John 15:9-17 May 13, 2012 – Easter6Page | 1
John 15:9-17 (NIV84)
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.(NIV84)
Hi Kids,
If God loves you, raise your hand. He loves everyone and wants everyone to live forever with him in heaven. If Jesus has saved you by paying for all your sins, raise both hands. Yes, has died on a cross for all of us. Why did Jesus pay for all our sins? He loves us. We have a song that says this. Maybe you know it. If you do, sing it with me. [sing]
1. Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak, but He is strong.
[refrain] Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
2. Jesus loves me! He who died heaven's gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in. [refrain].
For the third verse, when we sing the “yes, Jesus loves me” part, we will ask everyone in church to sit it with us.
3. Jesus loves me! He will stay Close beside me all the way; Thou hast bled and died for me, I will henceforth live for Thee. [refrain]
Dear sinners redeemed by God because he loves you,
Today is a national day of celebration which was designated 1909 by congress. In the perspective of history, 1909 A.D. is recent. But “the highly traditional practice of honoring Motherhood is rooted in antiquity, and past rites typically had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones; societies tended to celebrate Goddesses and symbols rather than actual Mothers. The personal, human touch to Mother’s Day is a relatively new phenomenon. The maternal objects of adoration ranged from mythological female deities to the Christian Church itself. Only in the past few centuries did celebrations of Motherhood develop a decidedly human focus.” [Motherhood Central web page] But Jesus doesn’t give special honor to his mother. One time when Jesus was refuting the charges of driving out demons by the devil’s power, a woman in the crowd said, “(Luke 11:27–28) “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.””
Elizabeth recognized the specialness of Mary’s Son, “blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary humbly rejoiced in the privilege of being the vessel God chose to bring his Son into the world as the Savior. And certainly Jesus loved his mother. On the cross he made provision for her ongoing care upon his death and soon to come ascension. He said to John, “Son, behold your mother.” He said to Mary in reference to John, “Woman, behold your son.” But Jesus’ attention was focused on his heavenly Father who sent his Son and the assigned task to rescue the world from sin and death. This is clear in our Gospel reading, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you… just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love…. for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you…. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” From these facts we celebrate today and every day, JESUS LOVES ME WITH A LOVE LIKE GOD THE FATHER’S. How blessed we are personally because (1) Jesus calls me his “friend.” He (2) wants me to remain in his love as a friend and he (3) wants me to love you as a friend.
Jesus begins our section with “As the Father has loved me.” But what exactly is the Father’s love for Jesus? He asked his Son to step down from his heavenly throne and step into earthly life by being born into a no name working class family. He sent his Son to obey the commandments and fight the devil and temptation as a human being like we have to do, and not use his godly abilities. He asked his Son not to fry on the spot all who wouldn’t believe him, all who made fun of him. He asked his Son to let himself be put to death in a most dishonorable and most painful way –by crucifixion. What kind of person would look at this for his life and say, “My Father loves me?”
Jesus did. He knew the deep love God the Father has for mankind, the crown of his creation. He knew that his Father would always take care of him on earth and then return him to the heavenly glory once again at his right hand after Jesus had redeemed the world. Jesus knew and experienced the faithfulness that God can be depended on to show by keeping every promise he makes. The Father would not let his holy one see decay in the grave as the Son prophecies in Psalm 16. He would not abandon him to the grave, but would raise him to glory. He would bless the whole world through Jesus as he promised to Abraham. Jesus’ position as ruler over all creation as his kingdom forever is his crown of victory. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.”
The “you” is a plural as he speaks to his disciples and to the world. All people are included. For this reason we can make Jesus’ commitment personal, Jesus calls me his “friend.” In the Greek which John wrote, Jesus uses two different words which in English are often both translated as “love.” The love which Jesus received fromthe Father and showed to us is “agape.” It is a love which sees a person in some helpless predicament and fills that need even if the person doesn’t know he is in trouble, or won’t ask for help, or even rejects the help given. Knowing full well that the majority of humanity would reject the life and death of Jesus that redeems us, God still sent his Son to save all because he loves the world. Jesus also uses the word “philos” when speaking of Christians. This word is love that shows affection or back and forth interaction. Jesus calls us his “friend.”
