John 15:9-17 Bible Teaching

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So last week we embarked on our verse by verse study of John chapter 15 – beginning with the first eight verses.

There Jesus taught an illustration we refer to as the vine and the branches.

In this teaching Jesus speaks all about fruit – branches bearing fruit as they are tapped into the vine.

We learn that in the mature Christian life the importance of bearing fruits of love cannot be over emphasized, that this is the purpose for Christian living – to bear fruits of love because this is what glorifies the Father.

Having taught this principle through the illustration Jesus launches into more direct teachings and they are ALL about love. Read with me our text beginning at verse 9. Consider the number of times He mentions love while I read:

John 15.17
January 4th 2015
Milk

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

All right quite a bit to cover so back to verse 9.

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”

The love of the Father toward his only-begotten Son is the highest affection of which we can conceive.

Because we are human we understand some of this relationship with God being the Father and sending His own Son into the world.

But we have to ask, with scripture describing God as invisible, a consuming fire, love, light and all things good without shadow or darkness, we have to note that there are differences (at least in intensity) between the love God the Father has for His Son and the love human parents have for their children.

The notion opens us up to all SORTS of issues which we won’t get into here like freewill (why would the Father love the Son if the Father was forcing the Son to do everything that He chose to do, etc., etc.)

But for me, when Jesus tells the disciples that the Father loves the Son we have some choices on how to see this relationship:

First, that the Father loves the Son like a Father loves a literal son as Jesus is the literal Son of the Father from eternity.

Or, that the Father loves the Son because as a human being Jesus always chose to honor and obey and seek the Father.

Or possibly, that at the incarnation God, sending, His fire and light into human flesh, became a Father to a Son and loved Him as He was the only Son that the Father had or would ever have.

Scholars have tried to tell us how to see this but I am not so sure I get it or accept it.

What we can accept fully is there is a Father, there is a Son and however they were Father and Son the Father loved the Son.

I think we can also say that the Father loved the Son because the Son was truly from Him, and truly did what He would do.

He was pleased with His Son Jesus. He loved His ways. He loved His person and His righteousness.

All of the characteristics that the Son possessed could be subscribed under one general category – perfect love.

He had perfect love for God and perfect love for Man –fulfilling the Law.

In and through the life He lived we see the love played out – and from this we are able to see what the love of God actually looks like, can’t we?

So when it comes to bearing fruit (as branches extending out from Him) we have a ready reference (an example) where we can see how the fruit we bear measures up to the fruit the Son produced while on earth.

In His love for the Father Jesus was . . .

Righteous and without sin. (of course we fail this which is why He came, but we can see that out of love for God He was righteous.)

He did what the Father told Him to do so He was obedient to His commands.

He always gave God the glory and assigned all recognition and honor to Him and never to Himself.

When He spoke He only said what the Father told Him to say, right? Got all that?

In His relationship to the world He showed love for the Father by . . .

Not making it His focus.
Suffering in it.
Refusing to partake in its advantages.
And having no part with its prince.

Then in His relationship of love for Man we know He

Served
Taught
Healed
Shared the notions and revealed the Father
Prayed over
Forgave
Provided for it
Gave His life
Died for it

Got all that?

So here in verse 9 Jesus says to the disciples:

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”

And we discover a hierarchy, an order if you will..

The Father loved Jesus and Jesus loved them (and us). It’s like Jesus is saying, “AS the Father has looked down from on high and loved me, His only begotten Son, who He sired by and through the Holy Spirit, so do I love you whom I have sired by my shed blood and the Spirit.”

Now “continue in my love.”

“I have loved you as my Father has loved me now continue (to abide and thrive) in this love.”

Why this command?

Because when we “continue in His love” we will be equipped to continue to love others – and bear the fruit He was describing in the first eight verse.

“Remember and recall how I have loved you. I am about to lay my life down and die. Remember how I have loved you. How I taught you. How I nurtured you as my own. Continue in this love and you will be capable of shedding and spreading this same love to others.”

His love for them was unchanging – so our love for others will be the same – it is unconditioned, it never stops giving and forgiving.

His love was self-sacrificial so will ours when evinced in the most heightened states.

His love worked – it labored, it provided, it served – so will ours toward others.

(beat) there have been some excellent thinkers on the nature of this love which contribute some interesting observances – Rollo May, Eric Fromm.

Fromm say this about love:

“Can one have love? If we could love would need to be a thing, a substance that one can have, own and possess. The truth is there is no such THING as love. Love is an abstract, perhaps a goddess or an alien being, although nobody has ever seen this goddess. In reality there exists on “the act of loving.” To love is to produce activity. It implies caring, knowING (which comes by action) responding, affirming and even enjoING.”

In opposition to all that romance writers, singer/songwriters and Hollywood producers suggest, love is ONLY understood or seen as a verb, an action or an act.

The more SELFLESS the act, the less SELFISH the action, the more real love is known and observed.

Forgiving is an act that at its height is selfless.
Serving is a selfless act.
Giving is taking away from what (we think is ours) and bestowing it on another – action.
Controlling our tongues or passions is an action we take to benefit others.

Of course we discover the epitome of all of this in the life and words and death of our King.

Jesus continues in His instruction at verse 10, saying:

10 “If ye keep my commandments” (which we have duly noted are to believe on Him and love), “ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

Again we have here an example and a hierarchy set before us.

“If you keep my commands you will abide in my love EVEN as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.”

Another way to say this:

“As you love others you will stay in my love even as I have done everything thing my Father has commanded me and I stay in His love.”

The idea is not that the love Jesus has for us ends if we stop keeping His command to love but that WE stop staying in that love when we chose to not love as he commanded us to.

Similarly, I do not think that Jesus is saying that the Father’s love for Him would have ended had He stepped away from His commands but that He would have ceased to abide in His Father’s love if He chose to do other than what the Father commanded.

Note the hierarchy too because it is radical.

Remember, we could not obey the law nor could we ever please the Father by and through our efforts. A total fail. We’re too sinful, too carnal, too fallen – if that is possible.

But God so LOVED the world He gave us His Son.

And what did the Son do? EVERYTHING we couldn’t. He obeyed and fulfilled the Law to perfection. He loved to perfection. He lived to perfection – this was all the will of the Father for Him.

And because He did it He abides in the Fathers love. We do not and cannot on our own because we will fail His demands.

But not the Son. He did all that the Father commanded and remains in His love, His presence, His light.

(Listen) Having accomplished this on our behalf and out of love for the Father, He is now our mediator. And we look to Him to bring us to the Father.

There is no other way. And just like His Father gave Him commands to obey (the law, perfect love, perfect obedience, etc) and having done so He remains abiding in Him we too have been given commands from Him to obey.

And He tells His apostles here that in order to remain in Him they have to keep what He has said.

And what has He commanded? To love.

And how can we accomplish this? Only by remaining in Him and letting Him produce this love through us, His branches.

See, He abided in the Father and produced the fruit of the Spirit to perfection. We are to then abide in Him and in so doing we will produce fruit that He originates by and through us.

In other words He is our conduit. He is our mediator. He is our access to the Father.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light – rest as a branch in Him by faith and let Him produce fruits of love in and through us.

Just as He said nothing of Himself but the Father did the speaking through Him we too do nothing of our own but let Jesus speak through us (by the Holy Spirit).
(verse 11 Jesus adds)

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

“All the discourse I have presented here and in the previous chapter I have said to you that “my Joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.”

The Greek word for joy is Kharah and means extreme cheerfulness.

Again, the setting of this discourse was one where the apostles were sad at the fact that Jesus had told them that He was going away.

He has promised to send them the comforter which we pointed out He always speaks of love when He speaks of the comforter.

After talking to them about the import of love (producing fruits of love) He now returns to the subject of their sadness.

And he tells them how to experience extreme cheerfulness or joy – What does He say? Remember and do the things He has told them – love.

“Obey what I have said (love each other) and my joy will remain in you,” is the promise.

Apparently because He is fully of joy as those who love Him love others. This seems to be the idea.

In this way, He says their joy would be full.

We know from the apostolic record of their work among men that This promise of the Savior was abundantly fulfilled.

In Act 13:50-52 we read

“But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.”

In this – and many other passages – the joy that Jesus promised them was always associated with the Holy Spirit being present in them.

Knowing this we come full circle. Love and the Holy Spirit were often spoken of together.
Love is the commandment of Jesus. Obey His commandments and they would have joy. This joy is always associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore we can summarize it all by saying:

Love as I have commanded and you will have joy.”

Jesus adds at verse 12 (or should I say, He reiterates)

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

And then He delivers perhaps the single best definition of the highest form of love in all of scripture. (verse 13)

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Another way to say this – “Giving life is the highest form of love.”

Go all the way back to the most noted passage of John 3:16:

“For God so LOVED the world He gave . . . His only begotten Son.”

And the Son came and did what? Gave Himself! In Chapter ten of this very book Jesus provides an illustration of how He gave His life, saying:

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

From scripture we know of two distinct ways that Christ “GAVE HIS LIFE” for the Sheep.

By how He lived and then by being willing to die.

Romans 5:7-8 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

1st John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Taking all of this into account and getting back to chapter 15 verse 13 we know that when Jesus said:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

He was first and foremost speaking of Himself, who not only lived for us but also died for us.

As God out of love gave the world His Son, and the Son out of love, lived His life and suffered death for the world, how do these principles now apply to us?

How do we lay down our lives for our friends?

I know we’ve covered this before but human life is made up of increments of time. It is not made of money, it is not made of memories, it is not made of family or anything else.

Life is synonymous in the physical realm with time.

We all have only so many seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years to live. When the time that quantifies life stops our physical sojourn stops – and physical life ends.

Consummate selfishness refuses to share any of this time (any of life or what a person has transformed their time into) with anyone else.

Every act of giving of anything from our person or life then, is an act of love.

Let’s start with something simple – someone on the street asking us for directions.

In pausing and responding to their request we are showing them love because we are taking part of our time and giving it to them and their need to know the time of day.

In the physical sense, the American Red Cross’s slogan for donating blood is not by accident, “Give life,” because when a person takes the time to give some of their blood for another’s benefit love is being extended – great love because part of life is being laid down for another. Same with donating organs.

Then we can examine sharing. For example, if we were hungry, we might take the time (part of life) to drive to the nearest Taco Bell and purchase a couple tacos.

This simple venture cost us money to buy gasoline and the tacos (which we earned by using some of our life’s time to labor).

Then suppose when we sit down to eat the tacos and a friend walks up and is hungry?

The selfish person would say too bad, I bought and obtained the tacos using part of my life to get them – get your own food.

But what Jesus seems to be saying is we would show the greatest love by laying down our life (one of the tacos) for our friend by sharing with him.

In this, Jesus promises, His joy would be fully in us.

Then there is the actual giving of one life for another. The ultimate laying ourselves down so others may live.

In this Christ is the ultimate picture but we know of others who have done this too.

People who have given their life preserver to another so they could live – Jesus says greater love is never seen.

The exchange of one person’s precious life (quantified in increments of time) so another person might have more life (or time) on this earth.

The donation shows the greatest love.

Taking the principle out to the eternal the absolute greatest example of love for another is to give there eternal life for the eternal life of others.

The only one who could EVER do such a thing would be God who, possessing life eternal could lay it down, take on a body of flesh and bone, condescend below all things, and give up His reign in glory . . . for us.

Greater love has no man than He who gives up His eternal life . . . for His friends.

Back to terra firma, the question for all of us is do we savor our lives or give it (meaning the stuff that life is made up of) so our friends lives might be extended.

While giving blood and organ donation and tacos certainly show such love, the laying down of our very lives (souls is the Greek word used for life here – meaning our minds, our will, and our emotions) for others is the greatest example of Christian agape love.

Giving up our right to lash out, our right to get revenge, our right to justice, our rights themselves – in the name of Christ for the life of others – greater love has no man.

Jesus says to follow such a course is a sure way to be full of His joy – a state this world does not understand.

Where time is the measurement of life and therefore either giving actual time to another or increasing the joy of the time they have is the greatest love a person can exhibit the opposite is true for the greatest evil.

What I mean by this is that which takes or steals time (life) from another sits at the opposite end of the living loving spectrum.

“Greater evil does no man than those who take the life (time) from others,” we might say.

In the extreme all we need to do is look at murder – where one person takes the time (the life) of another and we can readily see the evil and opposite example of genuine love (or life giving).

There are far more nuanced examples to this as well.

When we consider that Jesus came to set the captives free, to open the doors of the prison, and when we see that most of Satan’s end-objectives for his targets is to steal life from them, we can see that whatever we do to contribute to the bondage and captivity and theft of another person’s time and life the more evil our actions are.

This may be one of the reasons controlling individuals might be some of the most sinister because they are placing demands on the life of another – squelching the very thing Christ came to abundantly give us more of.

This passage (verse 13) has had a profound effect on me as a believer.

We are commanded to love and the greatest love any of us can ever give another is to bequeath part – maybe even all – of our life – in an effort that their lives may be benefited either in terms of quantity or quality, right?

We might have to then agree then that the greatest, most loving way to “give our lives” (or spend our time) is in trying to help others gain life eternal – which for them will not only be an endless expanse of time for them but will be a span utterly free from bondage!
Starting right here and now!

In this we are able to clearly see the value, the utter love, in sharing the Good News with those who have yet to find it.

NO GREATER LOVE. NO GREATER WAY TO SPEND OUR TIME. NOTHING THAT WOULD GLORIFY GOD MORE.

For this reason Isaiah wrote:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

And that caused Paul to appeal to these words and write in Romans 10:

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

The Greek word there for preacher is “YOO AN GEL IDZO” and it is not applied only to pastors or preachers but to ANYONE who shares the good news with another, who takes any amount of their “life’s time” and lays it down . . . (beat) for others.

Jesus continues. He said in verse 13 greater love has no man than He who lays His life down “for His friends,” (obviously and in the first place speaking of Himself) then He says to the eleven:

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Jesus makes a couple of comments like this throughout scripture. Sometimes they sound kind of harsh.

