"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13
John, the “Apostle of Love,” in His Gospel, is here writing down Jesus’ words, the great “I am the Vine, ye are the branches,” passage (John 15:1-17). It is in this context that we find our verse for today. In verses 9-17, he records Jesus’ words explaining the sacrifice that this supreme kind of love enables. Unfortunately, our English word “love” has undergone many misapplications of meaning from the original word that John chose to use as he was inspired to pen this text.
Recently a child exclaimed, “I love food!”
You might say to a fair-weather-friend, “love ya!”
A young couple might say, “we fell in love!”
None of these statements begin to express the meaning of what Jesus was speaking of when he said,
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:9).
In this paragraph, Jesus used both the verb and noun forms of the word agape, the sacrificial kind of love. In our verse for today, Jesus gives us the highest example of this kind of love.
“Greater love hath no man than this,”
Jesus said that this is the most important kind of love there is.
“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”1 (Barnes).
“That a man lay down his life for his friends.”
“[That a man lay down] Literally, in order that a man lay down: the greatest love is that of which the purpose is dying for those loved.”2
“One can show no greater regard for those dear to him than to give his life for them, and this is the love ye shall find in Me.”3
This is what Jesus did for us.
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly,” (Romans 5:6).
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8).
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life,” (Romans 5:10).
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins,” (1 John 4:10).
This is the same kind of love that Jesus calls believers to. He asks us to sacrifice for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren,” (1 John 3:16).
This high calling is at the heart of Biblical friendship. Learning to love our friends as Jesus loved us is His desire for His child.
1. Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
2. Cambridge Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
3. Jamison, Fausset, and Brown. Jamison-Fausset-Brown’s Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.