Friends of Jesus, the Friend of Sinners

Amen. You can go ahead and be seated. Go ahead and grab your Bibles. John chapter 15 is where we're going to be today. John chapter 15. We are going to be looking at verses 12 through 15.

12- 15. And these are some of my favorite verses in the passage in the Bible because um they talk about the friends of Jesus who is the friend of sinners. And it really talks about just the depth of that type of love that he has for us, but also the depth of love that he invites us into, but then also invites us to live it out for others as well. And so it's just a great great passage for us, especially when we see just the greatness of his love. And so John 15, looking at verses 12-15, I want to read it for us this morning and then just sort of unpack it so that we can just feast on God's word this morning. Starting in verse 12, here's what the word of the Lord says.

this is my commandment which just out of the gate anytime he references a commandment because he is the king and we are um under him because he is the lord and we are under him because he is the creator and we are again under him. Anytime he has a commandment it needs to perk up our ears, hearts and minds and everything about us. We need to know what is it that he is commanding of us. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

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. Father, I just want to pray again this morning for just the reading of your word because we know that without your word, there is nothing we can do to grow and mature in what you've called us to be. Father, we know that it is through the power of your living word that shapes and molds and transforms us to become more like Jesus. It's not out of our own opinions. It's not out of our own worldviews.

It's not out of our own ideologies. It's only from your word that reorders and rewrites and and corrects all of human history. And so, we need that. We need your word. We need Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in understanding this truth.

because this truth that we're going to be talking about today is a countercultural truth to what the world is telling us and teaching us to live out. And so I pray that when we walk away from this message this morning, a message that I guarantee many of us have heard, we have read this verse so many times. We know these verses like the back of our hands. We we even to a degree understand them. But I still pray, Father, that we would be transformed to actually live them out to be more like Jesus when we leave than when we walked in. And so would you do that work in our hearts, in our minds, and our souls this morning?

Would you make us more like Jesus? And would we would we be open to that? For it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let me start off with just a quick story.

A couple of masters. All right, two masters here. There were two poor men who entered into a small town. And then there were also and then these were like desperately poor men who need money. Okay, they come into the small town and then at the same time there's two wealthy men who come into the small town. The first wealthy man tells one of the poor men, "If you work hard for me your whole life, I'll give you a million dollars when I think you've earned it."

The second wealthy man told the other poor man, "I'll give you a million dollars right now. Come work with me and you'll receive even greater rewards." Now, which poor man do you think got the better end of the deal? It's not a trick question. It's the second one. It's the second one because one is working for favor.

The other one is working from favor. And that's going to be really important for us to understand that as we unpack this this morning because that's exactly what we see in this passage. Jesus is not a harsh master waiting to see if we've earned his blessing. He's a gracious king who gives us his love upfront and then invites us to live in it. He doesn't treat us like peasants trying to earn his approval. He calls us friends who already have it.

Who already have it. And so I want to show you this this morning as we look at these verses. But what we're going to do in looking at these verses, we're not going to go 12 through 15. We're gonna kind of pingpong and bounce around in these verses so that I can better show you the the connection of these. John Piper taught me this 10 years ago when looking at how he kind of unpacked this passage. Um and and and in all honesty, I mean, it changed my life.

It really did seeing the connection of how these work together. And so I actually want you to start in verse 15. Look at verse 15. No longer, and I'm going to paraphrase a little bit here, but no longer do I call you servants, but I have called you friends. No longer do I call you servants, but I have called you friends. Now, that raises a question for me.

What happened to change our DTR with Jesus? And if you don't know what DTR is, because you're older like me, that means define the relationship. That's what the young kids call it these days, I think. Um, what happened for Jesus to DTR the relationship from servant to friendship? How did we go from servants to friends? Well, the answer comes in verse 13.

Look at it. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. For his friends. Now, that statement also stopped me as I was reading it because that's not what you typically hear when you read the scriptures. Usually, when you read the scriptures, you see something more like greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down his life for his can anyone fill in the blank enemies. Enemies, right?

That's what we usually see when God is displaying his love, not for friends, but for enemies. That's what Romans 5:6-8 says. Look at it. It'll be on the screens. You don't have to turn there. For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the godly.

No, for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps maybe for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still saints, sinners, Christ died for us. And so, it got me thinking, why in the world did Jesus change the object of the love from enemies to friends? And so in my mind, I'm sort of putting it on a pendulum here of godly objective love. And so if on one side you have a good or righteous or seemingly good person, and on the other side you have evil or enemies, in my view of what godly love looks like is it's going to be displayed towards the enemies, not towards the good or righteous person.

Because that's what Romans 5 6-8 says. It's displayed this way. Some would likely die for a good person. But that's a worldly type of love. We feel like they're good. We want to keep them around longer.

We want to preserve their life longer. They're good for society. So, we want to make sure we preserve that. Let the enemies just die off. Let's get rid of them as much as possible. But godly love demonstrates itself in pursuing the enemies rather than the quote unquote good person.

So what's going on here? What's happening? Here's what's happening. Jesus is not describing who he loves. He's describing how he loves. How he loves.

