Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
As we have seen recently, Jesus calls us into His forever family. In addition (for, with our Savior, there is always more), He calls us His friends. This surprising statement of Jesus’ friendship with us is found in John 15:13-15: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” Note that Jesus initiates this relationship. We do not first call Him our friend; rather, this call originates with Him. The disciples had frequently (and correctly) called Jesus such titles as Lord, Master, Teacher, and Messiah. To think in terms of friendship would have seemed heretical and blasphemous. Thus, it is Jesus Who welcomes His followers into a personal relationship that embodies all of the best attributes of genuine friendship. Unfortunately, it is easy to misrepresent God as stern and forbidding, like a craggy precipice from which we must inevitably fall, to be eternally dashed and destroyed. No! Jesus, God the Son, views our relationship with Him as a friendly one based on love. Let us rejoice in the revelation and reality of our friendship with Jesus.