The whole of the old law was based on the command to love God and neighbor. Its newness is its being founded upon Jesus, in whose blood the new covenant is made. The old covenant was a preparation and a promise of the new and greater covenant. This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. The Old Covenant, like the new, was intimately related to love.
Love is the ultimate foundation of both the old and new covenants.
It is the death of Jesus that is distinctive about the New Covenant. It has been well said that no text of Scripture tells us more about charity or love than Saint John tells us in the third chapter of his gospel. He tells us that love is an attribute of God Father. He tells that the Father's love is eternal because it existed before he sent the Son. It is the beginning, the inspiration, of the Father's plan of salvation.