Jesus shows me I am his friend in several ways. The greatest way is this, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This love we spent the season of Lent reviewing. We watched Jesus never get detoured from his journey that started at the cradle and ended at Calvary to rescue us from the eternal death we deserve for our sins. Jesus knew it would be hard and painful. He knew that the devil would pull all sorts of temptations from his bag of deceptions to try and stop him. And even when he was suffering all alone the full anger of God with all its intensity and punishment, Jesus didn’t give up. He made the full payment and confidently declared this with “It is finished!”
Jesus calls me his “friend,” not his “slave.” “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus spent 3 years teaching us what God wants us to know and to believe. He did it even on the cross assuring the repentant robber “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” and showing that he bore no malice by praying “Father, forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing.” God’s love and his actions that carry out that love are no secret. Little by little Jesus unfolded the plan to his disciples as they were able to grasp the information. Jesus told his disciples what was on his heart as he informed them of his upcoming death. And even when he told parables, Jesus was not intending to keep in the dark those who truly wanted to learn from him. We can say as a Christian, “Jesus calls me his ‘friend’.” The entire Bible was written so that we can know our “master’s business,” our heavenly Father’s will and work to bless us.
Jesus chose me because I couldn’t choose him as my Savior. My predicament was that I was by nature his enemy. I wanted only to fight against him because I was a soldier in the devil’s army. I hated his laws and rebelled constantly against everything associate with Jesus. He chose me because he wants me to live in glory with him in heaven. His purpose for me now is “to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”
Jesus wants me to remain in his love as a friend. This a Christian does by continuing to trust completely and continually every promise that God has made to me in the Bible. We also do it by keeping his commands. We have been created by God in connection with what Christ Jesus did “to do good works.” We were converted to believe in him so that we are a changed person with a new self who desires and is able to please God. The commandments show us what God calls “good.” And as we follow the commandments Christ’s “joy” is in us because Jesus rejoiced in doing what his Father asked him to do. When we follow the commandments, when we do what God wants for the reasons he gives, this pleases him. We rejoice when we receive our heavenly Father’s approval. And the more we obey God out of love for him and love for others, “my joy is filled up.” It will be full to the top the instant I enter heaven’s glory.
Twice Jesus commands us to “Love each other.” Once he adds “as I have loved you.” Jesus wants me to love you as a friend. Our Savior taught us to “store for yourselves treasures in heaven which will not spoil or fade.” Since we can’t take earthly possessions with us, Jesus is speaking about something else. He is talking about our Christian attitudes and the acts of love we did while traveling to heaven. Jesus chose us with the purpose that we would “go and bear fruit—fruit that will last,” the fruit that doesn’t spoil. Such fruit comes, Jesus says, “If you obey my commandments.” The word for “obey” means to stay focused on something and not let it out of your sight. God’s commands are always to be right in front of our eyes as our guide in all life choices. When we follow them, the devil can’t get us to sin. Instead of being at odds with God, we “remain in the Father’s love.” We can pray to the Father about anything and know that “the Father will give you whatever you ask in Jesus’ name,” that is, believing everything the Bible tells us about Jesus.
“Love each other.”This instruction includes our parents, other Christians, even our enemy. In the context of Jesus meeting with his 12 in the upper room on the night of his betrayal, arrest and desertion by all of them, our Savior is urging us to keep loving our fellow Christians even in each other’s weak moments. Forgiveness is a huge part of this love because that is what keeps us together. Without forgiveness sin would pull us apart just as without forgiveness our sin would keep us separated from God and eternal life. What joy each of us has because we know that JESUS LOVES ME WITH A LOVE LIKE GOD THE FATHER’S. Amen.