I Have Loved You (Easter Sunday)

[Read John 15:9-17]

This past week, I've been thinking about WWII and the holocaust. As I think about this terrible, difficult period of history, I'm always deeply moved by the sacrificial ways in which people gave and and worked to save the lives of so many Jews. I can't even begin to list all of the names of the people who were involved in this work. I read a little about Oskar Schindler, who was made more well-known by the movie Schindler's List, who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust with serious cost to himself and threats to his life and well-being. I read a little about Irena Sendler who served in the Polish Underground Resistance and primarily assisted in smuggling Jewish children out of hostile areas into safe homes and convents. She is credited with saving the lives of around 2,500 Jews. Throughout this time she was arrested and sentenced to death but escaped before the sentence was carried out. Many of you know my appreciation for Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a pastor in Germany during this time, but also worked behind the scenes on an assassination plot on Adolph Hitler to end the massive loss of innocent lives. Eventually he was caught and executed for his actions. There are even some in our congregation who can tell you stories of the ways in which their family sacrificed, laid down their lives, to save the innocent victims of this time.

There's something about the act of laying down our lives for someone, that moves us deeply, isn't it? It moves us in ways that other things don't really move us. These stories of sacrificial people during the holocaust move us. Even silly cartoon stories that depict sacrificial giving move us. I remember the first time I watched The Lion King with a group of people. The wildebeests were stampeding and Simba's life was being threatened and it looked like he was going to die. Then all of a sudden his father swoops in and rescues him, knowing full well that he wouldn't survive the rescue attempt. Yet, that didn't stop him. And as the group of people watched this cartoon character willingly lay down his life for his son, I saw tears welling up in numerous people throughout the group. What is it about these stories that moves us and stir our souls?

This is why: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13–14, ESV). That truth is written on each one of our hearts, deeply on our souls. We know this to be true. That's why these stories move us and stir us the way they do, because we know these stories reflect a kind of love that is great and beautiful. That's why the center of almost every great story revolves around this truth. This story is not only written on our hearts and souls, but it's also written into the fabric of the history of the universe.

This is why Jesus can say to us this morning, without any wavering in his voice, "I have loved you." We know that his love is not some kind of puppy love or a love that flits here and there, or a love that is only warm and fuzzy. No, his love for us is the greatest love of all, because he laid down his life for us. And it's important to remember, Jesus didn't just lay down his life for us in his death, he laid down his entire life for us. Everything he did, throughout his entire life, was an exhibit of his love for the Father and his love for us. But especially at the end, as he suffered beating, mocking, and hanging on the cross, Jesus loved us by laying down his life. That should stir something deep in your soul, something deeper than the story of Mufasa or the story of Bonhoeffer or the story of Sendler. The love Jesus showed us was surpassingly greater than anything those people did AND he did it for us!

And on this Easter morning, we are reminded that Jesus didn't simply lay down his life for us, but he also rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death and Satan. This too is love, even greater love. It has been said that Jesus' resurrection from the dead was the Father's "Amen" to everything Jesus said and did--to the entire work of Jesus Christ. I also think the resurrection is the Father's way of saying to Jesus Christ "I have loved you" and through Jesus Christ, the Father's way of saying to us "I have loved you."

Notice what Jesus says about the love between him and the Father. He says, “I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:10, ESV). Another way to translate the word "abide" is "to stay, remain, dwell." So, Jesus is saying that the way in which he remained in the Father's love is by keeping his commandments. This was one of the ways in which Jesus showed his love for his Father, by doing the work the Father called him to do and by living the life the Father called him to live. Since Jesus truly loved the Father, of course he was going to live the way the Father asked him to live and keep his commandments. Why wouldn't he?

