Friends of Jesus

Tuesday

Reading: John 15:12-14, Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28 -3 Mary, Martha and Lazarus were friends of Jesus. He stayed with them, shared meals with them on occasion and just relaxed with them. Imagine that… a friend of Jesus… a friend of God!  In the Gospels, He talks about His friends, what He will do for them and how to be His friend.

Often people assume that they are His friends, because Jesus is loving and of course He would want everyone to be His friend, right? People make a lot of assumptions about Jesus without really reading His words. He is very loving, so loving that He doesn’t want any of us to miss out on the gifts of salvation and sanctification that He has offered.

 

On the last night He spent with His disciples He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.  You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.“ John 15: 12- 14  Little did His friends realize what those words would mean in the coming hours! He laid down His life for His friends then and even His friends today. How does one become Jesus' friend? Is it by going to church? Saying a prayer? Look closely, He tells us how; by doing whatever He commands. Didn’t we get rid of commandments in the new covenant? What commandments does Jesus give to us?

Actually, on Monday of Passion Week He was asked by one of the leaders ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to Him, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’” Matthew 22: 34- 40 NKJ

The wisdom of Jesus… He took all the writings in the Old Testament, all the laws of Moses, and all the 600+ other rules they made along the way and condensed it into the two most important commandments of all.  Jesus was actually quoting from Deuteronomy 6. In the Gospel of Mark it includes more of the quote, beginning with “The first of all commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength….” I like how the scribe replied to Jesus. “'Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart , with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love ones neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices'. Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to Him, 'You are not far from the Kingdom of God'. But after that no one dared question Him.” Mark 12: 28 – 34 NKJ

The Wisdom of Jesus! That's it, two commandments that sum up all of the law and commandments; to Love God with your whole heart and love others as oneself. Are these two of the commandments we are to obey to be His friend? I believe so. Here is what He said in John: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12 NKJ  Wow, that takes it to another level. To love one another as He loved us; is far greater than we love ourselves, it is sacrificial love. Jesus also loved Judas, His betrayer. He washed His feet with the other disciples at the last supper, showing him the full extent of His love as well.

How are we to love like this? To love God with our whole heart and others as He loved us? How can we do this, if by nature we are sinners? I don’t know about you, but there are many times that I struggle to love God and people with a whole heart; especially when I am distracted, with the busyness of life. Over the years I have learned that life with Christ is both a conversion and a transformation; to convert my old ways to His ways and to be transformed into His likeness... to have more of His goodness living through me.  Hopefully there is progress year to year, after conversion; though we may not see it. But at times, we can just get distracted and need a fresh start.

Friendship with Jesus starts with true conversion; when we recognize our need for God and are broken with the pain our sins have caused Him and other people in our life. It is called godly sorrow. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2Corinthians 7:10 NKJ  James says it this way, “Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief… humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.” James 4: 8-10

Often we don’t realize the extent of the pain that our own sin causes others, especially those closest to us. We also don’t realize that our sin is first against God. David said in Psalm 51 “Against you and you alone have I sinned.” He asked God to create in him a clean heart. In this place of sorrow God meets us, forgives, cleanses and transforms a willing heart.

Jesus tells us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. When you have a hard time with that, come to Him, give all of your heart and life to Him. Let Him shine His light in your heart to reveal any sin that is keeping you from victory in Him.  John says it like this: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1: 5-9 NLT, NKJ

Ahhh! A clean heart… so much better!!! This is real grace; the grace to move past the hindering sins, that keep us from victory in Him.  He loves us and through the sacrifice of Jesus; we are not only saved for eternal life, but for transformation now. We are dead to sin and alive to God. See Romans 6 Who wants to live miserable like that anyway?

It will change your life, as you find Him and His new life for you.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. 
The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” 
2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

In belonging to Christ… my whole heart belongs to Him… I am His Friend