Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 15:15

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

15. Henceforth I call you not servants ] Better, No longer do I call you servants (comp. Joh 14:30 and see on Joh 8:34). He had implied that they were servants before (Joh 12:26, Joh 13:13-16). Perhaps the gentler word ‘servant’ is better here, although ‘bond-servant’ would bring out the contrast more strongly. Where the Apostles and others use it of themselves the gentler rendering is certainly to be preferred (Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Jas 1:1; 2Pe 1:1; &c. &c.).

what his lord doeth ] To be taken literally. The slave or servant may see what his master is doing, but does not know the meaning or purpose of it. ‘Doeth’ need not be made equal to a future.

I have called you friends ] Or, you have I called friends; ‘you’ is emphatic. He who wills to do His will as a servant, shall know of the doctrine as a friend (Joh 7:17).

I have made known unto you ] As they were able to bear it (Joh 16:12). After Pentecost they would be able to bear much more. Both verbs are aorists; I heard I made known: comp. Joh 15:9 ; Joh 15:12.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

I call you not servants – This had been the common title by which he addressed them Mat 10:24-25; Joh 12:26; Joh 13:13; but he had also before this, on one occasion, called them friends Luk 12:4, and on one occasion after this he called them servants, Joh 15:20. He here means that the ordinary title by which he would hence forth address them would be that of friends.

The servant knoweth not … – He receives the command of his master without knowing the reason why this or that thing is ordered. It is one of the conditions of slavery not to be let into the counsels and plans of the master. It is the privilege of friendship to be made acquainted with the plans wishes, and wants of the friend. This instance of friendship Jesus had given them by making them acquainted with the reasons why he was about to leave them, and with his secret wishes in regard to them. As he had given their this proof of friendship, it was proper that he should not withhold from them the title of friends.

His lord – His Master.

I have called you friends – I have given you the name of friends. He does not mean that the usual appellation which he had given them had been than of friends, but that such was the title which he had now given them.

For all things … – The reason why he called them friends was that he had now treated them as friends. He had opened to them his mind; made known his plans; acquainted them with the design of his coming, his death, his resurrection, and ascension; and, having thus given them the clearest proof of friendship, it was proper that he should give them the name.

That I have heard … – Jesus frequently represents himself as commissioned or sent by God to accomplish an important work, and as being instructed by him in regard to the nature of that work. See the notes at Joh 5:30. By what he had heard of the Father, he doubtless refers to the design of God in his coming and his death. This he had made known to them.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Joh 15:15

Henceforth I call you not servants

Slave or friend?

The word used was the word for slave, though not always used in the most ignominious relation. The word friends is philos, something more than friendship in the ordinary use of the word love friends. These were the disciples that had been ordained to go out and preach. All that time they have been only servants.

I. THERE IS, THEN, A DISCIPLESHIP THAT IS SERVITUDE, HAVING IN IT A GOOD MANY EXCELLENT QUALITIES but as soon as possible to be left behind. All over the world, we see in progress this primary state of discipleship–that of servitude and inferiority.

1. The lower province begins, with conscientious morality; that is, so much of rectitude recognized and mildly sought as is embodied in public law and in public sentiment. But the averages of society are always and everywhere very low.

2. Higher than this is a more active recognition of what may technically be called religious life: that is, the recognition of an invisible God, of a moral order, and of a providence which unfolds the thought and the will of God among men. A man has certainly risen very much higher than the ordinary morality which is contained in the Ten Commandments–he has risen a great deal when he begins to be a worshipper.

3. Then we come, a little more interiorly, to the condition of those who are seeking to conform their lives to canons of morality, to rules of Church life, to religion as a personal experience; and we find that fear is usually the very first incitement, as it is the lowest motive. There is a fear that runs with the highest feelings, that purity itself has lest it should be sullied. There is a fear of love–filial fear. But there is also the fear that if a duty be neglected it will bring chastisement; and this fear takes a very low range. It indicates no great love for moral quality, no worship of good because it is good, no spontaneity, but a dark shadow of dread for neglect or violation. There are thousands whose religion rises in its motives no higher than this: We must prepare for death; it may come in an untold hour. There are multitudes who are afraid to be wicked. I am glad of that; but it is a very low motive. Multitudes of persons are afraid not to say their prayers. That is a very low motive. Sometimes it is the misery of an heir to know that a decrepit aunt is going to bequeath her property to him, provided his conduct is in all respects suitable to her wishes. So all his life long he is thinking: What does she want? And what politeness! what keeping out of her prejudices! And so all his life long he has a certain sort of respectable morality; but the whole way through it is carnal and mean, and it is to get the property, not because he loves politeness, not because he loves her at all–he loves her Will. A service of fear never works the higher moral qualities. If a mans religion is very largely compounded of the element of fear he may save his soul; but is it worth saving?–poor, scrawny, mean!

4. Then comes, next higher in order, the sense of duty–conscience. In combination with higher qualities conscience gives strength and great power. It is an undertone that should run through life. Duty is not less noble because it is inferior to love, but it is inferior to love. The things that every mother does for her child, are they things that are done from a sense of duty? She ought; but she never touches bottom on ought. She does, because spontaneous love urges it upon her. If that were deficient she would fall down upon another, but inferior, faculty of conscience–It is my duty. A rich man, dying, leaves large properties to be distributed for charitable purposes; and those appointed as trustees and distributors, men of honour and conscientiousness, say: This is a good cause; we think we will devote a hundred thousand dollars for that. It is the fulfilment of a duty that has been laid upon them. But if a man with a great heart, and blessed with large inheritance, looks out on society, and pities the orphans, and builds a home for them, that springs out of his own heart. It is not his duty; it is his desire and wish. So, then, a man may be doing benevolent work as a duty; but it is a very much higher thing to do benevolent work because you are benevolent, and not because it is your duty.

5. In various grades, all these things are acceptable to God and useful; but as in the pictures of a studio there are various grades of excellence, and yet the least may be a good picture, so in the development of the dispositions of Christians there is very low, and there is a little higher, and there is the higher still, and there is the highest level, which men should seek, and on which they should stand.

II. On the eve of His departure, Christ said to men who had been living in this lower relation, doing right things, avoiding evil things–doing this from various motives, more or less in bondage, more or less exhorted by duty: Henceforth I call you not servants; I CALL YOU FRIENDS.

1. One can see easily how this might take place. In the thrall of poverty and neglect some beneficent heart, meeting with a maiden, sees in her some moral quality that indicates a higher place in life; and it turns out at last that she came of good parents, that they were swept away, that the child went through various hands down to the bottom of society, but that being caught up by this philanthropic missionary, she had responded quickly to moral appeals. Every point in her is susceptible of development; and at every step, coming up, and ministered to little by little, at last there comes a day when the benefactor says: Hitherto I have called you my ward; I have been your benefactor; now I love you, and I take you for my own. How many have found that higher and nobler development of confidence between their souls and their Saviour?

2. We attain to this state of experience, not as the direct result of effort. It is not by prayer. You never can pray it into yourself, although prayer is an excellent thing. It is not by mortification; it is by the power of love, and soul ripening that it is attained. That process differs with different people and in different circumstances. In June the orchard blossoms; but nobody wants to eat blossoms. In early July the germs of the apple and the pear have set, and the blossoms are gone. The work has begun. Now, the first rejoicing that the soul has comes when it just begins the Christian life. Then it has the flush of early love and joy. The growing comes afterward. In early July the apple and the pear have set their germs, they are beginning to grow, and are utterly unfit to eat. In September they have got size that they had not, but are very sour. In October they begin to get colour on their cheeks, but they are hard yet. In November they begin to have sugar in themselves, and they exhale fragrance. Step by step, the fruit from greenness goes on to size, and from size to quality, and from quality to perfect ripeness and harmony. So, largely, is it in Christian life. There is a process constantly going on; and the evidence that there is this tendency toward ripeness is one of the things that should stimulate the hope of our soul. The ripening of men is not a mechanical system, by which we have been awakened, and convicted of sin, and have changed our will and purpose. This ripening does not come because we are joined to Gods people, and because we are striving, according to the measure of our knowledge in ordinary things, to live about right and fulfil our duties. We have simply ripened so that we have begun to be susceptible; and Christ says: Henceforth I call you My love, and we respond, I am my Lords; He is mine. (H. W. Beecher.)

Servants and friends

I. SERVANTS AND FRIENDS. All Christs friends are His servants, but all His servants are not therefore His friends. This was perhaps the distinction between Moses and Aaron (Exo 33:11), You see the difference at once between their characters. In Aaron it was attention to the ministry at the altar, in Moses it was jealousy for the Divine law. In Aaron it was a regard for the defences and pictures of purity and truth, in Moses it was regard for truth and purity themselves.

1. Servants may be quite unconscious of their servitude. The elements are the servants of God. Winds, and vapours, and storms fulfilling His word. Time is His servant, and the ambition of princes; but it is all unconscious servitude. How great the difference between the two Shepherds of God, David and Cyrus! (Isa 44:28). Christ made my relationship to Him aconsciousness.

2. Servants have but a passing and transient relationship. The connection is slight and fragile, born in interest. Servants have a divided interest from their masters. How suspicious of him and of their fellows! Friendship would make common cause with the master, and identify both interests in one. Christ spoke in the light of the perpetuity of our relationship.

3. Servants are unable to enter into the meaning of the Masters will. His ways are not their ways, neither are His thoughts their thoughts. The soldier is not one of the council of war; but the mind and heart are revealed to the friend. We know words lovelessly pronounced, how cold! words lovingly pronounced, how dear! The same number of letters, but the accent is all. So God speaks to His people with an accent. All that My Father hath given Me have I made known to you. In the thought of this deep intercourse, Christ said, I have called you not servants, etc.

4. Servants may be absolute enemies. How many names are recorded in Scripture of men who were His enemies at last? He used them, while they sought, as Balsam did, to circumvent the Divine purposes. He used them as the builder uses a scaffold or a tool, then to be cast aside as useful no more. In thought of a will made one with His, Christ said, Henceforth I call you not servants, etc.

II. LOOK AT THE DOCTRINE TO WHICH THE TEXT POINTS.

1. Now it is clear that all along throughout Scripture, its language points to a state of hallowed seclusiveness, in which the soul sees more and feels more, knows more and has more, in highest communion with Christ (1Jn 1:3; Joh 14:22; Joh 14:28; 1Co 2:16; 1Jn 5:10). There is no fact more stupendously beautiful than this–God loves His friends, and they know it. He crowds all imaginable and all imageable mercies upon their souls, to assure them of His love (Isa 63:9). Inthe light of Gods love to his friends, even nature acquires new majesty. What is more sure and steadfast than the heavens in their daily march, or in their midnight pomp (Jer 33:20-21)? Or, think of the seasons in their annual round (Jer 33:25-26). And hence you see the difference between the two methods of our Lords teaching. He had the parabolical and the real (Luk 10:23; Luk 9:10; Mat 13:16). For friendship has words which mere acquaintanceship cannot use. And love ever finds new words and new meanings.

2. The doctrine suffers no defect, and does not recoil from the fact of the infinite superiority on one hand, and the infinite inferiority on the other.

Such friendships, either in time or eternity, are not impossible. On earth, indeed, real friendship always receives; it is impossible but there must be some benefit on either side. The subject, the friend of the prince, repays the prince in counsel, and in sympathy, more than he receives in honour. And even the heart of the Redeemer owns the Divine light of sympathy with His believing friends. Few joys, to which we can look forward, can equal the hope we have that one day we shall call our boy our friend. I said to a young mother once, congratulating her on her newborn child. How proud you will be to take his arm twenty years hence. Although, alas! the young mother, a few days after, was among the angels. Very beautiful is the friendship between a master and a disciple, when the disciple looks reverently up to the teacher for instruction, and the master looks lovingly down and beholds himself growing anew in his young friend.

3. Servants of God, here is a higher ambition for you. Strive for the peerage, for the dignity of friends! This is the relation that completes the Divine life; this is the highest object of ambition of the friends of God.

4. What hallowed rest is here! Friendship rests. They are not troubled as we are who are only servants. Doubts vanish from the full assurance of love. Talk with them, and they will tell you that all things about them Jesus knows. (Paxton Hood.)

Christ our friend

Seneca once told a courtier who had lost his son, that he had no cause to mourn, either for that or ought else, because Caesar was his friend. Oh, then, what little cause have the saints to mourn for this or that loss, considering that God is their portion! Would you not laugh to see a man lament bitterly for the loss of his shoestrings when his purse is safe? or for the burning of a pig sty when his dwelling house is safe? and why then should a Christian lament for the loss of this or that, so long as his God is with him? (Thomas Brooks.)

The friendship of Jesus

When we say of two men that they are friends, we put them down in the same list; but what condescension on the Lords part to be on terms of friendship with a man! Again I say, no nobility is comparable to this. Parmenio was a great general, but all his fame in that direction is forgotten in the fact that he was known as the friend of Alexander. He had a great love for Alexander as a man, whereas others only cared for him as a conqueror and a monarch; and Alexander, perceiving this, placed great reliance upon Parmenio. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The servant and the friend compared and contrasted

The whole human race may be divided into two classes, Servants and Friends. All human beings have to do with Christ, and their service must be either that of slaves or of friends. Our Lord here intimates the superiority of the one relationship to the other, and the superiority will be obvious by comparing the relationships together.

I. The one is LEGAL, the other is LOVING. The master treats his slave, and the slave treats him, according to legal contract. The servant works by rule, and the master treats him accordingly; the slave lives and works in the letter of the contract. But the service of the friend is irrespective of all prescriptive rules, of all legal arrangements. He does not feel himself to be under the law at all, and although he does more real hard work in the service of his friend than that of the slave in the employ of his master, love is his inspiration, and love is his law.

II. The one is WATCHED, the other is TRUSTED. The master keeps his eye upon the slave; he knows that he is not the character to be trusted, here is a mere eye servant. If the contracted work is to be done he is to be kept up to it by force. Not so with the friend; he is thrown upon his love, honour, sense of gratitude and justice. Thus Christ treats His disciples; He does not tell them how much to do, or how to do it. He trusts to their love, knowing that if they love Him they will keep His commandments. This is the true way to treat men–trust them. Thus Dr. Arnold treated his boys at Rugby, and thus all whom Providence has put in authority over men should treat their subordinates, in order to get from them the highest service they can render.

III. The one is DISTANT, the other is NEAR. The master keeps his servant at a distance, he stands on his authority, gives out his orders, and insists on their discharge. They live not only in different apartments, but in different mental worlds, Not so with the friend–the friend is near to the heart. An old philosopher defined friendship as the existence of two souls in one body. Thus near are Christs disciples to Him. The servant, He says, knoweth not what his Lord doeth but all things that I do I have made known unto you. How close and vital the connection! Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? said God.

IV. The one is USED, the other USES. The master uses his slave, uses him as he does a piece of machinery; he has no tender interest in him. All he cares for is what benefits he can extract from his service, the slave is used–used as a beast of burden. But the friend is using. All his services, as atrue friend, answer his own purpose, conduce to his own happiness of soul. He acts from love, and love, like the philosophers stone, turns the commonest things into moral gold, to enrich his own heart. Thus it is with Christs disciples: all their efforts to serve Him serve themselves. All things are yours, life, death, etc. Everything turns to the real use of those who are the friends of Christ.

