I had a thought today about the hymn 'What a Friend we Have in Jesus,' and that brought my mind to the newer song 'Friend of God,' and then the slew of other things that have come out of that--to be brief, 'Jesus is my homeboy' t shirts, other songs such as the song 'Jesus, You are My Best Friend' that I used to sing in high school, other things.
At times, I'm not sure if this claim of friendship necessarily gives Jesus the respect and honor He deserves. After all, it is His name that has been exalted high above all names; His name at which every knee--Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Satanist, Democrat--will bow at the end of all things. It is this same Jesus that the Restored will fall down and worship at the Renewal of all things. This is that same Jesus who, when He answered, 'I am He,' an entire band of soldiers and Pharisees fell backward from the sheer power of His claim. And people have the nerve to reduce Him to friend?
Then I realized.
He reduced Himself from that. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, '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 the Father, I have made known to you.'
Wow.
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
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2 comments:
You know, I think you raise a good point in your headline.
I think that Jesus is such a multifaceted God, that there are different levels to Him which require both our all out adoration and our simple friendship.
I have no problem with Jesus as friend, or even homeboy if the heart behind that trendy tee is right, but at the same time I think that we need to never lose sight of who He REALLY is in that.
While I think that Paul, Peter, and the rest viewed Jesus as a friend, they also viewed Him as a mentor. A leader. A role model. Later, they viewed Him as the one true king.
Yeah, definitely. It's just like...I sometimes get so angry with the cheesy concepts that churchianity sends our way (such as the whole concept of 'accepting Jesus into our heart'...what does THAT mean). And in that jadedness (you might call it) I get annoyed with people robbing Him of the glory due Him by saying He's their best friend, but I forget that it was He that robbed Himself of His lofty position as King and Messiah by reducing *Himself* to the position of friend.
Or maybe...
exalting US to the position of His friend.
Oh, but that can't be true. That goes against every American idea of humility.
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