Jesus said in John 15:14-15:
"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."However, it pays to be careful: accepting the invitation of John 15:15 does not mean that the preceding verse is not applicable:
"You are my friends if you do whatever I command you." (emphasis mine)This friendship is conditional. Many are called but few are chosen.
The people of this democratic age of equality may recoil at the authoritarian tone behind the words 'if you do whatever I command you' -- but it makes complete sense when you remember that we are talking about our Creator and the King of the Universe.
The invitation is clear. We are all asked to apply for the position, and most of us who believe God was dead serious in His invitation have responded. However, the reality is that friendships take time to form, and they must survive the gauntlet of challenges that every friendship undergoes. In reality, not everyone will end up in the King's inner circle.
I propose that Jesus had three main groups of friends: The Badge Wearers, ie the ones who made up the crowds; the Regulars - those who followed Him everywhere but had their own agendas; and lastly, the Devoted few who were faithful to the end.
Let's look into each group a bit more.
The Badge Wearers
Jesus had a big crowd of people following Him everywhere. Some may have drifted in and out as they went about their lives, but did not have the time or interest to stay long. But some joined the club, got email updates and a membership badge from the celebrity reporters and would go out of their way to be at His next appearance. They would nod knowingly at His teachings, watch with amazement when people were healed or demons were cast out.
They watched for and relished the shock and indignation on the faces of Pharisees and scribes when Jesus threw a verbal bomb. They would return home from the event with exciting reports and stories to tell at friend's parties. They would quote Jesus when discussing politics or social values and agree with Him that the analogy of whitewashed tombs certainly fit the bill for all those uppity Pharisees and Scribes.
If people asked the Badge Wearer, "So, are you a follower of Jesus?" they would answer, "Are you kidding?? I know the colour of His sandals! I know all His messages by heart - especially the one that goes 'Do not pray on street corners to show off' or something like that. You should have seen the Pharisees' faces when He said that! I even got to shake one of His Disciples' hands. He talks the truth, I'm telling you."
But later on, the same Badge Wearer might whisper urgently to a friend, "Did you know that the Synagogue rulers are kicking anyone out who associates with Jesus? You'd better hide your badge! I did."
The Badge Wearers were never really serious about Jesus: they were just there for the show.
Many Christians today wear the badge of Christianity but not all live it. Their heads acknowledge the teachings of Jesus but they tell themselves, "I'll deal with it later". Their business, ambitions and personal issues take priority over applying the Word of God to themselves. Christianity to them is no more than a habit on Sundays. These are the people who walk in and out of Churches and Bible Studies but see nothing change. Over time, they will wonder why they ever believed in the first place and become even more deceived.
I once heard with shock and grief when a friend of mine answered a question about her religion, "I'm a Christian, but I don't really practice it." She talked about Christianity like a something you could put on or take off and I had heard her say, "Oh, we studied the Bible to death in School. I don't need to study it anymore."
Such words are terrifying in their ignorance and deceptiveness and I was so sad and shocked that I didn't know how to answer her. My mind went completely blank although everything in me wanted desperately to say something that would stir her heart. To this day, I think of that moment with great regret and tears.
Satan's lies are prevalent throughout this world; don't you take a bar of it: there is no middle ground. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life whether you would believe it or not. It is impossible for anyone who has truly understood and accepted the Gospel to be unaffected by it: you are either Christ's, or you aren't.
The Regulars
This next group of people in Jesus' crowds gave up their day jobs to help out in Jesus' campaigns. They handed out the fliers, swept the floor, recorded the sermons and served as crowd controllers. Jesus' messages stirred their hearts; they sensed something new and could not get enough so they did all they could to be near Him and hear more.
They were part of the seventy who came back rejoicing, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your Name!" They kept their membership badges on even when they were threatened to be thrown out of the synagogue: Jesus was going to become King, and they weren't going to miss out on being part of the new revolution.
But then things became confusing. When they tried to make Him King, He slipped away. His repeated warnings about His death and rising in three days left them all bewildered and scratching their heads. On top of that, Jesus began to ask for too much. I and my Father are one?? He's taking this too far! Who does He think He is? Eat His flesh? Drink His blood? Is this guy a madman? They would ask themselves.