So John 15 is not about the object of his love, but it's actually about the subject of his love himself and the the the the dep the depth and the greatness of his type of love versus who it's actually going out to. And so it's not the greatness or the greatness of his love isn't determined by the object, but by the extent of the sacrifice. the extent of the sacrifice. And so it's not enemies on one side and good people on the other. It's a pendulum of the depth of the love, the type of love itself. And so if in other words, if you were to put it this way on this side, you have a lesser worldly type of love that would be like giving a cup of sugar to your neighbor.

I I I am called to love my neighbor, so I'm going to serve them by giving them a cup of sugar. But over on this on this side, I'm going to lay down my life for them. Now, both of them are acts of love, but it's on a pendulum swing of one being greater and one being lesser. That's what he's talking about in this passage. So, when Jesus calls us friends, he's not flattering us as if the object is greater. He's saying you've experienced the greatest kind of love there is.

The kind that sacrifices everything for you. And so we are his friends, not because we earned it, but because he already laid his life down for us. For us. And so look at here's the second point I want you see here is that friendship with Jesus is revealed by obedience. Look at verse 14. He says, 'You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Now that word if might be the most important word in this entire passage because how you interpret that if changes everything. There are two kinds of if. One is heresy and the other is Christianity. One is heresy and the other is Christianity. If you think Jesus is saying here, if you obey me, then I'll love you. Well, that's worldly religion.

That's worldly religion. That's the first poor man in the story working for favor, hoping that it'll be enough. But if you understand that Jesus is saying if you obey me, it proves that you already belong to me. That's biblical grace. That's Christianity. So it's not cause and effect.

It's not if you obey then I'll love you. But rather it's actually effect and then cause. because I've loved you, you'll obey me. You'll obey me. Think of it like a fever. The fever doesn't cause the flu.

It reveals it. In the same way, obedience to his commands doesn't cause friendship with Jesus. It confirms that there's already friendship there. So, we don't obey to earn his love. We obey because we already have it. And so I want you to see this in verse 12.

Circle back to the beginning. Friends of Jesus, love like Jesus. I want you to see this. Remember, we just looked at him saying, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." Here's what that command was. This is my commandment.

That you love one another as I have loved you. That's important. That that as there is crucial as I have loved you. Not love one another so that I'll love you. Not if you love others then I'll love you. No.

Because I already have loved you. You are to love one another. You are to love one another. And so he's not calling us to achieve his love, but he's actually calling us to receive it and reflect it. To receive it and reflect it. So he's not saying go earn this.

He's saying go extend this. Go extend what you've already received. And so when you receive this kind of love that laid down its life for you, you start laying your life down for others in service and sacrifice and compassion, whatever it might look like. You start loving others as Jesus has loved you. When you see what Jesus did in order to befriend you, it begins to shape and mold how you see others and what you would be willing to do in order to befriend them. If your friendship is based on a lesser type of worldly love, aka give me a cup of sugar, well guess what?

You're going to chew up and spit out a lot of friends because the friendship is only worth what I get out of you and vice versa what you get out of me. So it's conditional in that regard. But if the friendship is more based on as Jesus has loved us, which means you didn't do anything to earn my friendship, but instead I'm laying my life down for you to show you the greatest act of love so that we can enter into friendship, and I'm not expecting anything in return. All of a sudden, now that friendship is going to say, I want to be lifelong friends. And not only that, I want to serve you in any way that I possibly can. I want to be there for you.

I don't want to go anywhere. I want to love that type of person and also sacrifice for that type of person because they begin to understand the same thing that Jesus has done for us. And so, let's bring it home. The Christian life is not about working for Jesus to earn something. It's about walking with Jesus because you've already received everything. And this comes back to why we're we're talking about this in abiding with him is because abiding with Jesus for whatever reason, maybe it's just because of our western mindset is that we believe that in order for us to enter into a contract or to enter into a relationship, we have to bring something to the table in order to earn what is going to be received from the other side.

And that is not Christianity. That is not what our relationship with Jesus looks like. Our relationship with Jesus is him saying, "Come as you are. I've already earned everything for you. I've already sacrificed everything on your behalf. You get to just receive it.

You don't have to achieve it." And we receive it by faith because we know that there's nothing that we can do to earn it and work for it. We receive it as a free gift. In other words, you are not a servant trying to climb your way into the palace where the king is. You are a friend who's already been invited to sit at the table. to sit at the table and to feast with him and to enjoy all that he has already prepared for you.

And maybe that's where some of you are today. You've been living like the first poor man, striving, performing, trying to prove you're good enough for God. But Jesus says, "Stop. Stop striving. I've already paid it all. You can rest in my love.

Receive it. Receive it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Heart question. When was the last time you enjoyed the love of Jesus?

When was the last time you enjoyed the love of Jesus? Because if you feel like you're exhausting yourself in Christianity, then you're still trying to achieve it and work for it instead of living from the favor that's already been granted to you. When was the last time that you just sat with Jesus and enjoyed him? When was the last time you just went with went on a walk with Jesus? Not because you feel like you have to, but because you get to. Again, Jesus is saying, "Stop striving.

I've already paid it all. Rest in my love." You don't have to earn the million-dollar gift. He's already placed it in your hands. You simply live in response to it. You live in response to it.

Think of Peter after denying Jesus three times. Three times he says publicly, "I don't know him." I don't know him. I don't know him. three times publicly, quits the ministry, goes back to his day job, and yet the resurrected Jesus finds him on a beach, cooks him breakfast, and asks him three questions. Do you love me?

Do you love me? Do you love me? Not are you ready to work for me? Not are you ready to win back my affection? Not are you ready to earn? Because if if we're going to go based on a trial now, he basically has Peter on trial questioning him and Peter's giving a defense.

Jesus isn't matching the sin with a penalty. He's bringing him back into relationship relationship before he then tells him to feed his sheep. To go and feed the sheep. Do you love me? What he was actually doing in that moment is he's reminding Peter of the love that he's already purchased for him, the love that he's already extended to Peter and everything that he just did at the cross in order to guarantee Peter will never deny him again. Never deny him again.

And then out of that sacrifice, Peter then shifts his entire mind, perspective, heart, and is willing to lay his life down for the sake of the gospel. Not because he felt like he had to earn it, but because he finally came to the understanding that he doesn't have to achieve it, but instead just simply receives it. Receives it. Stop living like a servant and start living like a friend. We receive his love and then we reflect his love towards others. In the second and third centuries when plagues swept through Rome, most citizens fled to the countryside to get away.

Why? because they were seeking to preserve their own lives, right? But Christians stayed. History tells us that they cared for the sick, they buried the dead, they loved the dying at risks of them also coming in contact with plague. Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, said that the watching world looked at Christians and marveled, saying, and I quote, "See how they love one another. How they are ready even to die for one another.

They didn't do it to earn friendship with Jesus. They did it because Jesus had already befriended them. That's why they did it. That's what it means to be a friend of Jesus." It's not just receiving love but also reflecting his love, reflecting his love for others. 1 John 4:19 says this, "We love because he first loved us."

He first loved us. And so some takeaways for you guys this morning. We do not achieve the love of Jesus. We receive it. We receive it. We do not use others for our gain.

We give of ourselves for theirs. For theirs. And Jesus is not a master who demands you earn his love. He's a friend who proved his love for you on the cross. On the cross. And so the cross isn't just something to be admired.

It's a template to be imitated. We love others the same way he already loved us. He already loved us. This might be the shortest sermon I've ever preached in my entire life. But let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning for your goodness to us.

Father, I just want to sit and reflect on the love of Jesus in this moment. I want to sit and just reflect on the greatness of his love for us, the greatness of his sacrifice for us. It's so much more than him just giving us a cup of sugar. He gave us his life and he made us friends. Friends, relationship. God, I know how difficult in this world.

I know how difficult friendship can be. Friends come and go. Relationships come and go. They they get easily fractured. But one thing we can put our hope in is that the friendship with Jesus can never be broken, can never be fractured because he is the sole covenanter in the relationship that guarantees what he began. and he will see to completion.

And if he calls us friends, he will never call us anything else. And so we're so thankful for that. And I just pray Lord that as we see what Jesus was willing to accomplish for us in order to display the true richness of the glory of God. I pray that it changes us in how we view our relationships with everyone else around us. In other words, we don't need anything from them because in Jesus, we have everything we already need. And therefore, we're able to freely give of ourselves and spend ourselves for the sake of their gain.

God, may you may you root that truth deep in our souls. And as we begin to be people who look to others in order to reflect the love of Jesus, may it be an opportunity for us to lay down our lives for their sakes so that they can come to know Jesus and him become their greatest treasure and for him to call them friends. May you do it, Lord. May you do it. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Would you go ahead and stand with me as we come to this time of communion and we come to this table? We come to the very essence of what this passage is talking about. Greater love is known than this. And they were laid down their lives for their friends. greater love the world has never seen if it doesn't see what Jesus accomplished at the cross. It's the greatest act of love this world has ever experienced and we get to remember it every single week when we come to the table and see the bread and the juice, his broken body and his bloodshed.

And we pray that it just reminds us that this is what he was willing to accomplish in order to bring you into relationship and to call you friend. And so when we partake this morning, I want you to meditate on that truth. And when we partake this morning, I want you to just thank Jesus for being your best friend. Your best friend. because I can tell you there's no other person in this world who's done more for you than Jesus himself. And so let's thank him this morning.

If you believe Jesus lived the perfect life you could not live, that he died the death that you deserved in your place, taking your punishment, taking your penalty, breaking his body, shedding his blood, and that three days later, because God was satisfied with his punishment in your place, God brought him back from the dead, rose him three days later, guaranteeing that he will do the same thing for everyone who places their faith in him and believes in him, that he is the true son of God, that he is the greatest treasure this world has ever seen, and that we place our faith in him, we follow him, and we worship him. If you believe that, then I invite you to come down, grab the elements, bring them back to your seats, thank him as we worship through this song, and then we will partake together at the end. Come on down.