Why Jesus?…

In his own words (part 15)

If someone was to ask me, “Looking back over your life, how many friends would you say you’ve had?” I would have to ask in return, “Could you tell me what you mean by the word ‘friend’?” 

Because “friends” today seems to be a “like” on a website, or “I like you because we agree on things” on Facebook. Or it’s sharing a similar interest, or sharing new experiences together, or on a deeper scale the friendship forged in war where you depend on each other to survive. Or it’s just getting together for company and a good laugh. 

It’s interesting, then, to see what Jesus meant by “friends.” In calling his disciples “friends” it meant two things to him: laying down his life for them (John 15:13), and sharing everything he’d learned with them (verse 15).  

From his example and teaching, then, they knew what true friendship was. And why was that important? Because, John 13:34, it was over to them now to love each other as he’d loved them. In other words, be the kind of friends to each other that he’d been to them. 

And Jesus really put emphasis on that too, finishing off a whole section of verses from John 15:9 to 16 with the simple statement in verse 17: “This is my command: Love each other.” Or in our terms, “I’m telling you guys, do this, because remember what I said back in John 14:21, that ‘Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him’? And remember what I said next in verse 23, that ‘my Father and I will come to you and make our home with you’”? 

Make their home with us? You mean, be family together – with God – in our present lifetimes now? And simply because we are friends with each other in the same way Jesus was a friend to his disciples? Yes? 

Well, in the case, what were those two things again that Jesus did to be a friend to his disciples? It was laying down his life for them and sharing what he’d learnt from his Father with them. What the first part might mean, about laying down one’s life for one’s friends, was covered in Part 13, but what about that second part?…(continues Monday)