ἀλλήλους

αὕτη έστὶν ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ έμή, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς. — κατὰ Ἰωάννην 15:12

haute estin he entole he eme, hina agapate allelous kathos egapesa hymas. — kata Ioannen 15:12

My commandment is this: that you should be loving one another just as I loved you. — John 15:12, translation mine

Up to this point in the discourse on the vine and the branches, Jesus has spoken of remaining in His and the Father's love, reiterating His reminder (Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27a) to His disciples of the first Great Commandment: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5, ESV). Now Jesus admonishes the apostles and us, who are completed in His joy and love, to pour this same love out to our neighbor, as it is written, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18b, ESV). This does not mean that we are to apply the self-serving narcissism that disguises itself as love to our neighbor. Such alleged love could only make idols of those around us. Rather, we should share the love which Christ has shown us as the only Son of “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3b-1:4, ESV).

This love which Christ has shown us and commanded us to live by does not consider the self first but others before self. We need only look to Christ's sacrifice to see that He loved us enough to become sin itself and die so that we might be saved from our sin and deemed righteous before the Father (2 Corinthians 5:21). We cannot repeat the inimitable and perfect sacrifice of Christ, who “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26b, ESV), but the apostle Paul reminds us of the quality of love which completes lover and beloved in joy, writing, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3, ESV).

A man must be grounded in God's love in order to love his neighbor properly. Godly humility, one should note, is not an exercise in sanctimony and self-flagellation. Such paltry gestures maintain their focus on the self. If we denigrate ourselves to avoid giving honor to another, we violate the second Great Commandment. Rather than seeking places of honor, we should offer them as we are given the opportunity, “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11, ESV).

As followers of Christ, we should “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11b, ESV) in light of the great mercy God has shown us. When Christ spoke the commandment to love one another as He loved us at His last supper with His disciples, He had not yet died. Though the hour of His death had not come at that moment, Christ had already been pouring out His life for His followers in His words and His works over His entire ministry. It is recorded that during the supper, Christ stripped down and washed the feet of His disciples (John 13:1-11), and “when He had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed His place, He said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you’” (John 13:12-15, ESV).

If Christ, in His position of authority, could humble Himself to serve in such a way out of His love for us, surely we, who can only boast in Him as our salvation, should do likewise. As Christ lived for us, we must live for Him. As Christ died for us, we must die to ourselves that we might reach out in Christ's name to those around us. All followers of Christ are called, as Paul admonishes, “by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1b, ESV). As a sacrifice is by definition that which imparts holiness and as Christ is the righteousness in him who believes, let we who are in Christ live in such a way that our lives are completely poured out in holy love of God and holy love of neighbor, in both life and death.

χαρά

ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ᾖ καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ῦμῶν πληρωθῇ. — κατὰ Ἰωάννην 15:11

tauta lelaleka hymin hina he chara he eme en hymin e kai he chara hymon plerothe. — kata Ioannen 15:11

These things I have spoken to you so that this joy of mine may be in you and that your joy may be completed. — John 15:11, translation mine

Christ's investment in His disciples cannot be overstated. Not only does He supply those who follow Him earnestly with love and the means and the will to love, He brings them joy. For just as Christ delights in the Father and His love, so also the disciple delights in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For we who have accepted Christ's sacrifice and truly seek Him, this single outpouring of perfect love from the Father washes away our repeated failures to hit the mark of His holy standard. As John writes in one of his epistles, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:15-18, ESV).

As perfect love casts out fear, it fills the void that it drives out. It is this filling that makes us complete and able to conform to the image of and remain in the love of Christ, and we cannot help but to rejoice at God's graciousness. The Ancient Greek of the New Testament captures this relationship between grace and joy at the etymological level. Grace, or χάρις (charis), and joy, or χαρά (chara), both ultimately stem from the same root verb, χαίρω (chairo), “I rejoice, I delight”.

The key is God's delight in His creation and the favor of salvation with which He graces those who respond to His call. Those who respond and faithfully seek God progressively delight in His delight and love with thankful hearts as they mature in Him. If we consider that the word commonly translated as thanksgiving, εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), has its root in χάριτι (chariti), that is, grace, we may summarize it thus: God gives us grace whereupon we, gratified in His love, rejoice in gratitude. No longer under the punishment meted out to us for falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and His righteousness, we may confidently remain in God's love, letting it perfect us so that our own love and joy may become as complete as that of Christ.

If Christ be our foundation in this regard, we may be assured that our joy comes from love, not circumstance. Our happenstance does not dictate our joy. Therefore, we call it joy, not happiness, and we recognize that we are not fortunate, but blessed. In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul echoes Christ's call to remain in His love, admonishing them, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:1-2, ESV). It is the love that drives men to unity and community with one another and with God that completes them in joy.

