John 15:13– 15“Greater
love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are
my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends,
for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” —
St. John
Context is everything when it comes to reading and
applying the Bible. Always, we need to keep in mind who is speaking, and to
whom. We also need to know what is being said; and we need to allow the Spirit
of God to apply to us what is needed for our enlightenment and enrichment: our
teaching, rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness. (Cf. 2 Timothy 3)
So, in John 15 Jesus is speaking to His disciples and He
tells them the above; He calls them His friends. Now then, because He calls then
friends, does He call me friend? It’s
worth asking. Jesus did have a unique and one of a kind relationship with these
men, but does that relationship wash over onto me? Does Jesus call me friend?
Jesus said to them, “I
have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have
made known to you.” Jesus had conversations with those men which are not recorded
in Scripture. So, in His revelations of what He learned from the Father, do we
have enough of those revelations in Scripture to know what our part is in the
process these two-thousand years later?
And when Jesus called them friends, He said He did so because friends are an elevated relationship;
one of knowing the Master’s business. Do I know the Master’s business? Am I a
friend? I think what He said initially gives me the answer: You are My friend(s) if you do what I
command. Is that for them or me?
Context is everything, but implication helps. Jesus may
have been telling His men who they were, but He was also telling us today
(two-thousand years later) the same thing: the friend-principle is this: You
are My friends if you do what I command. If I want to be Jesus’ friend, I
do what He commands, explicitly, or implicitly through the teachings of the
Bible.
Friendship with God is not rocket-science – it is simply
loving God by His Holy Spirit, and loving people the same way. No degrees in
theology necessary. No titles, or positions needed. Just love God and love
others. Jesus commands are simply this: love
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as
yourself. Wanna be a Jesus friend? Do that. Wanna know the Master’s
business? Love Him, and love others.
Everything Jesus learned from the Father and revealed to
them is the same message revealed to us today: love God and love others. If my
focus is loving God and putting the needs of others above my own, then what can
go wrong? If I see God as my Friend and me as His; and then I make a point of
being a friend to everybody else, how can I go wrong? That’s what friends are
for.
Father, Your
business is simple and Your way is simpler yet: love You above all else, and
love people more than self. Simple. Straightforward. Salvation. Amen.
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