Have you ever had someone manipulate you with the offer of friendship?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are really my friend, then you\u2019ll do X,\u201d where X is something you wouldn\u2019t do otherwise?
\n“If you want to be my friend, you\u2019ll give me your dessert.”
\n“If you are really my friend, you\u2019ll throw this wad of paper at the teacher.”<\/p>\n
It sounds rather grade-schoolish, like something that would happen on the elementary school playground.<\/p>\n
Yet\u2026 we often seem to be willing to ascribe such thinking to Jesus. If you do what he says, he\u2019ll be your friend. C\u2019mon, prove that you\u2019re his friend.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how people often take John 15:14. Jesus says \u201cYou are my friends if you do what I command you.\u201d There it is! If you want to be Jesus\u2019 friend, you better do what he says. If you don\u2019t, he won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n
And from there we are off to the races, trying to prove to Jesus that we are his friend. Can you find an imperative in his teaching? Do it, because then you will be his friend.<\/p>\n
Something is lost along the way. Something called\u2026. context. And thereby, great damage is done to our understanding of the good news.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look at what this really means. Jesus is talking to his disciples the night before he goes to the cross. He is telling them that what they need to do is simply abide in him. Everything they do will be because they abide in him, remain connected to him, not be independent of him.<\/p>\n
And then he says in 15:13, \u201cGreater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.\u201d Hmm. I wonder who is going to do that. Oh, right \u2013 Jesus is going to lay down his life for his friends. His friends. The disciples. They ARE his friends.<\/p>\n
He says in 15:15, \u201cNo 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. You did not choose me, but I chose you\u2026\u201d Hmm. Jesus calls them friends. And not because they shared their dessert, or did anything. Because of him choosing them, and him making known the good news of the Gospel, what he has heard from the Father, to them.<\/p>\n
Jesus is their friend on the basis of his own action, not on the basis of their command-keeping.<\/p>\n
Go even wider for a moment. Jesus says this to them on the night he is betrayed. And he is betrayed not only by Judas Iscariot, who is definitely not Jesus\u2019 friend\u2026 but by Peter. Peter, his supposed friend. Peter goes out and denies that he even knows Jesus, not once but three times. The last time, Jesus looks straight at him, and Peter slinks away crying.<\/p>\n
Well, I guess Peter isn\u2019t Jesus friend either, if being Jesus\u2019 friend means doing all that he commands. Doesn’t he belong in the same category as disobedient Judas?<\/p>\n
So it is really remarkable that John\u2019s gospel ends with Jesus appearing on the side of the lake where Peter has gone back to fishing. Jesus cooks him breakfast. Jesus restores him. Peter would live a fruitful life of response to the good news, because\u2026 Jesus never let him go.<\/p>\n
If you are Jesus’ friend, he won\u2019t let you go. You\u2019re his friend if you receive the gospel. And if you are his friend, then you will do what he commands. Because he\u2019ll get you there.<\/p>\n
Could it really be true that everything, simply everything, is about Jesus? That life is about his strength, his sacrifice, his righteousness? What does that birth in your heart?<\/p>\n
Welcome to Christianity. Where the truth is that you are his friend, his family, only because of what Jesus has done. Believe it, live in it, rejoice. Hallelujah, what a Savior!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever had someone manipulate you with the offer of friendship? \u201cIf you are really my friend, then you\u2019ll do X,\u201d where X is something you wouldn\u2019t do otherwise? “If you want to be my friend, you\u2019ll give me your dessert.” “If you are really my friend, you\u2019ll throw this wad of paper at … Continue reading Friends with Jesus<\/span>