John the Baptist exemplified this when asked if he begrudged Jesus the increase in following from John's disciples. John responded, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30, ESV). True joy, like perfect love, does not seek the glory of self but pours out toward others. Rather than being incensed at Jesus' arrival, John rightly rejoiced in it, humbly serving the One for whom he had prepared the way. The Scripture translated here as “rejoices greatly,” χαρᾲ χαίρει (chara chairei), literally means “rejoices with joy.” The reduplication of the root underscores the pervasiveness and power of that joy which is shared among friends. Furthermore, the reflection of the construction from John 3:29, ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ πεπληρῶται (he chara he eme peplerotai, “this joy of mine is completed”), in John 15:11 cannot be denied. Christ's gain is John's gain is our gain.

By this, we know that the purest and most persistent joy wells up from the connection we have in the vine, remaining in the Father's love and sharing His love through Christ with one another. Paul reiterates this in his letter to the Philippians, saying, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4, ESV), and still again:

“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.”
Phillipians 4:10-14, ESV

Paul rejoices first in the Lord and again in the company of those who share not only his joy and his faith but his troubles and burdens as well. His joy is no random happy accident but a trust in Him who provides to those in need, and Paul's gratitude to both God and his brothers and sisters in Christ is evident. We who are in Christ should likewise cheerfully bear each other's burdens and gratefully accept each other's help that we may be completed by Christ in the joy that comes from serving the Father. This is the hallmark of true joy: the κοινωνία πνεύματος (koinonia pneumatos), or “participation in the Spirit” (Philippians 2:1c, ESV), which those grafted into the vine share in common as one body, one spirit in Christ. Abounding thus in the joy of Christ, which surpasses all circumstance, and rooted in “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7a, ESV), we may likewise abound in love, laying down our lives in service to God and one another.

τηρεῖν

ἐάν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε, μενεῖτε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῇ μου, καθὼς έγὼ τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ πατρός μου τετήρηκα καὶ μένω αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ. — κατὰ Ἰωάννην 15:10

ean tas entolas mou teresete, meneite en te agape mou, kathos ego tas entolas tou patros mou tetereka kai meno autou en te agape. — kata Ioannen 15:10

If you observe my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I have kept the commandments of my Father and remain in His love. — John 15:10, translation mine

Attention is hard to come by in this present age. Notice or notoriety are easily enough acquired, but attention, as in attention span and attention to detail, is in short supply. We know we are missing something, else we would not have deemed the deficit of attention a disorder. Yet despite this and other passing acknowledgments, our inclination to impatience drives us to praise those who respond off the cuff as quick-witted and those who are slow to speak as slow of mind.

Jesus, though master of the turn of phrase, did not invest in easily digested and just as easily discarded sound bytes, but rather made the audacious claim, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35, ESV). If this be true, it would stand to reason that one would want to pay close attention to or, as the word's Latin roots suggest, hold onto Jesus' words.

Christ's admonition to observe His commandments, the words He spoke to His disciples, deserves the same consideration. This emphasis on the observation of the Father's commandments given through Christ is mirrored in Matthew's gospel where Jesus tells His disciples to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a, ESV). Both evangelists combine forms of the Greek verb τηρέω (tereo, “I observe, I watch, I keep, I guard”) and forms and derivations of the Greek verb ἐντέλλομαι (entellomai, “I command, I enjoin”) to convey Jesus' words concerning the observation of commandments.

The word observe comes from the Latin servare, which also means to watch or guard and which is used to translate the forms of τηρέω in both verses for the Latin Vulgate. Observation, when properly done, is a time-consuming and painstaking task. Scientific observation is a studied watch of phenomena in consideration. The object is kept under close scrutiny and extensive time must be devoted to its study in order to support any conclusions arising therefrom. Just as one hour of perfunctory research into a phenomenon cannot confirm a hypothesis, a cursory glance at a smattering of Scripture cannot provide the basis for a firm foundation in Christ. The observation of the Father's commandments through Christ is a life's work and the proof of remaining in Him and His love.

This is not to say that our works will save us — far from it! For if we were righteous on our own account, there would have been no need for Christ. Salvation comes from God, and that through His grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV). Whatever good works we may bear in Christ are the fruit, not the seed: not the stimulus, but the response.

The word translated as “commandments” should serve as a reminder of this. Ἐντολάς, derived from the verb ἐντέλλομαι, “I command”, is at its root based on the verb τέλλω (tello), or “I make to arise”, and more generally, “I accomplish, I cause to be done.” With the prefixture of the preposition ἐν (en), that is, “in, on, by means of,” the verb ἐντέλλομαι takes on the character of something akin to “I accomplish in or upon.” With the commandment remaining the accusative direct object to be accomplished, Christ's disciples, as the dative indirect objects of the charge in Matthew's gospel, become the instruments by which God achieves His purposes. This should come as no surprise, “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV).

