Pastor’s Corner: “My Best Friend Jesus”
Proverbs 18:24 – (NIV) 24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Making friends these days is as easy as clicking on “friend request” on your Facebook page, but is that the true measure of friendship? Would you tell your friends on Social media your deepest fears and regrets? Would you go to them looking for support and comfort in your pain? Would you go to them when you are in great need? Maybe some of you have…..how did it turn out? Perhaps there was some nice comments but there was probably some mocking and criticism as well. Social Media friendship is one of the shallowest forms of friendship we can have today.
I heard the story of two friends who were camping in the woods. As they were having their morning coffee, they heard rustling in the bushes. Coming toward them at full speed was a very large grizzly bear with a very hungry look on his face. One of them started pulling on his running shoes. His buddy turned to him and said, “You don’t think you can outrun that grizzly bear, do you?” “No,” the man said. “I don’t need to. All I have to do is outrun you.” That is how a lot of so-called friends are.
For Christians, Jesus has many names in scripture, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Messiah, Son of God, Emmanuel, but one we sometimes forget is…. Friend. He is also our perfect example for friendship. If you were to list all the qualities of your best friend, Jesus has those qualities and more! Jesus was loyal, brave, humble, honest, compassionate, protective, encouraging, dependable, faithful, kind, loving, forgiving and completely sacrificial (just to name a few!).
Jesus was called “the friend of sinners” because He would actually sit down and have a conversation with a prostitute or a tax collector or even a Samaritan woman. He extended His friendship to anyone who wanted it, but the question is how many of us know that it is even possible to be friends with Jesus? Or, how many of us even want to be friends with Jesus? Jesus Christ is the greatest friend that any of us ever will have. To say, “Jesus is my best friend,” almost sounds like a cliché, but when you think about it, it really is true.
He gladly calls us friends. Jesus gathered his disciples one last time, on the night before his death, to prepare them for the next day and beyond. In the midst of this evening he said, “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” (John 15:15). To be called Jesus’s servant is an immeasurable privilege. Yet Jesus presents a greater honor. He brings us even closer and calls us friends.
However, it may be helpful to note what friendship with God doesn’t mean. This isn’t a relationship of equals. We don’t think of Jesus as our buddy. Jesus is—and will always be—our king. And yet, it’s also true that our king has invited us to be His friends. What does this mean? It’s helpful to think about what it means to be a servant and to be a friend. A servant only comes when there’s something to do, but a friend is welcome anytime. A servant is told what to do, but a friend is told why. A servant will bring the food to the table, but a friend eats it with you. When Jesus gives this contrast, he wants us to see He desires us—he wants us to view ourselves as his dear friends. He wants us near him and near His heart.
The cross proves his friendship. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He wanted his disciples to see the cross and think: I understand now: He substituted himself for me under God’s wrath, and he did it because he views me as his treasured friend. He wants us to view the cross as an affection-filled sacrifice for friends. Friendship is in the deepest heart of Christ and it’s at the very center of the gospel.
These lyrics of an old hymn always resonate with my heart when thinking about Jesus as my friend: You’re my friend And You are my brother – Even though You are a King – I love You more than any other – So much more than anything. John 15:14 (TLB) – 14 and you are my friends if you obey me. True friends of Jesus obey Him because they want to. Obedience comes as a desire and not a duty if we really have a friendship with Jesus. We don’t say, “Read the Bible? Again?” or “Pray? I don’t really feel like praying right now.” When Jesus is your friend, you look forward to Bible study. You look forward to prayer. You look forward to your time with Him.
What a friend we have in Jesus. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and he loves us more deeply than anyone else ever could. He draws near in our suffering, and he remains committed even in our stumbling. He lets us all the way in, and loves us to the very end. He doesn’t just justify us and then push us aside; he welcomes us into his deepest heart.
The gospel calls us to trust Jesus as our Savior, submit to him as our King, and value him as our Treasure. It also calls us to enjoy Him as our friend. But do you view Him this way? What does it mean for Him to be your truest friend, and how can you experience His friendship?
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton