The Life Of The Friends Of Jesus
JOHN 15:12-17
The previous question: ‘How shall we know your joy when you are gone?’
§ The disciples will know the “joy” [15:11] of the Lord by “abiding in me” [15:4].
§ The disciples will “abide” on Christ by “abiding in his love” [15:10] and by “my words abiding in you” [15:7].
§ This results in a holy life: “you keep my commandments” [15:10], and in a life transformed into the likeness of Christ: “my words abide in you” [15:7].
In this way, the disciples’ “joy will be full” [15:11].
- THE PRESENT DUTY
Jesus goes on to give an explanation of the commandment.
1. The Commandment
a. The Commandment
The “commandments” [15:10] of Jesus in order to “abide in his love” [15:10] are now encapsulated in one command: “This is my commandment…” [15:12].
§ Αὕτη - “this” [15:12], demonstrative pronoun,
§ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ ἐμή - “my commandment” [15:12], a derivative of ἐντέλλω, ‘to give instruction to’; ‘order, commission, command’, usually of a king or official.
i. Covenant & Commandment
The concept of “commandment” is found within the context of covenant relations:
§ The relationship: “if you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love” [15:10].
§ The covenant of Sinai: “Behold the blood of the covenant…” [Exo.24:8].
§ The commandments of the covenant: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them” [Exo.24:12].
§ The covenant reminder: “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off” [Deu.30:11].
b. The Duty of Love
The content of Jesus’ commandment is described for the first time in this passage: “that you love one another…” [15:12].
§ ἀγαπᾶτε - “love” [15:12], present active subjunctive, ‘an attitude of appreciation resulting fr. a conscious evaluation and choice’;
§ The present tense points to what the disciples are habitually to do: ‘keep on loving one another’.
§ Love in the Old Testament, אַהֲבָה, is basically a spontaneous feeling which impels to self-giving or, in relation to things, to the seizure of the object which awakens the feeling, or to the performance of the action in which pleasure is taken’.
§ Love is an inexplicable power of soul given in the inward person: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all one’s heart and soul and strength” [Deu.6:4-5].
§ The existence of this principle in supremacy, in a well-informed intelligent being, secures the performance of all duty: “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death…” [SoS.8:6];
c. The Particular Love
According to Paul: “love is the fulfilling of the law” [Rom.13:10].
§ This is the duty laid upon the disciples toward Jesus: “if you love me keep my commandments…” [14:15].
§ To “love” is the summary of the law of God: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart…and thy neighbour as thyself” [Luk.10:27].
i. Love within the Circle of Discipleship
The duty of love is the love that is focussed on the disciples only: “love one another…” [15:12].
§ ἀλλήλους - “one another” [15:12], genitive of the reciprocal pronoun, ‘mutually’;
§ The love is a particular love; it is a “love” that is less extensive in its range than: “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” [Luk.10:27-37].
§ This “love” is one of which none but a disciple can be either the object or the subject of.
ii. Authentic Discipleship
This is the mark of authentic Christian discipleship: “by this shall all men know that you are my disciples” [13:35].
§ The natural thing to do: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God” [1Joh.3:18].
§ The family thing to do: “Everyone that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him” [1Joh.5:1].
§ The evidence of authentic discipleship: “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren…” [1Joh.3:14].
Application
The love they are called on to cherish for each other is love, as between persons connected with Christ, and in consequence of being connected with him connected with each other.
§ “Love suffers long and is kind…” [1Cor.13].
2. The Motive & The Example
a. The Love of Jesus
The motivation and the example is that of Jesus: “as I have loved you” [15:12].
§ καθὼς - “as” [15:12], comparative, ‘just as’; ‘in the same way’;
§ ἠγάπησα - “loved” [15:12], aorist active indicative, ‘an attitude of appreciation resulting fr. a conscious evaluation and choice’;
§ The use of the aorist tense is a clear reference to the cross: ““Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us…” [1Joh.3:16].
§ ὑμᾶς - “you” [15:12], ‘the disciples’;
b. The Ideal of Jesus
i. The Supreme Love
The greatest display of love on the cross: “greater love has no man than this…” [15:13].
§ μείζονα - “greater” [15:13], ‘much in degree, quantity, size’;
§ ἀγάπην - “love” [15:13], ‘an attitude of appreciation resulting from a conscious evaluation and choice’;
§ ἔχει - “has” [15:13], present active indicative, ‘to possess, own’; ‘to hold onto’;
ii. The Extent of Love
The greatest proof of love: “a man lay down his life for his friends” [15:13].
§ τις – “a man” [15:13], indefinite pronoun,
§ θῇ - “lay down” [15:13], aorist active subjunctive, from the verb τίθημι, ‘to put or place in a location’; ‘to appoint’;
§ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ - “his life” [15:13], from psúchō, ‘to breathe, blow’; ‘inner self’; ‘life’;
§ The Hebrew term for ψυχή is נֶפֶשׁ: “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” [Gen.2:7].
§ ὑπὲρ - “for” [15:13], ‘in the place of’; ‘for the sake of’; “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” [10:11];
Application
To “lay down my life” [15:13] for a friend is the final demonstration of true friendship;
§ The eternal divine love reached its complete and unsurpassable expression in the death of Christ, which was at the same time the death of a man for his friends;
§ The chain: genuine love for God ensures genuine love for the Son; genuine love for the Son ensures obedience to him [14:15]; obedience to him is especially tested by obedience to the new commandment [15:12; 13:34-35]; by an unbreakable chain, love for God is tied to and verified by love for believers: “beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another…” [1Joh.4:11-17].
§ The holiness that results from “keeping my commandment” [15:10] and the Christlikeness that develops from “my word abiding in you” [15:7] finds expression in personal relationships.
§ They will show themselves to be Jesus’ friends, who love as He did, by their laying down their lives for one another. Hence the saying about supreme love (v. 13) applies to the disciples as it does to Jesus. The friend-saying has twofold significance; it is first soteriological and then hortatory.
- THE PRESENT RELATIONSHIP
John now employs the noun philoi to spell out the implications or basic requirements of such friendship.
1. The Status
a. Friends
The intimacy of the relationship is set forth by Jesus: “you are my friends if you do…” [15:14].
§ ἐστε - “are” [15:14], present active indicative, ‘to be’; ‘to exist’;
§ φίλοι μού - “my friends” [15:14], ‘to show affection, love, hospitality’; ‘intrinsic, belonging to, proper to’;
b. The Definition
The idea of philos had the original meaning ‘dear, expensive, valuable’, became the ordinary expression for a ‘friend or relative’.
§ Closely connected with φίλος from an early time is συγγενής
§ The adjective συγγενής, formed from σύν and γένος, refers to one who has the same γένος. It thus means “of common origin,” “related”;
§ It can then have the broader sense of “related in disposition and manner,” “compatible”.
§ The ‘obedience requirements’ of [15:14], where we have the concept philein, and that of [15:10], where the concept described is “love”, agapē, are exactly the same.
c. The Jewish Tradition
There was a Jewish tradition which surrounded the idea of ‘the friends of God’:
§ Abraham: “thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend” [Isa.41:8].
§ Moses: “the LORD spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend” [Exo.33:11].
d. John the Baptist
John alone in the NT uses φίλος in the specific sense of the special friend: “friend of the bridegroom” [3:29].
§ As a metaphor for John the Baptist this brings out both his close relationship and also his unselfish subordination to Jesus; the tasks of the best man presuppose most unselfish friendship’.
§ The picture of friendship:: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voive…” [3:29].
2. The Mark of Friendship
The mark of friendship: “if you do whatsoever I command you” [15:14].
§ ποιῆτε - “do” [15:14], present active subjunctive, ‘to make, perform, carry out’;
§ ἐντέλλομαι - “command” [15:14], present middle/passive indicative, ‘to give orders, instructions’;
§ The whole verse is very nearly synonymous with the first part of v.10: “if you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love” [15:10].
Application
3. The New Status
a. The Servants
The transition from being servants: “henceforth I call you not servants…” [15:15].
§ οὐκέτι - “henceforth” [15:15], negative extension of time, ‘no longer’;
§ λέγω ὑμᾶς - “call you” [15:15], present active indicative, ‘to speak’; ‘to call by a certain name’;
§ δούλους - “servants” [15:15], ‘a slave’; used to describe the status of a slave or an attitude corresponding to that of a slave’;
i. The Old Testament
The relation of God to His people under the Law had been that of Master to servant.
§ The imagery of the parables: “therefore the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who would take account of his servants…” [Mat.18:23].
§ The marriage feast: “he sent out his servants to call them that were bidden…” [Mat.22:3].
§ Paul: “the heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant…” [Gal.4:1].
ii. The Nature of Servanthood
The nature of servanthood: “the servant does no know what…” [15:15].
§ ὁ δοῦλος - “servant” [15:15], ‘a slave’; used to describe the status of a slave or an attitude corresponding to that of a slave’;
§ οὐκ οἶδεν - “knows not” [15:15], ‘possess information about’; ‘to have seen and hence know’;
§ ὁ κύριος - “lord” [15:15], ‘master, owner, ruler’;
§ ποιεῖ - “does” [15:15], present active indicative, ‘to make, perform, carry out’;
§ Among the Greeks, where there is δουλεύειν human autonomy is set aside and an alien will takes precedence of one’s own’.
§ The “servant” [15:15] has ‘a service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it, which he has to perform whether he likes or not, because he is subject as a slave to an alien will, to the will of his owner’.
§ The slaves task is simply to do what he is told; he does not know the master’s business
b. The New Status
The new status: “but I have called you friends” [15:15].
§ εἴρηκα - “called” [15:15], perfect active indicative, ‘to call by a certain name’; ‘to call by a title’;
§ φίλους - “friends” [15:15],
Application
4. The Intimacy of Friends
a. The Privilege of Intimacy
The intimacy of friends: “all things that I have heard…” [15:15].
§ ὅτι - “for” [15:15], ‘for this reason’;
§ πάντα - “all things” [15:15], ‘everything belonging to a class’; ‘each individual in a class’;
i. Jesus & The Father
The intimacy of Jesus with the Father: “heard of my Father” [15:15].
§ ἤκουσα - “heard” [15:15], aorist active indicative, ‘to hear, listen’; in the Old Testament the idea of “hearing” includes ‘to receive with a readiness to obey’;
§ παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου - “of my Father” [15:15], ‘from beside’;
§ The work of God: “The Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does” [5:20].
§ The will of God: “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” [5:30];
ii. Jesus & The Disciples
The intimacy of the disciples with Jesus: “I have made known unto you” [15:15].
§ ἐγνώρισα - “made known” [15:15], aorist active indicative, ‘to reveal’; ‘to cause information to be made known to someone’; ‘to grant secret knowledge’;
§ Jesus’ final prayer: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which you gave me…” [17:6]; “for I have given them the words which you gave to me…” [17:8]; “I have given them thy word…” [17:14].
§ Abraham: “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do…” [Gen.18:17ff]; “in the mountain of the Lord it shall be seen” [Gen.22:14].
§ Moses: “Moses went up unto God…” [Exo.19:3ff.].
Application
They were becoming capable of being so made acquainted with his objects and his plans, as that they could intelligently enter into them, and make them their own.
§ An absolute potentate demands obedience in all his subjects. His slaves, however, are simply told what to do, while his friends are informed of his thinking, enjoy his confidence and learn to obey with a sense of privilege and with full understanding of their master’s heart.
§ The exclusive setting of the Upper Room: “when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him” [Luk.22:14].
