Laying down one’s life is the supreme test of love. Jesus is not saying that He will not lay down His life for His enemies; on the contrary. However, He is among friends and is therefore speaking only of friends.

As shown by (10:11, 1Jo 3:16; Ro 5:7-8) “Jesus gives everything, even life itself, for others. There is no greater proof of love.” (Morris) W.D. Davies notes that “the words of Jesus” . . . “are summed up in one commandment . . . which finds its connotation, primarily at least, not in what Jesus said, but in what he did, and especially in the Cross.” (qt’d in Morris)

John 10:11  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Romans 5:7-8  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.