Jesus has previously demanded obedience from the disciples to show their love for Him (14:15, 21, 23), and now says the same thing about Himself in respect to His love for the Father. Even though this was a characteristic of his entire life (4:34), He is undoubtedly referring specifically to the cross. Note that Jesus never asks us to do something that He wouldn’t do Himself.

John 14:15  “If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 14:21  Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

John 14:23  Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 4:34  “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Even though the devil was coming and would accomplish his goal of killing Christ, the world would see and know that this was a voluntary action on the part of Jesus because He was submitting to the will of God for the sake of all mankind.

Some think that Jesus then left the room, and that the next three chapters of John’s Gospel contain matters spoken on the way to Gethsemane, but it is more likely that the words of these chapters were spoken in the upper room after they had risen from the table and prepared to depart, and that (John 18:1) is where they leave the upper room and go across the Kidron.

John 18:1  When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.