Your Friend's Business

John 15:15-16 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
 
MOST of us have often heard and been assured, “Jesus is your friend.” “What a friend we have in Jesus” is a popular hymn as it reminds us Jesus bears all our sins and grief. The song teaches us we can take our needs to the Lord in prayer. The hymn was written to draw us into a closer, trusting relationship with the Best Friend ever!
   Thus, Jesus words here may seem to be of little impact to his disciples. “Of course. He’s our friend!” they might affirm. But in truth, for the Master to call his disciples “friends” is a significant change in the way God will relate to both his disciples in that upper room and to us forever.
   The Torah-trained disciples would have considered it blasphemy to call Yahweh – the LORD God Almighty – “friend”. They had learned God set them apart from all nations in ancient times to worship him with very specific laws and structures. The Lord God had warned and judged the Jews – even with death – against casually coming before him in a “friendly” way. God must be feared – revered, honored, respected and obeyed. Devout Jews never spoke the name of God for fear of blaspheming his name. But then Jesus, the eternal Son of the Holy God, says, “I have called you friends.” How could this be?
   Let’s understand what a friend is. Psalms 55:13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.
   We understand then that God-centered friends are alike. They have similar thoughts and desires. Friends experience true fellowship as they care for each other in many ways. You can say that good friends know each other’s business.
   The Son of God now has the same relationship with his disciples. He has elevated them from servants to friends because he has taught them to know God’s business.
   Jesus came to be your friend, so you, too, will know the Father’s business. From that night on, it was the disciples’ responsibility to transact Kingdom business. This remains your task. To say, “Jesus is my friend.” means you are to be about the business of making the Father known to his world.
   For the second time, Jesus promised, “Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Remember that this refers to your prayers being as Jesus would pray. You will know what to pray when you know, “What a friend I have in Jesus.”