What A Friend We Have In Jesus!

Matthew 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Consider for a moment the friends in your world. There will be some people whose names we know but are really on the peripheral of our affections. Then coming closer to our heart are those who we have dealings with but can not be called intimate friends. Then gravitating closer to are affections some of us are blessed to have a particularly close friend or two, someone who ‘gets’ who we are and whose company we delight to be in. For many of us this may be our spouse, our closest earthly friend. With this person we can be our true selves, and they accept us as we are, warts and all. However, some of us may feel pain in acknowledging that there is no one whom we can confide our most secret thoughts to, no one person in whom we feel really safe, safe enough to open up about everything.

Here the wonderful message of the Gospel brings hope. In Jesus Christ we have a friend who will always enjoy and welcome rather than regret and refuse our presence. He is our companion whose commitment does not depend upon our performance, cleanliness, faithfulness or appeal. He is the constant friend. Steady and steadfast in His friendship. A secure immovable anchor we can depend upon when all others depart.

He is the friend we can fully entrust ourselves to. Let’s admit it. There are parts of our lives that we are reluctant to share even with our closest friends. At the deepest level we will still be unsure whether we can fully reveal all of ourselves to them. After all, all our human friendships have a limit to what they can withstand. But with Jesus there is no limit. There is no ceiling on what we can talk to Him about.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

The invitation is clear, enticing us to pursue friendship and close fellowship with Jesus. Who could resist such a warm and welcoming request? Jesus is anxious for friendship with us, those who we are told in Revelation 3:17 are ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked’. Jesus wants to enjoy meals with us, spend time with us, deepen the acquaintance and be warmly present with us, so that we might relish each other’s company. Our duty is to accept this friendship.

Jesus wants us to know Him fully and deeply. He has, as He reminds His disciples in John 15:15, ‘made known to them everything He has heard from His Father.’ When we become His friends, He opens us His deepest purposes to us. What a rare privilege and joy to know the heart of Christ! He holds nothing back, but permits us to come completely into His confidence.

Human friendship is a precious blessing in life, and in no small way must we underestimate the value and necessity of it. God made us for fellowship, for our hearts to be united in love with another. Yet Christ’s friendship is far greater. A friendship that will truly meet our deepest longings in this life and continue on into the endless length and breadth of eternity. No matter the friendships that we may or may not enjoy upon this earth, there is a friendship par excellence that outshines and outlasts all others. Jonathan Edwards says this so very succinctly:

“God in Christ allows such little, poor creatures as you and I are to come to him, to love communion with him, and to maintain a communication of love with him. You may go to God and tell him how you love him and open your heart and he will accept of it… He is come down from heaven and has taken upon him the human nature in purpose, that he might be near to you and might be, as it were, your companion. There is no person in the world that stands in so endearing a relation to Christians as Christ: he is our friend and our nearest friend.” (Jonathan Edwards, “The Spirit of the True Saints Is a Spirit of Divine Love,” in The Glory and Honor of God: Volume 2 of the Previously Unpublished Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, Broadman, 2004:339)

Christ, our friend, longs to walk with us through every moment. Every trial. Every heartache. Every joy. Every circumstance. Every day. His presence is sweet. His counsel wise. His welcome is warm. His humanity means that He can relate completely to our sufferings, temptations, joys and in fact all our experiences in this life. In short, he relates to us as a person.

How well do you know this friend? This Savior-King who gave Himself for us, so that we might enjoy His eternal friendship. Is He on the peripheral of our friendship list or much closer to our hearts affections? If we are serious followers of Christ, let’s reconsider who Jesus is for us and how intimately we really relate to Him. Let Him become such a friend that He is our first point of call when we need a trusted friend. There is none other – ever – like Him.

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!

Author: Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1855)
Tune: CONVERSE (Converse)
Published in 1690 hymnals