Yet, wrapped up in Jesus' obedient love for the Father is Jesus' obedient love for us. I hinted at this earlier, but Jesus didn't just love us in his death, but he loved us throughout his life. One of the ways Jesus showed his love for us was by keeping the Father's commandments and living a perfectly sinless life. Not only did that make Jesus the perfect atoning sacrifice, but that also allowed Jesus perfect righteousness to be credited to us by faith. That's a big deal. Jesus' death on the cross canceled our debt, but Jesus' righteous life was also credited to us. So, when we look to Jesus Christ by faith, seeking to be saved by him, not only is our sin forgiven and cleansed through his death, but his perfectly righteous life is also credited to us by faith. Once we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, when God looks at us, he now sees Jesus' perfect life in us. Isn't that incredible? No wonder, Jesus can look us straight in the eye and say, "I have loved you! I have loved you throughout my entire life, and I have loved you in my death, and I have loved you in my resurrection. Won't you look to me for your salvation and believe and be saved?"

I also think it's important to notice something else in the midst of this passage, something that could easily be missed. In this passage, Jesus speaks about “...my joy...” (John 15:11, ESV). This comes right after he talks about keeping the Father's commandments and obeying the Father as a result of his love for the Father and as a way of abiding in the Father's love. Then he talks about the joy that he has. It's his way of saying that it was his joy to obey the Father and keep his commandments. It wasn't like it was a begrudging service to God: basically saying, "Fine! I'll do this if you want me to do it, but I'm not going to like it". It wasn't like the kid who obeys his parent's command to clean their room, but mumbles and complains the entire time they do it. No. Jesus said that he found his joy in obeying the Father.

Not only that, but I think Jesus is teaching us something even deeper here. Not only did he enjoy obeying the Father, but he's telling us that joy is found in obeying the Father. Here's the way I've explained this over the years. We believe that God created the world and when God created everything he designed and created it with a purpose, including human beings. We've been created and designed to live and speak and act a certain way. When we try to live in ways that are outside of the way God has designed us to live (which is called sin) we find pain and suffering and death. However, when we live the way God has designed us to live, we find life and peace and joy because we're actually functioning the way we've been created to function.

I was thinking about this a couple weeks ago as I worked on my daughter's truck. I needed to change a couple ball joints on her truck but I didn't have the ball joint press that I needed--I didn't have the right tool. So, I watched a few YouTube videos to see if there was a way to remove a ball joint without the proper tool. As I watched these guys remove ball joints by using a million different tools in the wrong way, I realized there was no joy in trying to do this job without the proper tool. If I tried to do this job by using a bunch of tools in ways they weren't designed to be used, I would find myself beating my head against the wall over and over and over again, I would end up getting extremely frustrated, and would most likely end up breaking a few tools or even the truck itself. I would find no joy in the process. So, I went and rented the proper tool, used it the proper way, and everything went smoothly and I enjoyed the process. Using things in ways they weren't designed to be used, never truly brings peace and joy, but using the right tools in the right ways, brings peace and joy.

Now, when you apply that to the life of Jesus Christ, it makes sense. We've already talked about how Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life, which means he perfectly obeyed the Father. Another way of saying that is that Jesus perfectly lived the life we were designed to live. This is why some people will say that Jesus was the true human, because he is the epitome of how we've been designed to live. And since Jesus perfectly lived life the way we were created to live, there is peace and joy and fulfillment in that life. He found fullness of Joy in living the life we were created to live--by keeping the Father's commandments.

As a result, Jesus turns to us and says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9, ESV). The Father loved Jesus, Jesus loved us, and now we are called to abide in the love of Jesus--to remain in the love of Jesus. This is building on what we talked about on Good Friday, when Jesus said that he was the vine and we were the branches, and that we needed to be connected to him in order to receive his life and strength. We also need to be connected to him in order to remain in his love. That begins when we look to him in faith. When we look to Jesus Christ in faith to be saved from our sins and redeemed, we're united to him and can remain in his love, in his strength, in his life. That's the beginning.

Yet, Jesus continues to say that we must abide in the Father's love the same way he did. He says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:10, ESV). This is really important for us to understand because I think many people have misunderstood what it means to abide in Jesus' love. I think many people think abiding in Jesus' love is a lot like suntanning. You sit outside and bask in the glow and warmth of his love. Yet, Jesus says here that if you want to abide in his love, you need to keep his commandments. This doesn't mean that we have to earn his love by the way we live. It doesn't mean that we're saved by keeping his commandments--we're still saved by grace through faith, apart from works, so that no one can boast. This is saying that if you have a true faith and truly love Jesus, you will want to keep his commandments and live the way he lived. If you don't want to live the way he lived and you don't want to keep his commandments, then it only shows that you don't really love him and don't really have faith in him.

Just in case you are wondering what this looks like, what commandments he's talking about, Jesus gives us a quick summary. He says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12, ESV). Now, we know that in another place, Jesus told us that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and that the second is like it, love our neighbor as ourself. Jesus isn't changing that here, but he's clarifying it. What does it look like to love God? What does it look like to love our neighbor? It looks like loving them the way Jesus has loved us. How did Jesus love us? He tells us here: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13, ESV). That's true love. If you want to truly love God, lay down your life. If you truly want to love your friend and neighbor, lay down your life.

This is one of the hardest things for us to grasp. I'm not talking about intellectually, because I think that's fairly easy. I'm talking about emotionally. It's extremely hard for us to get to the point of laying down our lives to love someone else. We love watching it in movies, reading about it in books, and learning about it from history, but we have a really hard time doing it ourselves. I even think that many of us might possibly lay down our lives in some very dramatic way if needed, however, we still struggle to lay down our lives in the small things every day. We may be willing to step in front of a bus to save someone, but we're not willing to lay down our pride and arrogance and let someone think they're right. We may be willing to lay down our lives and reputation by saying hard things out in public, but we're not willing to come home and lay down our lives by doing the small chores around the house. The only way to truly love our neighbor, and the only way to truly love our God, is to lay down our life for them--not just in big, spectacular ways, but in the small, mundane ways as well.

And guess what? As we do that, as we lovingly lay down our lives, we will find the fullness of Joy that Jesus promised. He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV). Everything Jesus has said in the last chapter has had one purpose: that our joy would be full. The reason he has helped us to understand his love for us is that our joy would be full. The reason he wants us to abide in his love is that our joy would be full. The reason he has told us to keep his commandments is so that our joy would be full. The reason he has taught us that there is no greater love than to lay down our lives is so that our joy would be full. This is how we've been created to live, and when we live in this, we find peace and joy in abundance.

We have to get this into our souls because this is not what the world is telling us and it's not what our natural sinful inclinations tells us. The world is going to tell you that if you want peace and joy in abundance you need to focus on yourself. You need to do you. That's how the world thinks we find peace and joy. This is just another way of saying that we find joy by laying down other people's lives for us. No wonder we live in a world where there is so much depression and anxiety and so little peace and joy. If we want peace and joy, it does not come by focusing on ourselves, but by laying our lives down. That's the only way to true peace and joy in this life. And Jesus said you wouldn't just have a little joy when you live this way, but that you would have joy to the full--filled to the brim. It's a beautiful thing.

Yet, none of the beauty comes disconnected from what we've talked about in previous passages. This ominous truth is still very relevant from earlier in chapter 15: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, ESV). Apart from Jesus Christ, you can do nothing. Apart from Jesus Christ, it is impossible for you to truly lay down your life and love God and your neighbor. That means, apart from Jesus Christ, it is impossible for you to find peace and joy to the full. The only way to this peace and joy is through faith and trust in Jesus Christ--a true faith and trust that loves him and seeks to follow him. The only way you will ever be able to truly lay down your life, loving God and your neighbor, is by turning to Jesus Christ in faith and trust, asking him to forgive you, asking him to cleanse you, asking him to empower you and guide you as you seek to follow him the rest of your life. When you do that, you will be connected to him as your source of life and you will begin to bear fruit, which means you will begin to lovingly lay down your life, which means you will begin to experience the fullness of peace and joy in this life. It all begins by looking to Jesus Christ in faith and abiding in his love.