Read John 15:9-17
When I first met my husband, I could only hear his voice. It was during the 2020 lockdowns, and I was listening to him on a podcasting app. I had no idea that this humorous host would soon become my closest friend and one day be my spouse. Over the next year, we talked extensively about everything under the sun. He offered a shoulder to cry on and jokes to brighten my days. Finally, the day had come for us to meet. He traveled across the country to get baptized with me in freezing Lake Michigan. His willingness to come so far to take this step in our faith together swept me up. Friendship became courtship, and soon he made that same journey to settle in Milwaukee. We married the following spring. Again, I was so moved by his determination to drop everything in his life to build a new life with me.
Even greater is the love Jesus has for us. He gave up His seat and power in Heaven, entered our sin-stricken world as a vulnerable babe, faced all the temptation and suffering of earth, and finally bore our shame. He separated from His Heavenly Father, poured out His blood, and faced the darkness of death. He did all of this to be in communion with His bride, the church. He did this to call us friends.
In today’s passage Jesus tells the disciples that He no longer calls them servants but friends. Think about that. Because Jesus laid down His life for us, God the Father is no longer a faraway voice. We are in an intimate relationship with Immanuel: God with us! We can understand the teachings of the Father with the help of the Holy Spirit. We can cry out to God and receive peace and joy. We can live fully and laugh with the very One who created us. From this place, we can learn to love one another (1 John 4:19). Because Jesus laid down His life for us, we can learn to lay down our lives for each other.
For Reflection:
- Have you ever really considered what it means for Jesus to call us “friends”? How does His example of friendship (sacrificial love) inspire the type of friend you want to be? Act on that thought today with a friend in your life.
by Rayanne Nail