For example the apostles came to him and told him in Matthew 12 that his mother and brethren were looking for him and He replied,

“Who is my mother and my brethren?” Then added:

“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

To me, whenever he does this He is making it clear that He is not just a typical human being but that relationship with Him is predicated on things like faith and love and being a true heart.

That’s why He says to these men that they are His friends IF they do what He has told them to do – which is love others.

Now up to this point He has told them that to be the greatest in the kingdom they ought to be servants. But now, one day before being put to death He adds (verse 15)

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Prior to this point Jesus raised them up to think of themselves as servants.

In Matthew 10:24 He said to them:

“The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.”

In John 12:26 He said to them:

“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.”

Just back in chapter 13 He washed their feet and taught them to be servants – that if He, as their master could wash their feet they ought to do the same.

But here He tells them that from this point forward He would refer to them as friends.

This is really quite fascinating when we think about it.

I would suggest that He has trained them (as His friends) to be servants and to have servants hearts. He has trained and taught them to love – as He has loved.

And now that they are equipped with all of these characteristics he calls them His friends.

I support this with the fact that He now says:

“for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

An employee or a servant rarely knows all the reasons behind why things are done the way they are – they’re employees or slaves, not masters.

Typically when an employee or slave is included on all the why’s and ways of things they are considered friends or family.

These men have been vetted so to speak (a word I’m not really fond of but it fits).

Judas is gone – He was not a friend. But these men have reached the point in their preparations that Jesus considers them HERETOFORE as His friends.

Why is He calling them His friends? Because He is now treated them as friends. Jesus, comfortable with who they were as men has now opened to them his mind; made known his plans; acquainted them with the design of his coming, his death, his resurrection, and ascension; and, having thus given them the clearest proof of friendship, it was only right to now call them by this name.

We are friends with people who we trust, who have similar views and interests with us, who we get along with.

When Jesus says (in verse 14) “ye are my friends if you do what I have commanded you,” He was saying that His friends love others.

We could all say something similar about our closest friends. The reason is we typically don’t hang with or trust or enjoy people who do not share in the things we appreciate in life.

It would be a rare event for a close friendship to exist between an animal rights activist and an avid hunter.

Can they get along? Maybe.
Associate. Sure.
Dear close trusted friends? Doubt it.

SO while we may get along with people of all walks and forms, we may even associate with people of varied ilks, but we typically reserve our friendships with people who have the same core values.

And Jesus core value was love. Wanna be friends with Jesus? Really hang out with him on weekends and go to movies and have sleep overs and shop and eat with Him?

Love others. Anyone who is a friend of Jesus runs on love – and the greater the love the deeper the trusted friendship we have with Him.

After calling the apostles His friends, Jesus reigns in His position as Lord and says:

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

The Greek word translated “chosen” here is the same as the word “elect” or “elected.”

Here Jesus is referring to when He called them as His apostles. They had not stepped forward an volunteered – He chose them – elected them.

Why? He knew what they were from the heart prior to choosing them and elected them to become His “chosen Twelve.”

The idea angers some people – that God elects people or chooses them to do certain things. Some people get really up in arms when they are taught that God chose the nation of Israel or elected them.

It’s important to remember that God uses all of us for His specific purposes – just like Jesus did choosing or electing these twelve men. And we cannot forget that among His elect was Judas.

In other words, election does NOT mean God loves those elected more and those not elected less – it simply means He knows who to use for specific things.

There is also the temptation to think that those God chooses are superior to those not chosen.

Scripture actually suggests the opposite.

1st Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

In choosing the Nation of Israel God knew their collective strengths (which served to destroy them) and their collect weaknesses (which kept them humble) and He used them to bring the Good News to the world.

Similarly, he knows each of us, and elects and chooses whom He will to ultimately bring about His good will and pleasure, which is to reconcile ALL things – ALL things to Himself.

Let me wrap today up by reading to you what Paul says in Ephesians 1:4-12.

Here Paul is speaking to believers. Now these passages have been used to suggest that God elects only some to life eternal – electing the rest to eternal damnation.

But listen closely to what is written here. Ready?

4 According as he hath chosen us (you and me – believers) in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (did you catch how we are holy and without blame before Him? IN LOVE)
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (from this we are truly the recipients of Christ’s redemption because He decided this from before the foundation of the world! – now that’s election, isn’t it? Praise God and let humility reign over the fact that we happen to be included in this group He has elected. But why has He elected us? Verse 10)
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

God chose the Nation of Israel from all other nations.

Jesus chose the twelve apostles from all other men.

God has elected all true believers today from the rest of the population.

10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

We will continue with this verse and the term ordain that Jesus uses next week.

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