“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 KJV)
They did not know it at the time, but the original disciples of Jesus enjoyed a status that many people today could learn to appreciate more. They were the personal friends of Jesus Christ. On the night before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples, "No longer do I call you servants . . . but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)
Jesus and His disciples became the example of the relationship pictured in Proverbs 18:24: "a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Another real-life example of that kind of friendship in the Old Testament was David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. They formed a covenant relationship by which they shared their possessions, their needs, and their future welfare.
Jesus even experienced his own brothers being distant from Him. “For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.” (John 7:5 NLT) In the end, it was His disciples—His friends—who stayed closest to Him. Jesus was first close to them and they became close to Him.
Why would someone want to be the friend of Jesus Christ? Does He have the qualities that we desire in a friendship?
Friends are dependable in good times and in bad times. A good friend will tell us that we have something in our teeth. A friend will laugh with us and cry with us. They will share joys and sorrows. They will be brutally honest even when it is something painful to hear.
In the same way, God tells us where we come short of His glory. God was dependable to send a Savior. God was dependable to raise the Savior from the dead. God is fully dependable to save our souls from hell. This is all because, for each one of us, Jesus Christ is dependable unto death. He will not leave us or forsake us. He is God’s only Son born to die so you and I can have eternal life.
God never lies. Jesus never lies. What he says, He will do. He has promised to judge the world in righteousness. He has promised to cast the wicked into hell. He has promised to finish what he started. He has promised to come again.
Jesus is the loving friend. – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)
Jesus is the faithful friend. – “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20 KJV)
Jesus is the true friend. – “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6 KJV)
A woman, named Dorothy C. Retsloff, once said, "A friend is a person who will help you in the hour of sickness; who will lend you a dollar without deducting the interest; who will help you uphill when you are sliding downhill; who will defend you in the hour when others speak evil of you; who will believe in your innocence until you admit your guilt; who will say behind your back what he or she says to your face; who will shake hands with you wherever he or she meets you, even though you wear patches; and, who will do all these things without expecting any return."
Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1819 - 1886) said it well, in 1857, when he penned these words, "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.”
Do we seek to have a friend who will always comfort us? Do we seek to have a friend who will always love us? Do we seek to have a friend whose love is stronger than the bond of love we understand? Look to Jesus Christ. His is a love and friendship that will bind us together with Him for all of Eternity.
The Apostle Paul tells the Roman people and us, in Romans 5:8 (KJV): "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." While we are still sinners Jesus Christ died that you and I can have eternal life. While we were living in the dirt and ugliness of our sin, Jesus remained and still remains our friend.
The disciples and others asked the question, “What manner of man is this?” We have our answer. Jesus Christ is a friend closer than a brother.
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