V. The one is COERCED, the other is FREE. The slave is not free in his work; he would not serve his master if he could help it. He is placed under considerations that force him to do his work. But the service of the friend is free, he would not but do what he does, and his desires to render service transcend his abilities. Thus it is with Christs disciples. He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. The love of Christ constrains them; they welcome the slightest intimation of duty from their Lord. Conclusion: What is our relationship to Christ–that of servitude or friendship? All must serve Him, either against their will or by their will. The former is the condition of devils, the latter that of holy saints and blessed angels. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Friendship with Jesus

When a blind man was asked what he thought the sun to be like, he replied, Like friendship. And truly friendship is a sun, if not the sun, of life. All feel it to be so. Most strange is it that men should wonder that the gospel has not enjoined so good a thing. It needs no injunction. It grows best of itself. It is as unnecessary to command men to cultivate friendship, as to command them to eat and drink. Let us

I. LOOK AT THE EXPRESSIONS EMPLOYED AND THE GENERAL SENTIMENT WHICH THEY EMBODY.

1. Both slavery and friendship represent our relations to our Lord and Saviour. For he that is called in the Lord, being a slave, is the Lords freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christs slave. Freedom and bondage go together, and we are not free till we are bound. Here servitude is the sign of friendship. As inferiors, as creatures, we can be friends of Jesus only if we keep His commandments.

2. When Christ says, All things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you, He can mean only all things intended for them, for in the next chapter He remarks, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. Their intimacy with Him was progressive. And so now His people pass from one degree of fellowship to another; become less and less slaves, and more and more friends, and the honours and privileges of friendship increase with its spirit.

3. Confidence is the sign of Christs friendship. There are but two essentially different ways of treating men as friends, or as slaves. We must be ruled either by force or by reason; we must be watched or trusted. Selfishness, ignorance, prejudice, fear, tyranny may say, Treat him as a slave; but reason, love, justice, hope, and all in Christ Jesus, say, Treat Him as a friend. The world is learning this. Severity, though the way to govern men, as Dr. Johnson said, is not the way to mend them, and in the school, the State, the Church, and even the mad house, they are being treated more as friends, and less as slaves. Who knows not that, even among children, not to believe is to excite to falsehood, to be always watching to be sure to prompt to go astray, and want of trust to beget unworthiness? And if it is so with children, it is still more so with men.

II. ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SLAVERY AND FRIENDSHIP, AND SHOW THAT CHRIST TREATS US NOT AS SLAVES BUT AS FRIENDS. This is seen

1. In the position which Christ assigns us, and the spirit which He excites within us. Being reconciled, we receive not the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption. Thus the state and the temper of slavery are both abolished. We are joined unto the Lord and are one spirit with Him. When John, king of France, lost the battle of Poictiers, though he had been beaten by a force one eighth only of his own, though he himself was taken prisioner, he was overpowered by the courtesy and chivalrous kindness of the Black Prince, his foe, the tears burst from his eyes, and mingled with the marks of blood upon his cheeks. It is thus that God moves the heart. In seeking His high ends, He does not beget a crouching spirit, but treats us generously. And I do not know how the heart of man is to be reached in any other way, how its enmity is to be slain and its love drawn out.

2. In the nature of Christs communications to us. The servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, etc. In like manner God spake of Abraham, His friend: Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?

(1) It is true of us as of them. Christ has given us information as to what He intends to do, and the wise shall understand; He has given us notices of His general purposes respecting the world and the Church: not a minute prophetic history, but a grand idea of the destiny of systems and of men.

But we have a more glorious revelation than this. In the text Christ means the whole counsel of Gods will. He had opened to them His mind and heart; and, if they saw but little, the fault was in the eye, not the object. He has entered into frank and friendly communication with us, opened His counsels, explained His objects and His methods, told us His desires and designs, and has thus given us an interest not only in what we do, but in what He does.

(2) And if this confidence is seen in what He communicates, it is seen also in what He withholds. A friend is not bound by a clear and particular direction in respect of everything; trust is reposed in him, he has to exercise his own skill and feel his own responsibility. And so, on no subject is the gospel a full rule, except as to principles. If the heart be not right, such a rule would be useless; if it be right, such a rule is unnecessary. When the heart is ready to every good work, a hint will be enough to set all its powers in active and pleasant motion. I will guide thee with Mine eye, says God to His people: that look of God will speak volumes to a friendly heart, and supply its own best motive to obedience.

3. In the manner in which Christ employs us. For the gospel idea of saints is that they are not merely to do His commandments, but to engage in His work, and He attaches the greatest importance to their service. He works out His gracious will on earth by the instrumentality of redeemed men; He puts His Spirit into men, and draws out their powers in grateful, cheerful labour. His object is not only to secure the effects of their service; but as a Father, though needing not His childrens labour, makes a work to please and honour them. This is seen very striking in the constitution of His Church. Christian Churches are societies of friends.

4. In the extent to which Christ blesses us. No one can look at the gospel and not perceive that it deals with all that believe in the way of the greatest bountifulness. It is not meant to meet a mere necessity, but to gratify our utmost desires and hopes. Are we not treated as friends?

III. A FEW OBVIOUS THOUGHTS BY WAY OF APPLICATION. If this is Christs friendship

1. Let us realize and rejoice in it. He is more deeply interested in us than we are in ourselves: He wishes our welfare as we have never wished it. Why should we not therefore tell Him our perplexities, trials, gladness? Why should we not pass our life in free and familiar intercourse with Him? Friendship cannot live in an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion. He that hath friends must show himself friendly; and if Christ confides in us, we must confide in Him. Nothing is more important than our being frank and faithful with Him. As among men, a few honest words may prevent a world of mischief, so with Christ, long seasons of trouble and sin may be prevented by the prompt and ingenious acknowledgment of faults and doubts and difficulties.

2. Let us be worthy of it. There are men not at all remarkable for integrity or gratitude who would feel the force of this claim. The appeal to honour they would respond to, though to all other appeals they would be deaf. Christ makes His appeal to your honour. If He treats you in the way we have indicated, shall it not move you to the utmost zeal to please and glorify Him? Will you abuse His confidence, and answer His grace with gracelessness? Answer His trust with fidelity; His love with obedience. Sin in you is not mere transgression; it is ingratitude, it is sacrilege, it is treachery.

3. Let us imitate Him in our treatment of others. This is the right way, the way most in accordance with human nature. Some, perhaps many, may prove themselves unworthy of it–there was a traitor among Christs friends–but many also will respond to it; or, if they do not, they will not respond to anything. Let it be your method in your treatment of your friends, in the education of children, in the Church. (A. J. Morris.)

Christs friendship

Friendship is the sweetest wild flower that can be found in the desert soil of a fallen world. There can scarcely be conceived a more forlorn description of a man, than that he is friendless. But man often calls another a friend, and it is but a name; he has sinster ends and selfish motives, which he thus disguises; in the hour of need he proves himself false, and when friends ought most to stand forward, he keeps back. But note

I. The REALITY of the friendship of Christ.

1. It is the clearest evidence of friendship, that it will make the greatest sacrifices for a friend. Who can doubt the infinite reality of the friendship of Christ, that traces Him from the throne of heaven to the manger in Bethlehem, from the manger to the cross. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us.

2. But the reality of friendship is also tested by the confidence and the communion which it extends to the friend. Jesus puts His Spirit into us, and He unites us to Himself. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear

Him, and He will show them His covenant; He reveals Himself to them, as He said–I will come to you, and I will manifest Myself to you.

3. But the reality of friendship is further evidenced by the sympathy that it is manifest, in the hour of trial and affliction. That man is not worthy to be my friend, who can be unaffected in my grief, a friends heart should throb with every throb of my heart, and thrill at whatever thrills mine. And where is friendship so real as Christs? In all the afflictions of His people, He is afflicted; He is touched with the feeling of their infirmities; Let not your heart be troubled.

4. It is a further proof of friendship, that the faithful friend will rebuke as well as commend, It is a rare quality, even in Christian friendship; in the friendship of the world, it is hardly known. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. But what friendship gives proof of faithfulness, in comparison with that of Christ? Look at His treatment of Simon Peter.

II. ITS EXCELLENCY.

1. What friend can we find so disinterested as Christ? Without disinterestedness, friendship is a mockery. The man who loves me for some selfish end is not my friend–he is his own. A friend is one who loves my soul, loves me for myself, and would love me forever! He does not love me for what I have, but for what I am. So Jesus loves us. He came to demonstrate His friendship towards us when we were enemies.

2. When shall we find a friend so able as Christ? The love of an earthly friend, however sincere, is often impotent; but there is a Friend sticking closer than a brother, who knows no perplexity of ours which He cannot resolve–no conflict which He cannot comprehend and sustain under–no tempestuous surges to which He cannot speak the word–Peace be still–no extremity of poverty, or desolation, or bereavement, to which He cannot say, Weep not, and the tear shall be staunched. With Christ as my Friend, if I have the universe for my foes, I smile at them all.

3. There is no friend so faithful as Christ. Faithfulness is the crown of friendship. He whom no slight occasion of offence can alienate, whom no infirmities can revolt, whom no outward circumstances can wean, who loves me in poverty as in wealth, in reproach as in renown, in sickness as in health, in death as in life; He is a friend indeed. There are few such, however, to be found. But where Jesus loves, He loves forever. He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Canon Stowell.)

Christians the friends of Christ

I. A FEW EXPLANATORY REMARKS CONCERNING THIS FRIENDSHIP.

1. It is really friendship, consisting, not of kindly feelings only, such as we bear towards our ordinary acquaintance, but of a cordial heart-warm love, like that which we have felt towards a few select individals only.

2. It is mutual between our Lord and His people. It is not all on His side, nor all on theirs. To constitute friendship there must be reciprocity. The hearts of Christ and His people are knit together in love.

3. It is His true disciples only who are admitted to His friendship. He has compassion and kindness for all. But still His kindness, great and tender as it is, is not His friendship. He wept over Jerusalem, the city of His enemies–there was His compassion: He has only His dear, faithful disciplesaround Him, when He says here, Ye are My friends.

4. This friendship does not set aside the relation of Master and servant existing between our Lord and His people (Joh 15:14). Spiritual privileges, however high, never alter our obligations. They never put us out of our proper places, nor remove the exalted Jesus from His.

5. This friendship is in truth a friendship between us and God. It begins with Christ; but it does not terminate with Him. All the love of the Father dwells in Him and embraces us as soon as Christs love embraces us, and soon too we discover this and joyfully embrace the Father in our love. It takes in His Divine nature as well. Truly our fellowship is with the Father, etc.

II. THE GROUNDS OF IT. All these may be comprehended in one word–grace; yet we may trace it still to intermediate things, themselves the fruits of this grace.

1. To mutual knowledge.

(1) I know My sheep, and am known of Mine. Christ knows their persons, peculiarities, all that can be known of them; all they are to be to Him; and thus, knowing them, He fixes His love on them, draws them to Him, makes them His friends.

(2) And there is a knowledge too of Him on their side: Whom having not seen ye love. The Holy Spirit opens the sinners eyes to behold Christ, discovers to Him the glory of His character and the amiableness of it, and enables him to see and feel how worthy Christ is in Himself of His love. They that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee.

2. Congeniality. Men may be perfect opposites; but let there be a real friendship between them, and we know that there is much that is common between them. So wherever there is friendship between the soul and Christ, a conformity to Christ has been wrought in that soul. Without it Christ might love the soul with a love of compassion, but not with a love of complacency. And the soul could have without this a little of what we call gratitude, but gratitude is not friendship. The soul must begin to love what Christ loves, to have the same mind that is in Christ and the same heart–then the soul lays hold with its affections on the Saviour and true friendship between them begins.

3. A mutual power of conferring pleasure. I love the man who in any way contributes personally to my happiness, and I love him the most who contributes most to my happiness. Now the Lord Jesus contributes to the happiness of His people. He is precious to their soul, because He is even now their souls satisfaction and rest. On the other hand, the Lord taketh pleasure in His people. His delights are with them. He rejoices over them, as a father rejoices over a recovered child, or as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride. And this joy, strange as it may seem to us, can be partly explained. What constitutes the Divine happiness? The exercise of the Divine love, and with it the exercise and enjoyment of the other Divine perfections. And where does God so exercise His love, so call into action and display His perfections, as in His people? in their salvation pardon, sanctification, and final blessedness?

III. ITS PROOFS.

1. He has made a great sacrifice for His people (Joh 15:13).

2. He admits His people to His confidence.

3. On our side we should obey His commands (Joh 15:14). C. Bradley, M. A.)

Christ a friend

Jonathan Edwards when he came to die, his last words, after bidding his relations good-bye, were–Now where is Jesus of Nazareth, my true and never failing Friend? and so saying he fell asleep.

The service of friendship

I. CHRISTS SERVICE IS A SERVICE OF FRIENDSHIP.

1. The relation between the Lord and His people is that of Master and servants; but the perfect bond of that relation is love to His person.

(1) These disciples had hitherto been servants, whose awful sense of their Lords dignity had never yet been quickened into the ardour of personal devotion that He desired. Henceforth–after they had received into their inmost souls the self-sacrifice of Christ in laying down His life for them–they added perfect love to perfect homage. Servants they termed themselves to the end; but from that time one spoke for the rest the common sentiment, We love Him, for He first loved us.

(2) In every Christian there is the same henceforth. Until the hour of the manifestation of the personal Saviour comes, we can neither perfectly love nor serve Him. But when the Son of God is revealed in us, then, Whether we live we live unto the Lord, etc. The love of God is then shed abroad in our hearts.

2. Our interest in the Saviours work is when made perfect that of friendship. He shares His counsels with us, not as being His servants only, but as being His friends.

(1) Before the henceforth the disciples thought of His work was that of servants who know not what their Lord doeth. When He spoke to them of the vast designs He came to accomplish, they were like men that dreamed. When, however, He had died, and the Holy Spirit shed His light upon the Redeemers passion, their minds entered into the infinite Secret and made it their own.

(2) This is, in a sense, the dignity and privilege of all believers. They enter into the fellowship, not only of the Saviours death and resurrection, but of His government also. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do expresses the spirit of our Lords dealings with His friends. His language is not Go and do this for Me, so much as Come and let us do it together.

3. The principle that animates true Christian service is that of the truest love.

(1) These disciples before that henceforth had done their Masters will from a lower impulse: sometimes from fear, ambition, or reward. What shall we have? But when they went forth to their duty after the baptism of Pentecost, we trace no other constraint but that of love.

(2) And so it is with us if our devotion is made perfect. We are indeed servants still; but the commanding energy of duty is always and only love.

II. The counterpart of this truth. Their friendship must not degenerate into licence or presumption: it must be the FRIENDSHIP OF SERVICE. He who knew what was in man knew what would be the danger of His friends; and with exquisite tenderness shows what their peril would be and how they should effectually guard against it.

1. There is an everlasting distinction between the Redeemer and His people in their mutual friendship.

(1) This word in the language of men implies, generally speaking, a certain equality, and thus it is in some affecting respects between Christ and His friends. But still the eternal distinction remains. He chose us. Though in His union with our humanity, He is one with our race. He never ceases to be God. Though He came down from heaven to make us His friends He is still the Son of Man which is in heaven. Hence the profound reverence which is stamped on their every allusion to His person. He called them not servants: they called themselves by no other name.

(2) In this they are examples to us. We must enter into their feelings of reverence, while cherishing the warmest personal love towards Him. He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him. Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well: which reminds us that we say well when we keep our language free from endearing epithets.

2. As on the one hand our interest in Christs work must be that of friends, so on the other we must remember that we are entirely dependent on Him for the best ability in His service. Human friends are mutually serviceable; but in this heavenly relation we have nothing that we did not receive. Without Me ye can do nothing. I can do all things through Christ.

3. The Lord guards our sentiments of love and delight in His service by the solemn intimation that His disciples are under probation for the blessedness of His present and final friendship (Joh 15:14).

Conclusion: The two leading terms of the text point to two prevalent errors in religion.

