The known world around Jerusalem and Israel in the first century was a conquered world. It all started with the Babylonians in circa 586 BC, followed by the Persians in circa 539 BC, the Greek’s in circa 332 BC, then the Roman Empire in circa 63 BC.

In the time of Jesus, under the Roman Empire, the common language in use was Koine Greek which was the “common” form of Greek spoken throughout the Mediterranean world at that time.

This was all part and parcel of God’s plan and provided a language which was intended to carry the gospel and the rest of the New Testament. Why was Greek so important? I will not pretend to be an expert in Greek, but I will say this: It is a beautiful and descriptive language where words carry such depth in themselves, often negating the need for adjectives. In English, we use adjectives to further describe and define nouns. In Greek, they use multiple words to define what we would use adjectives for.

Let me give you an example, the English word “love”:

Agāpe = Unconditional, sacrificial and volitional love.
Philia = Brotherly love, deep friendship, and affectionate regard.
Storgē = Natural, instinctual affection.
Erōs = Romantic, passionate, and physical love.

By digging deep into the meanings of the Greek, we can discover a depth to the New Testament that is, quite simply, tough to fully express in English without using a significant amount of words.

In John 14:15, Jesus says in the NIV: “If you love me, keep my commands.”

The original written Greek here says: “ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτέ με τηρήσετε ἐμὰς ἐντολὰς”, which transliterated (converted phonetically into our alphabet) is “ean agapate me tērēsete tas entolas”.

Let’s break these words down to their core meanings:

“ean” – A conditional particle used to express a hypothetical situation or requirement.
“agapate” – To love in a social or moral sense, denoting a deep affection or devotion.
“me” – The first-person singular personal pronoun used as the direct object.
“tērēsete” – To guard, watch over, or observe carefully as a duty or obligation.
“tas” – The definite article used here to identify the specific object belonging to the speaker.
“entolas” – An authoritative charge, injunction, or mandate given to be followed.

Using these core meanings, we can give depth to “If you love me, keep my commands” like this:

“If your love is an absolute devotion to me, then you will express it in your actions by living as obligated by, and carefully observing, those things that I have laid out for you to follow, placing me in the position of ultimate authority over you”.

Now, join this conditional “if” to verses 16 through 21:

(15) “If you love me, keep my commands.
(16) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—
(17) the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
(18) I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
(19) Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
(20) On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
(21) Whoever has my commands and keeps 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 show myself to them.”

John 14:15-21 NIV

Can you see the absolute depth of what is required of us by verse 15, so that we will receive the promise of verses 16-21? I pray that you can and that you will make it your life’s only goal to live out that commitment.