14The Friends of Jesus  (John 15:12–16)

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” (15:12–16)

In a world awash in relativism, the Bible is unique in both its clarity and authority. Where many people see gray, God’s Word speaks in terms that are black and white. The Bible is absolute, definitive, and provocative, unconcerned with political correctness and therefore unafraid to confront people with the reality of their condition. As a result, Scripture makes stark contrasts between those who are saved and those who are lost (Luke 19:10); those who are with Jesus and those who are against Him (Luke 11:23); those in the world and those not in the world (John 15:19; 17:14, 16; cf. 1 John 2:15–17); those who are children of God and those who are children of the Devil (1 John 3:10); those in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, and those in the satanic kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:13).

In this passage, Jesus introduces another aspect of this contrast—between those who are His friends, and those who are friends of the world. Friendship with Jesus Christ results in an intimate relationship with God and brings “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). On the other hand, “friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4) and is subject to His wrath (Nah. 1:2).

The Bible calls those who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ by many names and titles. Those titles include believers (Acts 5:14; 1 Thess. 1:7; 2:10); beloved of God (Rom. 1:7); beloved brethren (1 Cor. 15:58; Phil. 4:1; James 1:16); the called (Rom. 1:6); children of God (John 1:12; 11:52; Phil. 2:15; 1 John 3:1–2); children of promise (Gal. 4:28); children of light (Eph. 5:8; cf. 1 Thess. 5:5);sons of the resurrection (Luke 20:36);Christians (Acts 11:26; 1 Peter 4:16); disciples (Acts 6:1–2; 11:26); the elect (Matt. 24:22, 24, 31; Luke 18:7; Rom. 8:33); the godly (2 Peter 2:9); heirs of God (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 4:7; cf. James 2:5; 1 Peter 3:7); heirs of promise (Gal. 3:29; Heb. 6:17); heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14 KJV); the righteous (Hab. 2:4; Matt. 13:43; 25:46; Luke 14:14; Rom. 1:17; Heb. 12:23); lights in the world (Phil. 2:15; cf. Matt. 5:14); living stones (1 Peter 2:5); members of the body of Christ (Eph. 5:30); people of God (Heb. 11:25; 1 Peter 2:10); a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9);the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13); slaves of Christ (1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 6:6); slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:18); vessels for honor (2 Tim. 2:21); vessels of mercy (Rom. 9:23); and saints (Acts 9:13; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; Col. 1:12). But “friend” captures a unique aspect of communion with the Lord.

This brief passage reveals four characteristics of Jesus’ friends: They are those who love each other, obey Him, know divine truth, and have been specially chosen by the Lord Himself.

THE FRIENDS OF JESUS LOVE EACH OTHER

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (15:12–13)

For the second time that evening in the upper room, Jesus gave the commandment that His followers are to love one another (cf. 13:34). Love is the fulfillment of the commandments Jesus had referred to in 15:10. Paul expressed that same principle to the Christians at Rome:

Only those who abide in Him have the capacity to love divinely as Jesus loved. At the new birth, the “love of God [was] poured out within [their] hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to [them]” (Rom. 5:5; cf. Gal. 5:22). What Paul wrote concerning the Thessalonians, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9), is true of all Christians. Love for fellow believers characterizes the redeemed, as John repeatedly emphasized in his first epistle:

The daunting standard for believers’ love for each other is set forth in Jesus’ words just as I have loved you. They are to love each other as the Lord Jesus Christ loves them. That does not mean, of course, that believers can love to the limitless extent or in the perfect manner that He does. But just as Jesus loved sacrificially, so also must they. “Walk in love,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:2, “just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” The love believers have for each other is marked by a selfless devotion to meeting one another’s needs; it is not mere sentiment, or superficial attachment. In fact, Christians’ love for each other is the church’s most powerful apologetic to the unbelieving world (John 13:35).