1. There is a religion which is a service without love, which regards the Lord as only an austere man.

2. There is also a religion which is too full of a baseless confidence in Christ. (W. B. Pope, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 15. Henceforth I call you not servants] Which he at least indirectly had done, Joh 13:16; Mt 10:24-25; Lu 17:10.

I have called you friends] I have admitted you into a state of the most intimate fellowship with myself; and have made known unto you whatsoever I have heard from the Father, which, in your present circumstances, it was necessary for you to be instructed in.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

By his saying, I call you not servants, he doth not discharge them of that duty and service which they owed to him; for in pressing them to obey his commandments, he declares that duty they owed to him; he only showeth that they were no ordinary servants, but taken into a state of dignity, favour, and familiarity, beyond that of servants, and that he had not treated them like servants, but like intimate, familiar friends. For look as ordinary masters in the world communicate their counsels and whole heart to their friends, especially in things which are of any concern, or may be of any advantage for them to know and understand; whereas they keep themselves at a distance from servants, and they only know so much of their minds as is by them to be done in their masters service: so he had not only revealed to them their duty, what was to be by them done in his service, but had been more free, giving to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, as he told them, Mat 13:11; as well telling them his Fathers counsels on the behalf of them, and whatsoever he might communicate to them, as his Fathers will, what he would have them to do in obedience to his commandments.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15. Henceforth I call you notservantsthat is, in the sense explained in the nextwords; for servants He still calls them (Joh15:20), and they delight to call themselves so, in the sense ofbeing “under law to Christ” (1Co9:20).

the servant knoweth not whathis lord doethknows nothing of his master’s plans andreasons, but simply receives and executes his orders.

but . . . friends, for allthings that I have heard of my Father I have made known untoyouadmitted you to free, unrestrained fellowship, keeping backnothing from you which I have received to communicate. (CompareGen 18:17; Psa 25:14;Isa 50:4).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Henceforth I call you not servants,…. As they and the rest of the people of God had been, under the legal dispensation; for though they were children, yet differed nothing from servants; and were very much influenced and impressed with a servile spirit, a spirit of bondage unto fear, being kept under tutors and governors by a severe discipline; but now Christ being come in the flesh, and being about to lay down his life, and make reconciliation for them, henceforward he would not use, treat, or account them as servants:

for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; designs to do, or is about to do; he is not made privy to all his counsels and purposes; these are only opened to him as necessity requires; which was pretty much the case of the Old Testament church, who, comparatively speaking, were used as servants; and had not the knowledge of the mysteries of grace, and of the counsels of God, as they are now laid open under the Gospel dispensation:

but I have called you friends; that is, accounted, reckoned of them, used them as his friends and familiar acquaintance; whom he told all his mind unto, and would go on to treat them as such; by leading them more and more, as they were able to bear it, into the designs of his grace, and the doctrines of his Gospel: just as Abraham was called the friend of God, and proved to be so, by his not concealing from him the thing he was about to do:

for all things I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you; not all that he knew as the omniscient God, for there was no necessity that all such things should be made known to them; but all things which he had delivered to him as man and Mediator, by his Father, respecting the salvation of men; all things which he himself was to do and suffer, in order to obtain eternal redemption; and the whole of the Gospel, as to the essential and substantial parts of it, they were to preach; for otherwise, there were some things which as yet they were not able to bear, and were reserved to another time, to be made known unto them by his Spirit.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

No longer (). As he had done in 13:16. He was their Rabbi (John 1:38; John 13:13) and Lord (13:13). Paul gloried in calling himself Christ’s (bond-slave).

Servants (). Bond-servants, slaves.

I have called you friends ( ). Perfect active indicative, permanent state of new dignity. They will prove worthy of it by continued obedience to Christ as Lord, by being good . Abraham was called the Friend of God (Jas 2:23). Are we friends of Christ?

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Henceforth – not [] . Rev., better, no longer. No longer servants, as you were under the dispensation of the law. Compare Gal 4:7.

Servants [] . Strictly, bond – servants.

Knoweth not [ ] . Has no instinctive perception. See on 2 24. You. The position of the pronoun in the Greek is emphatic : “You I have called friends.”

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1 ) “Henceforth I call you not servants; (ouketi lego humas doulous) “I no longer call you slave servants,” or vassels who must obey without reason, as an hireling (without sympathy) obeys a despotic master. Progressively He addressed His maturing disciples as 1) First, Servants. 2) Second, Friends, Joh 15:15; Joh 15:3) as Brethren, Joh 20:17; Heb 2:11.

2) “For the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: (hoti ho doulous ouk oiden ti poiei autou ho kurios) “Because the slave-servant of the despot knows not what his lord does:” It is his “to do or die.” He questions not his master about anything.

3) “But I have called you friends;” (humas de eireka philous) “However I have called you all friends,” comrades who are hereafter to carry on my work. And I have promised that you would have a comforting, understanding, compassionate paraclete helper, the Holy Spirit, not a despotic slave master with a rod over you, Joh 14:16-18; Joh 16:7; Joh 16:13-15.

4) “For all things that I have heard of my Father,” (hoti panta ha ekousa para tou patros mou) “Because all things which I heard from my Father,” that He desired you all to know, to be, and to do, Mat 20:25-28; Joh 20:21; Act 1:8.

5) “I have made known unto you.” (egnorisa humin) “I have disclosed to you all,” Jesus trusted His disciples, as He expected them to trust Him, for all their needs, as they went forth into all the world to do His work, Mat 28:18-20; Pro 3:5-6; Luk 24:46-49.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15. Henceforth I will not call you servants. By another argument he shows his love toward the disciples, which was, that he opened his mind fully to them, as familiar communication is maintained among friends. “I have condescended,” he says, “far more to you than a mortal man is wont to condescend to his servants Let this be regarded by you, therefore, as a pledge of my love toward you, that I have, in a kind and friendly manner, explained to you the secrets of heavenly wisdom which I had heard from the Father.” It is indeed a noble commendation of the Gospel, that we have the heart of Christ opened (so to speak) in it, so that we can no longer doubt of it or perceive it slightly. We have no reason for desiring to rise above the clouds, or to penetrate into the deep, (Rom 10:6) to obtain the certainty of our salvation. Let us be satisfied with this testimony of his love toward us which is contained in the Gospel, for it will never deceive us. Moses said to the ancient people,

What nation under heaven is so highly favored as to have God near to them, as God talked, with you this day? (Deu 4:7.)

But far higher is the distinction which God hath conferred on us, since God hath entirely conveyed himself to us in his Son. So much the greater is the ingratitude and wickedness of those who, not satisfied with the admirable wisdom of the Gospel, fly with proud eagerness to new speculations.

All that I have heard from my Father. It is certain that the disciples did not know all that Christ knew, and indeed it was impossible that they should attain to so great a height; and because the wisdom of God is incomprehensible, he distributed to each of them a certain measure of knowledge, according as he judged to be necessary. Why then does he say that he revealed all things ? I answer, this is limited to the person and office of the Mediator. He places himself between God and us, having received out of the secret sanctuary of God those things which he should deliver to us — as the phrase is — from hand to hand. Not one of those things, therefore, which related to our salvation, and which it was of importance for us to know was omitted by Christ in the instructions given to his disciples. Thus, so far as he was appointed to be the Master and Teacher of the Church, he heard nothing from the Father which he did not faithfully teach his disciples. Let us only have an humble desire and readiness to learn, and we shall feel that Paul has justly called the Gospel wisdom to make men perfect, (Col 1:28.)

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(15) Henceforth I call you not servants.Better, I call you no longer, or, I do not still call you, servants. (Comp. Joh. 14:30.) For the word servant, as applied to them, comp. Joh. 12:26; Joh. 13:13. It is used again in this discourse (Joh. 15:20), but with reference to an earlier saying. In Joh. 20:17, he calls them brethren. The word here rendered servant means literally bond-servant, slave. He will not apply this to them, but the foremost Apostles felt that His service was perfect freedom, and it became the common title which they applied to themselves. (Comp., e.g., Rom. 1:1; Jas. 1:1; 2Pe. 1:1; Rev. 1:1.)

