SERMON: “Loving Each Other as Jesus Loves” (John 15:12–17)
“Loving Each Other as Jesus Loves”
(John 15:12–17)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
15:12–17
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
July 28, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
In
fact, we need to ask whether this notion is biblical at all. We remember that Jesus was asked in Matthew 22
what the greatest commandment was, and He said, “You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’ ” (v.
37). He then said, “The second is like
it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (v. 39). Modern Christians try to improve upon the
words of Jesus by saying, “And the third is essential, for you cannot love your
neighbor unless you love yourself.” Yet,
Jesus says in v. 40 that these are two commands, and we should beware to add
words in the mouth of our Lord.
Scripture
never really confronts the issue of low self-esteem as we understand it. In fact, it often highlights the love of self
as a problem with which we must contend.
In that statement on love of neighbor, we would best understand Jesus as
saying, “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself” (or, more
pointedly, “You shall love your neighbor instead of yourself”). We should replace the love of self for the
love of another.
This
may be foreign to some ears. As a human
race, we often have a high opinion of ourselves, about the importance of our
own wants and needs. Present-day culture,
with its almost fanatical fixation on mental health, only worsens the issue,
telling everyone to focus on self-care and to avoid negativity. The effect is that we only become more divided
as we think more about self; we don’t become more loving of others.
This
passage gives us a corrective to this modern notion by giving us a much deeper
view of love’s command. The command to
love one another, repeated twice in this passage, isn’t based on a stable sense
of self, but on a sustaining Savior. This morning, we’ll note the basis of love’s
command (vv. 12–14), the preciousness of love’s command (vv. 15–16), and the repetition
of love’s command (v. 17).
II.
The Basis of Love’s Command (vv. 12–14)
This is My commandment, that you love one
another, just as I have loved you. Greater
love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command
you.
Of
course, this is a command to love, but horizontally rather than
vertically. Once we understand the first
great command to love God, we are ready for the second command to love
people. As one commentator notes here, “Only
those who abide in Him have the capacity to love divinely as Jesus loved.”[1] So,
it’s at this point that we read the command to love one another.
This
is such an important commandment that Jesus even emphasizes the word “my” in
the original language; this is His commandment. It’s not the first time He’s given it, either. Earlier, in John 13:34, Jesus said this was a
new commandment. At this point, it’s not
new anymore, and the grammar in the original language is such that this command
is present and active, meaning dad Jesus is saying “keep on
loving one another.”[2] It’s
a command that to which we must all hold as believers.
This
command continues to be central for Christians throughout the rest of the first
century. In 1 John 3:23, we read about
both the great commandments from a New Testament perspective — “This is His commandment, that we believe in
the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded
us.” In 4:7–8, we see this connection as
we read, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone
who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God,
for God is love.” When we love God first,
experiencing His divine love in our own hearts, we have the basis by which we can
love others properly.
The
context of loving others here is fellow disciples. Remember, this is Jesus’s farewell address to
His disciples. The crowds aren’t there,
and even Judas has left the building.
Yes, we should also love our enemies and even the unbelievers in our
lives. But Scripture calls us
specifically to love other believers.
This
is a key point for us to get. We cannot ignore
our responsibilities to the church if we claim to love God. We can’t spend all our time away from the
people of God if we claim to be Christians.
We can’t simply make choices based on our own self-interests, choosing
to change churches just because of simple offenses or choosing to skip just
because we weren’t feeling it that day.
Our love for God should change the way love fellow believers, no longer
considering our own desires as primary in our decision-making processes.
This
is what we see in Christ. We’re called
here to love as He loved us. As Paul
said in Ephesians 5:2, “walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave
Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Again, it’s the divine love of God which is
the basis for our love for each other.
The
gospel message best shows that divine love.
Jesus says in v. 13 that the greatest demonstration of love is in
self-sacrifice. The Spirit mentions this
thought again in Romans 5:7–8, where we read, “For one will hardly die for a
righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” So, Jesus came to lay down His life for us even
while we were not His friends.
But
now, in v. 14, we see that He calls us friends.
He says this again in v. 15, so we’ll talk more about the significance of
that designation in a moment. Note,
though, that the basis of our love for one another is His work.
We
see another example of this. In
Ephesians 5:25, we read God’s command to husbands to love their wives. They are to do so “just as Christ also loved
the church and gave Himself up for her,” and the following two verses describe why
Jesus did just that: “so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the
washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in
all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would
be holy and blameless” (vv. 26–27). In
other words, the one-another love in a marriage relationship is based on the
work of Christ; similarly, the love for the fellow Saints in the church flows
from Christ’s work for each of us.
So,
we keep the command of the Lord to love one another. We don’t do this as a means of earning our
salvation; we see in this passage He already calls us friends. But friends want to do what is pleasing for
one another, not following their own way.
Those who are followers of the way of Christ find joy in fulfillment and
pleasing Jesus, and that includes loving one another.
As
I said a few minutes ago, this command is not burdensome. In fact, there is something precious about
this command for us. And that brings us
to the next point:
III.
The Preciousness of Love’s Command (vv. 15–16)
No longer do I call you slaves, for the
slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and
appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would
remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
Jesus
uses the language of slavery here. As I’ve
noted in other studies, slavery was common throughout the ancient world, and it
sadly stays common in many parts of the world today. God did allow it under strict circumstances,
where the slave would be treated as a person rather than mere property.
Jesus
says that this is a moment of change for them. They are shifting in their relationship, for
they will be receiving revelation from God themselves. They will also be fulfilling Jesus’s will,
proving themselves to be friends of Jesus, as verse fourteen says. The relationship changes from one of distance
to one of intimacy.
