had loose definitions and are almost interchangeable in their OT (LXX) and NT usage. But then the Lord introduced a whole new paradigm: &quot;A new commandment I give unto you, That you love (<i>agape</i>) one another; as I have loved you&quot; (Jn. 13:34). To love as the Lord loved was something fundamentally new, and He chose one of the available terms and made it into something else. He chose a rather colourless word in the Greek language: <i>agape</i>, and made it refer specifically to the love of God and Christ towards us, and also to the love which their followers should show to each other. 'This is <i>agape'</i>, He says: 'This is My redefinition of that word, which must enter your new vocabulary'. It is true that <i>agape</i> and <i>phileo</i> are apparently interchangeable in some places; but the Lord&rsquo;s redefinition of love, His placing of new meaning into old words, still stands valid. Not only does the Lord give &lsquo;love&rsquo; a new flavour as a word. He above all showed forth that quality of love. He turned man&rsquo;s conception of love on its head. Thus He plugged in to the Pharisee&rsquo;s debate about who could be identified as their neighbour- by showing, in His Samaritan parable, that we must make ourselves neighbours to others.</p>