Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.
Parallel translations
- WEB Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
- KJV Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
- BSB Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
- NKJV Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
- NLT There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The greatest love is to lay down one's life for one's friends. Jesus points to the supreme love He is about to show at the cross.
Overview
Jesus names sacrificial self-giving as love's highest expression, anticipating His own death. While He dies for His 'friends,' Scripture elsewhere shows He died even for enemies, magnifying His grace. The cross is the definitive demonstration of this love and the pattern believers are called to imitate in their love for one another.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- John 10:11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
- Eph 5:2Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
- Rom 5:6–8For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
- John 10:15even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
- 1 Jn 4:7–11Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 15:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.