The greatness of Christ's love for his disciples is seen in the comparison: "As the Father has loved me." They must make sure that this love for them continues. The observance of his Commandments, which is the real proof of that union of wills called love, will ensure the permanence of Our Lord's good pleasure towards them, just as in Jesus's own obedience the Father always acknowledged his beloved son. Jesus has spoken these words so that he may have the joy of the vine in its branches, and that the branches may have the full joy of abundant and precious fruit.
Jesus therefore is here reducing all his commands to one which includes all: "Love one another as I have loved you." The standard is Jesus's own love, and the measure is that 'greater' and greatest measure of generosity which will make one ready to sacrifice life itself on behalf of one's 'friends', who in this context also include one's enemies, even those who do not return one's love.
Furthermore the proof of genuine friendship with him, who is Lord and Master, is conformity of will in obedience. Servants are given orders, but are often not given reasons; friends are treated as intimates and admitted to the master's secrets. So Christ made known to his disciples all that he heard, as man and teacher, from the Father.
Most characteristic of all, his love for his disciples, was totally gratuitous. He chose them, not they him. This choice is brought back once more to the allegory of the vine: "I have appointed you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain." Thus, as we know, the apostolic tendrils of the true vine were to propagate the growth of salvation to the ends of the world. Such fecundity is not the result of natural activity, but of prayer drawing everything from the Father in the name of Jesus.
This exhortation about love is considered the heart of Jesus's teaching, certainly in John's Gospel. Love for others is here grounded in God's love for Jesus and in Jesus's resulting love for us. It is a profound message, one that we have heard again and again. It may have become so familiar that we slip over its obvious meaning without considering some of its most challenging implications.
It is the love that Jesus showed to others that offers us a glimpse of God's love. Jesus's love embraced all the people he met, those who accepted him and those who did not. His entire life revealed God's universal, unselfish, merciful love. As Christians, we know that in our lives there are genuine religious, ethnic and political differences that separate and often alienate us from others. But today's Gospel message clearly insists that we love these others as Jesus has loved us.
This, then, is the radical challenge facing us today. We cannot merely rest secure in our belief that 'God is love'. Jesus calls us to live out this conviction in a world that is so burdened with conflict and strife, with jealousy and hatred, with selfishness and indifference. It is our vocation as Christians to be messengers of love, keeping always in mind that, as Blaise Pascal has written, "while divine things must be loved to be known, human beings must be known to be loved".