The Lord’s death, at that point only a matter of hours away, was the supreme evidence of His love, as His statement Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends indicates. Jesus did not die for Himself, but so that others might live. In Romans 5:6–8 Paul wrote,

In a marvelously concise statement—only fifteen words in the Greek text—Paul summarized Christ’s substitutionary atonement for believers: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Peter reminded his readers that “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Echoing the Lord’s words in this passage, John wrote, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). Then the apostle expressed the practical implications of that truth: “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (vv. 17–18). The friends of Jesus Christ show their love for one another by humbly meeting each other’s needs.

THE FRIENDS OF JESUS OBEY HIM

You are My friends if you do what I command you. (15:14)

The essence of sin is rebellion against God’s law. Samuel rebuked Saul for his failure to do what God had commanded him: “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). Samuel then equated rebellion with sin: “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry” (v. 23). The New Testament also defines sin as rebellion. John wrote, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4; cf. Matt. 7:23; 13:41;23:28;2 Cor. 6:14).

Because all sin is rebellion against God, turning from sin necessarily implies obedience to God. A person cannot submit to God while at the same time openly rebelling against Him; the same life cannot be characterized both by lawlessness and obedience (1 John 3:6; 5:18). Thus, obedience and faith are closely linked throughout Scripture. Conversion takes place when those who “were slaves of sin” become “obedient from the heart” (Rom. 6:17). Acts 6:7 describes the salvation of “a great many of the priests” as their “becoming obedient to the faith.” Those who “will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:9) are “those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (v.8). Peter also defined unbelievers as “those who do not obey the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17). Paul declared that the goal of his apostolic ministry was “to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:5; cf. 15:18; 16:26). The heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 demonstrated the reality of their faith by their obedience. So closely is obedience related to saving faith that Hebrews 5:9 uses it as a synonym for faith: “Having been made perfect, [Jesus] became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” Peter wrote that believers were “chosen … to obey Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:1–2). John 3:36 also equates believing with obeying, noting that “he who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” When informed that His mother and brothers were looking for Him, Jesus replied, “‘Who are My mother and My brothers?’ Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother’” (Mark 3:33–35).

W. E. Vine points out another link between faith and obedience:

Obedience, of course, does not earn salvation. Salvation is solely “by grace … through faith … not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). God “saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Paul, who so strongly emphasized the connection between saving faith and obedience, also wrote, “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight… For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom. 3:20, 28; cf. Gal. 2:16). He based his hope of salvation solely on being “found in Him, not having a righteousness of [his] own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9).

Obedience is not the means of salvation, but it is the inevitable result; it is the proof that a person has a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The branches that abide in Christ, the true vine, will inevitably bear fruit (see the exposition of 15:1–11 in the previous chapter of this volume); His sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27); true disciples obey His Word (John 8:31). Good works save no one, but a faith devoid of them is dead and cannot save (James 2:14–26; cf. Eph. 2:10).

THE FRIENDS OF JESUS KNOW DIVINE TRUTH

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. (15:15)

The term slaves did not have many of the negative connotations in Jewish culture that it does today. In fact, some of the most noble figures in the Old Testament were described as slaves (Heb. èbed) of God, including Moses (Num. 12:7), Caleb (Num. 14:24), Joshua (Josh. 24:29), Job (Job 1:8), David (2 Sam. 7:5), Isaiah (Isa.20:3), and even the Messiah (Isa. 42:1). In the New Testament Paul (Rom. 1:1), James (James 1:1), Peter (2 Peter 1:1), Jude (Jude 1), and John (Rev. 1:1) similarly called themselves slaves (doulos) of Jesus Christ. The term reflected their utter submission to and dependence on their heavenly Master. This word, doulos, and the related verb douleuō, always and only refer to slavery. Doulos is the corresponding word to kurios (lord). Jesus is Lord, believers are His slaves. Doulos is, however, usually translated “servant,” or “bond-servant.” But their nearly 150 uses in the New Testament are to be understood as references to slavery. A slave was bought, owned, subjected to, provided for, and protected by his master (kurios). He lived in total submission to the will of his master.

Slaves did not usually have an intimate relationship with their earthly masters; the slave would normally not know what his master was doing; that is, he was not privy to his plans. Masters did not disclose their goals and purposes to their slaves; they merely instructed them as to what they wanted them to do.

While it is true that the followers of Jesus are also designated as slaves, that is not sufficient to fully convey our relationship to the Lord. Incredibly, we are also called His friends—a more exalted title even than “disciple.” In the Old Testament only Abraham had the privilege of being named the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). A custom from biblical times sheds light on the great honor believers have in being the friends of Jesus Christ. William Barclay writes,

It is that kind of intimate access that Jesus graciously grants to His friends.

Because they are His friends, Jesus promised to share with believers all things that He had heard from the Father. They “will know the truth, and the truth will make [them] free” (John 8:32). In John 17:6–8 Jesus prayed to the Father,

When the disciples asked Him, “Why do You speak to them [the crowds] in parables?” (Matt. 13:10), Jesus replied, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted” (v. 11). In Luke 10:23–24 He told them, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

The friends of Jesus have insight into “the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:25–26). The term “mystery” in the New Testament refers to things hidden in the past, but now revealed by Jesus to the apostles, and through them to all believers. The New Testament reveals the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:11), the mystery of Israel’s hardening (Rom. 11:25), the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19), the mystery of the rapture (1 Cor. 15:51), the mystery of God’s will (Eph. 1:9), the mystery that Jews and Gentiles would be one body in Christ (Eph. 3:4–6), the mystery of the union of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32), the mystery of Christ’s indwelling of believers (Col. 1:26–27), the mystery that the Messiah would be God incarnate (Col. 2:2), the mystery of lawlessness, which will be fully revealed in the person of the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:7), the mystery of the faith (1 Tim. 3:9), and the mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16).

Their ability to understand the spiritual truths Jesus reveals to them sets His friends apart from the unredeemed, who have no such privileges:

THE FRIENDS OF JESUS HAVE
BEEN SPECIALLY CHOSEN BY HIM

You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. (15:16)

In a reversal of the customary Jewish practice (normally would-be disciples approached a rabbi they wanted to follow), the disciples did not choose Jesus but He chose them. The knowledge that Jesus chose them (and by extension all believers) to salvation apart from any merit of their own (v. 19; John 6:44, 65; Acts 13:48; Rom. 8:28–30; Gal. 1:15; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:9; 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1–2) eliminates any pretense of spiritual pride that Christians might otherwise feel (cf. Rom. 3:27; 4:2; 1 Cor. 1:26–31; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:9).

Not only did Jesus choose the disciples for salvation, He also appointed them for service. The word translated appointed is a form of the verb tithēmi, which has here the connotation of being set apart or ordained for special service (cf. its similar usage in Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:28; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11).

Having chosen and trained the disciples, Jesus commanded them to go into the world, proclaim the good news about Him, and bear fruit. The Christian life is not a spectator sport; Jesus did not choose believers to stand idly by while the world continues on its way to hell. On the contrary, His explicit command is, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20; cf. Luke 14:23).

When believers proclaim the gospel, those who respond savingly to it become fruit that will remain forever (cf. 4:36; Luke 16:9). That the Lord repeated the promise of verse 7 (see the exposition of that verse in chapter 13 of this volume), whatever you ask of the Father in My name He will give to you, emphasizes the essential link between prayer and evangelism (cf. Luke 10:2; 2 Thess. 3:1).

The privileges that characterize the friends of Jesus Christ carry with them corresponding responsibilities. It is their nature to love one another, yet the Bible commands them to “fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). They know divine truth, yet they must study it diligently (2 Tim. 2:15). Jesus called His friends out of the world, so they must be careful not to love it (1 John 2:15). Those who have been granted the privilege of bearing fruit must submit to the Father’s pruning, so they can bear even more fruit (15:2). The Lord’s promise of answered prayer demands that believers pray effectively (James 5:16) and unceasingly (1 Thess. 5:17). In short, those who have been granted the inestimable privilege of being the friends of Jesus Christ must “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [they] have been called” (Eph. 4:1).