“The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a person speaks to a friend.”
Exodus 33:11 (NAB)
Just think about this verse, that the Lord spoke with Moses as one speaks to a friend. James wrote, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.”(James 2:23)
The Lord called Moses and Abraham His friends, and then came Jesus, who had twelve chosen disciples, but three in particular who were His close friends. When we think about God and friendship, we can safely say that God desires our friendship.
Jesus had many followers, but He only took Peter, James and John with Him, during His deepest and most difficult moment in the Garden of Gethsemane. He also took them with in His peak moment during a heavenly vision on the Mount of Transfiguration.
I used to assume that those three disciples were chosen by God, because they had some special qualities more than the others. The beauty of friendship with Jesus is that He calls all of us to be His friends, simply because He loves all of us and equally desires our friendship. It’s up to us to respond to His call. Peter, James and John may appear to be closer to Jesus, but maybe they just responded to His invitation for that closer, intimate friendship.
They were the only three who went into the home with Jesus, when He healed Peter’s mother in law. When going into the home of Jairus, Jesus sent all the others away, except His three disciples, who witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter.
Instead of asking Jesus to bless what they were doing, His friends go where He is going and do whatever He is blessing.
Those three disciples were not perfected in holiness. When they stayed with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, they all fell sound asleep, while trying to watch and pray with Him. Peter denied Jesus three times, but he later found forgiveness and was empowered at Pentecost. God sees us as we are, faults and all, but He still desires our friendship, just as He did with Peter, James and John.
To forgive our friends’ offenses, we put ourself at risk of being offended again, but that is what God does. He knows if and when we are going to fail, but He forgives us over and over, as often as we return to Him again and again. It’s what true friendship is all about, and Jesus is the truest friend we will ever know. He believes in what we can become, and is always hoping that our friendship will grow deeper with Him.
He said, “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:15)
Whether He was sharing His tears and sweat in the garden, or sharing a small glimpse of heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus wanted His friends to be with Him, through the good and bad times. Just as He shared His best and worst moments with His friends, He expects us to do the same by coming to Him with all our worries as well as our gratitude.
We all try to watch and pray with Jesus, and we also struggle with our weaknesses, in disappointing Him, but He doesn’t choose us based on our special qualities or look for redeemable characteristics. He loves us as we are and invites every believer to deepen our friendship with Him. He may wait for years for some people to respond.
He is meek and gentle with His arms open, calling us to closer friendship. We all have friends and we have family, and some friends are more like family, which is a blessing, but Jesus is a friend like no other, because He knows us, like no other.
Lord, we say yes to your love and your invitation to friendship. Thank you for always drawing us near, desiring us as we are, with all of our shortcomings, to be your close friends. Amen