Abiding in Love (John 15:9-11)
We can see that in this passage Jesus is focussing again on love. He speaks about divine love and about Christian love. The divine love concerns love between the Father and the Son and love between Jesus and his people. The expression of Christian love in these verses is love between believers and Jesus, and in the next passage he speaks about love between Christians.
The comparison (15:9)
Jesus draws a parallel between the Father’s love for him and his love for his people. So if we want to know how much Jesus loves us and in what ways Jesus loves us, we need to ask how much the Father loved him and in what ways did the Father love him. This is what Jesus says: ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.’ The Father loved his Son eternally, and we know that Jesus loved his people eternally. Moreover, the Father loved his Son fully, and we know that Jesus loved his people fully, using everything he is to bring blessing to them. So it us an extraordinary comparison.
It may be that the aspect of the Father’s love that Jesus focuses on here is the love connected to his willingness to become the Mediator. Obviously, the persons of the Trinity have an awareness of one another that we cannot rise to. Still, the Bible indicates that the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of their love is connected to their people and the divine plan of salvation.
The condition (15:9-10)
Jesus makes it clear that the way to abide in his love is to keep his commandments: ‘If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.’ This is his promise. He is not suggesting that he will cease loving us when we disobey him, although persistent disobedience is an indication that a person is not a real Christian. Rather, the stress is on the necessity of abiding in him. Abiding is like living with someone, and in order for the living to be pleasant there has to be harmony. Disobedience by a Christian produces disharmony because he or she grieves the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. It is impossible for a disobedient Christian to have the joy of the Lord, even if he is smiling and singing. So we can see why obedience is crucial. Normally, if a Christian is unhappy and lacking spiritual joy in his heart, the reason is disobedience to God’s revealed will.
The model for Christians in this regard is Jesus himself. As he says in verse 10, he kept his Father’s commandments and abided in his love. How did Jesus keep those commandments? We know he kept them perfectly, but what does that mean? We need to see how Jesus did so because he is our example. So here are some suggestions. He kept them accurately and did what was required. He kept them ardently, all his being involved in every opportunity. He kept them affectionately, with all of them being expressions of his love. He kept them always, consistently.
It is the case that we cannot rise to his standards, but that does not mean that our obedience should not be accurate. Accuracy is important because we know the danger of tradition. We should always ask about our practices in any area of life: ‘Is this required by the Bible?’ Otherwise we may not be abiding in the love of Jesus.
Nor does our inability to rise to his standards mean that should not be ardent in what we are doing, because, after all, we are obeying his instructions and it is sinful to be lacklustre concerning them.
It is similar with regard to our affections and obedience to the requirements of Jesus. If an Old Testament saint can express with feeling, ‘Oh how I love your law,’ surely we who know so much more should have a greater love for those instructions, especially as they indicate that there is harmony between Jesus and our hearts. And we should keep them always, day after day, never perfectly, but aspiring to do so.
If we respond to his commandments with obedience that is accurate, ardent, affectionate and always, we will abide in his love. Some may raise their objections and say that such suggestions are legalistic, but they are wrong. They are not expressions of legalism, but of love. Not to want to obey Christ in such a way is a sign of laziness, and it is a sure way of missing out on divine blessings.
The consequence
Jesus informs the disciples why he had said these words and in doing so he stated the consequence of obeying him and abiding in him. We can see that the consequence is twofold: first, the consequence is that his joy would be in them and, second, their joy would be full.
What is the joy of Jesus? Clearly, the disciples must have had some sense that Jesus had this joy, otherwise they would not have appreciated what he meant. So we need to see what the Bible says about Jesus and his joy. One passage that speaks about this joy is when Jesus rejoiced at the response of the seventy-two when they returned from the mission on which he had sent them.
‘In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him”’ (Luke 10:21-22).
What do those verses say about the joy of Jesus? I would suggest that they indicate that his joy came from communion, commitment, communication and contemplation. We see a reference to the communion he had with the Father, an eternal but everyday communion. His commitment was seen in his awareness of the Father’s plan, that he had handed over all things to his Son. Jesus also refers to the communication he made when he revealed the Father to the disciples. The Gospels tell us how much Jesus loved to do this. And we can also his contemplation because he reveals that he had been thinking about the ways that the Father had revealed his grace to the disciples.
We can see how those four aspects can bring joy to us as well. Spending time in communion with God brings joy, accepting our role as his disciples brings joy, sharing the spiritual insights we have discovered or been given brings joy, and thinking about God’s grace in the lives of sinners brings joy. They can be done often, and as we do them God gives us the sense of joy.
Another verse that speaks about the joy of Jesus is Hebrews 12:2: ‘looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’ This is obviously a reference to the joy that was ahead of him before he went to the cross, but which he has now entered into. So we can say that part of the joy of Jesus was thinking about heaven and the future. And there is no doubt that he wants his people to think about heaven as well.
A final verse that we can think about in connection with the joy of Jesus is the parable he told about the shepherd who rejoiced when he found his lost sheep. Jesus rejoiced on earth when he found his lost disciples and he still rejoices at the conversions of sinners as they occur daily throughout the world.
But what is the joy of Jesus about? We can see that it is spiritual, we can see that it includes a sense of satisfaction, we can see that it is not dependent on external things, that it is not limited to this world, that it accompanies daily obedience and devotion to him.
Application
Spurgeon, in a sermon on this verse, observed that ‘A Christian has never fully realized what Christ came to make him until he has grasped the joy of the Lord. Christ wishes His people to be happy. When they are perfect, as He will make them in due time, they shall also be perfectly happy…. And it is our Saviour’s will that even now His joy should remain in us and that our joy should be full.’
As we think about the matters we have focussed on, it can help us to ask some questions. So here are three. First, what length of joy does Jesus want us to have? When he made his comments about joy, was he describing occasional joy, fluctuating joy or continuous joy. The question is not about our experience, but what Jesus had in mind when he described it. It is obvious that he meant continuous joy, one that should not be interrupted.
Secondly, how much joy does Jesus want us to have? Is it a little amount or a large amount? The description that he gives is that it should be full. It may be the case that people have different capacities, but whatever the capacity he says that each of his people can be full of joy.
Third, when does Jesus want us to have this joy? I suppose the answer is in all types of situation. We know Paul’s exhortation, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.’ But here are some verses as we close. When Paul thought of the penitent saints in Corinth, he wrote: ‘In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.’ When he prayed for the Philippians, he could describe his prayers in this way: ‘always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy’ (Phil. 1:4).
Peter described the Christians to whom he was writing in this way as he considered their faith in Jesus: ‘Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls’ (1 Pet. 1:8).
There are many other situations in which the joy of the Lord can be experienced. A final question must be, ‘What prevents us from being joyful?’ It must be something that causes the Lord to withdraw himself, something connected to our hearts when we don’t respond to him as we should. It is not providence that causes it, because we can know the Lord is in charge. It is not sorrow, because we can be sorrowful yet always rejoicing. It is caused by a failure to interact with Jesus.