There’s so much wrong with the world, and so much pain in life, that it might seem strange to think that you can know Christ’s own joy. In this passage, Jesus speaks of how you can know Christ’s joy yourself.
And remembering that he spoke this hours before his own crucifixion, this obviously isn’t flippant, short-term pleasure. And so he speaks of love and hate here too.
What you’ll see is that the more you love God, the more you will know Christ’s joy and the more likely you are to experience unjust hatred.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in May 2026. You can find more in the series in our Sermon Index.
Find joy in Christ’s love (9-11)
Read John 15:9.
That first sentence is worthy of a sermon on its own. There’s a whole conference – or maybe a book – needed to unpack it!
How has the Father loved the Son? We’re talking here about God who exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Indivisible, co-eternal, equally divine. Three persons of the Trinity who is/are one God.
So how has the Father loved the Son? Here’s just four ways:
- Eternally by nature.
- God is love. He is love even without Creation to love.
- Love is intrinsic to divine life within the persons of the Trinity.
- The Father loves the Son and the Spirit, the Spirit loves the Father and the Son, etc.
- What’s more, the Father loves the love that exists between the Son and the Spirit without jealousy or insecurity.
- It’s God’s own nature eternally to love.
- By public expression.
- The Father loved the Son publicly, declaring him to be his Son in whom he is well pleased (think baptism and transfiguration).
- Such a public display of love reflects the Father’s delight in Jesus’ perfect obedience and holiness.
- Jesus’ perfect obedience and holiness is a perfect display of the Father; he is the radiance of the Father’s glory (Heb 1:3).
- Such witness to the Father is core to Jesus’ mission.
- By giving.
- The Father expressed his love for Jesus in all he gave him.
- He gave Jesus all authority, judgment, a people, life in himself.
- In John 3:35 Jesus says, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands.”
- And in John 5:20 he says, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.”
- The gifts the Father gives the Son are for the mission he does. In love, the Father shares in the participation of mission with the Son.
- So also, by oneness in heart and mission.
- As Jesus, the Good Shepherd, spoke about laying down his life, he could say this in John 10:17 – “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.”
- The Father loves the willing obedience and sacrifice of the Son.
- There’s a oneness in heart and mission – even to death.
But read John 15:1 again. It’s an amazing statement.
Jesus, eternal son of God, has loved you eternally. You were chosen in love in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before you existed, you were known and loved.
He’s loved you publicly by dying for you. 1 John 4:9 says, “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” – a public display.
Jesus has loved you by giving his life for you: “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10-11). John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
He has loved you by including you in his work. He is the vine, you’re the branches, he bears fruit through you!
So the Father loves the Son, and the Son expresses his love for the Father through his obedience. The resulting love and delight of the Father is the Son’s joy. We’re thinking how we can know Christ’s joy, and this is it: It’s the infinite, pure, delighted bliss that comes from pleasing the Father and enjoying his loving delight at your obedience.
Now, as the Father has loved the Son, so Jesus loves you. Eternally, publicly, generously, and by including you in mission. You can respond to that by your obedience to Jesus.
So read John 15:2-3.
Obedience to Jesus is the path to knowing his joy yourself! The joy in holiness, in witness, guilt-free, shame-free.
You say, “Joy in obedience?” Yes! If you think the Christian life is all about stuff you can’t do, you’re not living as Christ intends! He came so that you would know life to the full.
If you’re struggling with obedience, or lacking in joy, or even love to him, the answer is to go back to him. Meditate on Jesus and his eternal love for little old you. It’s humbling. And get this: It’s his desire and intention for you to have this joy.
So what do you need to be obedient to?
Love one another (12-17)
Read John 15:12.
How has he loved you? We’ve just read it. Jesus has loved you as the Father has loved him. By ‘one another’ here Jesus explicitly means other Christians. This is how you are to love the people in this room as an expression of your love to Jesus, to experience his own joy yourself, and to make him known.
We can have the same four ideas.
Love one another by nature.
- We’re not eternal; we’re not divine.
- But you are in union with Christ, which puts you in spiritual union with every Christian here.
- Don’t pick and choose who you’ll love.
Secondly, love one another publicly.
- At the very least, that means show up to things: Two services on a Sunday plus Life Group / prayer meeting.
- By this everyone will know that you’re Christ’s disciple, if you love this church and order your diary around it.
- But more than that, actively care for one another publicly – not for your glory, but clearly pointing to Jesus.
Thirdly, love one another by giving.
- Give your time, gifts, skills, money, your energy to serving one another.
- We’re not a closed commune with no outside obligations or interests, obviously. But if you give nothing to the church, you can’t claim to love it.
Lastly, love one another in oneness of heart and mission.
- Don’t think you can outsource mission to a few keen people. If the Apostle Paul were part of our church he’d at least be asking you to pray for him.
- Join in where you can (often just by turning up); pray always.
That will cost you, won’t it? Yes. Read John 15:13.
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
- Remember the old gag: A young couple on the phone. “Would you cross oceans, fight bears, move mountains for me?” “Yes!” “Can you come round now?” “No, it’s raining.”
- Love that costs nothing isn’t real love.
The command is, “Love one another.” The nature of that work is practical and costly (v12-13), so Jesus gives the motivation for that work again in v14-17. Read John 15:14-15.
Does that feel right? Are we really his friends if we’re characterised by obedience? Doesn’t that make us servants?
In my corporate jobs I had people working for me who in turn had teams working for them. With my direct reports, I’d share our plans, our strengths, our weaknesses. I’d talk frankly about our place in the organisation. Someone in one of my teams once said that they hated failing tasks I’d given them. Although I didn’t shout like lots of the managers they’d known, they hated to fail because they hated to let me down. When you share your thoughts and emotions as well as plans and objectives, it all becomes more personal. Obedience is expected, but based on friendship.
That’s a shadow of how Christ has included you in his mission to the world. He is the Vine, you’re the branches. He includes you in his work, explains your role in him building his kingdom as you bear his fruit in the world.
And before you think, “I can’t do what he commands”, read John 15:16.
You are his friend; Jesus chose you to bear fruit. He knew you before he saved you; he loved you eternally.
That’s your motivation. So read John 15:17.
Obey his command with a deliberate, gospel-hearted love for this church – so that others will be saved. But:
Expect hatred from the world (18-25)
We go from all this talk of love, to hate: Read John 17:18.
It’s not a new topic.
Remember that whatever you were before you became a Christian, you’re grafted into Christ himself now. He is the vine, and his people are the branches. When you became a Christian, you left the world behind. You’re part of him now. Different by nature.
So what he says next is a natural consequence: Read John 17:19.
So because society is not generally in Christ, people won’t understand why Christians choose to live the way you do. You’re alien to most people.
So just as the whole world is split on whether they are in Christ or not, humanity will also be split on how they regard Christians: Read John 15:20. Many persecuted Jesus, though some believed. So the church can also expect persecution, and also some to believe.
But it should be obvious from all this that you’re either in Christ or you’re not; you’re either a Christian joined to him, or you’re not a Christian at all.
- Persecution will soon test your faith in Christ.
- What would you rather have? Persecution from people, along with the joy of the eternal Son who saves you from sin and brings you to the Father, or to fit in with people, but be cut off from eternal life and thrown into a Lake of Fire on the last day?
- God himself would rather you turn to him for life. That’s why he sent Jesus, to be your Saviour. Turn from your sin today, call on God for forgiveness, and he will forgive you. But the more you obey Christ and know his love, the weirder you’ll be to the world around you.
Verses 21-24 speak of how the Jewish people rejected Jesus despite all the wonderful things he’d done. It’s still the same.
In fact, it was prophesied in the Old Testament: Read John 15:25.
It’s a quote from Psalm 69, written by King David. David was under persecution because of his zeal for God. In the psalm he says things like, “zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me” and “for my thirst they gave me vinegar.” It’s a psalm about David, prophesying about Jesus. And in particular, it’s about opposition that comes because of devotion to God in obedience to his commands.
Persecution for David, for Jesus, and for Jesus’ followers. A servant is not above his master.
Do you ever feel torn between church life and trying to please people outside the church? You get an invitation to something that clashes with a church event – even a normal Sunday service.
Whatever the situation, your overriding thought should be obedience to Jesus’ commands. Love one another. In particular, he means his church. Do that with gospel intent, so: “I can’t come to your thing as I’m going to church / to visit someone from church / to make something for church.”
You might find yourself out of company with friends or family. But that’s part of your public witness, your public display of love for Christ by loving his people. Choose to delight Jesus more than people.
It can be hard. But read John 15:19 again.
That’s what it can feel like to be Christ’s. Love without cost isn’t real love.
So, as the Father has loved Jesus (eternally, publicly, generously, joint in mission), so Jesus has loved you. As Jesus obeyed the Father in love, so you must obey Jesus in love.
And his command is to love one another; love this church. Love without cost isn’t love.
Love by nature, publicly, generously, joint in mission.
And as you do that, expect opposition from those who don’t understand. But continue in your love to this church to win unbelievers to Christ.