For the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth.The part of the slave is mechanical obedience, without any principle of love between his master and himself. He knows nothing of the purpose or aim of his master, and although he sees the deeds which are done, he knows not what his master doeth. There is no occasion to read the word doeth as though it were will do (future), which has not unfrequently been accepted as the explanation.

For all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto youi.e., He had treated them as friends and sharers in their common work. He has revealed to them the character and attributes of the Father, and kept back from them no truth of which they could understand the meaning. There is no contradiction with Joh. 16:12. The reason He had not told them more was not on His part, but on theirs. They could not then receive more, but in the future He would by the Holy Spirit declare to them all truth.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. Call you not servants Though they still may serve him, yet he raises them above a mere servile relation. He calls them not servants to the denial of the more exalted union.

Servant knoweth not The servant, or slave, obeys without question the command he understands not. He is the tool of an arbitrary authority. But, to his friends, Christ has made known all things which the Father has revealed as the doctrines of salvation. Not absolutely all things, but all within the limits of their apostolate.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“I no longer call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you”.

It had been no accidental lapse, or careless slip of the tongue, that had made Him call them friends. He has treated them as friends, rather than as servants, because, instead of just asking for blind obedience, He has revealed to them God’s purposes. He has introduced them to the mysteries of God. What a privilege is this, to be party to the inner secrets of God. Because we are His friends God does not ask us to act blindly, but shows us what He is doing. The details may need working out, but the overall pattern is clear. He treats us not as servants but as friends. We are in it together. This is why we must be friends with each other, loving one another. Yet it was perfectly appropriate that Paul should term himself ‘the servant of Jesus Christ’. While we gladly accept the friendship of Jesus with wonder at the privilege, we must not presume upon it. We are still His servants. A servant can be a friend too, but he should not be presumptious.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The meaning of Christ’s friendship:

v. 15. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.

v. 16. Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you.

This new character of the disciples the Lord explains more fully. He makes the distinction between servants and friends. A servant does not know what his master is doing; He receives orders to carry out an allotted task, but has no idea what the object of the master may be in assigning it; he has no personal interest in his work. But the disciples of Jesus are from henceforth His friends; they are in His confidence, they are admitted to the inner circle of intimates, to His close companionship. The only name that will now fit them is that of friends, for the Master has revealed to them the secrets of the Father, His essence and especially His counsel of love for the salvation of mankind. This is such a great honor because there is no equality between Him and them, to begin with. Between men of equal rank, friendship springs up spontaneously. But in this instance it was pure grace and mercy on the part of Jesus which prompted Him to choose them. There was not the faintest idea in the mind of the believers to elect Christ as their Savior or to range themselves on His side. This choosing was done entirely by Him. Everything that is done by the believers in faith is the result of the gracious election of Christ. It is on that account that they have been set, appointed, for the purpose of going out, of showing themselves before the world and doing good works. And these fruits of their faith and election should not be passing and evanescent, but they should have a permanent, lasting value. As believing Christians they have that ability, and they should make use of the energy and power supplied to them by Christ through faith. And this, in turn, implies such a close intimacy with the Father that the believers freely bring their petitions and prayers before Him. They pray in the name of Jesus, trusting in His redemption, which has restored them into their rightful position as children of God, knowing that God will hear their prayer and give them the blessings which they are in need of. Christ and the Father are to the believers a constant source and fountain of spiritual strength. They owe everything that they are, that they have, and all the good they do, to Christ and to the love of Christ.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Joh 15:15. Henceforth I call you not servants; “Though the distance that is between you and me, and your obligations to obey me, might have warranted me to treat you as servants, and particularly to conceal from you my counsels and designs, I have not acted in this manner towards you; but I have treated you as friends use to be treated. I have admitted you into all the familiarities of friendship; for I have communicated to you, as far as was convenient, and as much as in your present circumstances you could bear, the most important of those gracious councils, which my Father has imparted unto me his eternal Son and most intimate counsellor. Nay, I have commissioned you to reveal them to the world, and have made you not only my friends, but my assistants in the great work of saving the world. From this consideration therefore, as well as out of gratitude to me, you ought to lay down your lives in the cause.” See the next note.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 15:15 . The dignity , however, which lies in this designation “friends,” was to become known to them.

] No more , as before (Joh 12:26 , Joh 13:13 ff.). No contradiction to Joh 15:20 , where Jesus does not anew give them the name of , but only reminds them of an earlier saying; nor with Luk 12:4 , where He has already called them friends, which, however, is also not excluded by the present passage, since here rather the previous designation is only indicated a potiori , and the new is intended in a pregnant sense, which does not do away with the objective and abiding relationship of the disciples, to be of Christ, and their profound consciousness of this their relationship (Act 4:29 ; Rom 1:1 ; Gal 1:10 ; Phi 1:1 , et al. ); as generally Christians are at once and (1Co 7:22 ), at once and yet His brothers (Rom 8:29 ), at once and yet His (Rom 8:16 ).

.] Although he is his lord.

] Not: what he intends to do (Grotius, Kuinoel, and several others), which is not appropriate in the application to Jesus, whose work was in full process of accomplishment, nay, was so near to its earthly consummation, but the action itself , whilst it is going on. The slave, although he sees it externally, is not acquainted with it , does not know the proper nature of the action of his master (comp. Xen. ep. i. 3), because the latter has not taken him into his confidence in respect of the quality, the object, the means, the motives, and thoughts, etc.; “servus tractatur ut ,” Bengel.

] Joh 15:14 . , . . .] does not refer to all the doctrinal teaching, nor again is it elucidated from the quite general saying, Joh 8:26 (Tholuck); and just as little does it require the arbitrary and more exact definition of that which is necessary to salvation (Calvin), of the principles (De Wette), of that designed for communication (Lcke, Olshausen), by which it is sought to avoid the apparent contradiction with Joh 16:12 ; but [167] it alludes to that which the Father has laid upon Him to do , as appears from the context by the correlation with , . . . He has made known to the disciples the whole saving will of God, the accomplishment of which had been entrusted to Him on His being sent from the pre-existent state into the world; but that does not by any means also exclude instructions standing in the context, which they could not bear at the present time, Joh 16:12 .

[167] This, at the same time, in answer to Beyschlag, p. 101, who considers a reference here to the pre-existent state as absurd. Comp. also against the same, Johansson, de Chr. praeexistentia , p. 14.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1696
CHRISTS FOLLOWERS HIS FRIENDS

Joh 15:15. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you [Note: See another Discourse on this text, made to illustrate a part of Claudes Essay. Claude, p. 43, in the fifth and improved edition.].

KNOWLEDGE of every kind is excellent and useful; but that of religion far transcends all other. Hence we are commanded to pay a peculiar respect to those who labour in the word and doctrine [Note: 1Th 5:12.]. Hence also our Lord himself, having revealed to his Disciples the whole will of God, adduces his fidelity in this respect as one of the strongest tokens of his affection for them.

I.

In what light Christ regards his followers

The state of believers under the Gospel differs widely from that of those under the Mosaic dispensation. They were in the condition of servants, but we of friends. Christ assures us that from henceforth his people should be regarded by him in that light.

He has taken away from us the yoke of the ceremonial law
[This was an exceedingly heavy burthen [Note: Act 15:10.]; but Christ has delivered his people from it [Note: Gal 5:1.]. He has imposed only two rites, and those easy and instructive [Note: Baptism and the Lords Supper.]: his service is perfect freedom [Note: 1Jn 5:3. Mat 11:30.].]

He has delivered us from a sense of guilt
[The offerings of a Jew afforded no assurance that God had accepted him [Note: Heb 9:9.]; they were rather so many remembrances of his sin [Note: Heb 10:1-3.]: but Christ has freed us from the pains of a guilty conscience [Note: Heb 10:14.].]

