“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Christ holds Himself out as the pattern: He loved His people, and they must love each other. Love of God comes first in order, but the true proof of it is love toward our neighbors, which is why He dwells chiefly on this point.
AI summary
The Father loved Christ as Mediator and gave all things into His hand; Christ abode in that love by keeping His Father's commandments. As the Father has loved Him, so He loves us, and we abide in His love by keeping what He commands.
AI summary
Commenting on John 15:9-17
Greater love hath no man than this,.... By these words our Lord shows, how far love to another should extend, even to the laying down of our lives for the brethren; which is the highest instance of love among men; that a man lay down his life for his friends; and in which believers, should not come short of them; and also his great love...