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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.
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There are two essential truths found in today’s Gospel, drawn from Christ’s final night on earth.
First, it is not we who have chosen him; rather, it is Christ who has chosen us. God, in his infinite mercy, calls us to life – not only here and now, but in the life to come.
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Secondly, the Lord no longer calls us slaves, but his friends. This is a radical shift in our understanding of God. In the Old Testament, to be considered a slave, or servant, of God was a title of the highest honor.
For example, Moses – one of the greatest prophets – is referred to as the “slave,” or servant, of the Lord. So is his direct successor, Joshua. Even King David, the greatest of Jewish kings before Christ, calls himself God’s servant.
Saint Paul uses the same title in the New Testament in reference to ministry.
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And yet, the Lord says to us today, “I no longer call you slaves, but friends.”
This word, friend, had a very particular meaning during Christ’s lifetime. Roman emperors gifted this title – friend of the emperor – to a very select few who ranked higher than his own servants, advisors, even his generals.
“Friends” of the emperor were granted unlimited access. They could enter his bedchamber before sunrise. They were his inner circle and, ultimately, had access to his heart.
This is the type of intimacy which Jesus offers.
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More than Moses, Joshua, even King David, we who call upon the name of the Lord in faith at any hour of the day will be heard, “for whatever you ask in my name,” Jesus says, “I will do it” (John 14: 13-14).
We are his friends.
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Image credits: (1) Pinterest (2) Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet, Ford Madox Brown (3) The Hope Filled Road