He has set us at liberty also from a servile spirit
[The Jews could not enter into the most holy place; none could go there but the high-priest, and he only on one day in the year, and then not without blood [Note: Heb 9:7.]: but now all believers are priests [Note: Rev 1:6.]. The vail which separated the most holy place was rent at the death of Christ [Note: It was rent in twain from the top to the bottom at the very time of the evening sacrifice, by means of which it was opened to the view of all the worshippers in the temple.]: all therefore may enter thither without fear [Note: Heb 10:19-22.].]

He has put us into the state of adult sons
[Believers under the law were like minors, or children under age [Note: Gal 4:1-3.]; but we are brought to the full possession of our privileges [Note: Gal 4:6-7.].]

Our Lord proceeds to prove his assertion:

II.

What evidence we have that he does so regard us

He still carries on the comparison between servants and friends. He points out one particular wherein he has eminently distinguished us, and exalted us above all the Jewish saints.
He has revealed to us the perfections of God
[These were but little known to the Jews; but Christ has more clearly revealed them. He has declared them to us in his discourses [Note: Joh 1:18.]: he has exhibited them in his life [Note: Heb 1:3.].]

He has shewn us the way of acceptance with him
[This was but obscurely shadowed under the law. Many even rested in the ceremonies themselves; but Christ has plainly declared himself to be the way to the Father [Note: Joh 14:6.]. He has expressly told us that we have acceptance through his blood [Note: Mat 20:28; Mat 26:28.].]

He has unfolded to us the privileges of Gods people
[The Jews were encouraged by temporal promises; but life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel. Christ has fully opened to us our present privileges [Note: Joh 14:23.], and our future prospects [Note: Joh 17:24.].]

He has made known all which he himself had heard of the Father
[At that time he had not absolutely revealed all [Note: Joh 16:12.]: but he had declared all which he had been commissioned to reveal, or was necessary for them to know; and he completed his revelation soon afterwards.]

This was a most undeniable evidence of his friendship
[Servants are not admitted to the secret views and designs of their masters; but Christ has made known to us all the mysteries of his Fathers counsels [Note: Col 1:26-27.]. What abundant evidence of his friendship does this afford!]

Infer
1.

How should we esteem the Holy Scriptures!

[It is by the Scriptures that Christ declares to us the Fathers will. In them therefore we see the strongest testimony of his love. The written memorials even of a creatures love are dear to us. Of what inestimable value then should we account the word of Christ! Let us regard it with the same affection as David did [Note: Psa 19:10.]: let it dwell richly in us in all wisdom [Note: Col 3:16.].]

2.

What love and honour should we shew to Christ!

[We should not consider him merely as a lord and master: we should rather view him as our dearest friend. Let us then delight ourselves in communion with him: let us open to him all our cares, wants, fears, &c.: let us give him that best proof of our regard, a willing and unreserved obedience [Note: Joh 15:14.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ver. 15. I call you not servants ] And yet it was the top of David’s titles, to be the servant of the Lord; and the height of his ambition, to be a doorkeeper in his house. All his servants are sons, and all his sons heirs.

But I have called you friends ] It was a high honour of old to be the king’s friend. Such honour have all his saints: Christ doth freely unbosom himself unto them.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Joh 15:15 . “Friends” who may expect all the good offices of their Friend, not “slaves,” is the character in which alone you can carry on my work: . The designation “slave” is no longer ( ) appropriate, cf. Joh 13:16 and Jas 1:1 , Phi 1:1 , etc. It is not appropriate, because “the slave knows not what his lord is doing,” he receives his allotted task but is not made acquainted with the ends his master wishes to serve by his toil (“servus tractatur ut ”. Bengel). He is animated by no sympathy with his master’s purpose nor by any personal interest in what he is doing. Therefore “friends” is the appropriate designation, , “but I have called you friends”. Schoettgen quotes from Jalkut Rubeni, 164, “Deus Israelitas prae nimio amore primo vocat servos, deinde filios, Deu 14:1 ”. Other remarkable passages on God’s calling the Israelites “friends” are also cited by him in loc . For the peculiar use of , cf. Joh 10:35 and 1Co 12:3 ; and for parallels in the classics, see Rose’s Parkhurst’s Lexicon . , . Jesus had opened to them the mind of the Father in sending Him to the world, and as this purpose of the Father had commended itself to Jesus, and fired Him with the desire to fulfil it, so does He expect that the disciples will intelligently enter into His purposes, make them their own, and spend themselves on their fulfilment.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Henceforth . . . not = No longer. Greek. ouketi, compound of ou.

servants = bondservants.

knoweth. App-132.

not. Greek. ou. App-105.

lord. Greek kurios. App-98.

of = with. Greek para. App-104.

have made known = made known (Aor.)

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Joh 15:15. , servants) So for instance He had called them, ch. Joh 13:16; Joh 13:13, The servant is not greater than His Lord: Ye call Me Master and Lord; and ye say well, for so I am. And the former sentiment is repeated in this chapter, at Joh 15:20, but in a milder tone.-, because) This particle being employed twice in this verse, renders the antithesis very beautifully striking.- , knows not) The servant is treated as a mere instrument, .-) What kind of thing, and for what cause.-, I have called you) just now, by a new appellation, Joh 15:13, and that appellation used in a more choice sense than in Luk 12:4, I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them, etc.; where there is no contrast intended, as here, of this appellation with the nomenclature of a servant.-, because) Comp. Gen 18:17, where God says, Shall I hide from Abraham [called peculiarly the Friend of God, Jam 2:23] that thing which I do? Psa 25:14, The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.- ) which I have heard, as things to be done by Me [Supply the latter clause from the previous, What His Lord doeth].

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 15:15

Joh 15:15

No longer do I call you servants;-The people of God under the Jewish dispensation had been servants. Only Abraham through faith had become a friend of God. But Jesus came to lift them out of their state of servitude and make them, as later revealed, children of God. [Greek, slaves, as in chapters 12:26; 13:13. There is no disagreement here with verse 20, or with the apostles afterwards calling themselves servants. He does not say they are not servants under solemn obligations to serve, but he calls them friends. Just as a master having great confidence in, and intense love for, a slave, might call him friend and treat him as such without for a moment weakening his claim upon him as a slave.]

for the servant-[Treated only as such.]

knoweth not what his lord doeth:-The master does not make known to the servants his plans. He commands what the servant must do.

but I have called you friends;-[I have treated you as friends-given you my confidence.]

for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known unto you.-To a friend he makes known his purposes, plans, and will, and advises with him. Jesus had treated them as friends in making known to them all the will and purposes of his Father. [See Mat 13:11. Not all absolutely, for there was still a great deal to be learned by them, but all that the most intimate friendship would demand up to that time; all that was proper to be communicated; for even to our friends we do not tell everything at once.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Henceforth

Progressive intimacy in John: Servants, Joh 13:13, Friends Joh 15:15, Brethren, Joh 20:17.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

I call: Joh 15:20, Joh 12:26, Joh 13:16, Joh 20:17, Gal 4:6, Phm 1:16, Jam 1:1, 2Pe 1:1, Jud 1:1, Rev 1:1

friends: Jam 2:23

all: Joh 4:19, Joh 17:6-8, Joh 17:26, Gen 18:17-19, 2Ki 6:8-12, Psa 25:14, Amo 3:7, Mat 13:11, Luk 10:23, Act 20:27, Rom 16:25, Rom 16:26, 1Co 2:9-12, Eph 1:9, Eph 3:5, Col 1:26, 1Pe 1:11

Reciprocal: Exo 33:11 – his friend Num 12:8 – dark speeches Deu 18:18 – he shall Deu 29:29 – secret Jdg 13:23 – he have showed 1Sa 9:27 – Bid the servant 1Sa 20:2 – show it me 1Ki 1:27 – and thou 1Ki 4:5 – the king’s 2Ki 4:27 – hid it from me 2Ch 6:16 – keep 2Ch 9:2 – all 2Ch 20:7 – thy friend Job 15:8 – the secret Pro 3:32 – his Pro 18:24 – there Son 1:9 – O my Son 5:1 – friends Isa 41:8 – my friend Isa 48:6 – showed Jer 23:18 – counsel Dan 2:23 – and hast Mat 20:17 – took Luk 8:9 – What Luk 8:21 – My mother Joh 3:32 – what Joh 5:20 – and showeth Joh 8:26 – and I Joh 12:49 – General Joh 16:12 – yet Joh 16:23 – ask Rom 1:1 – a servant 1Co 2:16 – But Heb 1:2 – spoken

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

FRIENDS OF JESUS

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.

