Friendship with Jesus
Whatever Jesus tells us to do will be perfectly good for us in the end.
What if I told you that you could be my friend but there was a catch: you had to obey whatever I say? That would be weird, right? I don't think you'd want to be my friend. Friendships aren't usually predicated on requirements to obey somebody.
So, it's a bit strange to find Jesus saying something like this in the Bible. In the gospel of John, Jesus gave his disciples this instruction regarding their friendship: "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn. 15:14 ESV). A clear sign of the disciples' friendship to Jesus was their obedience to His commandments. Normally, we are friends with somebody because we spend time with them or we share common interests and hobbies. It's not because one party is willing to obey the commands of another. What an interesting instruction that Jesus gave to His disciples.
Why is Jesus able to equate friendship with obedience to His commandments? It's because Jesus' commands are perfectly right and wise. We, humans, are not able to base our friendships on whether a person obeys us or not because our motivations and decisions are often flawed. We often work with wrong intentions. We make choices that aren't godly and wise. We're selfish. And so, commanding others to obey us is fraught with ill-motives and unwise ideas.
But not Jesus. Jesus is all-knowing. Jesus is the wisest person out there. His motivations are always pure. He doesn't make mistakes. And so, if Jesus tells us to do something, it's based on pure motives and wisdom. Whatever Jesus tells us to do will be perfectly good for us in the end.
That's why Jesus was able to equate friendship to Him with obedience. If we are friends with Jesus, we will obey His commandments. The real question for us is this: do we trust Jesus? Do we trust His motivations? Do we trust His decisions? Do we trust His wisdom? If we trust Jesus, it will make total sense for us to completely obey what He commands us to do because we know it's for our very best in the end.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
