Promise Of A Perfect Friend – John 15:15

Promise Of A Perfect Friend – John 15:15

Promise Of A Perfect Friend - John 15:15

Jesus promises He will be our friend, and He will call us a friend as we know Jesus more and become a more complete friend of Jesus in His perfect way.

Jesus said, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you….” John 15:9 Jesus meant He loves His people as much as the Father loves Jesus. The word love here is a variation of the same Greek word for love. How much the Father loves Jesus is explained by this Greek word for love in 12 New Testament Bible verses.

When Jesus compares how much He loves His people as compared to how much the Father loves Jesus, it gets more specific, with this Greek word for love only being used 5 times in the New Testament. The first time Jesus uses this word is John 13:34 where Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Jesus repeats this commandment again in John 15:12, using the exact same word.

It begins to get interesting the 4th time this word is used, Romans 9:13, As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” Paul wrote Romans to the church in Rome. Romans gives the basics of the gospel, the core of Christian doctrine, explaining God’s plan of salvation for the entire world, Jew and Gentile alike, and how the rejection of Jesus is the rejection of a birthright. Romans explains how salvation is received by grace through faith by the blood of Jesus then through the Holy Spirit’s work in us.

The last time this word is used is prophetic, a prophetic promise Jesus made to John for the entire Body of Christ. Revelation 3:9, where Jesus promises those He loves, the Body of Christ, He will make those who are apostates, fake Christians, not circumcised in the heart, but are really of the synagogue of Satan and just lie and pretend to be Christians, bow before the real people of Jesus. This will happen when Jesus returns to earth with us at the end of the Great Tribulation to stop World War III, Armageddon, and establish His 1000 year reign on earth.

How does the Father love the Son? Jesus explained how the Father loves Jesus by the Father showing Jesus all things. In John 5:20, Jesus said, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.” Jesus goes on to prophesy about His death on the cross and how His resurrection from the dead will bring eternal life to those people Jesus will choose, and how the Father judges no one, but all judgement has been given to Jesus.

“Abide in my love.” John 15:9 Jesus is saying to remain in His love. Do not stray from the faith. Do not follow apostates. Jesus uses a more common word for love here, used 64 times, but only used once in Matthew, when Jesus is talking about signs of the end of this age. Matthew 24:12, where Jesus said, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

Jesus goes on to talk about keeping His commandments, and if we keep His commandments, we will remain in His love. He prophesies again about His death on the cross and how that is the greatest love possible. The reason He told these things is so we will keep His joy inside of us, no matter what happens, we will be full of joy if we live right.

Jesus said we are His friends if we do what He commands us to do. Us friends of Jesus do not do what He commands us to do out of fear or because we are slaves, but we do it because we love Jesus more than we love ourselves. He who does not love Jesus is a slave to sin.

Jesus said, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15