Joh 15:15

He calls us not servants, but friends. Now, upon this many things must follow. We would name but three.

I. It involves a prayerful study of the Word of God.All things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you is a definition of the Bible which should make us realise its depth and length. It is only as we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest its truths, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as plainly promised as He is necessary, that we enter into the mind of the Lord. He searcheth, let us search with Him, the deep things of God (1Co 2:10).

II. It involves comfort in the manifold trials and circumstances of life.It would be untrue to say that in all these we see exactly and plainly the why and the wherefore. We are called sometimes to walk in the dark. We walk by faith, not by sight (2Co 5:7). But He Who has permitted us to know His great purposes of love and mercy in a thousand other things, may well call on us to know that the same love and the same mercy underlie the things not seen.

III. He that hath friends must show himself friendly (Pro 18:24).These whom their Lord was henceforth to call His friends, a few hours later, all forsook Him and fled. One of them, with oaths and curses, denied that he knew Him at all, and, sitting in the seat of the scornful, looked on while his Friend was abused and ill-treated. Are not we oftentimes verily guilty concerning our Friend? Let the love of Christ henceforth be more a constraining power in our lives.

Prebendary W. E. Burroughs.

Illustration

One grey winters afternoon two men were walking across a Scotch moor, with the eight-year-old daughter of one of them. The child was the close friend and constant companion of her father. Whenever it was possible she shared his rambles, entering with child-like zest into his interests and pursuits. Their path that day led towards a pine forest of considerable dimensions. Its recesses were sombre and cool even in the brightest summers day. Now they were cold and dark, and the wintry wind sighed through the branches. One, the stranger, felt instinctively the influence of the gloom which they were about to penetrate, and when they had proceeded some yards along the forest path he said to the child, now quite invisible by her fathers side, Marjorie, are you not afraid in this great, dark wood? Quick and clear and steady came the reply, Oh no, I am not afraid. Father knows the way; and he has got my hand. Did the pressure of each hand, the childs and the mans, tighten at those words, He knows the way? Often before had he led her along paths she knew not, but always led her right, always led her home. Scores of times had they walked and talked, heart to heart as well as hand-in-hand, and she could trust him now. She held him and he held her; and at last, unfearing, the child was brought from the gloom of the dark, dark path to the warmth and brightness and love of home.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

5

There were different kinds of servants in Bible times, and the distinction should be considered to avoid confusion. In the present passage the word is from DOULOS, and Thayer’s definition is, “A slave, bondman, man of servile condition.” Robinson comments on the word as follows: “In a family the DOULOS was one bound to serve, a slave, and was the property of his master, ‘a living possession’ as Aristotle calls him. . . . According to the same writer a complete household consisted of slaves and freemen. . . . The DOULOS therefore was never a hired servant.” It was in that view of the word that Jesus said he would not call his disciples his servants. The distinction is set forth by the confidential relation between Jesus and his religious household which was composed of his faithful disciples. A hired servant was not informed about the intimate affairs of his master, while Jesus wishes his disciples to know all about the things that pertain thereto. Of course this was especially true of the apostles, since the Master depended upon them to pass the information on to the unofficial household members.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

[But I have called you friends, for all things, etc.] thus is it said of Abraham the ‘friend of God,’ Gen 18:17.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Joh 15:15. No longer do I call you servants, because the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends, because all things that I heard from my Father I made known unto you. At chap. Joh 13:16 Jesus had spoken of them as servants; and (so closely connected with one another are the chapters which we are considering) we can hardly doubt that it is this very passage that He has now primarily in view. Then they had to learn the lesson of the foot-washing: now it is learned; and, animated by a self-sacrificing love like His, they are no longer servants but friends. In one sense, indeed, they would be always servants (comp. Joh 15:20), and in the other writings of the New Testament we see that even some of those now listening, as well as Paul, delighted to appropriate to themselves the title (2Pe 1:1; Rev 1:1; Rom 1:1, etc.); but that is not their only relationship to their Lord. Nor are the two relationships inconsistent with one another. Rather may we say that the livelier our sense of the privilege of friendship the deeper will be our humility, and that the more truly we feel Jesus to be our Lord and Master the more shall we be prepared to enter into the fulness of the privilege bestowed by Him. The evidence of this their state (or privilege) is given in the remainder of the verse. Jesus had kept nothing back from them of all that He their Lord was to do; He had revealed to them all the will of God, in so far as it related to H is Own mission and theirs for the salvation of men. This was what He heard from the Father, wits whose will His will was in such perfect unison that what He heard He did (comp. chap. Joh 5:30); and now, in the familiarity, the confidence, the fondness, of friendship He makes it known to them.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

By these words Christ declares the reason why he was pleased to change his stile, and call his disciples friends instead of servants: namely, because of his communication of secrets to them, which servants are not admitted to the knowledge of: Henceforth I call you not servants; that is, not mere servants: not that they were to be exempted from obedience: (for that is called for in the foregoing verse) but Christ treated them now with the kindness and familiarity of friends, being about to leave them, he unbosoms himself unto them, saying, All things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you.

Not as if Christ had communicated the infinite treasures of knowledge to them, which the Father had imparted to him: but he speaks here as the prophet of his Church, that as such he had revealed all things needful for them to know in order to salvation, all things belonging to their case and state; as a counsellor doth not impart all his knowledge to his clients; but all that is necessary for his client to understand and know, that he makes known unto him, relating to his own case.

Learn hence, 1. That all Christ’s disciples are his servants, and all his servants are his friends, in regard of intimate communion and tender usage: Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends.

And after his resurrection he called them brethren, Joh 20:17. The dignity of believers is a growing dignity, the longer they follow Christ, the higher privileges are indulged to them.

Learn, 2. That all the Father’s counsel concerning our salvation, and so far as it is needful and necessary for us to know, is faithfully revealed by Christ to his Church, he being constituted by God the Father to be the great prophet and instructor of it: All things that I have heard of the Father, I have made known unto you; that is, all things fit for them at present to know; namely, concerning his passion, resurrection, ascension, mission of the Holy Ghost, a future judgment, and the promise of eternal life.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Vv. 15 serves to prove the reality of this position of friends which He has given them. He has shown an unbounded confidence in them by initiating them unreservedly into the communications which His Father made to Him with relation to the great work in which He had called them to labor with Him. The master employs his slave without explaining to him what he intends to do. Jesus has communicated to them the whole thought of God with regard to the salvation in which they are to co-operate. No doubt there remain yet many things to teach them (Joh 16:12).

But, if He has not yet revealed these to them, it is not from a want of confidence and love; it is in order to spare their weakness and because only another can discharge this task. It has been objected to this (I no longer call you), that the address my friends is found in Luk 12:4, much earlier than the present moment; as if the tendency to make them His friends had not existed in Him from the beginning, and must not have manifested itself already on certain occasions! It has also been objected that the apostles continue to call themselves servants of Jesus Christ; as if, although it pleases the master to make the servant his friend, the latter were not so much the more bound to remind himself and others of his natural condition!

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

Verse 15

The servant knoweth not, &c. is not intrusted with a knowledge of his master’s designs.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

15:15 {4} Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

(4) The doctrine of the gospel, as it is uttered by Christ’s own mouth, is a most perfect and absolute declaration of the counsel of God, which pertains to our salvation and is committed unto the apostles.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes