There Is A Difference

John 13:34 (LSB)
³⁴“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Jesus gave a “new commandment,” the fundamental commandment of the New Covenant. 

This “new” commandment seems to echo the OT commandment to do the same-love one another (Leviticus 19:18). In fact, this commandment is the very hinge of whether a Jew was truly obeying the Law or not (Matthew 22:40). Of course, they weren’t-they couldn’t. 

However, the OT commandment to love your neighbor is not like the NT commandment to love one another for a number of reasons. First, Jesus said that it was a “new” commandment. Second, the commandment is life and Spirit (John 6:63), not meant for condemnation as Moses was. Third, the church is separate from Israel, and this commandment is for the church. Fourth, this commandment is based upon a better sacrifice, the Son of God Himself. This commandment which Jesus gave to His disciples would go on to become the only commandment given to the disciples. The rest of the instructions for the church are simply expressions of how to carry out this command. Every NT instruction can be traced back to its source as a demonstration of love to God, and to the brethren. 

Moses Spoke From A Mountain

The commandments of God are essential to both the Jews and to Christians. In the Old Testament (OT), the “commandments” of God were specifically revealed to Israel, the 12 tribes of the patriarch, Jacob. They were revealed to Moses on the mountain to which the nation attended once they left Egypt. These commandments are what are contained inside of the Law of Moses.

Exodus 24:12 (LSB)

¹²Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.”

Deuteronomy 4:40 (LSB)

⁴⁰“So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days on the land which Yahweh your God is giving you for all the days.”

Deuteronomy 30:10 (LSB)

¹⁰when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, when you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.

Jesus did not use the word “commandments” in the same way as Moses. Nor, did Jesus’ use of the word “commandments” refer to the Law of Moses or the teaching therein, every time. Rather, He infrequently referred to the OT Law as “commandments” and many other times His own “Law” as commandment. 

The references to the OT Law as commandments, or containing the commandments, is clear. The following are a few examples of Jesus’s reference to the Law of Moses as commandments:

Matthew 5:19 (LSB)

¹⁹“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 15:3–4 (LSB)

³And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 

⁴“For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’

Matthew 19:17–19 (LSB)

¹⁷And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 

¹⁸Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 

¹⁹Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

However, other times, Jesus’s use of the word “commandments” does not refer to Moses’s Law, but to His own Words.

 Matthew 28:19–20 (LSB)

¹⁹“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 

²⁰teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 15:10 (LSB)

¹⁰“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

This is an example of a summary use of Jesus’s ministry. He described His ministry as containing “all that (He) commanded (the apostles).” Therefore, from this we can simply work through the epistles, including Acts, and search out the commandments of Christ which the apostles repeated. There are commands to make disciples (Matthew 28:19 cp. Acts 14:21), pray (Luke 18:1 cp. Ephesians 6:18), and to carry his own cross (Luke 14:26-27 cp. Galatians 2:20), and others. Oftentimes, the commands of Jesus are taught, explained, or described (i.e. the parables of Christ) rather than simple didactic lecture-style teaching.

Jesus Spoke From Heaven Itself

John 12:49–50 (LSB)
⁴⁹“For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 
⁵⁰“And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

At the foundation of His teaching is a fundamental distinction between Him and Moses, their teaching and ministries. The difference, as the writer of Hebrews states it, is the difference between the builder of a house and the house (Hebrews 3:1-6). The writer tells us that the builder of the house is more worthy of honor than the house. This is because, in the metaphor, the builder is a person and the house is an object. We don’t praise the house, we praise the builder. This simply means that Moses is a created man and does not receive the honor and praise which is admittedly reserved for God alone. Jesus Christ is God. 

In the same way, Jesus’s teaching, His Word, is more honorable, more elevated, and more life-giving than Moses’s even though Moses wrote what God told Him to write. But, the power and purpose of those words were not mean to be the same as the Words which Jesus would give. Moses’s words brought condemnation upon Israel because they were dead to God (2 Corinthians 3:7). But, Jesus’s words brought life to Israel as they could regenerate the heart (John 6:63). Further, as Paul writes, Jesus’s own ministry, the very ministry which Paul himself continued, has more glory inherent in it than the lesser glory of the Law of Moses (2 Corinthians 3:9). And, according to Peter, this is the Word which the preacher preaches (1 Peter 1:23-25). 

The teaching of Jesus Christ was given to Him by the Father before He left heaven, and He proclaimed those Words as He physically walked on the earth. He left heaven with a  command from the Father-“pour yourself out as an offering for the people” (John 10:17-18). But, Jesus also indicates that all that He said was actually given to Him to say from the Father (John 8:26, 28, 38). Moses was given tablets from Heaven on Mt. Sinai. Jesus was in heaven when He heard the Father instruct Him! 

This, alone, makes all that Jesus said of greater honor and glory than all that Moses and the prophets said combined. This is not an issue of inerrancy, perspicuity, or sufficiency. It is an issue of revelation and the preacher. Jesus is greater than Moses and what He said is of greater revelation than Moses. Therefore, all that He said, which was greater revelation than Mosaic Law, is more glorious.