When Jesus refused to fit into their mold, they were left flabbergasted and began to doubt Him. When He challenged their faith, they refused to be challenged. They left in disgust when they could not understand. They abandoned Him when it became clear He could not help them achieve their goal to overthrow the Roman Empire.
Judas was deep down, in my opinion, part of this group of people. On the surface, Judas seemed to be in the Inner Circle. He was one of the twelve, hand-picked by Jesus. He had given up everything to follow Jesus. Along with the rest of the twelve, Judas knew Jesus' favourite places, heard every sermon; he'd healed the sick and delivered some from demons with Jesus. Yet, down in his heart, not all was committed to his rabbi, and he had not accepted all that Jesus had said.
Judas may have been the loudest protester when Mary broke that alabaster jar of precious spikenard oil and poured it all over Jesus. Judas still had his own agendas. The scriptures clearly said that Judas had often helped himself to the money box (John 12:6). The fact that he was willing to sell his rabbi for a few silver coins says a lot about the true state of his heart.
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" and so we are also warned: "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor 10:12).
It is easy to fall into this group; it is easy to continue to serve your own agenda while seeming to follow the Lord's. You might fool everyone, but you cannot fool the Lord.
The Devoted
The last group of Jesus' friends were close to Him. They included - but were not exclusive to - the twelve. These people served their rabbi and truly believed what He said. They gave up everything to follow Jesus and scorned the fellowship of the synagogues, their reputation amongst their peers to be with Jesus.
When the Badge Wearers melted away and the Regulars left in a huff, the devoted few remained, saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." (John 6:68-69)
They were prepared to swallow the hard sayings and pay the price to be His disciples because they knew that Jesus was the real deal whether they understood Him or not.
However, it is interesting to note that, even here, there were degrees to the intimacy shared between Jesus and His devoted disciples of the Inner Circle. Jesus chose Peter, James and John to witness His transfiguration. After Jesus had been arrested and the others had fled, only Peter and John could pluck up the courage to be as close to Jesus as they dared in the last few hours of his mortal life. It was Peter and John that ran to the tomb that strange, amazing morning when Mary stumbled back into the house to gasp, "I saw Him! He's alive!"
Later, Peter and James would become prominent leaders of the Early Church (there is no specific mention of John as a leader although it is almost certain that he was involved). They had been groomed by Jesus for this task. They were part of the inner circle who believed and accepted with their whole heart that Jesus was the Christ, and would hold to that to their dying day despite severe persecution.
These were the Devoted.
So What About You?
If we go back to where we started in John 15, we find that when Jesus said, 'but I have called you friends', it was in the Upper Room with the Twelve on the night of His betrayal.
He was talking to the original Twelve that He had handpicked at the beginning of His ministry.
Jesus chose His Twelve disciples while He was on Earth. But what if you knew that Jesus had likewise chosen you? When He died on that cross, He did it because He was not willing for any to perish, but all to come to Him. He thought of you.
If you accept, will you be a Regular like Judas, still holding on to His own agendas? Or will you be like Peter, giving his whole heart, warts and all? Peter did not let his shortcomings stop him from earnestly following Jesus. He was there, broken, as He looked into Jesus' knowing eyes at the last cock's crow, and he was there, in the brokenness of his failure at the shore of the Sea of Galilee running and shouting, half-naked, "It is the Lord!" towards the waiting figure on the beach roasting fish over a fire (John 21). His earnest love for Jesus overtook his whole life, and he was changed forever.
In turn, Peter was one of those who 'turned the world upside down' and made history just by being a passionate servant-friend of Jesus Christ.
We must learn the lesson from the Scriptures: it is possible to have been with Jesus, and yet miss it all; Judas missed it. At least 500 people saw Jesus after he had risen from the dead, but not all of them made it to the end:
...that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep..." (1 Cor 15:3-6)
Association alone is not enough. Will you answer the invitation with your whole heart? Will you lay it all down to be the Lord's servant-friend without reserve, without compromise - to the end?
"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you." John 14:14-15
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