What did Jesus mean when He said, “If you love me keep my commandments”?

Answer

On the evening before His crucifixion, Jesus Christ delivered an extensive private lesson to His disciples. This discussion in the upper room occurs immediately after the Lord’s revelation that one of the disciples will betray Him, leading to Judas leaving the room. As part of His guidance, Jesus states, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” « If ye love me, keep my commandments. », (John 14:15, ESV). The clear message of the passage is that adhering to Christ’s directives is both an indication and a trial of our affection for Him.

The correlation between affection for Christ and compliance with His instructions is a recurring topic in the writings of the apostle John: “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and following His commands. Indeed, this is love for God: to observe His commands” (1 John 5:2-3). In the same discussion in the upper room, John cites Jesus reiterating, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:21;see also 15:14).

What does Jesus imply when He says, “Keep my commands?” Is Jesus indicating the observance of a set of regulations and laws like the Ten Commandments, or does He have a different intention? The terms John employs in the original language are not solely about obeying a sequence of moral instructions. These “commands” encompass all of Jesus’ teachings and words, which, essentially, are the words of God the Father: “Jesus answered, ‘Anyone who loves me will follow my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not follow my teaching. TThese words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me’” (John 14:23-24).

These commands involve the full scope of Christ’s revelation: “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word’” (John 8:31-37;see also John 12:44-50). Only those who believe and receive the truth of who Jesus is «Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. », (John 14:6) are set free and thus “hold to His teachings” or keep His commands. Praying to God His Father, Jesus says, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word” «I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. », (John 17:6).

Immediately after Jesus makes the statement “If you love me, you will keep my commands,” He says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” «And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,That He may abide with you forever; », (John 14:16, CSB). Jesus knows that keeping His commands in this fallen world will require a divine source of power in the form of the Holy Spirit’s presence living within us.

Thankfully, we have a model for loving Jesus and keeping His commandments: the love of Jesus Christ and His life of obedience to the Father «But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.», (John 14:31). Obeying Christ’s commands means emulating the example of Jesus (John 13:15-16). Loving Jesus is not merely a feeling; it is an active, abiding, ongoing relationship of following and obeying our loving Master: “We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands” «And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. », (1 John 2:3).