NOTES for Joh 15:12-17
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. |
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. |
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. |
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. |
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. |
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. |
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In this passage the Lord reveals to the disciples the essence of the commandment He leaves them. And the measure of love to which He calls them turns out to be equal to death. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" - such is this measure. Jesus calls us to forget ourselves, not to think about our own comfort or advantage, "not to seek our own," to give rather than demand. To die to ourselves and rise for our friends - this is the new commandment.
We know that Christ Himself loved us in this highest measure, giving His life on the Cross. And as we try to love our neighbors, we gradually enter this mystery of divine love. Freely fulfilling this covenant, we cease to be slaves and become His friends, those who "know what the master is doing" and truly understand what Jesus "heard from the Father."
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Readings for 8 May 2026
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