John 15:9–17

Easter 6B | May 5, 2024 | John 15:9–17 | Judson F Merrell |

⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

 ¹⁰ 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.

 ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

 ¹² „This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

 ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

 ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you.

 ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

 ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

 ¹⁷ These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

 (John 15:9-17 ESV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Our Gospel text for today is one that has a special place in my heart.  Almost 19 years ago Carrie and I stood before the altar at her home church and heard this Gospel text proclaimed at our wedding. In his sermon, the pastor focused on the first verse that we have today.  Jesus said “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” For a wedding, it’s easy to talk about love. Love is the reason that two people come together and bind themselves to each other for their life. But there is also an issue with the word love… and that is the very language that we speak. “Love” in English is a sloppy word. It has so many meanings based on context. As we look at this text and dive into what Jesus is saying, we get a bigger picture of the love that God the Father has for Jesus, the very love that he offers us and that we are to abide in.

In the original Greek language used by the writers of the New Testament, there are four different kinds of love.  Eros, Phileo, Storge, and Agape. They all refer to different kids of love. Eros love is romantic  love, the type of love between husband and wife. Phileo is brotherly love. It represents a love between best friends, siblings, and those you are really close to. The name Philadelphia is a combination of the Greek Phileo for love and Adelphius for brother. The city of brotherly love as it is known. Storge is familial love. The type of love that can only exist between a parent and child. It represents a closeness that overcomes the ups and downs of life with others under the same roof. And then there is Agape. Agape is pure love. If we were to rank the types of love, Agape would be the highest. It is unconditional, everlasting, sacrificial, and perfect. Agape love is the very love that the Father has for the Son, and that the Son has for us. It is the type of love that we are to abide in. It is the type of love that makes our joy full or complete.

Thinking back to when we stood before that altar at our wedding, I’m not sure I focused as much on my joy being complete. Maybe that is because Jesus uses the word love so much in this text. But to define “joy” in a biblical way would be to say that we are absolutely satisfied and content knowing that God is at work in us and through us. Although that is perhaps a little scary, it is very peaceful also. Because of the love that God the Father has for the Son, our joy is complete. Even knowing that in this text that Jesus is telling the disciples he is going to lay down his life for the world, our joy is complete. The perfect love of God combined with the satisfaction of the Joy of the Son is an amazing gift that we have been given. It transcends the love we have for our families and friends. It gives us the push we need to continue being disciples of our Lord… to bear good fruit that enables others to know the love and joy of God. We all produce that good fruit in different ways, but it is all rooted in the love that the Father first had for the Son. The love that is perfect, unconditional, sacrificial, and everlasting. The very love that we are to abide in always, so our joy make remain full. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS