A vital and practical lesson on love and friendship, full of profound meaning and of absorbing interest, is given by our Lord in four short verses of the fifteenth chapter of St. John's gospel: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." Jesus then gives his marvelous definition of love, foretells its forthcoming exemplification by himself in what was to be the last earthly act of his life of compassionate love toward mankind, and instances this specific demonstration as an example for all to follow: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The universal import of this sublime utterance and its application to all mankind are unmistakable: "that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Our Lord then discloses his concept of friendship, and states precisely the condition indispensable to participation in the salvation which was to follow from his wondrous act of self-sacrificing devotion: "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you," individual redemption from all error being necessarily dependent upon a living and practical obedience to each and all of the behests of our Saviour, Christ, Truth. Evidently recognizing that the deep significance of his words was being comprehended by his hearers, and foreseeing the ultimate fulfilment of his command in their lives, he had just told them, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterward;" and he proceeds with his message of truth: "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends."
The meaning of the Master's words is plain: we are to love one another in the same way that he loved us, that is to say, by laying down our life for our friends. We may be almost startled by this personal application of the Saviour's words, and the responsibility which rests upon us individually as Christians to comply with his command, and yet we are well assured that Christ Jesus would not only never demand anything impossible of achievement, but that, coming from him, this declaration must necessarily be vital to our salvation and present well-being
