Accepted: I am Christ's Friend

John 15:15 ESV

No 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.

Friend is such a powerful word and it is full of a variety of meanings. If you tell a non-believer that Jesus is your friend, they will probably create an image in their minds that is totally different than what this text is saying. Maybe something like this:

Hey Jesus, want to go to a movie? Are you going to the game Friday night?
Jesus, do you want to go golfin'? Jesus, could you pick up some milk on the way home? Jesus, you are a cool friend!

Now I know there are Christians that believe that is exactly what it means to have Jesus as your friend. But the context of our passage today is much deeper. Keeping this friend idea in context, consider these points:

John 15:9,10 ...abide in My love. If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love.

John 15:12 This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:14 You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Clearly a friend of Jesus will live a life dedicated to obedience of His every word. It is a relationship where we thrive in the love of Jesus Christ and the Father. We acknowledge that we were chosen by Him, only by Grace, and that this relationship is to be intimate and for the purpose of bearing fruit in line with the Word, and bringing glory to His name. The context of this friend idea reminds us that just because Jesus is our friend, it does not mean that we can pull Him down to our level. He is far superior to us.

At the same time, let me encourage you with this. There is plenty of scripture to support the truth that Jesus is a compassionate friend. He knows us in every detail, and He cares about everyone of those details. He works in our lives daily. His plan for our lives is not an old, once-prepared document. Rather, it is an interactive plan, where Jesus continually works amongst our weaknesses, our failures and our sin to transform us into His image so we can bear fruit unto Him. Jesus, my Friend, wants to hear about my problems, whatever they may be. He will comfort and console, but like a true freind, He will also jab the truth into my heart whenever necessary.

Jesus Christ, you are the friend that I need more than anything. Help me to obey you and to rejoice in the relationship you want us to have. Amen.

God Bless You,
Dennis