The Father reveals His will through Christ and the Word and makes that which He has commanded to arise in us and come to fruition, stirring us to action according to His good counsel. We must therefore remain in His Word to know what He commands and remain in His love to know how to love. Christ is right when He says that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5), we with our all-too-short attention spans and affectation to detail. Yet we have hope in the everlasting Word of Him who goes before us, for though we be incomplete in love — in short, fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) — in Christ we are complete, and in His word we are completed.

ἀγάπη

καθὼς ἠγάπησέν με ὀ πατήρ, κἀγὼ ὑμᾶς ἠγάπησα· μείνατε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ έμῇ. — κατὰ Ἰωάννην 15:9

kathos egapesen me ho pater, kago hymas egapesa: meinate en te agape te eme. — kata Ioannen 15:9

Just as my Father loves me, I also love you: in my love remain. — John 15:9, translation mine¹

God's love, eternal and unchanging, is the firmament upon which our faith stands. As Moses testified, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4b, ESV) and Christ reiterated, “the words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works” (John 14:10, ESV), we may trust on the testimony of at least two witnesses that Christ does indeed love us as the Father loves us. If we do not trust Christ to testify about Himself, though self-testimony be admissible even in our courts today, we may “believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:11b, ESV) that Christ performed and on account of the testimony of the evangelists who were eyewitnesses. We have ample reason to respond as Moses exhorted Israel to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5b, ESV).

The fervency of this admonition springs from the striking difference between love which comes from God the Father and what the world passes off as love. Jesus explicitly tells His disciples to remain in the love that is His, which in turn is the Father's. John's use of the emphatic possessive pronoun έμῇ in postnominal appositive position demarcates this divide. Whereas Christ demonstrated such utterly sacrificial love on the cross as to put all others above Himself, most of all the Father, to whom Christ submitted in an excruciating act of obedience, the world loves only that from which it stands to gain in comfortable and countable acts of reciprocity.

Some may ask what Father, whose love is so unshakeable and impeccable, would send His own Son to die as an object of wrath. To those who doubt God's love, Isaiah rebuts:

• Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD
• or what man shows Him His counsel?
• Whom did He consult
• and who made Him understand?
• Who taught Him the path of justice,
• and taught Him knowledge,
• and showed Him the way of understanding?
• Isaiah 40:13-14, ESV

Man is as nothing compared to God. Until man can create his own universe from nothing and establish its physical and moral laws and define love, he must accept God's definition in this one.

We have it on good authority that “anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love” (1 John 4:8, ESV) and that with God “there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17b, ESV) and that God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11). God wants to make it undeniably clear that His love exceeds the love of the world, and to demonstrate this unsurpassable love, He died for us not when we were His friends but when we were His enemies. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10, ESV).

Only in Christ can we have true peace, for as Jesus declared to His disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27a, ESV). One need only look to the present age, to say nothing of the millennia of human history, that the world gives detente, not peace; conditions, not grace. God, on the other hand gives us an assurance that is true, a hope outside ourselves. Christ emptied Himself and became that which God hates, namely sin, to draw us to dwell in the Father's love. As it is written, “for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV). The debt of our sin had to be paid first so that God might indwell us by His Holy Spirit and not destroy us in our wickedness. The Holy Spirit then acts as our counselor, teaching us to obey the Father's commands which are given to us through His Son, who by completing us in love helps us to love completely.

¹ Translator's Note: I have rendered the two aorist verbs from John 15:9, ἠγάπησέν and ἠγάπησα, as indefinite presents in English, whereas most modern translations use the present perfect for this verse. Use of the present for aorist verbs is not unprecedented, as Martin Luther rendered the same verse thus in German: “Gleichwie mich mein Vater liebt, also liebe ich euch auch. Bleibet in meiner Liebe!” (John 15:9, Luther)

I believe John 15:9 and the previous two verses primarily conform to the pattern of Greek known in grammatical circles as the gnomic aorist, which is used to express eternal truths, as with proverbs. Given the proverbial nature of what Christ is relating, it seems appropriate to render the verses in befitting English idiom. I would possibly even venture an emendation of my previous translations such that John 15:7-9 would read “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, whatever you may be wishing, ask, and it shall come to be for you. In this my Father is glorified, that you should bear much fruit and become my disciples. Just as my Father loves me, I also love you: in my love remain.”

In this way, the present subjunctive θέλητε (thelete, “you may be wishing”) is drawn out to remind the Christ follower that whatever his immediate and present need and desire in life, the aorist imperative invitation to ask (αἰτήσασθε, aitesasthe) always stands. This is in accord with the Scripture that encourages us to “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16b, ESV). If we remain in Christ and seek the will of the Father, He will grant whatever we ask.