Jesus Who? October 28, 29, November 01
Jesus The Friend
Taking the halo off.
We’ve looked at Jesus’ public persona, what about his private persona?
Although Teacher, Rabbi, Revolutionary and even “Guru” might come out of most people’s mouths when asked who Jesus is, “Friend” is not a common answer, even among those who call themselves followers of Jesus. We think of Jesus as having followers, disciples, people that he healed, touched, and cared for. But what about having real honest-to-goodness friends?
Jesus says, “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ’He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ’Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ’ Luke 7:33-34
As an insult, the religious leaders called him “friend of sinners!” It is not a light slur, to say that someone was a friend of sinners in his day was like saying that you were a friend of commies back in the McCarthy Era.
Friend of sinners – meant as an Insult, taken as a badge of honour by Christians, A guy named Paul Oakley wrote a worship song called, “Jesus, Friend of Sinners, Jesus, Jesus, friend of mine”
Jesus was the life of the Party: so much of what happens in the Gospel happens around a meal with friends
At the end of his ministry, the night before he went to the cross, Jesus said this to his disciples:
John 15:15
“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.”
Even with this, it may be hard for many of us imagining that Jesus has people who are first his friends and then disciples or people he ministers with. But if much of what Jesus taught was about reconciled relationships, you would think he would have a few good friends himself.
Lazarus Mary & Martha
Lived in Bethany, a village just outside of Jerusalem, when Jesus was traveling in the area, he would usually stay with them. When I read the stories of Jesus interaction with these three, I see that he is “Jesus the friend.”
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells this story about a rich man who cares nothing about the misery of a poor beggar at his gate.
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named … Lazarus, … covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Now, there is nothing to say this here but I think that Jesus is giving his friend Lazarus a hard time & inserts him into the story just to raze him, like I might tell a story and insert Nancy or Andrew just as a loving tease. Lazarus doesn’t come off too bad in the end. …
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
"But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
"He answered, ’Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
"Abraham replied, ’They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
" ’No, father Abraham,’ he said, ’but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
"He said to him, ’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
You might tease the ones you love, you might hang out with good friends, but I think that if you are really close – you will also have a few good fights, and your friendship with survive, or even be stronger because of the fight.
Me and Barb Rudd working together in ’87 – “we even had a few good fights”
In John 11 there is another story of Jesus interaction with Mary, Martha & Lazarus…
Tell the story – Martha gets right up into Jesus face – sticks her finger in his chest and says “If you had been here, my brother would not be dead.” There are a few places where we see Martha’s ire in the NT – she was not a woman that you wanted to be on the bad side of, but It says that Jesus loved M, M, & L
Jesus weeps at the grave – A good friend weeps when you weep.
Jesus is the true friend
When those who believe that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human want to demonstrate his “human side” they often point to his physical humanity – he got tired, hungry, thirsty… When I think of Jesus’ humanity, I think of his true friendships – he did not float through life untouched by love and grief and joy and all that comes with a good friend. He wasn’t this Marlborough Man lone wolf type – he needed and had good friends
This is where I want to introduce a new idea into the course. Christians believe that we can know the character of God through Jesus’ character. We can know God through knowing Jesus’ life. John says at the beginning of his Gospel, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only [Son], who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” John 1:18
I realize that this idea can bring up many questions about Jesus’ divinity and relationship with God the father – we are going to get into that later, but for today, I want you to stay with the idea that in the face of Jesus we see the face of God.
That if Jesus wants his disciples to be friends rather than underlings,
That if Jesus is a friend of Sinners and tax collectors,
That if Jesus has friends who are friends first
That if Jesus is able to hold on to friends who tear a strip off of him at a funeral,
That if Jesus cries at the grave of a close friend,
Then…
God wants us as friends first, rather than servants
God is a friend of sinners
God has friends who are friends first
God is able to hold on to friends even when they tear a strip off of him when they are in pain
God cries with us when we are in pain, and he rejoices when life’s going good for us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Father vs. Friend – my relationship with Dad
The father of the Jewish faith - Abraham – in a letter to the Hebrew Christians is called a “friend of God.” I actually have two major goals in my life: one is to be a wise old man – The old will come on it’s own & I’m working on the wisdom, the other is to be known as a friend of God’s.
Questions for groups
What qualities in Jesus bring him “down to earth” for you, so that you see his humanity?
Have you ever thought of Jesus as having friends?
What is good about knowing God’s character in Jesus’ character? What is difficult?
Does God have friends?
