Jesus Christ, Our Friend :: Deeper Devotion

by John Robertson

John 15:15
“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Jesus shared a friendship with His Father that I doubt any of us will ever have with another human being on earth. Over and over in scripture we are told that Jesus slipped away from the world and prayed. Imagine the anticipation that Jesus must have felt knowing that after a long hard day at the office preaching to the people sitting on the Galilean hillside, He gets to take some time off and speak to the GOD of Heaven. They are equals. The people that He has been preaching to are nice folks, but they don’t have a clue about who He really is. He needs the comfort of someone who understands Him, someone who is a friend.

In John 15:15 Jesus is just hours away from being crucified. Up until now His twelve disciples have been mere students. They are not equal with Him in power or authority, and are still asking dumb questions. In fact they have been little more than just slaves. Jesus told them what to do, and they did it. But now Jesus looks at them and tells them, today is a different day; everything is about to come together for you. Today it will all make sense. Today I call you friends. Today you will know all about what my Father has put Me here to accomplish. Today you will know the will of my Father just as I know His will. Today we are friends.

The culmination of Jesus’ ministry was His crucifixion. This is key to understanding why Jesus called His disciples friends. Up to this point no man could go directly to the Father as Jesus did, but upon being crucified, Jesus took away the sins of His disciples, and everyone else who believed in Him. Now they are sinless, now they are friends with Christ. Now they can know and do the Father’s will just as Jesus did. The now remains just one question; Are you a friend of Jesus Christ?

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