John 15:12-15

The Pulpit Commentary - John 15:14

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you —just because I command you. So the natural conclusion will be, "I am showing you the highest possible fruit of my friendship—I am laying down my life for you. This is how I have loved you; therefore after this manner you are to love one another" ( 1 John 3:16 ; Ephesians 5:1 , Ephesians 5:2 ). Our Lord then explains more and more to them how they can and do claim this glorious designation. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 15:15

No longer do I call you servants, bond-slaves. True, he had in this very discourse spoken of them as his δοῦλοι , ( John 13:13 , John 13:16 ). Again and again in his parabolic teaching he had spoken of his disciples as servants of a Lord ( Matthew 13:27 ; Matthew 22:4 ; Luke 12:37 ; and John 12:26 , where another word is used). And moreover, later on in this very chapter ( John 15:20 ), the word and thought return, so that this relation to him, gloried in by St. Paul ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 15:15

Servants and friends. Not at all infrequently one who begins as a servant advances in regard till he becomes a friend. Opportunities arise for friendship, and both parties make the most of them. It is a poor business to make service a mere matter of commercial contract. Jesus must have noticed again and again this beautiful absorption of the servant in the friend; his disciples, too, would know of like instances. Jesus and his disciples had been constantly together, and thus the way was... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - John 15:12

This is my commandment - The special law of Christianity, called hence “the new commandment.” See the notes at John 13:34.As I have loved you - That is, with the same tender affection, willing to endure trials, to practice self-denials, and, if need be, to lay down your lives for each other, 1 John 3:16. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - John 15:13

Greater love hath ... - No higher expression of love could be given. Life is the most valuable object we possess; and when a man is willing to lay that down for his friends or his country, it shows the utmost extent of love. Even this love for friends has been rarely witnessed. A very few cases like that of Damon and Pythias have occurred where a man was willing to save the life of his friend by giving his own. It greatly enhances the love of Christ, that while the instances of those who have... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - John 15:15

I call you not servants - This had been the common title by which he addressed them Matthew 10:24-25; John 12:26; John 13:13; but he had also before this, on one occasion, called them friends Luke 12:4, and on one occasion after this he called them servants, John 15:20. He here means that the ordinary title by which he would hence forth address them would be that of friends.The servant knoweth not ... - He receives the command of his master without knowing the reason why this or that thing is... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - John 15:12

John 15:12. This is my commandment This I especially enjoin you, whether as apostles or private Christians; that ye love one another Cordially and constantly; even, if it be possible, with as great fervency and constancy, as I have loved you So as to be ready to sacrifice your lives for each other, as I expose and give up mine for you. It is remarkable, that no one duty is more frequently inculcated, or more pathetically urged upon his disciples, by our Lord, than that of mutual love. ... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - John 15:13-16

John 15:13-16. Greater love To his friends, (of whom here he only speaks,) hath no man than this That is, a greater degree of love than this never existed in the world; that a man lay down his life for his friends That a man should be willing, not only on some sudden alarm, or in some extraordinary and unexpected danger, to hazard his life on their account; but on the coolest deliberation, to submit to lay it down for their preservation and happiness. Ye are my friends Ye are the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - John 15:1-27

145. Union with Jesus (John 15:1-27)In themselves believers have no life, strength or spiritual power. All that they have comes from Jesus Christ. If he is likened to a vine, they are likened to the branches, which means that they can bear spiritual fruit only as they are united in him. As they allow the Father to remove the hindrances of sin from their lives, they will bear even more fruit (John 15:1-5).Those who bear no fruit are like the dead branches of a vine. Though attached to it, they... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - John 15:12

My commandment . My charge to you. As the Father's charge to Me (John 15:10 ) so My charge to you. Compare John 13:34 . as = even as. have loved = loved, as in John 15:9 . read more

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