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John 15:17
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15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, afor all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  
16 aYou did not choose Me, but I chose you and bappointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father cin My name He may give you.  
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

The World’s Hatred

18 a“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  
19 aIf you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet bbecause you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  
20 Remember the word that I said to you, a‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. bIf they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  
21 But aall these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  
22 aIf I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, bbut now they have no excuse for their sin.  
23 aHe who hates Me hates My Father also.  
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< John 15:16   John 15:18 >>

What Does John 15:17 Mean?



John 15:17-18

Jesus says several times, "I lay down My life for the sheep," or "I lay it down." It is significant that of His own will, He gave Himself up to die. The Romans did not take it from Him—He gave it voluntarily for His sheep (verse 11). He made it clear that Pilate was not condemning Him, but that He was accepting death (John 19:10-11). Jesus lived His life as an act of obedience to God, His Father. Moreover, when He died He became the propitiation (expiatory or atoning sacrifice) for the whole world, not just for our sins (I John 2:2). God's graciousness is justified by the sacrifice of the Shepherd.

In the Old Testament, the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies was symbolic of God's throne, where He sat in judgment (Hebrews 9:5). When the Good Shepherd gave His life in bloody sacrifice for sinners once for all (verses 12, 24-28), the Mercy Seat became a "throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16). It was God's will that Jesus' sacrifice apply to all sinners for all time, but Jesus' phrase "My sheep" in this parable refers only to His followers—the saints, the members of His flock—highlighting His special, intimate relationship with them.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Good Shepherd (Part Two)




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing John 15:17:

1 Corinthians 11:23-32


 
<< John 15:16   John 15:18 >>

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