***
Gospel: John 15: 12-17
Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
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.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
“I no longer call you slaves…but friends.”
Jesus was very particular about his choice of words; each was worth its weight in gold.
So why does he call us friends?
Why not servants? Acquaintances? Buddies?
***
The word “friend” had a very particular meaning.
During Jesus’ time, Roman emperors named a select few, “friends of the emperor.”
These “friends” had unlimited access to him; they could even enter his bedchamber before sunrise. They were closer to him than his servants, his advisors, and his generals.
The king’s friends formed his inner circle; they had access to his heart.
***
This is the friendship Jesus offers us. It’s why he tells us not to be “troubled,” a chapter before. We are his intimate companions.
Simply call upon his name; he will listen, and, in his time, he will act.
***
***
Image credits: (1) St. Mary and St. George Coptic Church, Tallahassee, FLA (2) Chaim Bentorah (3) Victoria Atkinson White: Jesus Calls us to Friendship