John 15:11-13

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - John 15:9-17

Christ, who is love itself, is here discoursing concerning love, a fourfold love. I. Concerning the Father's love to him; and concerning this he here tells us, 1. That the Father did love him (John 15:9): As the Father hath loved me. He loved him as Mediator: This is my beloved Son. He was the Son of his love. He loved him, and gave all things into his hand; and yet so loved the world as to deliver him up for us all. When Christ was entering upon his sufferings he comforted himself with this,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 15:11-17

15:11-17 "I have spoken these things to you that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friend. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I heard from my... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 15:11-17

(iv) Jesus did not only choose us for a series of tremendous privileges. He called us to be his partners. The slave could never be a partner. He was defined in Greek law as a living tool. His master never opened his mind to him; the slave simply had to do what he was told without reason and without explanation. But Jesus said: "You are not my slaves; you are my partners. I have told you everything; I have told you what I am trying to do, and why I am trying to do it. I have told you everything... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 15:11

These things have I spoken unto you ,.... Concerning the vine and branches, his abiding in them, and they in him, their fruitfulness from him, and perseverance in him, his love to them, and theirs to him: that my joy might remain in you ; meaning either that joy with which he joyed in and over them, as united to him, and which is of the same nature as the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, and which will always remain and continue the same; or rather that joy which he is the author,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 15:12

This is my commandment, that ye love one another ,.... Christ had been before speaking of his commandments; and he mentions this as the principal one, and to which all the rest may be reduced; for as the precepts of the second table of the moral law may be briefly comprehended in this one duty, love to our neighbour, so all the duties of Christianity, relative to one another, are reducible to this, by love to serve each other. This was the commandment which lay uppermost on Christ's heart,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this ,.... By these words our Lord shows, how far love to another should extend, even to the laying down of our lives for the brethren; which is the highest instance of love among men; that a man lay down his life for his friends ; and in which believers, should not come short of them; and also his great love to his people, and explains what he had just said, "as I have loved you", John 13:34 ; which in a little time would be seen, by his laying down his... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 15:11

That my joy may remain in you - That the joy which I now feel, on account of your steady, affectionate attachment to me, may be lasting, I give you both warnings and directions, that ye may abide in the faith. That your joy might be full - Or, complete - πληρωθη , filled up: a metaphor taken from a vessel, into which water or any other thing is poured, till it is full to the brim. The religion of Christ expels all misery from the hearts of those who receive it in its fullness. It was... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 15:12

That ye love one another - See on John 13:34 ; (note). So deeply was thus commandment engraved on the heart of this evangelist that St. Jerome says, lib. iii. c. 6, Com. ad Galat., that in his extreme old age, when he used to be carried to the public assemblies of the believers, his constant saying was, Little children, love one another. His disciples, wearied at last with the constant repetition of the same words, asked him, Why he constantly said the same thing? "Because (said he) it is... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 15:13

That a man lay down his life for his friends - No man can carry his love for his friend farther than this: for, when he gives up his life, he gives up all that he has. This proof of my love for you I shall give in a few hours; and the doctrine which I recommend to you I am just going to exemplify myself. There are several remarkable cases, in heathen antiquity, where one friend offered his life for another. The two following will not stand dishonorably even in the book of God; became every... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 15:11

Verse 11 11.These things I have spoken to you. He adds, that his love is far from being unknown to the godly, but that it is perceived by faith, so that they enjoy blessed peace of conscience; for the joy which he mentions springs from that peace with God which is possessed by all that have been justified by free grace. As often, then, as God’s fatherly love towards us is preached, let us know that there is given to us ground for true joy, that, with peaceable consciences, we may be certain of... read more

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