The
concept of friendship with God is unique to the New Testament. It is true that Abraham was a friend of God,
but as one study notes, this is because Abraham received special revelation
from God.[3] Not
every saint in the Old Testament had the privilege of being known as a friend
of God. Yet in this New Testament era,
we each have this unique and precious opportunity to be known as His friends! We don’t expect private revelation like those
early disciples would receive, but we all have the written revelation of God
available to us, so that we can live it out in our own context.
A
slave would not know all of what is in his master’s mind. This is not necessarily due to a lack of ability
or intelligence on the part of the slave, there’s many slaves word educated men. However, slaves would have an expected lack
of information, conducting the will of the master without having the right to
personal counsel. Let’s leave would not
expect to be able to ask questions.
But
Jesus says here, “I have called you friends.”
He even uses the emphatic pronoun here — “but you, I have
called you friends.” As
one study notes, “A friend knows what is happening because friends develop deep
fellowship by communicating with one another.”[4]
Jesus is laying down His life for them, and He is making the will of the
Father known to them. As another study
notes:
The
friends of Jesus have insight into “the mystery which has been kept secret for
long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets,
according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the
nations, leading to obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:25–26). The term “mystery” in the New Testament refers
to things hidden in the past, but now revealed by Jesus to the apostles, and
through them to all believers. The New
Testament reveals the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:11), the
mystery of Israel’s hardening (Rom. 11:25), the mystery of the gospel (Eph.
6:19), the mystery of the rapture (1 Cor. 15:51), the mystery of God’s will
(Eph. 1:9), the mystery that Jews and Gentiles would be one body in Christ
(Eph. 3:4–6), the mystery of the union of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32),
the mystery of Christ’s indwelling of believers (Col. 1:26–27), the mystery
that the Messiah would be God incarnate (Col. 2:2), the mystery of lawlessness,
which will be fully revealed in the person of the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:7),
the mystery of the faith (1 Tim. 3:9), and the mystery of godliness (1 Tim.
3:16).[5]
In
fact, we find in scripture that we don’t seek Him out first, but He seeks us
first. In 1 John 4:10, we read, “In this
is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We see this with the choosing of the
disciples in verse sixteen, that they did not choose him, but He chose them.
Because
of the electing grace of God, we’re in a different state. Jesus could say to His disciples, even before
they were redeemed, that they were His friends.
They were those for whom He was laying down His life. Every true believer is someone for whom Jesus
died a substitutionary death on a cross and rose again the third day. We are His friends because He makes us His friends,
turning us away from our rebellion with the light of His glorious grace.
Divine
election means more than we are just friends of God now. It also means that He has a purpose for us, a
purpose to bear lasting fruit. The
disciples were chosen to initially spread the message and to continue the
revelation of God as apostles of Jesus Christ.
We who are the beneficiaries of the revelation of God should seek to
spread His message to a sometimes-hostile world. We go as missionaries weather it’s just down
the street or to the other side of the world.
We are not just friends, wearing ambassadors of Christ. And just as we learned with the vine and
branches imagery earlier in this chapter, we will bear fruit to the glory of
the Lord.
You
might be concerned so you don’t have the ability to bear fruit for Jesus as a
Christian. In yourself by yourself, you’re
correct — a branch on the ground won’t suddenly start producing fruit. But being in the true vine, we can pray for
the strength that we need. As we are
praying for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done, we are praying in the
name of Jesus in His interests rather than our own. In Jesus promises in verse sixteen here what
he’s promised before — that the father will answer such prayers. So, we see that we’re promised answered
prayer and fellowship with Him in addition to fruit for His purposes.
We
should note also that we cannot be good evangelists for Jesus if we do not love
one another. So, it shouldn’t surprise
us that Jesus repeats His command to love one another. That brings us to the final verse and the last
point.
IV.
The Repetition of Love’s Command (v. 17)
This I command you, that you love one
another.
This
is the transition point of sorts. Jesus
is about to discuss His disciples’ relationship to the world. He is going to warn them that the world we’ll
hate them. The world both persecute followers
of Christ. They’ll lose jobs,
friendships, and even family. They may
even face execution.
So,
in verse seventeen, Jesus repeats His command for us to love one another. We don’t have the luxury of jealousy or
personal ambition as disciples of Christ.
We face a hostile world; we will need each other watching our backs to
make it.
Moreover,
if we are to have any hope of evangelizing this world, we need to love one
another. As Jesus said in John 13:35, “By
this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another.” Our fellowship and support communicate
a message to the world that is divided by its own selfish ambition that there
is a better way.
V.
Conclusion
We have a genuine message of love. It’s the love that the father has shown to us
through Jesus Christ. That’s the love
that we show one another as we come to church, and we see each other outside
these walls. It’s a message we can
demonstrate. And it’s a message our Lord
commands us to prove with our actions.
This commandment is one we joyfully fulfill. At least it should be one that brings us joy. There are some who have never experienced the
saving grace of Jesus, and they don’t feel particularly motivated to be
involved in church. They have a love for
the world or for sin that crowds out any other concept of love in their hearts. If that describes you, know that Jesus loves
to save rebels, and He can call you friend as well; simply call upon Him and be
saved.
If you are a Christian, I hope that you will live it out
starting right here. Commit to loving
one another by committing to be faithful to the fellowship. Be in attendance as regularly as you are able,
end give of both your time and your money for the glory of the Lord. You won’t be able to be there for one another
if you’re not here, so pray that the Lord help you to fulfill this command of
love.
[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago, IL: Moody
Publishers, 2008), 157.
[2] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn
15:12.
[3] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1616.
[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jn 15:15.
[5] MacArthur, John
12–21, 161–162.
