John 15:11-14

The New Status of Christ's Disciples. John 15, 11-27.

The joy of the Christians: V. 11. These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. V. 12. This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. V. 13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. V. 14. Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.

The parable of the Vine and the branches with its application had a definite object, namely, that the joy which Christ has enjoyed, which is His in a peculiar sense, may be in His disciples, may become their property, their special and cherished possession. The great joy of His life He found in the intimate communion with His Father, with whom He is united in one essence, in the consciousness of the Father's love, and in the observance of His will. If this same mind would be found in the disciples, they would feel the same joy, they would rejoice in the constant communion with Christ and God.

And by the same token their joy would be fulfilled, they would have the full measure of joy, of bliss which could not be taken from them. This joy, attained by the consciousness of their union with their Savior, will then also work willingness to fulfill the commandment of love, that the brotherly love among them should be so full and so perfect as Christ's love toward the believers is full and perfect.

And in order to emphasize utter unselfishness and forgetfulness of self as the keynote in the manifestation of true love, He gives them an instance, a specific case of love's highest proof. A greater love than this love has no man, that he give and lay down his life for his friends. This general truth had a very specific application in the case of Jesus: He laid down His life for those whom He had chosen as His friends. And in His case the idea of ransom, of substitution, stands out very prominently. In the place of, in the stead of, the guilty ones He gave His own life, thus delivering them from the consequences of deeds which they should have borne.

"That is called a great, powerful love if a man gives to another in his misfortune a hundred or a thousand dollars, or pays all his debts for him; but how great would that be if a king or a prince would give to a poor beggar a duchy or principality, yea, even his own kingdom or land and people? There the whole world would sing and say of unheard-of love.

"But that is only a small matter when compared with this, that Christ gives His life and body for thee, which is indeed the highest love that any man on earth can show to another; for to serve with money and goods, yea, also with the body, is also called loving. But there is none that would not much rather give his money and goods, yea, his land and people, than that he should die for another; and if he did it, it would be nothing beside that fact that God's Son comes down from heaven and steps forth in your place, and willingly sheds His blood and dies, though thou hast been His enemy and a condemned person. That is the love which is much greater and higher than heaven and earth and everything that might be named" (Luther 8, 551).

This application of the great truth Christ makes Himself. His disciples are His friends, if the evidence of their works in performing His commandments indicates the faith of their hearts. He looked upon them as His friends for whom He intended to die; but they, in turn, should show and practice self-denial in loving and serving their neighbors, one another. Note: It is a name which honors the Christians very highly, to be called the friends of Jesus, the Savior, and to have such wonderful evidence of Christ's friendship in His death.