Jesus is our friend

JESUS IS OUR FRIEND

Jn. 15:9-17

The descriptions of Jesus’ relationship with us are varied.  Each relationship is special.  Some like the Teacher/pupil relationship; others the Shepherd and His sheep; others the Bridegroom and the Church being His bride; others the Vine and the branches; others the Master/servant relationship.  All these relationships are precious and to some, one means more than another.  My favourite relationship with Christ is Friend.  I have always thought that the most important treasure in life is to have a true and loyal friend.  I love the mountains and valleys, the open sea and nature.  I love classical music, but all these lovely things mean more when you share them with a friend.  Friends are the most important ingredient in the recipe of life.

Jesus said to His followers. “I shall not call you servants any more…..I call you friends.”  Friend is one of the most beautiful words in the human language.  It touches a responsive chord in all our hearts.  No person is so strong and self-sufficient that he or she can live life at its best apart from the strength of friendship.  We depend upon friendship just as surely as we depend upon food and air and water.

Jesus takes this beautiful word and applies it to you and me.  What are the basic elements of Jesus’ friendship with us?

The first is acceptance.  A friendship is composed of two people who accept each other.  I may not understand everything I know about you.  I may not even like some of the things about you, but if I am prepared to accept you as a person just the way you are, and if you are prepared to accept me just the way I am, then we have the basis of a friendship.  Jesus is our Friend who knows all about us and still loves us.

This is what I think Jesus was saying to His followers.  “I call you friends.”  By no stretch of the imagination can we believe that Jesus approved of everything He saw in Peter and the rest of the Apostles.  Recall to mind the things yet to be revealed in the lives of those men.  Judas would betray Him.  Peter would deny Him.  All the others, apart from John, would forsake Him in the hour of His greatest loneliness.  They were far from perfect.  Yet Jesus said, “I call you friends.”  “I accept you just the way you are.”

This kind of unconditional acceptance on the part of Jesus to be a friend to each one of us is not easy for us to understand.  We are all so different and some of us can be disloyal and feckless and yet He can say to each one of us, “I call you friends.”  In the Gospels we discover Jesus as an understanding Friend.  The people who were most uncomfortable in His presence were not the sinners but the strict moralists, who took pride in their own goodness and looked with scorn on the badness of others.

Friendship is based on acceptance and not demands.  Jesus is prepared to accept you and me right where we are, for what we are.  You don’t have to shape up first.  You don’t have to prove yourself.  All that matters is whether you are willing to accept Him.

Another element in the friendship of Christ is respect.  Jesus respected all people.  He was sensitive to people’s feelings.  He looked for and found and commended their good qualities.  He never invaded a person’s privacy nor destroyed the dignity of their free will.  The last Book of the Bible pictures Him standing at the door, knocking, waiting for someone to let Him in.  That is a picture of His high regard for you and me.  He never kicks down the door of our lives.  He simply offers His Friendship and waits for us to respond.

Another element of Jesus’ friendship is honesty.  Jesus said, “I have made known to you everything I have learned from My Father.”  Someone has said, “It is better to be disturbed by an unpleasant truth than to be comforted by a pleasant lie.”  Jesus knew the importance of that.  To study His life is to be impressed with his uncompromising commitment to truth.  He would not deal in deception, not even to spare His own life.  Honesty is essential to friendship.  No meaningful relationship can exist on deceit.  For us to be friends, we don’t have to know everything there is to know about each other, but what we do know has to be real.

Christ’s offer of friendship is open and honest, no strings attached, no axes to grind.  He offers Himself.  “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.”  Calvary is the clearest offer of friendship the world has ever seen.

Jesus is our Friend who strengthens us with prayers, blesses us with love and encourages us with hope.  The friendship of Jesus is beyond price.  Jesus is the Friend who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.  Jesus is the Friend who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself.

Lord Jesus, if we are willing to give You the same acceptance, respect, honesty that You have given us, it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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