John 15:12-27
I have called you friends...
Can we really grasp what that means? What it means to be a friend of Jesus? I don't think we really can, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. We spend a lot of time calling ourselves Christ's humble servants, as rightly we should, but so little time contemplating and reveling in the fact the we are also His friends, and not just any friends, but ones He loved with the greatest love by giving His life for us.
It is probably easier for us to imagine ourselves as servants, beloved and well-treated servants, but servants nonetheless. There is an equality inherent in friendship that we just can't imagine sharing with Jesus. We are after all just human beings and miserable sinners at that. And don't get me wrong, we are miserable sinners, and will never attain to any kind of equality with the Son of God. There are also plenty of times in the Scripture where we are also called the slaves and sheep. The Master, may love and care for his slaves, the Shepherd may give his life for the sheep, but the Master and the slave cannot be friends, no more than the Shepherd and the sheep. Yet, Christ calls us friends.
Our friendship with Christ says nothing about our worthiness or fitness but everything about Christ's love and mercy. We can be his friends because he condescends to us, comes to us, takes on our humanity. He is the Master who truly befriends the slave, the Shepherd who calls his sheep into a relationship. We can be his friends only because he declares it to be so.
How this fact should change our lives! We are friends of Jesus, friends of Him through whom all things were created and in whom all things hold together. Now this friend of ours surely deserves our worship and adoration, but he is also one with whom we have a relationship. He laughs with us in our delight, and holds us in our sorrow. He provides for us in need and protects us in danger, and shares with us in plenty and rests with us in safety. We share every moment of our lives with Him. He is closer to us than any human friend. There is nothing which can come between us, or cause him to reject us. Nothing! He is our friend, the best one we'll ever have.
Friendship with Jesus does change us, however. Such a relationship cannot leave us the same! The friends of Jesus obey his commandments, we bear fruit for Him, we love His other friends like He loves us. There is also a price to pay. The friends of Jesus are hated by the world, because Jesus is hated by the world. Yet, what a small price to pay this is however, for such a gift! And besides, Jesus does not leave us alone in the hateful world, but sends us the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to sustain us.
What a difference this is from every other system of belief in the world. All the false gods of the nations (and by this I mean everything from the traditional notion of god to the "universe" of the New Agers or even the riches, comfort and pleasure worshiped by the materialist and hedonist) may be creator, they may be sustainer or guide or even bringer of some prosperity or happiness, but they are never friend. The gods of the nations are not dedicated to their devotees, they may be tolerant of them, or impressed by them, but they do not love them unconditionally. No one, other than the Christian, can know God as friend, can live in the surety of his love. No one, other than the Christian, even knows that such a relationship is possible.
For us, this should be the greatest truth and joy of our lives, and the greatest reason to share our Friend Jesus with those who do not know the abundance of life with Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment