Small Group Lesson Plan for May 20th: John 15:9-17
Abiding in Love and Joy
John 15:9-17
As we continue through the rest of John 15, Jesus now encourages his disciples to live life full of love.
“As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain (abide) in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commands and remain in His love.” John 15:9-10
Because Christ was abiding (remaining) in the presence of the Father, the supernatural spiritual gift of love was emanating out of him through his words and actions. By this, He demonstrated exactly how to glorify the Father: live life full of love and joy.
Although Jesus was God as he lived on this earth, he was also human… meaning he struggled with the same human nature struggles we all do. The difference is he was always abiding in the presence of his Father which gave him the strength and ability to display the fruits of the spirit and live the perfect life.
Back to John.
“If you keep my commands, you will remain (abide) in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” John 15: 10
So there it is, Jesus lays out his objective, strategy and tactic of abiding in the Lord. When we sin, our sin causes distance between us and God. Because Christ lived the perfect life, He was never separated from the Father, they were always in unity. That is why he was able to live the perfect life.
Jesus is giving us a playbook of how to live life with love and joy. Step one, keep the Lord’s commands. Step two, abide in His presence which will keep you from breaking His commands. Step three, watch as your life transforms with the fruits of the spirit, namely love and joy.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:11-13
Christ is telling his disciples this tactic so that they may have joy that is compete in Him. Joy that the world wouldn’t be able to explain, because it doesn’t make sense. That’s the beauty of the Fruits of the Spirit: they are supernatural and from the Holy Spirit, not of this world. When we are obedient to the Lords commands, we spend time abiding in his presence, the fruit we bear will be undeniable.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me but I chose you, and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last - and so that whatever you may ask in my name, the Father will give you. John 15:14-17
Jesus is calling his disciples his friends, which is counter culture for Jewish rabbis in that time. He calls his disciples friends because he as taught them “everything I (Jesus) have learned from my Father.” That reinforces Jesus’ divinity even though he is human at that time. He also goes on to tell his disciples that he hand picked them, not like a slave but like a friend, in order to go into the world and bear fruit. But Jesus goes a step further in describing the fruit, not just average, run-of-the-mill fruit, but fruit that will last and not spoil when the first trial, tribulation or hardship comes along.
Jesus ends this section of John by giving us a promise of hope; a hope that God the Father will bless us as we come to him with requests that align with everything that Jesus has just talked about.
Reflections:
1. What does loving life with love and joy currently look like in your life? Where do you feel are any areas of improvement?
2. Have you ever met someone that has an unexplainable joy? OR Have you ever been that person for someone else?
3. What does “fruit that lasts” look like to you? What are some tactics that you can incorporate into your daily routine to reinforce what Jesus spoke about in the verses we just covered?
Closing thought:
Obedience gives us the closest and best access to abiding in the Lord possible and that’s where lasting fruit comes from.