§ The intimacy gives them the privilege of the plans of Jesus; this privilege equips them for the work of the “friends of Jesus”.
- THE SERVICE OF FRIENDS
1. The Origin of Friendship
Ordinarily, friends choose each other, but not so in this case.
a. The Sovereign Election
The disciples are privy to such revelations only because of the free initiative of Christ: “you have not chosen me…” [15:16].
§ ἐξελέξασθε - “chosen” [15:16], aorist middle indicative, from eklegw, ‘to call out’; ‘to select’; ‘to prefer over another choice’; in the middle voice ‘to choose something for oneself’;
i. The Discipleship
The aorist middle points to the historical fact of Jesus choosing them for himself: “he called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose twelve…” [Luk.6:13ff].
§ “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” [6:70].
§ “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen…” [13:18].
ii. The Apostleship
The Lord has chosen them for a purpose: “and ordained you that you should go…” [15:16].
§ ἔθηκα - “ordained” [15:16], aorist active indicative, from the verb τίθημι, ‘to put or place in a location’; ‘to appoint’.
§ The aorist tense points again to the historical fact of their calling.
§ The Servant of the Lord in Isaiah is set apart as Redeemer: “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth” [Acts 13:47];
§ Paul is set apart for apostolic ministry: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” [1Tim.1:12];
b. The Purpose of Election
i. The Sending Out
The idea present points to the mission of the disciples: “that you should go…” [15:16].
§ ὑπάγητε - “go” [15:16], present active subjunctive, ‘to leave’; ‘to depart from’
§ In this case, ‘to go from the presence of’: “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away” [6:67].
ii. The Effective Ministry
The goal of mission: “that you should bring forth fruit…” [15:16].
§ καρπὸν φέρητε - “bring forth fruit” [15:16], ‘to move’; ‘to carry’;
iii. The Lasting Effect
The effect of their ministry is lasting: “that your fruit should remain” [15:16].
§ μένῃ - “remain” [15:16], present active subjunctive, ‘to settle, dwell in one place’; ‘to inhabit’; ‘to continue, endure’;
Application
Communicating the knowledge of the Father’s will, which was made known to them as friends of Jesus in the previous verse, becomes in this verse the disciples’ assigned responsibility as fruit bearers for Jesus.
§ The “fruit bearing” in this verse involves communicating the entire message of the Gospel
2. The Support of Ministry
a. The Prayer
The support come through prayer: “whatsoever you shall ask of the Father…” [15:16].
§ τι - “whatsoever” [15:16], indefinite pronoun,
§ αἰτήσητε - “ask” [15:16], aorist active subjunctive, ‘to request’; ‘to demand’;
§ ἐν - “in” [15:16], ‘within’; ‘within the boundary of’;
§ τῷ ὀνόματί μου - “my name” [15:16], ‘person, authority, reputation’;
§ δῷ - “give” [15:16], aorist active subjunctive, ‘put something in another place’;
b. The Prayer & God’s Will
The prayer of faith: “you shall ask what you will…” [15:7].
§ αἰτήσασθε - “ask” [15:7], aorist middle imperative, ‘to request’; ‘to demand’;
§ θέλητε - “you will” [15:7], present active subjunctive, ‘to will, purpose, decide’;
§ A prayer conformed and bound by the word of Jesus: “if my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will…” [15:7].
c. The Answer
The response of God: “it shall be done…” [15:7].
§ γενήσεται - “shall be done” [15:7], future middle indicative, ‘to come into being’; ‘to come to exist’;
§ The content of prevailing prayer: “whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do…” [14:13].
§ Unanswered prayer: “you ask and receive not because you ask amiss…” [Jam.4:3].
Application
One purpose of election, then, is that the disciples who have been so blessed with revelation and understanding, should win others to the faith: “fruit that will last”
§ Christ has secured what will make their success certain
§ He appointed them to “go” everywhere, preaching the word, and exhibiting in their own character and conduct the religion they sought to propagate: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me” [Joh.17:23].