JESUS' FRIENDS

Passage: John 15:9-17

Key verse: 16

NIV

9 “As the Father has loved me,(A) so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands,(B) you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.(C) 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.(D) 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.(E) 14 You are my friends(F) if you do what I command.(G) 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.(H) 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you(I) so that you might go and bear fruit(J)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.(K) 17 This is my command: Love each other.(L)

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

9 (A)As the Father has loved me, (B)so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 (C)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as (D)I have kept (E)my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, (F)that my joy may be in you, and that (G)your joy may be full.

12 (H)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 (I)Greater love has no one than this, (J)that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are (K)my friends (L)if you do what I command you. 15 (M)No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant (N)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for (O)all that I have heard from my Father (P)I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but (Q)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and (R)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that (S)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, (T)so that you will love one another.

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Footnotes
  1. John 15:15 Or bondservants, or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface); likewise for servant later in this verse and in verse 20
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. So that your joy may be complete (9-11)

Jesus does not call us in order to make life hard for us. He calls us because he loves us and wants us to be full of joy. Jesus himself was not gloomy or grumpy. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows. He suffered and died on the cross, but his heart was joyful because he knew that God loved him, and he wholeheartedly accepted the mission God gave him.

2. As I have loved you (12-17)

Jesus gave us one command: 'Love each other as I have loved you.' How did Jesus love us? He laid down his life for us. He calls us his friends. We are Jesus' friends when we accept his death for our sins. We are his friends if we do what he commands. Jesus shares with his friends the spiritual knowledge and insight which comes from God. He shares the secrets of God. He shares God's great redemptive plan and invites us to participate in it. He calls us to a life of mission. We did not choose him; he chose us and appointed us to go and bear fruit. A fruitful life is a joyful life.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being my Friend. Help me to love others.

One Word: Jesus is my best Friend