The Last Time He Said It

It was late. Judas was gone. Peter had just been told he would deny his Lord before the rooster crowed. And Jesus was nearly finished teaching the men He was about to leave.

He had already told them to love one another four times that night. Three times at the table (John 13:34–35). Once more among the vines (15:12). Now He said it one last time:

“This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17)

Look at how He framed it. Five verses earlier He opened with nearly the same words: “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” Everything in between sits inside those two sentences, including “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” and “Now you are my friends.”

In Greek the verse begins with tauta, “these things.” All of it. The vine, the abiding, the friendship, the choosing. Then comes a small word, hina: so that. Jesus gave them all of it so that they would love one another.

The last two words of the verse are agapate allēlous, “love one another.” Put their dictionary forms side by side, agapaō and allēlōn, and you have the name of this ministry. It’s also the verse I keep under my name on my profiles.

Then read the very next verse: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first” (15:18).

He gave the command right before the warning. He knew what was coming. Before long, Peter and John would spend a night in custody for preaching His name. He was sending His friends into that world together, and they would need each other.

We still need each other. The world can be hard on people who follow Jesus, and some weeks it wears us thin. Jesus saw those weeks coming. Before the storm ever hit, He gave us one another.

Who stood with you the last time the world was hard on you? Have you told them what it meant?

On Tuesday: “Love each other with genuine affection” (Romans 12:10).