In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
εν τουτω εγνωκαμεν την αγαπην οτι εκεινος υπερ ημων την ψυχην αυτου εθηκεν και ημεις οφειλομεν υπερ των αδελφων τας ψυχας τιθεναι
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He again turns to love and says that love inclined the Lord to lay down His soul for us. According to His example, we too must lay down our souls for the brethren. But since this is done rarely and by few, the Apostle begins with a lesser matter. As though putting the faithful to shame, he urges them toward brotherly love.
"By this we know love." He speaks of the perfection of love, of that perfection which we have praised before you. "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." From this come the words, "Peter, do you love Me? Feed My sheep" (see Jn 21:17). So that you may understand that the Lord wished Peter to feed His sheep in such a way that he would lay down his life for them, He immediately said to him, "When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish." "This He said," says the Evangelist, "signifying by what death he would glorify God" (Jn 21:18-19).
Thus He instructed the one to whom He said, "Feed My sheep," to lay down his life for his sheep. Where does love begin, brethren? Give a little more attention. You have already heard what it is in its perfection. The Lord Himself in the Gospel presents this fullness and measure of love to our attention: "Greater love has no one," He said, "than that he lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Thus in the Gospel He showed the perfection of love, and here its perfection is praised. But perhaps you ask yourselves and say, "When will we be able to have such love?" Do not hasten to despair of yourself. Perhaps it has already been conceived in you, but has not yet become perfect. Nourish it, so that it does not wither. But you will say, "How shall I know this?" We have already learned what it is in perfection. Now let us hear where it begins. Elsewhere: "And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Are you ready, O man, to die for Christ?
Taking one's neighbor upon oneself out of love is what the Lord Jesus handed down to us in every way. First He healed our infirmities of soul, then "healed every disease and every sickness." He took away the sin of the world, renewing and purifying the nature of those who firmly believe in Him. He granted them deliverance from death. He bequeathed worship of God and taught piety. He showed that for the sake of love we must suffer evil even to death. To this He also gave us patience through participation in the Spirit, and the future good things "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man" (1 Cor 2:9). Therefore He accepts temptations for us. He endures reproaches, mockery, bonds, betrayal, blows on the cheeks, vinegar and gall to drink.
He is nailed with nails, crucified, and pierced with a spear. Having thus united Himself with us in flesh and spirit, and having accepted sufferings for us, He then handed down this law to the holy Apostles and disciples, prophets, fathers, and patriarchs. Some He first taught by the Holy Spirit. To others He showed it in His most pure Body. Revealing this taking upon Himself, He said, "Do not fear; I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33). Likewise, "For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth" (Jn 17:19). And again, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Therefore Saint Paul also, imitating the Lord, said, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and in my flesh I fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for His Body, which is the Church" (Col 1:24). He was mysteriously pointing to taking another upon oneself in love. Do you want to know more clearly how all the Apostles, in thought, word, and deed, entered into communion with us and, through this communion, bore temptations for us? They did this in thought by setting forth the Scriptures for us, bringing forward prophecies, and exhorting us to believe in Christ as Deliverer. They assured us that we must serve Him as Son of God by nature, praying for us, shedding tears, and doing everything the faithful can do in thought. In words, they entreated us, warned us, taught us, rebuked us, reproached us for little faith, and censured our ignorance. They explained the Scriptures, revealed the time, confessed Christ, and preached that He was crucified for us. They affirmed that the Word who became man is one and not two, although we understand Him as consisting of two natures, united without division and without confusion. In every time, place, and deed they cut off false belief. They did not agree with falsehood, nor converse with those who boasted according to the flesh. They did not remain with the vainglorious. They did not fear the proud. They abased the evil one, received the humble, made the pious their own, and taught us to do the same. In deeds, they suffered for us by being persecuted, mocked, deprived, insulted, afflicted, cast into prisons, killed, and things like these. Thus, having entered into communion with us, they also accepted our temptations. For they say, "If we are afflicted, it is for your salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort." They received this law from the Lord, who said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). They also handed the same down to us, saying, "As He laid down His life for us, we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 Jn 3:16). And again, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2).
But since love may have its degrees and its limits, room is given for the question: what must that love be which constitutes the true fruit of gracious regeneration? The Apostle answers this question: "By this we have known love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." From this we see that the Christian, in the work of love as in all his other deeds, must imitate his Founder of the contest, the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave Himself over to death for the salvation of the world. We likewise must sacrifice ourselves, if this is necessary for the salvation of our neighbors.
“We ought to lay down our souls for the brethren.” In opposition to those who hate their neighbors and become murderers, the Apostle points to the example of Jesus Christ. Out of love for men, He laid down His soul, that is, His life, for them. By this example, the Apostle also urges men toward the same love. He who loves his neighbors not only does not take life from them, but lays down his own life for his neighbor.
Having pointed to the supreme significance of mutual love for one's neighbor, in contrast to hatred, the Apostle points to the supreme example of love which all believing Christians must imitate. This is the love of the Lord Christ, who laid down His life for all men. "By this we have known love," and so forth: we, first of all His disciples and Apostles, who saw Him and associated with Him (1 Jn 1:1-3). Then we, all who have believed in Him and received the preaching about Him. We all have known by faith and by the inner experience of spiritual life. We have known love in this, that He laid down His life for us. To lay down or give up one's life means to die, as if offering oneself in sacrifice for another (Jn 10:17-18; Jn 15:13).
Just as the Lord Himself laid down His life, or died on the Cross, offering Himself in sacrifice for all, so the Christian must be ready for the same self-denial, following in Christ's steps. It is self-evident that a Christian must be ready to die for his neighbor only when his duties require it. These duties are conditioned both by his own position and by the position of his neighbor. "We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren": as the absence of love for a brother gives birth to malice and hatred and leads to murder, so Christian love nourishes such benevolence toward him that it makes one ready to die for him. This already signifies the highest degree of love, according to the word of Christ Himself (Jn 15:13).
The degree to which the love of the children of God for their neighbors must extend (1 Jn 3:16-18). It must extend to laying down their life for them. Just as "He," Christ, "laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 Jn 3:16-18). But since this is done rarely, blessed Theophylact observes, the Apostle, as if putting the faithful to shame, begins with a lesser exhortation to brotherly love. "But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 Jn 3:17). The Apostle speaks as if to say: why speak of laying down one's life for a brother, when we see that people do not satisfy their brothers in what is necessary for life (Theophylact)?
Since many still claim that they love their neighbors, the Apostle considers it necessary to add the following appeal: "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 Jn 3:18).
To show how high and immeasurably great is the abyss between those who live by hatred, and therefore are always ready for murder, and Christians who live by true love, the Apostle John points to the fundamental example through imitation of which we must learn love. This instructive example is that Christ laid down His life for us. From this it is clear that we too must always be ready to lay down our life for others. How clearly this reminds us of the Savior's word: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). Expressing such readiness to lay down his life for others, the Apostle Paul says, "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren" (Rom 9:3). Many other saints have shown similar examples of love for others. Self-denial in general is the essence of Christian love.
John also teaches us to lay down our soul for the brethren, and all the more for the Lord.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 22 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS