David believed that sacrifice was not without price and Jesus, what have you done if you give to those who you know will pay you back.
Yes, Jesus says this.
In the light of this which is the greater love, one who dies for his friends or one who dies for his enemies,
Actually, Jesus died for the disciples who were His friends, plus for us who were His enemies. So, it is both.
Which is greater? I would say dying for enemies, but the same great Jesus died for both. And there is the investment > including why Jesus died for enemies . . . in order to get enemies adopted so they are no longer enemies. So, there is this great hope included in how Jesus so suffered and died for His enemies. Love
"hopes all things" (in 1 Corinthians 13:7).
If I die because I fall out of a tree while trying to get my friend's child's kite back, this might not be a great way of giving of my life for my friend. And dying this way for an enemy's child likewise might not be what Jesus means.
In the light of this which is the greater love, one who dies for his friends or one who dies for his enemies, and in light of your answer how is that relative to why Jesus said what was the greatest love?
Because one is giving all for someone else. So, of course, then, with what hope this is done is important.
But Jesus mainly was prepping them to appreciate how much Jesus would be loving them by dying for them. And Jesus dying like that was planned and had God's reasons; it was not just an empty sacrifice, but guaranteed God's results.
Also, it is possible to die in a way which is not in real love. And this would profit nothing, we can see through 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.
There are people who would die even for causes, but they are not loving people the way God desires. There even are ones who die because they feel no one cares about them or they feel they are a nuisance and a burden, and they suppose they are loving people, then, by dying. But if they die to self so they can find out how Jesus has us loving, they can do much better.
And Jesus did not die just so we can keep on living selfishly.
But there are ones who can give their lives in order to keep people alive in selfish living. Their death might be in vain, then. But Jesus died even for selfish people, but with the possibility that ones of us would repent and trust in Him and live and love in God's way.
Actually . . . though . . . if you die for a friend who is sure to benefit from your death, this might be better than dying for an enemy who will not benefit. Maybe, then, it is like giving a hundred dollars to a needy widow, versus giving a hundred dollars to a terrorist.